Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Preview
As gamers, we are often disappointed when anticipated releases don’t quite reach their potential. Or worse, fail spectacularly. Happily, that doesn’t appear to be on the horizon for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. It’s one of the games I’ve most looked forward to in 2025. I’ve spent some hours with the game and not only is it a huge leap forward from the original, it’s an incredibly dense, engaging good time.
The new game takes place not long after the events of the first title. It once again stars the same leading character, the adopted blacksmith’s son Henry Skalitz. In the long tutorial chapter, Henry accompanies the affable and likewise insufferable Sir Hans Capon into the countryside to deliver a letter to a neighboring noble. Along the way, Henry has a chance to practice — or fail at — diplomacy, combat, dice, and stealth. Not to mention wench-watching and crafting.
It takes its sweet time, but the introductory chapter is pretty amazing. Drama, humo,r and violence are all part of the fabric. Players of the first game can’t help but be impressed by the level of cinematic polish and great performance capture.
Henry the Second
Players of the first game will recognize most of the game’s systems. Like the first game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is an RPG/Medieval life simulator. While it naturally takes some game-like liberties, there’s a feeling of authenticity throughout. Knight’s chafe at their chafing armor. Shopkeepers argue. Melee combat is weighty, slow, and deliberate.Â
RPG systems are deep and complex and shape nearly every aspect of Henry’s experience. Systems for weapon skills and reputation, dialog choices, and crafting allow the player to mold Henry in an infinite number of directions. He begins the game as a bit of a prude and worried protector, but anything goes after that.
Developer Warhorse recognized that the first game’s combat was authentic but rather unforgiving. At least for the first few hours, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II ratchets down the challenge. Combat has overall been streamlined and marginally simplified. I very much look forward to trying out a wider range of weapons — like medieval gunpowder weapons — later in the game.
Defying Expectations
The best RPGs encourage the player to get lost in their worlds. In truth, this rarely happens. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II’s version of medieval Bohemia feels alive with detail and small moments of real history. But there’s nothing stuffy about Henry’s experience. Of course, I’ve only dipped into the larger game as my access to the preview came very late. Whether Warhorse can maintain the exemplary level of immersion remains to be seen.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance was unique among first-person action games. But to be honest, it also suffered from a bit of “Euro-jank” and rough edges. This doesn’t seem to be the case with the sequel, which runs incredibly well (so far) in 4K with all settings maxed. Few games of this scope and complexity come out of the gate as polished as Kingdom Come: Deliverance II seems to be.
The world Kingdom Come: Deliverance II looks amazing and sounds beautifully detailed. The voice acting by Tom McKay and Luke Dale (as Henry and Hans, respectively) is immensely entertaining. The dialogue does a great job of both defining its leading characters and filling in the backstory for new players. The game’s musical score by Jan Valta and Adam Sporka is sweeping, cinematic, and powerful. It definitely sets a very high musical bar for 2025’s games. I can’t wait to give it a stand-alone listen outside the game.
Poised and Ready
Kingdom Come: Deliverance gave players an unforgiving and engrossing medieval playground. It had just enough issues, however, to be off-putting to many players. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II looks to improve on literally every aspect of the first game, from story to mechanics. From what I’ve played so far, Warhorse has wildly succeeded.
Thank you for keeping it locked on COGconnected.
