Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Review

Be warned, dear reader… this one’s a ‘talkie’... (the game, we mean)

There was a moment while visiting Aussie shores that Warhorse Studios’ Tobias Stolz-Zwiling - during a presentation for media on Kingdom Come: Deliverance II - made it very clear that this game, despite its RPG elements and its open-world, its immersive sim and survival tilts, and its broadly open gameplay, was still first and foremost a “story game”. The distinction is interesting because ‘story’ is everywhere in your experience, but it's not at the forefront of how you play against and within the world. Side-quest and event encounter consequences, for example, won’t change the game’s Golden Path barring certain character traits you tackle that with. Those consequences, rather, are there to feed how you approach the next tangential element of the world - how one decision or reputation gain or loss will impact your experience in your next side-quest or point of interest sojourn. 

 

In other words, Kingdom Come Deliverance II is more a “distraction simulator” with a story attached, than a "story game" with distractions. 

 

At least, that’s how we played it.

 

And what’s fun about this is Warhorse has clearly designed this world with as much life as possible to recreate a sense of believability around 15th century Bohemia, but in doing so crafted a world filled to the brim with things to do other than the main story. It’s not that we think it was an accidental byproduct, and the studio should be hugely proud of the Golden Path tale here and its direct writing and pacing. But it’s honestly not the product’s best part. It’s best part is when you play Poacher Police, Dice Hustler, Dog Whisperer, Murder Investigator, Pugilistic Pounder, Bull Painting Prankster, Big Game Hunter, Crayfish Collector and Flour Sack Courier, among oh-so-much more.

 

So much so, poor Henry’s CV would easily break the ‘one page rule’ and the algorithm would cast him aside like so many other overqualified folk.


*Ahem*


You see, Henry is an ‘every man’-archetype - he’s written as the sort of character this writer tries to always play these types of games as: a do-gooder with an edge, a Geralt of Rivia… an Arthur Morgan. And those last two names are apt, because their respective games play as much a part of the makeup of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II as the history of Bohemia itself.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

Genre: Open-world action-RPG
Developer: Warhorse Studios
Publisher: Plaion, Deep Silver
Release Date: February 4, 2025
Classification: R18+
Author: Stephen Farrelly
Date: February 10, 2025

Forged in Fire

Pigeonholing KCDII is fraught with danger, however. Is it an RPG? Is it an Immersive Sim? Is it a Survival Experience? Well, yes, to all of the above. Zwiling used Red Dead Redemption 2 as a North Star for us during his visit and it rings wholly true in more ways than one. But what the game is, overall, is an experience. That might sound fairly broad and even rudimentary to some, but how you massage that experience to your gameplay sensibilities shapes the ebb and flow of what’s on offer here. 

Structurally, there’s a classic tale unfolding that strips an established character of his wares, drops us into a foreign land, all but bare neked, and forces the player to learn systems and setup with the carrot on a string being to get old Henry back on his feet and doing all the good he’s known for. But this is no easy task. The world of 1403 Bohemia is based on that of true history, and as such you’re beset by rules and culture and guideline. You can break these, of course, but the game’s Reputation system (see our “Would you like to know more?” box out) ensures that you can’t just run amok here.

"These vocations can be anything from helping out the local miller to confronting poachers to actual blacksmithing..."

So, first thing’s first - you’ll need a job. Yep, an honest day’s work never hurt anyone, least of all Henry the son of a blacksmith. And these vocations can be anything from helping out the local miller to confronting poachers to actual blacksmithing. And the game takes these seriously. Blacksmithing, for example, tasks you with heating your forge and getting your materials up to temperature. Everything is measured by the eye and when it’s time to take to the anvil, you hammer to the colour and sparks and move the material around and literally forge. It’s glorious and saw us in the early game making sword after sword, just burning through time. But this also meant we had wares to sell which also meant we could earn Groschen -- all important in a functioning society and world.

