Review: Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

When Kingdom Come: Deliverance first launched, there was a part of me that felt it was unfairly treated. On the outset, it presented itself as a medieval role-playing adventure with deep, intricate systems and mechanics, a vast world to explore and a level of realism and immersion rarely seen in gaming today. In reality, it was exactly that as well as a slow-burn role-playing game that forced you to get on its wavelength to really appreciate. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II doesn’t do anything to streamline or compromise that experience. In fact, developer Warhorse Studios simply doubles down on the formula with a bigger budget, making for a wholly unique, inventive and incredibly demanding time-sinker of an RPG that lands strikes more than it fumbles.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II follows our protagonist Henry during 15th Century Bohemia. Henry is now serving as the loyal bodyguard of a nobleman named Sir Hans Capon. Accompanying Hans on a diplomatic mission to barter peace with a warring kingdom, Henry is suddenly thrust into a new conflict after his squad is attacked and killed by bandits. Along the way, Henry must do everything he can to survive and adjust to this unexpected turn of events, literally starting from scratch to rebuild his image and take part in the political upheaval ravaging the kingdom.

From the moment you see the first cutscene in the game, it’s clear that Kingdom Come: Deliverance II has a considerably larger budget and more resources than its predecessor. The first game was a humble Kickstarter passion project so Warhorse Studios already had a blueprint to work with in the sequel. Instead of taking the easy way out and streamlining the experience while dialling back on the realism and immersion – criticisms that were understandably fair in the first game – Warhorse Studios simply leaned into it, creating a sequel that’s visually and mechanically superior in every sense of the word.

From the moment you see the first cutscene in the game, it’s clear that Kingdom Come: Deliverance II has a considerably larger budget and more resources than its predecessor.

That said, if you didn’t enjoy the first game, there’s a very low chance that you’ll enjoy Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Much of what made its predecessor so immersive and unique has been dialled up to 11 in the sequel, and for the better. After Henry is left for dead and has to start his new life, it’s literally a cold reset on everything he had learned before. From there, you’re pretty much left to your own devices. The game doesn’t hold your hand in the slightest – it’s kind of comparable to last year’s Dragon’s Dogma 2, another RPG that took a hands-off approach to player choice and freedom. Henry manages to be both a compelling character and a blank slate at the same time; hardened by his past but sharpened by his choices, actions and the inevitable consequences he has to face.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II demands a lot from you and practically forces you to get on board with its rhythm. There’s a deliberately slow, methodical pace to everything you do in the game, from conversing with NPCs to crafting to smithing to combat and everything in-between. It can all feel a bit overwhelming if you’re a new player – at times, it can even feel like these systems are actively working against you – though I’d argue that’s ultimately what makes this such a breath of fresh air in the genre too.

While the game presents itself as an open-world medieval adventure at first, it quickly humbles you. You can’t simply pick up some weapons and go around slaying bandits because there’s a good chance your unrefined combat prowess will spell your doom once you’re surrounded, or even pitted against a single opponent with much better stats and gear than yours. Combat is a dance of swinging your weapon in a direction to strike, and timing your blocks and parries to create openings. Some might even call it sluggish, but again, this only adds to the strict level of realism baked into the core of the experience. It’s certainly unconventional but unique enough that it sort of sinks its claws into you after a while.

Like Skyrim, your various skills and attributes are improved by actually doing those actions. If you want to specialise as a silver tongued diplomat and charmer, you’ll probably be engaging in a lot of conversations with NPCs, or if you want to be a hunter, get a bow and jump into the wilderness. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II gives you all of these opportunities to shape Henry into the person you want him to be, but like life, it takes a lot of hard work and time to get there. To that end, it’s kind of the antithesis to your average RPG power fantasy. It feels like the game puts you in the rags of an unfortunate medieval peasant who has to work his way up the ladder – and trust me, you’ll be spending a lot of time growing as a person.

Players often talk about how great or annoying being sidetracked can feel in sprawling RPGs, so it’s with no exaggeration that I’d call Kingdom Come: Deliverance II the most sidetracked I’ve ever been playing an RPG.

