Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Review: Bold, Beautiful, Brilliant

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 feels like a game out of time. It’s very particular in its delivery, and its abundance of intertwining gameplay mechanics come together to provide a very distinct open world experience that's not for everyone. 

But like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Elden Ring before it, it’s Kingdom Come Deliverance 2’s bold undertakings and robust executions that make it such an immersive, memorable, and rewarding RPG to play through in all senses if you can endure some of its infuriating bits. 

KCD 2’s Strength is its Boldness, But its Delivery isn't Futile Either

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 begins in a jaw-droppingly beautiful forest of 15th-century Bohemia, as the blacksmith-turned-knight protagonist Henry and the charismatic but sharp-tongued noble Lord Hans Capon march on with their escort to deliver a letter to one of King Sigismund’s allies, Otto von Bergow.

As they tread along narrow pathways and vast meadows, Capon cooly says to Henry “Audentes Fortuna Juvat” which is Latin for “Fortune Favors the Bold.”

If you have played the original, you already know what that quote implies, but if you haven’t, it’s worth knowing that the entirety of KCD 2 is built around this statement. 

From its multitude of spiraling gameplay mechanics to its hundreds of intricately written dialogues and even its visuals, Warhorse Studio has approached every element of KCD 2 with immense boldness and fierceness. KCD 2 is not just a better game because of it, but also one that doesn’t fit the mold of modern AAA open world RPGs. 

Like its predecessor, KCD 2 doesn’t take long to shove its many unique and innovative ideas onto you, though with more refinements and comprehensive tutorials that make it relatively easy to soak everything in. 

The first 10-20 hours are still tedious, however, with a steep learning curve that could make or break the game for you. In KCD 2, every gameplay mechanic has a series of robust sub-mechanics to back it up. One such brutal gameplay element is the game’s infamous save system, which you must get accustomed to as quickly as possible. 

 Unlike most open world RPGs, you can’t quick save in KCD 2. Instead, you either consume a Saviour Schnapps potion, sleep in a bed you own, or reach a certain point in a quest. Consuming a Saviour Schanpps is the only way to save your progress between destinations, and in KCD 2, plenty can go wrong in your travels. Early on, I found it hard to keep track of this save potion and was punished severely by the game for it.

It wasn’t until I had lost well over an hour of meaningful progress that I finally learned my lesson and started stocking up on Saviour Schnapps before every journey.

The game demands you to familiarize yourself and utilize most of its interconnected gameplay mechanics to a certain extent to make progress. And that’s not a bad thing at all. 

There's a lot of micro-managing in KCD 2, and while it takes a while to get used to everything, it never feels overbearing. Since purchasing a Saviour Schnapps isn’t always financially feasible, you'd be encouraged to try and craft them at an Alchemy table, which boasts one of the most elaborate crafting systems I have ever seen in a video game. 

It’s tangibly rewarding but also quite therapeutic, and I carved out a routine for myself where I spent most rainy mornings in the game brewing various potions at the Alchemy table. 

Since KCD 2’s open world is brutal and unforgiving (more on that later), these potions are all the more essential for your survival. For instance, you can use an Aqua Vitalis potion to lose 15% less Health for five minutes, and it can turn a random deathly encounter into a harrowing survival story. 

Likewise, the combat in KCD 2, which is easily its weakest aspect, has a lot of underlying elements that make it exciting to try and experiment with. You can learn new fighting techniques, encouraging you to indulge in fights more often, ever so cautiously. You can unlock new game-changing skills (more on this later) for your dog Mutt and use him to distract or deal damage to enemies. 

And this is the kind of experience KCD 2 strives to provide. One where you’re consistently awestruck by its ambitious ideas and enthusiastically engage with all, or at least most, of its robust gameplay mechanics to get better, which themselves are quite fun to interact with. While that sounds perfect in theory, not every idea is executed perfectly in KCD 2. 