The above means, then, that you’ll set about living in the world. Taking on side-quests isn’t always about slaying wolves or seeking gear, it can be as simple as a fetch quest to help someone else’s day go more smoothly. And that’s the overall structure of play here -- this is a living, breathing world where the magic and high fantasy of that other game it does borrow elements and pacing from -- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- is replaced in oddly compelling ways by what otherwise might seem like menial tasks, but somehow just aren’t.

Would you like to know more?
Reputation plays a major part in the game with different regions and more all featuring a numerical value of your rep there or with them. This can shape everything from haggling to your chances of talking your way out of a jam, or just how you're received overall. It's dynamic, but is entirely driven by your actions and how you choose to handle the fallout from said actions. There are ways to 'reset', so to speak, such as paying dollarydoos to the Church but it feels like the game's AI has looooong memories so, you know, be mindful.

Can it Run Crysis?

Enabling the function of said “living, breathing world” is Crytek’s Eveready CryEngine game engine, and it’s stunning. Everywhere you look in the game there’s a postcard of picturesque rolling hills, villages, fortresses, castles and dense forest (our screens really don’t do it justice from a static perspective). Warhorse built much of the lay of the land based on real-world locations, and even feature Codex entries on certain areas it went to great lengths to recreate and highlight meaningfully, such as the Ponds of Trosky Region. And in keeping with the RDR2 and Witcher 3 comparisons, visually KCDII lives in between both, but certainly is closer to Rockstar’s opus. Not like for like, of course. That would be doing KCDII a disservice as the game stands firmly on its own visually, particularly from an art direction perspective. But for ours, it’s the topography and consistency in rarely repeated assets that stands out the most. The game-world here is intricate to the last, right down to seeing the roving ants on an anthill should you take the time to notice.

As they often say: “it’s the little things that make the difference”.

"The engine in the hands of Warhorse just sings and hopefully stands as a poster child for an alternative to UE5..."

We reviewed the game on console in pre-release form, followed by what we’ve played post-release and post-launch update (it’s simply too big a game to have rushed a review out the door for embargo). And in that time came across essentially no issues apart from the odd freeze here and there. The engine in the hands of Warhorse just sings and hopefully stands as a poster child for an alternative to UE5 (we don’t want all games made on one engine). So good is it, that we often just found ourselves gawking in pretty much every direction we looked, ignoring the task at hand.

A lot of the above also stands out because there’s a dynamic (and believable) weather system and the natural light that permeates the -scape just paints realism, for lack of a better way to describe it all (with bloom lighting for days). It’s not ‘shiny’ or ‘plastic’ in any way, which just adds to the immersion of the world - again not at all dissimilarly to Red Dead Redemption 2. However, add to this an attention to detail in interiors that is all parts historical and accurate and meaningful, and of which almost all of which are explorable (a huge plus in any open-world game) and you’ve got yourself an open-world stew goin’ for true exploration.

Oh Henry!

Speaking of exploration, Henry as a ‘Nosey Parker’ will do you zero favours in KCDII, unless you’re very observant and very discreet. The game employs the Reputation system expanded upon in our box out but essentially sits as a guardrail to OTT shenanigans. You *could* poison the main food pot in an Inn and make everyone sick, or worse, but you’d be a suspect lest you were entirely unseen, and even then you’re rolling the dice against some fairly dynamic odds.

Warhorse has written Henry, then, as someone you want to see do the right thing. By and large his lines and his demeanour are one of honour and goodwill. It doesn’t mean you can’t make an evil parallel universe Henry as you go, and you can certainly steer his stats and growth in areas that suit those of a Batman rogues villain, but those doe eyed soul windows might make you think twice before forcing him to line the stocks, take a lashing or worse. More importantly, the game-world reacts in kind to how you play and there’s a genuinely rewarding aspect to this; knowing that what you’re doing and deciding is actually being heard across the land and it makes you work hard to keep up appearances, or to work to be feared.

"Spend more time outside and you’ll up your Survival. Fight a bunch in a bare knuckle sense, and that gets rewarded..."

