Kingdom Come Deliverance 2: A total immersion in the Middle Ages for a grippingly realistic RPG

History

Just like its predecessor, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 fully immerses us in the hostile, but equally captivating, period of the Middle Ages, and more precisely at the beginning of the 15th century in the heart of Bohemia which was experiencing dark times. King Wenceslas IV was ousted from power by his half-brother Sigismund of Luxembourg, king of Hungary and Croatia, who took the opportunity to plunder the region and imprison the legitimate sovereign. A few years later, when the situation only got worse, a raid was carried out against the mining town of Skalice during which Henry’s parents were massacred along with the rest of the inhabitants. Our hero is therefore forced to flee and experience many adventures with the aim of finding those responsible and taking revenge.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is the direct sequel to Kingdom Come Deliverance and tells the adventures of the same character, Henry of Skalice. Its events take place logically after those of the first part and immerse players in a Bohemian kingdom prey to civil war and power games. Our blacksmith’s son, driven by a desire for revenge, pursues his noble destiny and faces the Emperor of the Holy Germanic Empire Sigismund and his allies during an epic, historical and gripping epic with a thousand and one dangers. realism.

The story imagined by the pens of Warhorse Studios begins as Henry, who has become a trusted ally of the legitimate king, is entrusted with the mission of accompanying Lord Hans Capon on a delicate diplomatic expedition. But obviously nothing goes as planned. The two companions escape certain death during an ambush set by mysterious assailants and find themselves embarked on a series of adventures which will shape the Bohemia of tomorrow and make History with a capital H in Middle Central Europe. -Age.

Graphics

Kingdom Come Deliverance first of the name did not necessarily shine with its purely technical qualities. However, he was not unworthy, but suffered from several faults. Its sequel seeks to rectify the situation and it has largely been done. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is much more beautiful and detailed than its predecessor. And it couldn’t be more logical, because Warhorse Studios had 7 years to master its subject as well as the CryEngine which is once again the preferred game engine to bring this Bohemia of the early 15th century to life.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is visually accomplished although it still has a way to go to hope to one day obtain the title of master standard of video games. The fault lies with some visual errors. The fact remains that traveling this region is a pure pleasure thanks to its abundant flora and fauna, and a human civilization which flourishes in these places. We are faced with an open world offering total immersion in the heart of the Middle Ages with its citizens going about their business, its day/night cycle and its changing weather.

It is simply invigorating to wander around cities or enjoy the green pastures of the surrounding countryside despite sometimes pronounced clipping, that is to say the appearance of elements of the scenery in the background. As for the bugs, and there are still some, we prefer to wait for the final test to come back to them. And we will not fail to do so in due time. Unfortunately, we were only able to explore the Trosky region during this preview. We can’t wait to set foot on that of Kuttenberg which promises to be rich in opportunities.

Gameplay

The first Kingdom Come Deliverance could be described without trembling as austere. Czech studios offered the world of video games an RPG that made no concessions out of a desire for realism at the risk of frightening some of the players. And this immersive experience in 15th century Bohemia was rightly praised. The sequel aims to make the formula imagined by Warhorse Studios less rough and therefore more accessible. However, there is no question of losing that little extra which makes the essence of the saga, but of reaching out to fans of history and role-playing games.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 forgives us almost nothing. It’s still just as laborious, and that’s the charm of the game, surviving in Bohemia and evolving there. Everything here is designed to take you on a journey into the past and thus experience the life of a Middle Ages man with all that that implies. Henry must eat, sleep and bathe regularly to stay healthy. He must also take care of his equipment and weapons which are subject to wear and tear, but also interact with other humans. Besides, reputation has a huge influence on history. Misdeeds, appearance and conversations then take on capital importance, because in the 15th century, it was not always necessary to draw your weapon to escape.

But when Henry is forced to do it, his survival is more than ever at stake. The combat system is inspired by medieval martial arts and is based on authentic techniques that must be mastered or risk premature death. The clashes are intended to be technical and strategic, and emphasize endurance and the precision of the blows delivered. The studios have still put a little water in their wine in order to simplify the lives of players in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. The desired sporadic fights are still as intense, but a bit more accessible than in the past.

And of course, our hero grows in power through his adventures, but Warhorse doesn’t do things like everyone else. Henry’s skills increase as he uses them through a progression system based on practice rather than more traditional experience gain. “Practice makes you a blacksmith.” And this proverb could not be more true than in Bohemia. This gives us a unique adventure that depends greatly on our way of approaching situations and our style of play.

Scenario

It is difficult to judge a scenario after having experienced only the first hours of an adventure which promises to be long and exciting. But as it stands, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 delivers the goods. It surpasses (and this is not surprising) the first part of the saga both in the breadth of his story as well as in the richness of the different stories that we are invited to follow. Warhorse Studios even found a solid and funny excuse to force Henry to literally start again in “underpants” and weakened following the ambush that we mentioned earlier in our preview.

The strength of this story lies in its ability to giving the reins to the players via a free approach and numerous conscious or unconscious choices…while recounting the history of 15th century Bohemia with an adult tone and ever-increasing realism. And it’s not just the main story that’s fun to follow. The depth of the side stories is to be welcomed due to their complexity and diversity.far from the repetitive tasks offered by other RPGs. However, this richness and this concern for realism sometimes come up against a ‘too’ traditional and static staging which reminds moviegoers of the golden age of Hollywood and its great historical frescoes.

Content

Kingdom Come Deliverance took no less than 40 hours to complete in a “straight line” and more than 130 hours to clean the map. And its sequel is intended to be even more generous. The main story alone will take more than 50 hours to finish according to statements from Warhorse Studios. From what we saw during our first session, this is in no way exaggerated. And that’s without counting the dozens of side quests, tasks and other activities that make Bohemia an extremely rich video game kingdom.

It is thus possible to forge your weapons, create your potions, play dice, hunt, take part in arena fights, explore the Trosky region to discover every corner and of course participate in community life by responding favorably or not to the grievances of the people. And there is still the Kuttenberg region to visit. Warhorse seems to have pulled out all the stops with Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 sometimes to the point of no longer knowing where to turn in the face of such a torrent of content.

Conclusion

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is everything we wanted from a challenging role-playing game. This historical RPG immerses us 100% in a hostile and strikingly realistic Middle Ages, although several concessions have been made to appeal to a wider audience. Warhorse Studios is leading a strong charge with its new creation, even if the technical aspect is not yet fully mastered.