Each main quest will often point you to a destination with an objective but everything you come across while getting there will spiral you into a handful of side quests that could potentially span hours, and that’s putting it lightly. Players often talk about how great or annoying being sidetracked can feel in sprawling RPGs, so it’s with no exaggeration that I’d call Kingdom Come: Deliverance II the most sidetracked I’ve ever been playing an RPG. The simple act of speaking to an NPC can unearth a new side quest that then diverges into two or three other quests and tasks. By the time you’re actually back on track with your original side quest (that you completely forgot about), you’ve probably just completed 10 hours of other quests along the way completely unrelated to your objective – and this isn’t even the main questline. It makes Skyrim look like an afternoon stroll.

This is a testament to the sheer density of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II’s stories, locations, people and adventures – it’s a truly gargantuan RPG. Warhorse Studios have successfully created a lively, ever-shifting world that never feels stagnant or waiting for the player to do something. NPCs lives go on and you feel like an intrusive spectator at times just stumbling onto problems and situations. What’s even more impressive is the reactivity of the world to your very presence.

One of the highlights of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is how interactions can drastically change simply depending on how Henry looks or even smells. Certain NPCs won’t take you seriously if you approach them covered in dirt, wearing loose rags and smelling like a skunk. Players need to routinely take care of themselves by bathing, wearing fitting clothing depending on the situation or sharpening their perception and dialogue skills to pass those important checks – the success of which mostly relies on your outward appearance to NPCs. If you aren’t in a presentable state, you’re probably going to have a tough time convincing or charming anyone, let alone build a potential romance with another character. Not that it matters in combat, but there are so many dialogue-heavy moments that feel just as weighty as battles if you aren’t paying attention to Henry’s presentation. It’s incredibly immersive, to be honest.

There are, however, a few setbacks to the game’s slower approach; the first game shares a similar problem as well. Due to the game’s unwavering realism constantly requiring your attention, you need to always play at its pace rather than your own. This means you’ll eventually get a bit frustrated or annoyed with the way certain mechanics work. For example, smithing can be fun at first but when you’re sharpening your blade after every fight because it went blunt from smacking steel plates for two minutes, it becomes a laborious task that pulls you away from whatever you were doing or planning to do. If you don’t mind the odd annoyance from the way Kingdom Come: Deliverance II’s realistic mechanics intentionally work, then you’ll have a great time being immersed in the game.

It’s not going to win any awards for the most sophisticated graphics but for what it manages to achieve with its art direction and visual storytelling above its predecessor is noteworthy.

On a technical level, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II looks incredible, at least compared to the first game. Warhorse Studios have put an outstanding amount of detail into the world; you can’t help but just stop and admire the scenery sometimes. Character models are sharp and expressive, towns and villages all look stunning and the lightning, especially at night, can look very picturesque. It’s not going to win any awards for the most sophisticated graphics but for what it manages to achieve with its art direction and visual storytelling above its predecessor is noteworthy. The sound design and performances are all top-notch as well, with some very compelling NPCs standing out thanks to their solid voice acting (that I won’t spoil).

There are some technical issues worth mentioning on PS5, though. While Warhorse Studios have clearly done a lot to address some of the major bugs and glitches from the first game, the sequel still runs into an odd hiccup or two. In one instance, I had to reset my progress back almost two hours to a previous save because a quest bugged out. NPCs also tend to get stuck in the geometry, while texture pop-ins and framerate drops are felt in busy sections of the game. Luckily, it doesn’t happen frequently enough to ruin the experience but when it does happen – especially in a game priding itself on immersion – well, it’s quite immersion-breaking.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II accomplishes what every great sequel should: a bigger and better adventure than its predecessor. It’s a gargantuan time-sinker of an RPG and the antithesis of the power fantasy, offering a level of depth and realism that is frankly unmatched in the genre and gaming industry as a whole. That said, it’s simply more of the first game – bigger and better, absolutely, but it’s not going to win people over who didn’t fall in love with the experience the first time around. However, if that sounds like your cup of tea, then prepare yourself for some of the best, most immersive RPG tea you’re going to drink in 2025.

PS5 Review code provided by Plaion