Disclaimer
Spoilers for the prologue of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 follow below.
Though it's been nearly seven years to the day since the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance — Warhorse Studios' debut open-world RPG set in medieval 15th Century Bohemia — first released in 2018, the sequel picks up exactly where it left off: with protagonist Henry and deuteragonist Sir Hans Capon on a journey to deliver a critical missive to the lord of Trosky, Otto von Bergow, amidst an escalating civil war. The pair's journey through the fief constitutes the prologue of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and thanks to an early access review code from Deep Silver, I had the opportunity to play through it ahead of its scheduled February 4 release date.
The game's opening hours begin with Henry, Sir Hans, and his squires taking in the idyllic sights of Trosky's woodlands as they travel, though the situation quickly becomes tense when they encounter a company of Bergow's men. Their leader, Captain Thomas, reveals that Bergow's allegiance lies with Sigismund of Luxembourg, who (with the support of Bohemian nobility) kidnapped King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia to take the crown for himself. Representing nobles still loyal to Wenceslas, Henry and Sir Hans fear that things will come to blows, though Captain Thomas ultimately diffuses the situation, explaining that he and his men are out hunting a ruthless band of bandits.
After they depart, it's decided that our heroes will make camp by a nearby pond since they won't be able to reach Trosky Castle before nightfall. It's at this time that players are introduced to the basics of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's speech and combat mechanics, as Henry tries to convince one of the squires in their retinue to give his dog a sausage and practices swordplay with Sir Hans. This is also when you're able to give Henry some starting skill proficiencies through dialogue with your comrades around a campfire, as well as get some awkwardly conveyed, but detailed exposition about Henry's backstory and the events of the first Kingdom Come if you need it.
Before retiring, Henry and Sir Hans opt to bathe in the pond by their camp, though they soon hear the siren song of young women giggling by reeds in the water nearby. Just as they're about to approach them, though, the bandits that Captain Thomas was searching for spring an ambush, ruthlessly killing all of Sir Hans' squires (the dog lives, don't worry! He just runs away, and can be found later) and threatening to harm the women, as well. Some brave shouting from Henry distracts the brigands and gives the girls an opportunity to flee, but as a consequence, he ends up getting shot with an arrow as he and Sir Hans attempt to swim to the bank on the other side of the pond. The bandits quickly circle around and send out hunting parties, forcing the pair to stealthily evade them while trying to retreat to safety. Just as they're about to make their escape, though, one of the outlaws catches up to Henry and tumbles off a cliff with him after a desperate struggle. He breaks Henry's fall and dies as a result, but Henry is left critically wounded (this is the in-game explanation for Henry's reversion back to the weak, clumsy state he was in at the start of the first title).
Sir Hans helps Henry traverse the dark forest they find themselves in, then, as the latter deliriously relives the sacking of his hometown Skalitz and the murder of his parents by Sigismund's army that occurred in Kingdom Come: Deliverance's opening (more exposition, basically). Eventually, they stumble across a peasant woman's hovel, and she agrees to nurse Henry back to health. Immediately afterwards, however, one of the marauders looking for the two tracks them to the home and bursts in, attacking Sir Hans. Though the nobleman is able to kill the bandit, he also suffers numerous lacerations, leaving both men severely wounded.
Things slow down, here, as both men rest and some survival and alchemy tutorials see Henry get some food in his stomach, pick herbs, help the old woman brew some medicine, bury the corpse of the slain brigand, and wash himself off in a trough. After this — and after an encounter with some suspicious men that Henry can either resolve with a sharp tongue or the old woman's woodcutting axe — Sir Hans wakes the next morning, and after sharing breakfast with the woman and her returning daughter, the pair set off for Trosky Castle.
On foot, it's a journey as long as it is scenic, but it ends tragically: Henry and Sir Hans are turned away at the gate with threats and an overturned chamber pot since they lost their shiny armor and don't have their letter on-hand, forcing them to retreat to a nearby village to try and figure out what to do next. While there, Henry learns that there will soon be a noble wedding Otto von Bergow will attend, and plans to try and find a job working the event so that he might find a way to speak with the man. Sir Hans ends up starting a fistfight with someone who questions his nobility, though, leading to a full-on bar brawl that gets himself and Henry placed in pillories in the middle of the town square. Once they're finally set free, the prologue ends.
Playing and talking about content beyond Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's opening was restricted for this preview, and since it was largely a linear experience from start to finish, I can't speak to the quality and liveliness of its open world map just yet. What was immediately clear to me, however, is that the sequel seems like it's going to be every bit as captivating as its predecessor was. The conflict between affable Henry's desire to do the right thing and the darker side of him that thirsts for vengeance against his family's killers has always been enjoyable, especially with medieval Europe and the juxtaposition of its beauty and brutalism as a backdrop. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, though, looks to elevate that narrative even higher with noticeably more emotive voice acting, a wider array of finely detailed animations, and stunning picturesque scenes that had me gawking for minutes at a time (I'm on travel and stuck with a 1080p gaming laptop at the moment, but I can't wait to get back home and play this on my RTX 4070 Ti SUPER-powered ultrawide setup).
By playing through the prologue and its tutorials, I've also caught wind of a few new ways this medieval setting will react to your gameplay choices. The sequel now has something of a "heat" level that increases guard alertness and drives the commonfolk to arm themselves in towns where violence and crime start occurring frequently. On top of this, NPCs are now able to potentially deduce that you were the culprit if they come across a crime scene or discover an item was stolen; on top of simply making sure you aren't seen during the act, you'll also have to avoid being spotted leaving the area.
Speech, too, has become a bit more nuanced. Even in the game's opening hours, I noticed that dialogue options seem to have more of a lasting impact than they did in the original, with choices you make earlier in a conversation potentially affecting your ability to persuade or intimidate someone later in it. Like the first game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 also takes everything from your appearance and reputation to an NPC's position in society into account; a peasant isn't likely to believe you're a noble if you're dirty and wearing a threadbare outfit, and a cutthroat probably won't take threats of violence seriously unless you're visibly armed and armored up.
The first title's The Elder Scrolls-style approach to skills and progression has also returned, with Henry gradually getting better at pretty much everything you can do in the game the more he does it. As you level these skills up, you'll be able to take special perks for major advantages in moment-to-moment gameplay. One, for example, makes it so that enemies become demoralized if they witness you cut down one of their allies. In general, if this sequel is like 2018's Kingdom Come, you'll be able to play it like an immersive sim and use different skills and playstyles to complete quests in your preferred ways.
Speaking of the combat, it's the one part of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 I fear may be less engaging than what came before despite additions like crossbows and early firearms, though I can't say that for certain without getting far deeper into the experience. Still, there are now only four melee attack angles to worry about instead of five, and the window for parrying strikes and landing ripostes has been increased generously to the point where none of the early-game fights were challenging at all. Perhaps things will get tougher now that I'm out of the prologue.
Even with that worry taken into account, though, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has managed to absolutely hook me with its writing, characters, and presentation alone, and I wholeheartedly believe it could be one of this year's best Xbox games and best PC games. At Medium settings, it's also running very well on my RTX 3070 laptop — something that's great to see, considering how infamously unstable the first game was on PC for a while (its hardware roughly matches the recommended PC specs for Medium). I'm excited to jump back in soon and continue playing for my full review on February 3, so keep an eye out for it next month!
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is scheduled to come out on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (both Steam and the Epic Games Store), and PS5 on February 4, 2025. It's available to preorder now for $59.99 on PC and $69.99 on console, though the Steam version is currently on sale at CDKeys for $44.59. That makes the PC edition the best one to get as long as your rig is capable of running it.
