Less is more: the open world
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 shines in another aspect that many AAA blockbusters have increasingly made formulaic over the years: the design of the world. Instead of expecting a map plastered with symbols and repetitive busywork at every corner, you’ll find two expansive regions, with wide meadows, dense forests, and idyllic streams as well as rivers, where nothing can happen for minutes.
While you can only track a certain number of quests so that you can see on the map or via the compass where you need to go for these tasks, it’s just as important that you keep your eyes open, read the texts related to the quests, or sometimes study a map (or remember information from a conversation you overheard).
The story trailer for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2:
Heinrich sometimes has to search environments thoroughly to find clues for how to proceed. Or he must reach the quest location at a certain time of day or by a specific point in time to fulfill the task.
If you race through the world with blinders on and only follow the homoeopathically placed markers, you might easily miss an exciting location, one treasure or another, or even a few quest givers.
There are already plans for the time after launch:
Not an RPG for all player types
So should I definitely buy and play KCD2? Only if everything described so far resonates with you completely. For example, my wife likes role-playing games but cannot handle the first-person perspective fundamentally. She quickly feels sick because of it. Too bad, marmalade.
With the scope increased even further compared to the first part, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is also not a game that can be casually played through. This is further exacerbated by the fact that you cannot save freely at any time, but can quickly fail (and thus lose quite a bit of game progress). If you do not have the time and calm to invest 70 to 100 hours in KCD2, you should hold back.
Also keep in mind that the story of the second part is based directly on the events of Kingdom Come from 2018. While the sequel cleverly weaves memories of important moments from part 1 into the first gaming hours, it is of course not a full replacement.
Only those who have painstakingly learned to read and fight with Heinrich, experienced the storm on his homeland, survived monastic life, and built a connection with characters like Hans will fully enjoy Kingdom Come 2 in my view. Since that can also easily take 40 to 60 hours, that might mean too much of a time investment for some.
And the fact that you can look at Kingdom Come 2 quite differently than I can is shown by the opinion of my colleague Johanna, who not only completed the role-playing game but even dissected it for the GameStar special issue:
I love the gameplay. The possibilities are enormous. Do I build Heinrich into a strong swordsman or a bow-shooting dog whisperer? Then the dialogue options: Is Heinrich a manipulative snake or is he trying to convince his counterpart with compromises?
However, I did not warm up to Heinrich as a character – just like in the first part. To me, our main character has nothing I can identify with. Perhaps it’s also because emotional outbursts are rare, and the otherwise lifeless facial animations do not contribute to my empathy for him.
Also for other characters, I simply can’t get much invested, which prevents me from empathizing with the story. What remains is a game that convinces me in terms of gameplay but fails to excite me in terms of story and characters.
Anyone else looking for more general information about the new game from the Warhorse Studios – such as versions, scope, system requirements, or the map – should best check out our overview article on Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.
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