On February 4, 2025, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 will be released. Time to recall the events of Part 1 – at least that’s what MeinMMO editor Alexander Schürlein thought. But after a short time in the game, he realized that a repetition is also sensible for another reason.
It is February 13, 2018. A new role-playing game makes its debut, which had somehow captivated me from its very first trailer. As a huge fan of medieval settings and profound role-playing games, I simply had to have Kingdom Come Deliverance.
So, it was done, and the adventure of Heinrich moved into my PlayStation 4. I was instantly enchanted. The whole atmosphere captivated me and allowed me to sink completely into it. I must say that I am someone who really enjoys visiting medieval markets and has often participated in them in the past.
Kingdom Come Deliverance struck right in this vein with its entire presentation. It had sneaked into my heart within minutes. However, this was somewhat dampened when it came to the first battles. There I received quite a beating and felt like I couldn’t do anything against it.
In my view, the combat system turned out to be the Achilles’ heel of the otherwise great role-playing game, even after longer gameplay. To prepare myself for the second part, I started another playthrough a few weeks ago. So that I am mentally equipped for the renewed frustrations.
From Apprentice Blacksmith to Knight
What is terrible about the combat system? With a more realistic and as authentic as possible approach, you start as what Heinrich actually is: a young man who works as an apprentice in his father’s forge. He has combat experience mostly from tavern brawls, which makes sense.
Just because he forges swords and knows how to wield them does not mean he has a chance in a realistic fight. You have to actively practice so that Heinrich can do something against his tormentors. And that’s quite a bit and for a long time.
Moreover, practice is not only important for Heinrich’s stats but definitely also for the player himself. Because the combat system differs significantly from what you are used to in action RPGs. Attacks come from various directions, which also have to be parried and countered.
Additionally, there are some maneuvers where you can grab or shove the opponent. The tutorial briefly explains how all this works. However, I felt that it did not adequately prepare you for the world “out there”.
Fights in Kingdom Come Deliverance often have to be well planned and approached with caution. The rather clumsy controls do not help and require quite some practice. Besides input errors, which lead to Heinrich not executing what you pressed, suddenly appearing enemy groups can make your life hell.
Since you play the game in first-person perspective, you hardly notice what the enemies beside or behind you are doing, and can respond correspondingly little. Additionally, the camera and controls make it difficult to target and eliminate specific enemies.
This can quickly lead to dying despite good planning and careful tactics. And depending on when it was last saved, this can easily result in losing significant gameplay progress. This has frustrated me quite a bit and only improved somewhat after I had invested many hours into the game.
Why is additional practice useful as preparation for Part 2? Especially because the combat system is different from many others in typical role-playing games, it can’t hurt to refresh the practice. I have found that after such a long break, one quickly feels just like Heinrich at the beginning of the game – like a complete loser.
It takes time to adjust to the combat system and to get used to the controls. You have to develop individual systems that suit your playstyle to compensate for the weaknesses of the combat system. Since Heinrich has, of course, developed within the story in Part 2, it doesn’t feel so good for me to start the next adventure with this knowledge.
Therefore, I use the time until the release so that I can hopefully continue my journey at Heinrich’s side with much less frustration.
Why is Kingdom Come Deliverance still so good? Fights in Kingdom Come Deliverance are important but only make up a small part of the whole. I had the time of my life while searching for plants for alchemy, hunting in the forests, or competing with other knights in tournaments.
For me, the game belongs among the best medieval simulations and is a really great role-playing game despite its technical weaknesses. And I am very curious to see how Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 will ultimately perform.
The problem of lost playtime and save points is expected to be less of an issue. Because the new installment is set to feature an improvement that directly addresses this criticism: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2: A small improvement makes the RPG significantly less frustrating than its predecessor
