Honest review. 6.5/10

[devlos]

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – A Mediocre Medieval RPG

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II isn’t a bad game, but it’s certainly not the sequel fans were hoping for. While it retains the immersive historical world and attention to detail of its predecessor, it stumbles in execution, bogged down by questionable design choices, tedious mechanics, and underdeveloped systems. Instead of refining what made the first game great, it feels like a marginal improvement at best and a frustrating step backward at worst.

The World is Beautiful, but Hollow

The world is gorgeous and full of historical detail, but interacting with it often feels restrictive. 90% of objects are static props, making basic things—like finding a usable shovel—more of a guessing game than a gameplay feature. Want to wash up? Despite the hundreds of rivers and ponds, you can only use a handful of designated wash areas. Hunting has been made more frustrating by removing blood trails, forcing players to rely on their dog instead of actual tracking skills.

Stealth and Saving: A Test of Patience

Certain stealth sections are long, unforgiving, and lack proper save points, leading to frustrating moments where one mistake means replaying lengthy sections filled with slow, tedious tasks. Saving is still tied to Saviour Schnapps, meaning you either waste resources to save or risk losing progress. Over 3 million players downloaded a mod to fix this—because the developers wouldn’t.

Combat: Simplified and Sloppy

Instead of improving combat depth, master strikes are now limited to swords and longswords, making other weapons feel secondary. There’s no hit registration unless you have a targeting reticle on the enemy, and shooting an opponent in the leg does nothing unless you have a perk for it. Fighting multiple enemies? The best strategy is to abuse AI pathfinding, forcing them into a "conga line" so you can fight one at a time. The developers didn’t fix combat balancing; they just gave you a dog to compensate.

Tedious Mechanics That Waste Your Time

The game forces players to engage with certain mechanics but refuses to make them more convenient. Auto-brewing potions was removed, meaning you have to manually go through the tedious brewing process every single time—even after learning the recipe. Shop hours and restricted areas are vague, leading to players wandering around aimlessly or getting arrested without warning. Simple quality-of-life features that could have made the experience smoother are completely absent.

Guards and AI: A Missed Opportunity

Guards seem more like background decorations than actual protectors. You can be mauled by wolves in the middle of town, and they won’t react. If you commit a crime, however, every guard instantly knows, as if they telepathically communicate across the entire city. NPC pathfinding and AI behavior often bug out, making stealth objectives frustrating and inconsistent.

Final Verdict: 6.5/10 – A Marginal Improvement at Best

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II has its strengths—a visually stunning world, great motion capture, and immersive historical detail—but it falls short where it matters. Many of its mechanics feel half-baked, restrictive, or outright frustrating, making progression feel like a chore rather than an adventure.

[Mörkö]

So is this another fake "very positive" like Stalker 2? Because i can say that was also 6.5/10 at max despite the patriotic reviews. KCD1 was good and not so long ago so KCD2 is probably still good so there is that.

Shame about master strikes though, means you are stuck with swords again.

[Humpenstilzchen]

That´s a very negative take. Yes the game has some issues, needs some bugs fixed and some things could be rebalanced a bit but by and large it is still a fantastic game that is a lot of fun.

[LeftPaw]

I'm 23 hours in and have started to get bored with it. It's nowhere near as good as the first KCD. That game kept you invested. This game is all over the place and has a very lack lustre story. The character are boring, the world is boring, and even the stealing is boring. The characters are forgettable. I can't remember any of them they are that boring with boring back story's.
Most of the quest are boring, stupid or as frustrating as hell. Bloody reviews sold us out again by making it sound like the best game since sliced bread.

Give KCD1 better graphics and it beats the hell out of this KCD2.

I can't stay awake to play it.

[SuperSonicStudent]

lets not sugercoat it, the bad combat returned. i hate how the game locks you into someone, thats so annyoing and so unrealistic.

[Skyman100]

Originally posted by SemperFrag:

I think I'll just wait to play this until I can mod out

Bathing,
Game Saves,
Hunger,
Stamina,
and Weight Mechanics.

Then the game might actually be enjoyable.

I thought I was the only one lol. Also dont like those things and it prevented me from enjoying the first game

[Tshcktall]

Originally posted by theo:

Still waiting for a proof of shovels that can't be picked up

Treasure hunter camp, leaning on a tree. Not the one at the chest. The other one, one tree further heading SE. Suchdol stables another one. Love nest.

You got nothing to say about that?

[devlos]

Originally posted by Mörkö:

So is this another fake "very positive" like Stalker 2? Because i can say that was also 6.5/10 at max despite the patriotic reviews. KCD1 was good and not so long ago so KCD2 is probably still good so there is that.

Shame about master strikes though, means you are stuck with swords again.

I wouldn’t go that far. The game does have its charm. I finished the first one in 69 hours, including all DLC and now played 40 hours on KCD2, so I know what KCD does well. But the reviews are definitely sugar-coated because of the immersive atmosphere and visually stunning, detailed world.

