We reviewed the first Kingdom Come Deliverance when it was released in 2018 and were pleasantly surprised with almost everything it offered. Near limitless freedom to explore a painstakingly crafted medieval open world felt like a worthy experience all on its own. But paired with numerous functional gameplay mechanics and systems, this is something worth coming back for time and time again.
Almost seven years later, Kingdome Come Deliverance II has brought the franchise back significantly. Our initial impressions are about as positive as possible, given that this sequel is expanding and refining its predecessor’s best traits. It’s still an open-ended medieval romp, but it’s practically better than ever, and on track to being one of the biggest surprises of 2025.
Henry Returns
The first Kingdom Come Deliverance, as open-ended as it was, focused on the protagonist Henry of Skalitz, who had to come to grips with the murder of his parents and seek his revenge. While the first game introduced you to its mechanics rather slowly, Kingdom Come Deliverance II starts things off with a bang, placing you in the armour of an unknown veteran knight, as you ward off incoming enemies taking siege upon your castle. The game then quickly sees you getting to grips with combat, which now includes the ability to wield ranged weapons like crossbows.
Smash cut to six weeks earlier, and the game now sees you playing as Henry once again, now in a position of relative importance as the bodyguard of a prominent royal figure. Without spoiling too much, this extended introduction sees a routine trip to deliver a message to a neighbouring kingdom go awry, in which Henry is seemingly reasonable. Now having been knocked down a peg as a mere squire, the game practically strips Henry of all his high-level skills, presumably gained in the first game, as we now have to work our way back.
While this preview only focuses on our opening handful of hours with the game, I’m impressed with how much cleaner and more cinematic this all feels. I would also like to add here that as good as that first game was, it doesn’t feel as necessary to go back and play as this introduction does a decent job of getting you up to speed.
While the first game packed in plenty of well-voiced dialogue and interesting conversations, developer Warhorse Studios has gotten a boost in budget, pumping out more detailed character models, superior lip-syncing and a bunch of well-acted cutscenes that only help the story to feel much more like a big-budget medieval film than its predecessor.
A Knight in the Making
While I look forward to seeing where this story goes, I also appreciate how open-ended they’ve managed to keep most of the experience. Sure, most of the main story beats land in the same way, but Henry has multiple ways to deal with things based on how you wish to tailor and build his skills. You can focus on building your combat abilities to be more agile and powerful in sword fights, but you can also seek to sharpen your mind and tongue, in turn allowing your words to hold more weight, convincing enemies and allies alike to bend to your will before things get messy.
Don’t like combat? You can even choose to hone your thieving and stealthy skills, to go unnoticed as you get up to mischief. The game allows you to do things as you see fit, and while it was a huge positive taken from the first game, feels even broader in scope here. Why slay an enemy in cold blood in the streets, when you can learn how to brew poisonous potions, follow them around for a day to find their favourite bars and slip something into their beer when they’re not looking?
That being said, combat is really solid in Kingdom Come Deliverance II. Much like the first game, close-quarters combat sees you tilting the right stick in a certain direction to change the angle of your swings. The game now introduces a sturdier blocking and reposting system, which makes it easier to defend and deal counter-attacks on the fly. The game even introduces ranged weapons, and while I haven’t had much time to mess around with them, is a welcome addition nonetheless.
While I praise this sequel for its wealth of options and near-unprecedented freedom, it’s not for nothing. No matter what you’re doing, there is always a reason. Be it to complete an objective, boost your skills or cop some swag or shiny new weapons, the surrounding areas of Kuttenberg and the Bohemian Paradise are brimming with things to see, do and collect.
Look the Part
While I wouldn’t say the first Kingdom Come Deliverance looked bad in any particular way, Kingdom Come Deliverance II looks so much better. Newer console generation aside, character models are more detailed, and the open world feels fleshed out with better textures and lighting effects and solid performance too.
Kingdom Come Deliverance II offers a Quality Mode that pumps out 2160p/30fps upscaled from 1440p with FSR and a Performance Mode that offers 1440p/60fps upscaled from 1080p with FSR. It all runs relatively smoothly, but I feel as though the latter Performance Mode will win out in the long run, as that 1440p resolution still looks quite clean.
Thoughts So Far
There’s no doubt about it; Kingdom Come Deliverance II has managed to improve on its predecessor in almost every way. There’s simply more to do and see, and the story feels way more cinematic and high-budget when compared to the first game. While playing the first game isn;t entirely necessary, it’s still one I would certainly recommend.
But while we’ve only played its sequel for a handful of hours, it’s clear that it’s looking to build upon those strong tropes and mechanics, from combat to exploration, making this an incredibly engaging medieval romp and one of the biggest surprises of 2025, as early as it may be.
Kingdom Come Deliverance II releases on February 4, 2025, on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC. Stay tuned for our official review closer to release.
