Kingdom Come: Deliverance (45/30$)
This is Par.
Kingdom Come Deliverance has rough edges that are going to turn people off in the first few hours. Yet, if the player can get to the point where the world opens up to them, they will have some of the most engaging gameplay experiences of all time. KC: Deliverance captures a feeling of freedom that is lacking from modern RPG’s, and I think that to have that freedom produces rough edges. The game will allow you to straight up break some quests, or simply stand on top of a high rock and shoot at enemies who can’t hurt you. More than likely the enemies will run out of range and wait, or pick up a bow themselves, but the game does not punish the player for doing things like this and that feels great. The whole game feels great after a while.
KC:D wouldn’t win any awards for performance or graphics, but it does a great job bringing the player into the mindset of being in medieval Europe. Which is important because there are no fantasy elements to this game. Instead, the game hooks the player with time period appropriate stories and quests. One of the first quests is getting payment for tools Henry’s dad sold. Only the guy doesn’t want to pay. So you can try and beat him in a fight one on one, you can help your boys who then help you beat him, you can talk him into it, or steal it. As the game progresses the options get more nuanced and varied. The best part is the world reacts to your actions in a meaningful way. If you cheat on your girlfriend she can find out. If you kill people after they give up, people will call you mean and your honor falls. These aren’t new concepts, but they are implemented so much better than other modern RPGs. The story itself is not bad, but the side stories are great. You’ll seek out the advice of wise monks and stalk marauders through the forest at night. These quests really come alive through the cohesion of the world. You might be infiltrating a monastery to find a murderer, but it never feels ridiculous when you are plaything through it. Owed largely impart to the small scale of the story and goal of trying to be historically accurate.
The problem is life wasn’t fun back then. KC:D does a good job of striking a balance between realistic detail and unfun gameplay factors. But there are definitely systems that feel clunky and unfair. Fighting is not fast and fluid as in other first person sword fighting games. The player will have to think of their angle, timing, and power of their strikes as they face off against the various bandits and brigands found in KCD. It’s hard and feels bad at first. But the fluidity of the system reveals itself as Henry (and by extension the player) learns the ins and outs of the systems as they fight more. Same with horseback riding, same with brewing, same with blacksmithing, it all takes time and effort on the players part to get better. Which might slow pacing for players compared to other games that evenly round out a players all skills as they level. This can feel awful, and makes quick runs through the game hard to enjoy. Despite there being loads of replay value.
So the real issue with the game is the slog of learning how to play the game. Yet, as the player learns the game they get this feeling of mastery over systems the world around them. It’s not all doom and gloom, there are many laughs to be had on this adventure and it helps keep the player engaged through the slow start. Yet, when you get your horse, a good set of armour, a sword, and finally learn some of the mechanics to combat. You start to feel like a knight, not some mythical badass, but a normal night and that feels so refreshing compared to every game about a perfect “chosen one” with magical powers.. Then you couple that with the fact that it is historically accurate (to the extent that anything is) with locations based on real world parts of Europe and great DLC content that are worth their price. Coming from an independent studio, this game feels as good as anything Bethesda has done in the past 5 years. It has main plot of 40 hours replay value through choices and playstyles, and feels so different to play, which can not be undervalued (45/30$).
