Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a sequel of the RPG released in 2018, which was distinguished by the realities of the Middle Ages presented in a historically faithful way, in the form of an open world viewed in a first-person view (FPP). The second game is set in a similar place and time as the original, retains all these features, but has been developed with greater scope. This was made possible by the success of the first part, thanks to which the Czech studio Warhorse expanded to around 250 people at the end of production of the sequel.

Plot

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II takes place immediately after the events of the first game, in the Czech Republic in 1403, and continues the story of Henry - the son of a blacksmith, who lusts for revenge for the massacre of his home village. As a squire of knight Hans Capon, the hero this time gets entangled in a larger-scale intrigue revolving around a civil war, on which the fate of the entire kingdom may depend.

The creators tried to present the story in such a way that knowledge of the first game was not necessary. The larger scale of the project is reflected in the total length of the cut-scenes - previously the result was approximately three hours, and this time the game contains over five hours of cutscenes.

Gameplay - general description

Like the first part, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II has a semi-sandbox character, throwing the player into an open world in which, in addition to the main plot, he can engage in side quests and take part in other optional activities. They include establishing romantic relationships, hunting or gambling with dice.

Although there is no character creator (we play as a specific character), we can customize the appearance of Henry, primarily through a wide choice of clothing and armor elements as part of the equipment management mechanics.

An extensive character development system and a wealth of mechanics make it possible to deal with encountered problems in various ways. In addition to combat, the game includes options such as diplomacy or stealth (along with lock picking or assassinations). Crafting is also present, allowing us to create or upgrade items during immersive mini-games.

The fights are realistic - they quite faithfully reproduce authentic medieval techniques of fighting with a sword and other melee weapons (ranged weapons can also be used). This means that they require a certain dose of tactics, and every hit of the hero or opponent has potentially serious consequences. For this reason, we usually fight single enemies - although sometimes we also take part in large-scale battles, including castle sieges.

New features in gameplay

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II takes us to different regions of the Czech Republic than the first part. The sequel includes two open maps, twice as large as the areas available before. The first one is a region called Czech Paradise, with the Trosky castle towering over it, and the second one includes the large city of Kuttenberg, located further south, founded over a silver mine.

The developers placed greater emphasis on creating a living world that responds to the player. For instance, when the hero runs through the streets in a negligee or commits crimes the NPCs may react with contextual responses or taunts.

The combat system was made more accessible (while still trying to be realistic), and two categories of weapons were added to Henry's arsenal - crossbows and early gunpowder weapons.

Game modes

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a single-player game. It does not offer cooperation or any other multiplayer variant.

Engine

Just like the first part, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is powered by the CryEngine.

Cast and music

The actors known from the first part of KCD - Tom McKay and Luke Dale respectively - returned to the roles of Henry and Hans Capon. This applies to both how the in-game characters look and sound like. The music was again composed by Jan Valta.