One of my favorite titles to come out in the last ten years, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, is finally getting a sequel, taking us back to Medieval Bohemia for an all new, historically-based adventure.
Stepping right back into Henry’s sabatons, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II picks up the story where we left off in the first installment, this time taking players to the large German city of Kuttenberg inside of Bohemia. During a hands-on demo at PAX West, Warhorse Studios’ PR Manager Tobias Stolz-Zwilling, told MMORPG.com that the upcoming RPG set in Medieval Europe aims to follow three pillars: be authentically medieval, create an immersive ARPG, and tell an epic historical drama.
One could be forgiven for thinking that the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance was a bit too authentic to its roots, especially with how it handles combat versus many other first-person, sword and board style games. Thankfully, many of the clunkier systems, like its’ combat, have been streamlined in KCD:2 to make it a little bit easier to get into but still retain that level of finesse and difficulty that requires you to work at it to master.
During our demo, I was dropped into the streets of Kuttenberg about 50-60 hours into the RPG, where I met master swordsman Menhard von Frankfurt. Invited to start a sword school in Kuttenberg by King Wenceslas, he’s facing opposition with an already established swordmaster in the city and a town council that is seemingly determined to oppose the will of the rightful king (likely scared of what the pretender Sigismund will do to them if they do).
After chatting a bit with Menhard about his predicament, I’m plunged into a friendly duel with the swordmeister to prove I’m worthy of his time. It’s here where the streamlined nature of KCD:2’s combat was made clear to me, as the pace of the fight was much more fluid than any fight I had in the original. Combat is still directional, meaning you’ll change the angle of your weapon and where you want to strike, and you’ll need to match the same direction to block your opponent, but even this feels less cumbersome than before. Additionally, the downward directionals are combined now, so there’s no need to try to block either down-left or down-right - it’s just down now.
I also appreciated that the green shield icon from the original was back when trying to time up blocks. Combat is still a game of managing your resources as well, as lower stamina means you won’t be able to block or attack properly. I also appreciated the fact that as Menhard battered me into the mud, screen effects such as blood dripping into Henry’s eyes to blurring made me think I was actually there for a fleeting moment.
Once successfully battered, the duel was put to a stop by the law, with the competing swordmeister approaching and claiming that Menhard was teaching swordcraft illegally since there could only be one sword school in the town.
This is where another major aspect of Kingdom Come Deliverance: 2 was on full display: its branching dialogue choices. Tobi told me during my demo that each conversation reply Henry could use can cause ripples across the whole questline, causing the story to play out much differently, from Menhard being cast out of the town altogether to helping Menhard not only avoid exile, but a fine altogether.
As someone who typically just likes to move from one sword fight to the next, the branching storylines that can be found simply by talking my way out of trouble might be lost on me. But I’m really happy that Warhorse sees the value in this type of gameplay. For what Tobi described as a “tiny side quest,” the way it plays out can vary to such a degree that it could make me want to replay everything just to see another angle. I ended up helping Menhard avoid both exile and a fine for fighting in the street by claiming I had taken a fancy to his daughter, and Menhard was simply defending her honor.
What I loved about this isn’t simply that I was able to continue the quest without having to cough over some gold but that Menhard himself wasn’t quite happy with my approach, claiming that I had embarrassed him and dishonored his daughter in the process. It was an incredibly realistic response in the heat of the moment, and one that drew me ever more into the quest.
In the end, I was sent on a mission to steal the Guild Sword from the competing swordmeister’s hall, a quest that tested my non-existent stealth abilities. I’m terrible at stealth games, though as I slinked through Kuttenberg’s mud-soaked streets, trying to find the elaborate guild hall, I actually started to feel like I was doing pretty well. A passerby complained I wasn’t carrying a torch, and I ignored that, thinking to myself that if I was trying to be sneaky, why would I carry a torch that could be seen by all.
I found the guild hall, picked my way through the main entryway and found myself up on the top floor, a guard nearby face first on the table, drunk. I snuck past him and lifted the sword from its place on the wall - securing my victory.
The goal is to hang this sword on the town hall, which would signify that the guild was taking challengers to their claim of being the best swordsmen and swordmeisters in the town. Menhard von Frankfurt hoped that by defeating the guild’s leader in combat he could assert he was the true master, and his sword school could be established per the King’s wishes.
As I made my way through the streets, innocently picking my way through the shadows and trying to avoid any guards, I made a mistake as I crossed a dirt road into a central square. The town of Kuttenberg is huge - much larger than any of the settlements in Kingdom Come: Deliverance before it, and it was rather easy to get lost in its winding streets. I crossed over only to realize I was going the wrong way. Instead of waiting to make sure the coast was clear, I walked onto the street and in the path of an oncoming guard.
The guard, to his credit, didn’t immediately chase me down, but instead called after me to try to get my attention. But I was sort of afraid of the guards, considering I was carrying a massive, conspicuous weapon that happened to be stolen. However, after a stern warning, the guard commanded me to halt, and realizing the jig was up, I stopped and waited.
Surprisingly, the guard wasn’t stopping me for stealing the sword, but to tell me I was breaking the law by not walking around with a torch at night, and then waited until I lit one.
“See, was that so hard?” he said sarcastically and went on his way. I assumed all was well, and went along my way, eventually hanging the sword at the town hall, and then went to sleep.
The next morning I went to admire my handiwork and a cutscene kicked off, showing the opposing guild furious their sword was there, but acknowledging they could not simply back down now that the challenge had been issued. Menhard, his companion and I waltzed in to issue the duel, only for Henry to be confronted for stealing the sword.
Apparently, I wasn’t as stealthy as I thought, and though the guard hadn’t stopped me for the sword, other people must have seen me leave the guild hall with the weapon and then eventually hang the sword on the wall. As a result, the duel between Menhard’s guild and the rival guild would see our side fight with a disadvantage: we could wear no armor while the opposing guild could.
I was set to help Menhard fight for his right to his sword school when my demo time was up. It was here that Tobi told me that this was but a “tiny” sidequest in the upcoming RPG, and I was somewhat taken aback by that statement, given that I had just spent forty-five minutes in the quest and it seemed far from complete when my time ended. If this is a tiny sidequest, I’m incredibly eager to see how Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s larger sidequests, and eventually the main storyline, shape up. I was so drawn in by this petty disagreement, yet this is just one story in the grander one that Warhorse Studios is trying to tell in their highly anticipated sequel.
I left wanting to play more - much more. I’ll be eagerly awaiting Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s February release date, eager to get back to this side quest and see its ending.
