This week, I was chuffed to be invited to the Plaion office in Sydney to check out an early build of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. After my hands-on time with the game, I had the opportunity to speak with Sir Toby, Global PR Manager of Warhorse Studios, about the game.
Check out the latest trailer below:
Kingdom Come Deliverance was famously kickstarted, and maintained a very connected community attached to the first game.
“We want to stay honest and true to those customers that backed us for KCD1, that’s why some backers are getting access to KCD2 for free,” he said.
For anyone who didn’t play the first game, Kingdom Come Deliverance follows Henry, the son of a blacksmith who gets embroiled in the machinations of the lords in 15th-century Bohemia. The new game is a direct continuation of Henry’s story, but Toby confirmed to me the game will bring you up to speed.
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The other major change is the game’s size. While the first game was on a four kilometres square map, the new game is set across two maps, each closer to 25 kilometres square.
Getting to Know Kuttenberg
My demo started around 50 hours into the 80-100 hour story. I found myself in the town of Kuttenberg, with a decent gambeson and longsword, and a cool two grand burning a hole in my coin purse.
The mission was working with a sword master who came to town with a notice from the king to run the local sword school. However, the locals are refusing to let him work on their turf, and were trying to run him out of town.
We had a quick duel to prove to the swordmaster that I could handle myself with a blade, and got into the story.
As I was having this first duel, I found that Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 was much easier to read your opponent than it was in the first game.
Noting this to Toby, he highlighted how the combat system had been revamped and simplified.
“We’ve made it so you’re less tied to your opponent, so you can more freely move forward, backward, left and right to control the space,” he said.
“There’s also more animations in every move, which makes it easier to see what your opponent is up to.”
The main quest involved sneaking into the opposing sword school and stealing their school sword, placing it on the town hall to signify that they were accepting challengers — thereby allowing the Meister to challenge the local school.
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A Knife in the Dark
I waited until night fell and leapt over the back fence and picked open the back door of the school. The lockpicking mechanic is much the same as it was in Kingdom Come Deliverance, where you need to find the sweet spot with your mouse while rotating the lock with the keys.
Sneaking in had me reliving stealth in Skyrim all those many moons ago — slipping between shadows and checking each room for the sharp, shiny prize.
Sir Toby told me how Henry is able to have different outfits for moments like these, “You’ll have three slots, so I always have a fighting outfit, a speech outfit and one for stealth.”
I stole the sword and fled out the front door (I’d later find out someone spotted me), and made to the town square to place the sword on the town hall.
The next morning, my posse of sword-wielding Germans rolled into the square, all aghast and surprised that the opposing sword school agreed to duel, and so challenged them right away.
The town mayor mentioned that I’d been spotted; turns out the whole town now knew that we’d pilfered the sword, but the opposing school were too proud to refuse a challenge. However, because of my skulduggery they were given plate armour to wear while we fought in our gambesons.
Them’s Fightin’ Words
Before the duel, the Meister needed to induct me as one of his students, with a quick outdoor ritual, I was officially a sword student in training. We’ll have to see if Henry is able to join other guilds and groups in the final game, but Toby mentioned joining the sword skill gives you a safe bed in town, and access to training with the other members of the guild.
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In the duelling arena, the referee named the terms: longswords, and each combatant must win twice to proceed. The school with three wins is the victor. At first I got to watch the master at work, as the challenging German tutor trounced one of the students of the opposing side.
In my turn, the bout started slow enough, a parry here and a thrust there. The new system has four cardinal points, then also thrust mapped to the same — this keeps you focused on your opponent; compared to the first game, I found it far easier to get into a rhythm.
Easy to Learn, Hard to Meister
The first opponent was aggressive, and by timing my blocks and letting him tire, I could drop a quick thrust in after the third or fourth successful parry.
In the first Kingdom Come Deliverance, anyone with a sword was formidable in a fight. So, you might get into a scrap with a peasant, only for them to be a sword master and turn you into string cheese. Toby said in the new game, this system has been drastically improved.
“Depending on the enemy, their skill with a sword will vary. For someone who is unskilled, they’ll have basic attacks and some control of the weapon,” he said.
“If you attack on their sword side then they’ll have an easy time blocking, but attack the other side and they’ll be slower to react.”
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Into the second round of the duel, the fighter was significantly better. He made more active use of guard stances to try and lure me into attacking, before counterattacking and catching me off guard. It was in this fight, against someone of comparable skill, that I really felt I could get the rhythm of combat. We’d be attacking back and forth and blocking strikes while waiting for an opening, before going in for a thrust or cut.
Toby confirmed that different weapons will have very varied control schemes, each with their own unique uses. “Using a mace or an axe are much more focused on chops and cuts, and don’t have a thrust attack. But the mace is going to be much better at biting into armour,” he said.
What’s In Your Pocket, Sir?
Toby also spoke to Henry’s “Batman Belt”, essentially a quick utility belt, where you can place multiple weapons hanging from your belt to quick-swap between as you need. However, you won’t be able to go into your full inventory during fights, so you need to be prepared.
In the final round, I squared off against the opposing master and oooh, boy… was I unprepared for him. He was able to consistently block and parry my attacks perfectly. I was able to sneak a few cheeky thrusts in behind his guard, but I was bested in the end.
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Toby said you really need to stay on top of your guards and wait for openings to defeat these opponents — these sword masters are very good at the system.
Shoot To Kill
Toby also spoke about the firearms shown off in recent trailers.
“In the first game, the player only had bows… (in) Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 we have crossbows, which are much slower to reload, but do more damage against armour.”
Then we have the firearms, which you can think of like super weapons, they’re a one-hit kill but take a very long time to reload,” he said.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is shaping up to be an awesome improvement on the first game.
If Kingdom Come Deliverance was a spectacular cosplay sword, perfect for the renaissance fair — the sequel is looking like the real deal, sharpened, polished and ready for battle.
This week, Warhorse announced that Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 will be released on 5th February 2025, a week earlier than the original planned release date.
The Plaion ANZ offices was decked out like a medieval banquet hall, complete with thrones, roast beef, suits of armour and all sorts of medieval drapery and insignia. It certainly got you in the mood for a flagon of ale and a swordfight!
Check out some of my snaps from the event below.