In terms of growth, you don’t earn XP in a traditional sense. So, completing a main mission or side-quest or the like won’t give you a ‘ding’. Instead, you earn growth and perk points as you go and in the general use of skills and abilities. Spend more time outside and you’ll up your Survival. Fight a bunch in a bare knuckle sense, and that gets rewarded. Each time you level up these traits of Henry, you’ll gain access to new perks to spend gained points on. You can’t overload these, either. And some require one tier earlier in order to unlock the next one, so you need to be mindful of how you play and what you want to invest in. It’s a daunting list early because the game and your choices within it are so vast, you can feel overwhelmed, but it won’t take long to decide if you’re a one-handed sword and shield kind of Henry, or one who prefers blunt force trauma.

That the game simply allows you to manage all of this off the back of your natural playstyle while still offering up a huge amount of RPG depth around it is a testament to the systems embedded in the game and what it means in the grand scheme of things.

Lame Horse Rider

Of course, as with any title so involved, there are going to be pitfalls or elements that simply don’t gel. When Henry falls from his horse, for example, the time it takes him to recover is so long he could be stabbed or bludgeoned to death. This can be problematic if you haven’t saved (as can any death, really) and the game features practically no Checkpoint system. We get why given there are so many decisions that can be made in any given five minutes of play, but it can be frustrating if you haven’t slept or used a handy Savior Schnapps, which are the only two ways to save barring the game saving for you after significant moments. We won't lie in saying there were at least a handful of times upwards of an hour of gameplay and heady decisions were completely wiped and the controller calmly placed on the ground for us to walk away in quiet anger and frustration.

"... as the dice game begins it defaults back to one of the key dice player voices pending the gender of the character in question. It’s maddening..."

Even a basic “would you like to load this Checkpoint?’ option would have helped. It wouldn’t need to be a significant save, more an option to gain back, say, the last 10 minutes of game time.   

While we’re riding the gripe horse, for whatever reason the voice of the male and female dice player is almost always the same, so even when playing against a specific character with a specific voice for, say, a story mission, as soon as the dice game begins it defaults back to one of the key dice player voices pending the gender of the character in question. It’s maddening and even comes across as lazy given just how much dialogue there is in the game. And it also seems at odds with said story missions where you would expect character banter related to said mission to play out during the game. It happens at the start and end, but that just makes it more jarring. This is something we hope is addressed as the game’s life blossoms in the wild, but it’s very noticeable.

Beyond those gripes, and certainly one around combat just being clunky overall, but we also understand it’s nuanced and is designed for patient players (as is the whole game, really), there’s not much else to complain about. It can take a while to get into the game from the start because it’s such a ‘talkie’ early and if you’re unfamiliar with the cadence in front of you, you might get bored initially, but there comes a time when it all clicks and you just start to exist in the world and love it.

Bohemian Rhapsody

We love big games like KCDII releasing so early in the year. There’s often a big game lull between now and June onwards and Warhorse’s medieval sequel, if you play it to its fullest, will keep you glued to your platform of choice for countless hours. It’s a drawn-out experience, to be sure, so if you don't fancy making your own swords, washing your own clothes or literally concocting your own alchemic brews with every step an action, then this might not be for you. But if you like the idea of being an ‘every man’ character in 1400s Bohemia and not only living in that world, but learning a lot about it thanks to everything the studio has embedded in the game from a historical and information perspective, then you’ll be a pig in shit here (you see a lot of those in the game-world).

"On the whole it’s just a perfect slice of derivative history to play within, and meaningfully..."

Henry is not only likeable, he’s loveable but also malleable to the player’s choices and game style. The writing is exceptional as well as most of the dialogue. It can feel janky early because of just how 'hands-on’ everything in the world actually is, but Red Dead Redemption 2 did as well, if you remember, and that turned out alright. The game engine brings the playspace to life like few games before it and on the whole it’s just a perfect slice of derivative history to play within, and meaningfully. 

