I was never big into medieval games. They're usually fantasy affairs, and I can take or leave them. Kingdom Come got my attention for being a realistic medieval game based on Bohemian history. I was still a little worried cause I heard the difficulty was on the hard side and the save points were limited. But, with the Royal edition on sale, I took the plunge. This game is either peaks and valleys. One moment it's knocking out of the park, the next second it's shitting the bed. Still, it got the things I enjoy most about games right.
To start with the combat. The basic controls are easy to learn, hard to master, so combat is actually fun. Well, it's the most fun when you're having a duel with another swordsman, two at most. For realism's sake, you are gonna have a hard time trying to take down 5 armed bandits all by yourself. Unfair fights are a downer in this game, but most of the time you have an easy out to not get in the fight, that is riding off. Again, with realism in mind, the combat has been based off of HEMA fighting styles, which translates into "you can swing at the head, both arms, or both sides of the waist." It kinda reminds me of the combat style that's used in Mount'n'Blade. As you get better at fighting you can learn some combos too, like half swording. The only problem is I'm a staunch sword and shield fighter, and you can't do any of the sword combos if you have a shield. You can also do perfect blocks or dodges that can help you get an edge on a tougher opponent. And while I stuck with sword & shield like an unimaginative dolt, there is a decent spread of medieval weapons; maces, hammers, axes, and longer swords. There's also pikes and spears, but they act more like heavy weapons that you pick up but aren't in your inventory.
I carried a bow and arrows around with me, but I'll be damned if I ever used it. Again, for the realism... you don't have any type of aiming reticle, instead you have to use the tip of the arrow. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with an arrow. I only successfully killed one bandit with the bow.
As mentioned, it's not in your best interest to charge into a gaggle of enemies. There's actually a neat progression to combat efficiency I went on. I started off with nothing more than a thick wool sweater for armor and a woodsman ax, I didn't wander too far from the city for fear of death. I now get the real fear that medieval people had of the woods. After I got a little money and looted some bandits, I had a respectable sword and I looked more like a medieval version of a Roman Legionary. I wasn't as terrified to leave the starter city and wander the map. And at last, I got decked out in a full suit of plate armor like a proper knight. Even still, you aren't invincible. I was ambushed by some peasant bandits and foolishly thought I could take them, but it was dark, I had limited mobility, and they had greater numbers. I got my ass handed to me.
I usually don't go for the tanky knight build in games, but it's a necessity here. For the realism, armor actually functions like armor. You can't go slicing through plate with a sword like it's hot butter. That's another fun thing to combat, hearing the sword smacks on your armor and not taking any damage from them.
You also have a dog companion, that I learned was part of a DLC add-on, not the base game. I would've been screwed without him. There were plenty of fights, especially early on, where that mutt pulled my fat out of the fire. The dog has a whole system that goes into training it and keeping it fed.
When not fighting you're traveling, and this is a low point of the game. Trying to travel anywhere by horse is a laborious effort. For once, this isn't because of realism, but the budget. When running through the woods, your horse gets stuck on every little thing from bushes to downed logs. Those bushes are the worst, because some you can go through, some are concrete barricades. Maybe the reasoning is your knight doesn't want to scratch up his fancy armor. Your horse also seems incapable of walking over creek beds. They aren't even that steep of banks, but once your horse is in a creek, it'll stay there till you find a place to ford. You also can't swim across deep water. I could get why your character, Henry, maybe can't swim, but I feel if you were on your horse you could ford the rivers at any point.
And the final part of this RPG's systems is the dialogue tree of course. It's a standard system, much like the Witcher in appearance. You can upgrade your speech skill and, in a neat twist, you can also be more persuasive in conversations if you are dressed like a fine noble or more threatening in your plate armor. Out of context, my favorite dialogue choice was "Blame the French". Honestly, the speech skills are great, the only thing I would add is a social stealth aspect. Lots of the baddies wear armor that includes fully enclosed helmets, it would be neat to sneak into camps if you're in their armor. There is one mission where that works, and I'm not 100% sure, but I think I avoided a Cuman ambush party thanks to wearing their armor.
The voice actors range from good to ...eh. Henry and most of the main cast is well voice acted, and there's enough actors that you don't get the Fallout 3 problem of hearing the same 4 voices over and over, but you do notice a few repeats. Some VAs sound like they put on a fake voice for some characters, like sounding artificially gravelly or like a blustering fat guy.
As mentioned by others, the save system in this game is a bit draconic. You can only save at owned beds or if you drink an expensive alcohol that you don't find a lot of. It also saves at the start and end of quests. I can get they want you to really treat decisions with real thought and I did think harder on choices and treated Henry like a real person, not just a character who can die and respawn. Still I would've preferred a little more lenient save system, maybe an auto save at every hour of play? If you are just out bandit killing or exploring and get bum rushed by five armed Cumans who kill you, you just lost umpteen hours of progress and that's not "living with your choices" that's just bullshit.
Kingdom Come is also a bit of a survival simulator. You have to manage your sleep and food intake. You also have to keep armor, weapons, and clothing repaired and it wouldn't hurt to take a bath every now and then. I get everyone back then didn't bathe as much as we do nowadays, but I think your armor gets dirty way too quick. There's also certain laws you have to follow in towns. I punched a horse for shits and giggles and got 10 days in jail. One of the more annoying rules is you must have a torch at night. It's annoying for two reasons. One, equiping a torch unequips your shield and you have to go into the inventory to reequip the shield, and two it seems like that rule only applies to half the population, as plenty of NPCs wander around with no torches and the guards don't harass them.
