Wonderful News!
Be it the impartial herald of much a joyous proclamation: I have recently played one of the best games I have ever picked up the controller for. It’s not a generic FPS, nor a friendslop coop, and nowhere near any battle royale selling golden A$AP Rocky skins; I encountered a Medieval RPG so perfect in execution that I myself can’t help but spend my hours—mainly in my classes and extracurriculars—just imagining the historic adventures offered by this game. I am of course talking about Warhorse’s latest and greatest title to date: Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (KCD2).
What a World!
Warhorse, sparing no expense for the accuracy of the game’s environment, produces an undeniably grounded ecosystem that perfectly renders the Czech Republic’s Bohemian Paradise. Including everything from expansive forests and winding creeks to lush meadows where your character may collect regional herbs, the environment you experience in KCD2 lacks nothing in its geographic majesty. Locations—cities, towns, rivers, topography—across the world’s two maps consist of real places, which the development team, working with numerous historians, closely modeled on the structures and histories of the 15th-century Czech world. With castles that overlook the wooded landscape, traders who haggle with you over the prices of your wares (money based on the historical coinage, the groschen), hired laborers sewing out in fields, KCD2 does not make you the center of the world, but rather a fresh eye to look upon the open, green expanse.
Though the game settles the player in a realistic depiction of Bohemia, without the fantasy elements akin to such games, bluntly, the game doesn’t enthrall the player with fantastic power or ability; in fact, it does the exact opposite. Unavoidable from the start, you begin your tale in KCD2 with nothing: no skilled swordsmanship, no powerful attacks, no good speech skills, no knowledge of anything you can do or can’t do. The game forces your character to be as clueless as you when playing a new game. What strikes me as the most impressive and addictive quality of KCD2 is that nothing comes out of nowhere. Henry, the main character who represents your deeds throughout the playthrough, is completely ignorant of everything transpiring around him. New sword attacks only become available on sparing swordsmen who are often more experienced than you and can anticipate the movement of your blade with deadly precision. To be a good craftsman, one must put in the hours at the forge. To be a good archer, one must compete and anticipate shots without the assistance of a cursor. Not keen on letting the player comfortably reside in the game off the get-go, KDC2 demands that your experience comes from, well, experience!
However, this does not mean the game is one long grind to even start playing. Though I found it impossible to even vanquish a single bandit in my early encounters in the game, when I put in the effort on my swordfighting, I can now foresee and deflect numerous attacks with ease, and riposte with grandmaster strikes! Everything to become in the game, I learned by experiencing and working to achieve. There are plenty of activities in the land to professionalize in, with one particularly focused on the medicinal concoctions of this period: potion brewing. You may decant the potions and poisons necessary for your noble quests and violent encounters (or for a quick way to level up), and use herbs you collected or traded for to brew respectable batches. If it’s a more knightly activity you want your valiant character to practice, the art of swordsmithing is practiced at smithies across the map. Forging blades graded on the precision of your striking, the player receives a firsthand exercise in the craftsmanship processes of the era. The attention to detail within the game, entailing the medieval world, gives a lived patina only accomplished through the dedication of an inspired staff.
It’s Alive!
Situated in the Czech city of Prague, Warhorse Studios began with the ambition to produce medieval and fantasy-inspired video games, but with only two games to their name thus far, there are boundless opportunities for the rising studio. The game was released on February 4th, 2025. In May of 2026, Warehorse, with a rising staff of 250, announced it would simultaneously begin developing another sequel to the Kingdom Come franchise as well as an adaptation game for the Middle-earth genre.
For all that this game inspires me to achieve in valor and vigor, I rate it 5 groschen out of 5
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