Collecting My Thought on Kingdom Come: Deliverance—Half-Delivered, Half-Absolved

A refreshing attempt at a period game that leans heavily on historical accuracy and education, Kingdom Come: Deliverance delivers a hard-hitting exploration of Medieval Europe through the lens of the scorned son of a village blacksmith. The scope of the game is highly impressive, especially in its attempt at depicting realistic lives and behaviours, and it is evident Warhorse Studios put in a noble effort to bringing such an ambitious project to life. Though they could not deliver everything the game seemed to promise, with bugs aplenty and cutscene quality all over the place, perhaps it is ultimately the game's ability to connect on a human level that makes it an eye-opening success.

The aforementioned blacksmith's son Henry finds himself dispossessed and an inch away from death as a peculiar disagreement between the Bohemian nobles of 1403 tumbles its way into his village, Skalitz. From this nadir, he vows to rise to the top of the kingdom and deal vengeance against those who have wronged him. From the start, the game is clear on the multitude of paths you can take as Henry of Skalitz to accomplish his goals. Whether Henry is to be one who excels at fighting, charming, reading, haggling, playing dice, sneaking in the woods or even just drinking alcohol (or even all of the above!), you must be able to overcome some of the biggest varieties of challenges I have seen a game try to practically present to its players. There is always something new and curious around the corner, and this also goes for the lore of the setting as it gradually unfolds throughout the game's 150 hours of gameplay.

I recommend playing the game on hardcore mode. The stingy approach to saving, vitals UI and player orientation will jar at first; but being forced to forgo fast-travel for travel by horse really does make one appreciate the blood, sweat and tears that went into the game. Right from its thrilling opener to its aptly mature ending, Kingdom Come: Deliverance made my pulse race, jaw drop, belly cackle, skin boil and heart warm, and not a moment of it was spent on fatigue. Though it only lived up to half its expectations, it may tentatively be forgiven for the other half due to the incredible level of success it managed in the face of its sheer ambition.

#FavouriteScene The Skalitz conquest.

#FavouriteLevel The monastery saga. A whodunnit mystery complicated by elder politics, strict ascetism and false identities that forces the player to stretch some muscles the rest of the game does not.

#LearntANewWord Stripling.

#FavouriteCharacter Theresa. She's savvy, endearing and beautiful. Spending time with her always uplifted the spirit. Glad I had her as a girlfriend. I mean, Bianca who?