It’s a challenging game but rewarding to the nines. It might not be for everyone but if open-world action-RPGs are your jam, with a hint of survival and immersive sim elements, then you honestly cannot go wrong with Henry, Hans, Pebbles, Mutt and co. Roll the dice on this one, you might find yourself a winner.

What’s Boss?

  • An absolutely stunning game-world powered by CryEngine
  • Excellent writing, dialogue and performances
  • All parts open-world action-RPG, immersive sim and survival in one
  • A wholly realised recreation of the period and playspace with amazing Codex entries to learn more
  • An in-depth and meaningful Reputation system keeps the player (and Henry) in check
  • Mutt rules because... dogs

Not Boss Enough?

  • The save system and the game's lack of even a lite Checkpoint option can make death an absolute punish
  • Combat early (when you're weakest) is a death sentence ad best avoided, but the game doesn't relay this well and you need to do it to grow... another punishing element
  • The physical requirements to perform certain tasks might not be for everyone (we love them)
  • The time it takes for Henry to recover from falling off his horse is just too long
  • Fix the dice player voices ASAP, Warhorse

An open-world game set in Bohemia, 1403. Henry is the 'every-man' character players can mould to their decisive will, but is also an all-important cog to what is a fantastic Golden Path main story with incredible writing and performances...

Learn about our reviews

About the Author

Written By Stephen Farrelly
Stephen Farrelly is a veteran journalist and editor with more than two decades experience in the worlds of gaming, entertainment, lifestyle and sport under his belt. He is a proud pug dad, loves art in all forms but particularly street and tattoo culture, and is the director of Swear Jar...
More from this Author
  • + GTAV Console Enhancements Finally Coming to PC Via a Free Update
  • + What a Seemingly ‘Stylish’ CG Trailer Actually Tells us About Saros
  • + WoW Devs' MMO PvP Fantasy Romp, Legacy: Steel & Sorcery, Hits Early Access
  • + Cosminers is a Mining Survival Sim with a Nighttime Twist

    • Explore More in Gaming

    While console players have enjoyed a heady list of enhancements to their GTAV experience, PC players have had to wait patiently for the desktop version to be suped up. That's all about to change in March, however, as a free update for GTAV on PC will bring the game in line with its console release. Full details inside!

    Returnal developer, Housemarque, has revealed an all-new IP coming in 2026 and we've poured through its debut CG trailer for information. We might be onto a lot, or completely off the mark, but it's worth a read if you're interested regardless...

    Dare to fight monsters, loot the world and survive against other, hungrier players in this "Extraction" MMO PvP fantasy romp from ex-World of Warcraft devs. Legacy: Steel & Sorcery might just scratch an Instanced itch you didn't know you had, now available in Early Access...

    Another potential gem in the survival base-builder sim camp, Cosminers looks to borrow from some of the best, unapologetically, and ahem build upon them. Not set for release until early next year, we still have a trailer and screens for you to pour through after the jump...

    An absolutely massive and involved game awaits with Warhorse's Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Set in 1403 Bohemia, this medieval tale features no witches or mages, no magic or dragons, but plenty of smithing, laundry, potion mixing and helping people arund town. And it's glorious for that. Check out our full review for more!

    Another entry in the deep annals of the "Lovecraftian" genre, Railgods of Hysterra might just have enough of a unique hook to stand out above all, or it could entirely derail. Either way, we're keen to take the trip...

    Den of Wolves is from the creators of GTFO and Payday but looks to be far more in-depth and meaningful in its approach to heists and the reasons behind them. Here's everything we know so far...

    We played a *little* bit of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, but also had an in-depth chat with Warhorse Studios about the game's depth, choice and consequence, why we couldn't just create a character rather than play as Henry, and much, much more. Click through to get all the 1403 Bohemia goss!

    Not only the best Indiana Jones game ever made, but also one of the year's best action-adventure romps, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle just continues to get better the more you play it. Our in-depth review will tell you why...

    An out of left-field update is coming to Cyberpunk 2077 in news you never saw coming. And it's happening on the four-year anniversary of the game's initial release date, because CD Projekt RED just does stuff like that!

    Comment

    Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.