Kingdom Come Deliverance II brings us back to 15th century Medieval Europe once more. Step into the shoes of young Henry of Skalitz once more and look to embark on a once in a lifetime journey. For a second time.

Kingdom Comer Deliverance II picks up following the events of the first game and quickly throws us into the turmoil of political violence, and bizarre fist fighting, sword fighting and dice throwing once again. Fear not if you’re unfamiliar with the first game however, Kingdom Come 2 takes us on a brand-new journey that doesn’t require you to be at all familiar with the first title. It would behove you to have some familiarity or at the very least an understanding of the gameplay of the first game, but beyond that this is a truly stand-alone experience.

The characters will often litter stories and events of the first game, through conversations they have with other NPCS, boasting about outcomes (and allowing you input on how these stories are told), so that you are given a decent insight into the events of the previous game, without being forced to fully comprehend it. Further to this, the game stands completely on its own feet in terms of narrative, which considering the barrier to entry that both games have, is incredibly beneficial.

I feel something happened on the way to the jousting

The barrier to entry is a big thing for people to understand going into Kingdom Come Deliverance II. Similarly to the first game, this game could almost be described as a medieval living simulator. On top of needing to keep on top of eating enough (but not too much), as well as needing to sleep enough, wrap bleeding injuries in bandages, and a myriad of other daily survival things. You’ll also become acutely aware of the sheer difficulty of the combat itself. The game is hard, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything that mostly realistic (most people can’t parry a wolf bite and then hit it with a sword twice).

That said, if you can get past the initial frustration with the learning curve, and simply throw yourself into the game? You are in for a fantastic time. There is a world of intrigue and unique encounters to engage with and explore. Walking from town to town, you might be greeted by a drunk looking for some groschen to get drunk with, bandits robbing a traveller, or some very upset wolves. Moving from town to town, you’ll get to learn the lives of the different NPCS, assist them in both dedicated side content, as well as exploring areas of interest that they reveal to you through discussion. There is an unbelievable amount of content available almost from the word go, which alongside the learning curve can be daunting.

But I don’t think this actively works against Kingdom Come 2, however. The difficulty encourages you to quickly learn how the game works. To realise that you aren’t the all-powerful indestructible hero, but simply Henry of Skalitz, the adopted son of a Blacksmith who is trying his best to fit in a world that he may really not quite belong in. Combat stays persistently difficult and is probably the area I would have liked to have seen the most work in simplifying just a little more. Its not a huge problem, but I ran into a situation where both pathways towards my main quest had two bandits robbing a traveller. Both had a heavily armoured bandit, that was impossible to even do any damage to in my first couple hours of gameplay, let alone attempt to kill both.

This is a quit point, for most players. For a lot of players this may just be the point they put it down and refuse to pick it up. Pushing through resulted in an unbelievably entertaining and engaging ten hours to follow, but it’s also the point where I had to ask, ‘is this game really for me?’, which is not something you want people to be asking of themselves. I think a little bit of a difficulty decrease at first could really benefit in letting people get fully involved in the game before they get deterred. It’s a risk, yes, but one I think the developers may want to look at before full release, as a balancing issue.

The world is the best part, however. If I had known beforehand that unlocking my horse early was both doable and super handy, I probably would have put the time in a little earlier to do so, but. Running from town to town, experiencing the random events and encounters, and accepting more and more side content. There’s something pure about just running about the European countryside and not having an overbearing and thumping pressure to do anything but what you want to do. Be it pickpocketing and stealing, or saving people from bandits and haggling with merchants, you can just, do it. The parts of the game where you aren’t being made to fight tend to be the more enjoyable sections. The story itself is ironically a little bit light in the section I was allowed to play, but there is multiple pathways to the same outcome that change things just slightly. By the time you get to the first major story plot point however, things do feel like they are beginning to ratchet up a little, so I am interested to see how things progress from the wedding onwards.

Peeling an apple used to require some serious protection

I’ve only had around twelve hours with Kingdom Come Deliverance II so far, but I am completely enthralled. Things are beginning to heat up, now that I’ve begun to understand how to play the game a little bit more, I’m finding it harder to pull myself away from it. There is so much here to engage with, and explore, and the ‘survival’ aspects are enhancing to the overall game. Kingdom Come Deliverance II is off to a really promising start, with only some mild grievances with the early learning curve requirements and the danger of pushing players away from getting to enjoy what is truly on offer here.

The game will arrive on February 5th for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. If you want to pick up a copy for yourself, then be sure to check out our Bargain Guide for the game.