However, as a sequel, if you’ve played the first game, this feels like a tone-deaf, marginal improvement at best. And this time, there’s no excuse , no lack of investors, no limited development funds, and no rushed production schedule to blame. KCD2 had the time, resources, and feedback to improve, yet it still falls short in ways that shouldn’t have been ignored.

[Lancenig]

Refreshing to see a real take...
Game reviews have become a joke industry wide with the way reviews are all sponsored and/or paid.
I watched quite a few videos on it now and they all talk like it's a perfect 10/10. This is way more in line with what I see from the current reality that is modern games.

Thank you for real, I almost pulled the trigger on this one. I'll just go back and play the first one, it was pretty dang fun overall...

[Bill Gates]

Originally posted by Tshcktall:

Originally posted by theo:

Still waiting for a proof of shovels that can't be picked up

Treasure hunter camp, leaning on a tree. Not the one at the chest. The other one, one tree further heading SE.

yes you cant pick up that shovel. Also has a pick you cant pick up

[LeftPaw]

Originally posted by theo:

Still waiting for a proof of shovels that can't be picked up

I didn't take screen shots but there has been at least 3 shovels I couldn't pick up. I ended up buying one. There is one I seen only yesterday in the grave yard.
The game is a illusion and is on rails for the most part.

[Phantom]

I mean if it was a brand new IP I'd give it a 6.5/10... I'm far more forgiving of those who innovate

As it stands its a legitimate 3.5-4.5 / 10...
from a sequel which goes back a lot, has a tonne of issues including extremely basic immersion ones in the opening quests, a largely empty/repetitive world, a combat system that is a step backwards from their first, all in all nothing it has done impresses me at all (well the graphics are nice, but they have issues, and things like rain is absurd)... the biggest issue is its even easier to break the games mechanics than the first one

[Yakito]

I'd also give in 6.5/10

While I'm having a blast it's very obvious that the reviewers saying "Warhorse improved the formula" exaggerated. Immensely.
Same jank, more bugs.


I could expand but I'm short on time atm.

[Rheanis Aya]

Originally posted by NerazarPC:

Originally posted by Rheanis Aya:

I guess it's fine that you do not like the game. But are you suggesting that people saying that they like the game aren't honest? Is this your message here?

If people do not disclose or at least notice flagrant issues like that, they are dishonest, yes.

I am aware of some of those features. Most of them I don't consider an issue at all, like the limited washing places. Every game is "a fake" compared to the reality and has its technical limitations. The limitations are different for a big open world game and for a small linear fps shooter, but each has some so far. It is a "game" that you "play" and every game has some rules. Learning the rules is a way to win the game.
I got used to the fight mechanism and do not have a problem with it at all. I do not consider lining the opponents into one line to limit them from attacking me from all sides exploating bugged fight, but a correct strategy. I am aware the fight is different from other games, off course. I understand that not everyone likes it. It took me some time to notice what really changed from the first game and my first impression was it is almost the same. Now, I don't think so anymore. Now, I enjoy most of the armed or nonarmed fighting encounters.
Yes, I noticed that there is no shovel lying everywhere. So I went to a trader and purchased one. It took me literally about 2 minutes (using fast travel to Troskovice).
My personal experience is that KCD2 is a lot of fun. And to tell the truth, I struggled to find something enjoyable after Baldur's Gate 3. I tried Jedi Survivor, Indiana Jones, Allan Wake 2, these are considered to be the best of the bests. For me personaly, they are fine, not a word against them, but didn't capture me in the way KCD2 did. So far, I completed only the Indiana Jones game. To me, they felt like a filler between BG3 and KCD2. Now I am really enjoying walking the countryside, brewing potions, smithing, talking to people, occasionally fighting, washing, eating etc. I like the slow tempo. And I absolutely understand that someone doesn't. I, for example, didn't enjoy Shadow of War (LOTR game) and its Nemesis system, even though I liked the environment and the story. But I would not claim it is a bad game and blame others that they are not honest if they enjoyed it. It is just not for my taste.

[Metro Gnome Holding Metronome]

Originally posted by Rheanis Aya:

Originally posted by NerazarPC:

If people do not disclose or at least notice flagrant issues like that, they are dishonest, yes.

-snip-

The main frustrations come from the miserable lack of QoL that typically comes with a sequel. The sequel took as long to come out as the original, but made no actual progress in how the game plays. There's obvious degradation to game feel, and an overall lack of almost any kind of polish or care. The new stuff they did add is laughably miserable, like the sack moving. I don't mind busy work in games, but when you use the sack mechanic so often that there's a perk dedicated to it, you'd think loading sacks onto a cart would at least fill up the cart, but no, it's picking up a bag from the same spot, and placing it onto the same spot every single time. Removing the ability to quick craft is a WILD gameplay decision as well, if you want another example.

TL;DR: The sequel took years to come out, using the same assets and engine, and the title noticeably decreased in quality. The only positive I can say about KC2 over KC1 is the lack of crashing.

[Hendog7]

git gud lol