The Problem with Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

I'm about a trillion hours into Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and I have finally discovered The Problem... I do not, for the love of god, I do not want to stop. I can safely say I'm obsessed, and this game is rapidly climbing towards the ranks of Elden Ring and Red Dead Redemption 2. Out of the greatest games of all time, I chose those 2 specifically, not because I consider Red Dead Redemption 2 as the greatest game of all time. And not because I think Elden Ring is the second greatest game of all time. But for a more technical reason, KCD forces the player to play the damn game. I know that that is a crazy thought but the one thing these games have in common is that it does not give a fuck about your prior gaming history.

Kingdom Come Deliverance II Cover Art

Okay, so what does any of that mean? But it means if you're not trying to learn the game mechanics or are going to fail...simply. In Elden Ring if I don't learn to dodge and do that thing where you phase through attacks, I'm never gonna beat this damn game. And if I do learn of I'm not getting good that you still cant beat the damn game...I am talking about you, Rhadan.

I digress; KCD commits to the year 1403. It's so committed that I can log in, go to a blacksmith, and do this fairly simple simulation of blacksmithing in then sell it and use it as my job. But the game also commits to realism. Usually, when you're playing a game, if you pay attention, you kinda get the feeling that your protagonist is a god amongst men, he/she just knows everything and can do everything flawlessly. Henry from 1403, nah, the opposite, he's as smart as you made him. And I mean that. Because damn, you have to read and learn in the game. And if you don't, you'll be playing at a complete disadvantage. In the 1000000 hours I've played, Henry went from just a guy cosplaying as a knight. But you play and you learn, you read, you sit there and learn through the best form...improvising.

I'm a give you a game play loop so you know what the fuck I mean.

1. You wake up, you fast-travel to the nearest inn.

2. On the way there, the game says Listen, there's a group of men standing on the road, they look suspicious, and there's a dead body. Flee or get off the horse

   1. OF COURSE I get off the horse because I'm a damn knight!

3. So I fight them, they stab me sometimes, but I kill them and get a perk point for strength and a point for using the sword.

4. I looked at the bodies and found a book about archery. And I pick that up because like... I wanna be Legolas duh.

5. Ride my horse to the nearest inn so I can read the book I peace, when I read, I get a perk point for marksmanship.

6. I go to the player tab, choose where in strength, swords, and marksmanship I want to put my points, and the cycle continues.

Now that is all great but the best part this that you actually have to do shit in the game. The best way to sum this up is "Practice Makes Perfect". Henry can't go around doing whatever he wants unless he's practiced, and essentially, you and Henry need to get good.

Now let's talk about the story and the side quest. Simply stated, the side quests are in-depth and are strong enough on their own to give you hours and hours of play time. Some of these NPCs do talk for waaaaay to fucking long. If you want me to identify a Problem in this game, it's that. NPCs LOVE TO TALK. And Henry loves to ask questions, I mean it's ridiculous how many conversations span over 5 -6 mins with a complete stranger. That being said, theese conversations lead to twists and actually small story lines that serve as world building. And most importantly, I don't think I have encountered a traditional fetch quest. You know the fucking Thanos to RPGs. Anytime someone sends you to get something, it ends up leading to something else, and the quest actually has a story and a point for them to exist instead of pointless filler. So, after 60 hours of the opening sidequest, I finally started progressing in the story. And I'm here to say... It was fucking worth it. The missions are unique the dialouge is better the events are even fucking better. I was skeptical when Warhorse Studio took the reins of the story and forced me down a path, but when they do it, you don't want to stop playing; it's phenomenal. My only complaint is that for a good amount of the story, you're talking and negotiating with enemies, allies, about people that are, for the most part off off-screen, so it leads to confusion. But thats nitpicking like listen the game is fucking great.

Truthfully, I didn't want to like this game at all. But if you give this game effort the reward is out of this world. Warhorse Studio proves that you don't have to chase trends and do what everyone else is doing in order to be a great game. The truth is time effort and fucking you can tell these devs actually gave a fuck about their game. If they didn't, I wouldn't be talking to Josh the horse trainer for 10 minutes, asking him if he's seen a specific saddle. But Kingdom Come Deliverance II is phenomenal and is the game of the year so far...(GTA coming).