A certain amount of clunkiness plagues some of its crucial aspects. For instance, it takes painstakingly long to swap between your equipped weapons, which can be infuriating when you’re surrounded by a group of bandits. Likewise,  the stealth attacks are slightly inconspicuous. You would think you had successfully initiated a chokehold, but the victim would somehow still escape from your grasp and alert nearby enemies. 

After about 30 hours in KCD 2, I had lost track of all the times its systems had betrayed me because the game wouldn’t respond to my inputs quickly enough. I'm not a fan of KCD 2’s reputation system either, mainly because it’s so easy to increase or decrease your reputation with anyone in the game. As such, I never really got to see any of its immediate or long-term effects on the story and gameplay. 

KCD 2 Wears its Influences on its Sleeve, But Still Carves its Own Identity

As I trudged along KCD 2’s 15th-century Bohemian countryside, taking in its picturesque landscapes, stumbling upon random encounters in its vast open world, and indulging in its dialogue-heavy cutscenes, I sensed a feeling of familiarity creeping in. 

That’s because KCD 2’s inspirations are pretty obvious. Witnessing the blue hour piercing through the dense forests felt like a scene right out of the next-gen version of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Random open world encounters like finding a friendly campsite to share travel stories and dialogue options to greet or antagonize certain NPCs were reminiscent of my adventures in Red Dead Redemption 2. 

And lastly, KCD 2’s long-winded cutscenes full of well-written dialogues and conversations reminded me of none other than Warhorse’s countrymen's critically acclaimed RPG, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. And yet, none of these influences detract KCD 2 from being its own thing in my head.

If anything, they help make it an even more hardcore RPG than its predecessor because of how well they are executed. 

The lockpicking mini-game in KCD 2 works very similarly to Skyrim's but requires more diligence. Moreover, lockpicks are hard to come by, so you have to think twice before wasting it on a lock you are not skilled enough to break. While exploring the open world, seldom you can come across bandit or poacher camps and if you sneak up close, you can hear them talking and sharing stories among themselves. 

In RDR 2, the obvious thing to do in this case when everything was said and done would be to barge in and shoot everyone. But KCD 2’s RPG nature means there are plenty of ways to approach this encounter. 

Early on, during a side quest, I was tasked with retrieving a horse from a poacher camp. Given how severely unequipped I was to tackle this encounter head-on, I decided to backtrack and find a good vantage point. From there, I observed all the enemies, memorized their patrolling routes, and waited until dark to sneak in and out quietly with the horse. 

It was an exhilarating experience, and since I had gone off the beaten path, I even managed to pick up a shiny Sabre Sword near the vantage point.

Skill progression in KCD 2 feels natural, similar to games like Oblivion and Skyrim. The more you indulge in a particular activity or carry out a playstyle, the more perks you can unlock in that field. However, KCD 2 takes things a bit further by providing you with a staggering amount of perks to select in each category. 

These perks are not just passives that could bolster your sword damage or improve your speech skills. They go well beyond that and add entirely new ways to play KCD 2 and interact with its world. 

For instance, one of the Houndmaster skills, "Bark!" lets your dog create a ruckus and distract nearby enemies. I can’t remember how many times I used this to sneak into enemy encampments, loot everything in sight, and make a quiet exit. 

Others are more derivative, for instance, the Flower Power perk, which improves Charisma if you carry a certain amount of fresh or dried herbs. It's perfect for someone like me who spent a lot of time at the Alchemy Table. 

In a nutshell, KCD 2 has an extensive array of meaningful, build-enhancing perks that make progression substantial for every playstyle. The open world of KCD 2 also feels quite inspired by BGS and Rockstar Games titles. There are plenty of vast open spaces with breathtaking landscapes fueled by the game’s incredible draw distance and little to no POI markers in between to break immersion. 

Environmental storytelling is abundant, and you can often find a trail of blood leading into the woods to discover a murder victim or stumble upon a wolf cave full of stolen jewelry items. The sense of adventure is heightened even more due to KCD 2’s grounded nature as you have to explore cautiously and without running out of your supplies of Saviour Schnapps. 

