Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – Brushes with Death Review – A Quietly Captivating Return

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 – Brushes with Death Review

Adding DLC to a narrative-driven game is a tricky proposition. On one hand, it can’t significantly re-write the story players have already experienced. Nor can the new content change the existing story arc in a meaningful way, because lots of players might skip it. Brushes with Death, the first of three DLCs for this year’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, does as good a job as any in threading the needle. Players who have seen end credits roll will appreciate the invitation to drop back in on their buddy Henry. New players will just experience Brushes with Death as another of the game’s many elaborate side quests.

Brushes with Death is obviously no Shadow of the Erdtree. It doesn’t open up vast new areas or surprising new mechanics. Although, side note, the free patch/update does make some balance changes and drops in some new abilities like archery on horseback. Instead, Brushes with Death gives the player around ten to twelve hours of narrative, quests, and characters for $6US, which is a pretty darn good deal.

Let Me Paint a Picture

Brushes with Death begins in a familiar forest near Trosky Castle, with Henry coming across an artist named Voyta tied to a tree, mumbling to a skull all Hamlet-like. A pair of thugs has robbed him of his brushes and dice and Henry goes off to right the wrong. This is the start of a lengthy quest that sends Henry FedEx-ing around the map, engaging in lots of dialogue, the occasional bit of combat and deepening his new-found friendship with the enigmatic artist.

The end payoff — aside from the pleasure of the narrative — is an NPC that can paint Henry’s shields with all manner of heraldry. It’s a nice finishing touch for endgame players that are into Henry’s fashion and armor. The story doesn’t reveal any big surprises about the world or main narrative but absolutely adds even more depth and character to the game’s slice of medieval Bohemia.

Who’s It For, You Ask?

Brushes with Death is a little weird in that, although it can be accessed pretty early on, it assumes players have some pre-existing skills and experience, decent weapons and armor and have already opened up later parts of the map. What this means is that players on a first or new playthrough will need to organically fold Brushes with Death into their evolving character, and return to it in bits and pieces as they do with other side quests. Actually, this is probably the ideal scenario, where the DLC just disappears seamlessly into the whole.

Players who have already done everything have a new reason to return and it might take them a lot less time to grind through the story. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 made a big splash back when it was released. It rightly received a lot of praise, but gamers have short memories. Returning to Henry’s world will definitely remind you how good — if occasionally opaque — the base game can be.

The free update available to everyone is a big one. It doesn’t make any sweeping changes but tweaks little things like the appropriate availability of higher-end goods in the big city. There are reports that the update also introduced some graphical issues for some systems, and I did experience a little bit of unpredictable weirdness on horseback and a crash or two. Then again, that was true with the base game pre-patch.

Chump Change

I can’t say Brushes with Death is essential, but it does add an entertaining new side-story and character to an already richly imagined world. For its modest price, new players get even more KCD2 to discover. Returning players get an excuse to revisit Henry and his world, like playing catch-up with an old friend for a few hours. Brushes with Death definitely makes an already excellent game just a little more interesting.

***PC code provided by the publisher for review***