The last bad thing I'll harp on is some of the glitches and bugs. I get this was a budget game, actually being Kickstarter funded I learned later on, but it was rough at some points. On a lesser end, the game's draw distance is very short and texture load in is slow. It took me out of the game when cutscenes were acted out by Play Dough versions of the characters. If you ride through town too fast, the game can't load quick enough and you'll see disembodied heads floating around. Clipping is also an issue too with more extravagant armors or clothes. It kinda give this game a bit of an older feel, like an old CRPG. That along with the steeper difficulty does make this feel like a medieval game from the old school of thought.
Bigger issues that got on my nerves involve the shops and music. When I would go into the trade menu, my character model wouldn't load and so I couldn't buy anything or move to the sell tab. I would have to go in and out of the trade menu sometimes 5 times before the shop would function properly. The music would also randomly cut out after a few hours of play, almost like I reached the end of the soundtrack and had to turn the tape over. The only way to get the music back was to close the game and start it up again.
I did really enjoy the musical score of KCD. It was a traditional, big orchestral affair which made the big battles even more glorious. There's also some more hurdy gurdy, medievaly tunes that play during travelling and the monastery has some Gregorian chants to enhance it. Granted, sometimes I didn't notice the music was gone during the gameplay because the lack of music added to the realism Warhorse Studio obviously strove for.
I missed the music most during all the loading screens, and boy does this game love loading screens. Half of your gameplay is spent staring at loading screens. Again, this is a budget game so I get they had to make concessions, but I feel the game could've been better optimized. Just washing your face or eating from a pot can lead to a long loading screen. Fast traveling takes awhile, but that's because you can be ambushed on the way.
The world map is a good size, not too big, not too small. There's really only two big cities on the map and they're both in the south of the map, and that has it's issues. They are the only ones with swordsmiths & armorsmiths, who sell armor and have the most money to buy any loot you collect. It means if you're in the NE corner of the map, you have to fast travel all the way down and hope you don't get ambushed. You are in a part of Bohemia that seems a bit like the backwaters. The lords you hang with are lower level ones, and the cities while big are more like large towns, and most of the villages are just collections of mud huts. I know it's above their budget, but I would've loved to have at least one real big, impressive city to see that side of medieval life.
Finally the story and characters, this is where the game shines. You play as Henry from Skalitz, a blacksmith's son who is a bit of a bum. He goes through a transformative journey, but he stays a likeable buffoon throughout. Henry's also a man of the time, which I appreciate as one of my pet peeves is "historic character with too modern ideas'. What starts off his journey is his father's finest crafted sword being stolen and everyone in his village gets brutally murdered, well most of them. He escapes to the nearby lordship's castle and starts his revenge quest. I don't know much about medieval history, but as a peasant, Henry gets a little lippy with the lords that I'm pretty sure he should've been hanged real quick, course a plot twist later may explain why. He follows the trail of the bandits and uncovers a conspiracy of a Hungarian noble to create a bandit army. Through the adventure you get to experience medieval warfare, seige tactics, and even a Monk simulator for a while. It is neat to sort of see all these aspects of medieval life from peasant to holy man.
Henry comes across some interesting characters in his travels, a drunken preacher & spoiled noble brat. Henry can court the local mill maid, since his fiance is dead in Skalitz. Their dates feel sorta genuine and it's kinda charming sweet to watch their love blossom. He also spends lots of time helping the three lords of the realm. Those three together are like the three stooges. This game does have some humorous moments, more than I expected. Henry's general buffoonery is good for a few laughs, and the three lords play well off each other, Hanush is the butt of most jokes. And with the lords they have their captains of the guards. Both Bernard and Robard are memorable as grumpy old men.
Trusting this game is historically accurate which I believe it is for the most part. I learned a lot about the Medieval period that you don't see in other medias. Usually nobles are aloof assholes, but the ones here act more like governors. Yes, they do get special treatment and are in charge, but piss off the commoners too much and you get a pitchfork in your gut. Really, my impression of medieval life is that everyone is part of a corporation at all times. The peasants do their job and have to suck up to their bosses, the nobles and the nobles have to make sure the company stays profitable.
You also see how much an impact Christianity, and the Church, had on daily life. Usually in games, it seems to me at least, that any time Christianity is a focus it's usually unflattering. The main character is too cool for religion or has to snark about it. Here, we see people who are devout Christians, but they are also a little fed up with the Church's excessive wealth. One of the DLCs involves a visit by the Inquisition. According to the history presented by Warhorse, the Inquisition has a bad rap it doesn't totally deserve.
Okay, so the ending of the game, and as such I'll use the new spoiler hider feature. The Hungarian noble, Istvan Toth, who stole your family's sword has taken over the castle of Lord Divish of Talmberg. After laying seige, he agrees to give Divish his castle and wife back along with Sir Radzig, who it turns out is your real father, hence why Henry got to become a peasant knight. In return the Lords let Toth go and he rides off with your sword. So, a bitter sweet ending. I'm okay with unsastifying endings, like here it's to illustarte the world doesn't revolve around Henry. He isn't able to get the item that is the focus of his revenge ride and that's just life.
Now, the inciting incident was King Sigismund & his Cumans sacking Skalitz, but honestly after the middle of the game when you kill the original bandit who took your sword, the scary Cumans kinda become story irrelevant. It's not till the epilogue that Sigsmund becomes the main focus again. A big wig noble shows up asking for help from the three nobles against Sigismund. They agree and Hans, your spiritual brother who is the spoiled noble who's started to learn responsibility, volunteers to take the letter to another influential lord with a huge castle. You ride off into the sunset, and if Warhorse is lucky into the next sequel.
All in all, again peaks and valleys. The story & characters are engaging and there's lots of great swelling scores accompanying impressive moments, but there's also the issues with traversal and texture pop-in. Still if you are a medieval history buff, or just a history buff in general like me. I recommend this game and I hope the likely sequel will now have the financial backing to really knock it out of the park.