KCD 2 also rewards curiosity in different ways than other similarly designed open world titles. Sometimes, finding a mere sleeping bag next to a serene waterfall can be more welcoming than finding a treasure chest, as the former can help you replenish your health and energy and increase your chances of surviving in the wild.  

KCD’s 2 Writing is Brilliant and Deeply Rooted in its Every Element

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 puts as much emphasis on its storytelling, narrative, and world-building as it does on its various gameplay elements. However, I wasn’t ready for the game’s brilliant writing to be the guiding strength of every facet of this experience. 

KCD 1 didn’t slouch in this department either, but Warhorse’s writing team takes things to a completely different level in KCD 2. The number of conversations you can partake in, dialogues you can choose, codex entries you can read, perks descriptions you can go through, and even glance at its many loading screen tips that vanish in the blink of an eye are unprecedented. 

KCD 2 has the most comprehensive and useful loading screen tips I have ever seen in a video game, with most of them providing valuable information on the game’s various easy-to-miss mechanics. I can’t recall how much I learned about KCD 2’s many systems by simply paying attention to the loading screen tips. 

Likewise, codex are long-winded journal entries on various aspects of KCD 2’s world. From religion to characters and even various cultural practices and tools that embodied the 15th century Bohemia. 

Like the game itself, these codex entries serve as a portal to this lost period of time. I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually became part of some history book. 

As for the writing and dialogue delivery, one of the earliest encounters between Henry and Capon at a local herbalist, as they discuss their past adventures, is a perfect example of the sheer length Warhose has gone to ensure every conversation feels authentic, believable, intense, and entertaining. 

There are options to choose between retelling a shorter version or a longer, more in-depth version of their tales in this particular encounter, and both do an incredible job of fleshing out the bond between these two characters. 

Moments like these also subtly reference Henry’s adventures from the first game, which you should find intriguing, especially if you haven’t played KCD 1. 

However, since KCD 2 is a direct sequel, it’s hard to properly follow and be invested in the overarching political conflicts surrounding King Sigismund and empathize with Henry’s motives if you haven’t played the first game. 

As much as gameplay is the focus in KCD 2, the game doesn’t shy away from taking the control away from you. It's a slow-burn narrative in which some cutscenes and conversations can go on for fifteen minutes or more. 

However, they never feel forced, thanks to the top-notch presentation and performance of the entire KCD 2 English cast. 

Henry is a very likable protagonist, and this is evident through not just his detailed facial animations and stellar performance by Tom McKay, but also by his immaculate sense of humor that he consistently brings into almost every conversation in the game. 

The writing in KCD 2 is equally funny and intense, full of dramatic gut-wrenching moments and unhinged, often silly theatrics. It spreads these moments in such an orderly manner that the narrative remains fresh even after 70 to 80 hours. 

The narrative-rich side quests of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 are very Witcher 3-coded. A simple bounty mission could end up in a hilarious drinking contest, or a lover’s spat could turn out to be a grizzly murder mystery. What’s common here is that they all play their part in fleshing out the world of KCD 2 in meaningful ways. 

Like its gameplay, the narrative of KCD 2 is quite reactive, and some side quests may connect to others indirectly. You may help out an NPC with a quest, and the next time you stop by their place, they will remember you and may provide valuable intel about another side quest. 

It’s astonishing how many conversations you can have in this game. While every action doesn't have direct consequences on the world of KCD 2, when you go back to an area and talk to a prominent NPC there, they would at least acknowledge something you did in a main quest and react accordingly. All these tidbits make the world of KCD 2 feel incredibly alive. 

Dialogues are intuitive, and it’s not just about passing the skill check but understanding the nature and motive of the character you are speaking to. I found it a bit frustrating sometimes because all the perks I invested in to pass skill checks would feel inconsequential in those moments.