Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 preview — medieval mayhem rules this Xbox RPG

It feels great to be able to finally say it again for this Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 preview – Henry’s come to see us! The first game is one of the best Xbox RPGs and, seven years after he went from flinging dung with his medieval mates to doing the same silly stuff at a slightly more epic level in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Henry returns in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 on February 4, 2025 on Series X|S, PS5, and PC. While we wait for launch, here are our thoughts after spending five hours with a preview copy of the game. Let’s dive in!Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is shaping up to be an excellent sequelThe sequel takes place shortly after the events of the first game, but right from the off Warhorse Studios has done a great job of making the game accessible whether you’re a Henry fanatic or new to the Henry fandom.This does sometimes translate into a fair amount of expositional dialogue (with his friends occasionally even joking about his poor memory of past events) but Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (KCD2) has several tricks up its sleeve to make sure everybody is up to speed before things kick off.We’re back in 15th-century Bohemia, which is still in chaos with abducted kings, invading enemies, and war on the horizon. Amid all this politically sensitive mess is Henry, a well-meaning but often bemused chap, and his sort-of best-bud-and-boss, Sir Hans Capon (otherwise known as the only other person as likely to bungle things as Henry). They’re off on a diplomatic mission of the utmost importance. What could go wrong? KCD2 handles the balance well when it comes to tutorials and reintroducing us to this world. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot to learn. If you’ve played the first game recently, its complexity will likely still be fresh in your mind, but KCD2 is a delightful reminder of just how far Warhorse Studios is willing to go for a realistic medieval world.As much as I normally love fantasy games, it’s great to get back into an in-depth RPG that asks you to think about everything from Henry’s hunger and tiredness to how smelly he is or how terribly he’s dressed.The inventory is almost overwhelming at first: there’s so much info to take into account. A lot of it is familiar from the first game, and while it does feel a little clunky to maneuver between tabs and pages at first, you’re soon immersed in small details. How conspicuous is Henry? How much noise does he make in his clothes? How visible is his shiny suit of armor? Is that armor in good condition? Why isn’t Henry doing as well as he should — oh, yeah, because of the player buffs!Is he currently humiliated in this area because he was chucked in the pillory? Has he overeaten again? What else was he meant to do with all those carrots slowly rotting away in his inventory?! Managing all these different factors is part of the fun in KCD2. And the realism doesn’t stop there: you can’t just jam on armor willy-nilly, but need to dress yourself in the right order to protect you from the metal plate (providing you have some, my Henry isn’t doing too well at the moment — more on that later). Weapons can’t be waved about non-stop; they’re weighty, slow to reload, or simply require you to watch your stamina to keep Henry alive. Combat was great fun in the first game because of that fact: no matter how strong you became, you still needed to be careful, especially against multiple enemies. That feeling is back with a vengeance in KCD2, whether it’s unarmed brawling or facing armed opponents.It’s clear, too, that KCD2 has taken the first game’s ambition and run away with it. I’m still early on in the game for this preview, but already things like persuasion and reputation feel much more intricate. There are so many aspects to bear in mind with dialogue and persuasion (from your own appearance to the person you’re talking to) that it’s not as simple as picking whatever option Henry seems most skilled in; misread the situation and you can fail miserably. Which I have done. Many times.Branching dialogue in general can be frustrating. Like when a game presents you with multiple options and you pick the one which seems the most diplomatic, only for the resulting speech to be entirely different from the text you selected, so that instead of a polite “no” your character goes for a full “f*** you, f*** your family, and now f*** off.”That’s not entirely the case in KCD2, but there have still been a few dialogue options which, after seeing what Henry actually said, I might have wanted to redo. Then again, KCD2 is so wonderfully intricate that it also feels like I’m still sounding everything out. Things might just be turning out that way because I’m right at the start when it feels like Henry knows pretty much nothing and you’re right there with him. It is also really fun when you fail a particular persuasion check — trying to sound too high and mighty to someone who couldn’t be less impressed, for example — and end up embarrassing yourself. Henry may have come far in the first game, but he’s definitely not so impressive that he can’t be taken down a peg or seven.That brings me to another great bit about this game: its silliness. Remember how much fun it was in the last game to get up to all sorts of medieval hijinks with Henry and Co.? The world is just as wonderfully weird in the sequel, and what’s more, everybody in KCD2 isn’t afraid to tell you what they think of you.Whereas by the end of the first game everybody was singing “Henry’s come to see us!” everywhere he went, we’ve got to build our image and reputation in a new land. Everybody seems mildly exasperated with Henry right now, and I’m currently losing Reputation left, right, and center (it’s just like trying to get Astarion to approve of anything in Baldur’s Gate 3).Meanwhile, the idea of crime, punishment, and reputation is even more ambitious in the sequel. This world really does feel alive, and its citizens aren’t just about to let you get away with anything.Crimes can be dealt with in different ways and with different severities (you can even be executed) depending on what you’ve done and how often you’ve misbehaved before. Even if no one spots you thieving, for instance, you might still be in trouble; NPCs can make their own deductions, and you need to be careful.What’s more, depending on your punishment, various buffs or marks like brandings ensure no one will forget what you’ve done and you’ll be much less trusted for a time. That’s if you get as far as the bailiff: NPCs might try to sort things out with you alone first, with options such as paying or intimidating them.I had one encounter (I’m not sure if this was a glitch or not) where some bloke asked Henry to hit him. Henry tried, and the other guy flipped out — but when I retreated, he complained that I had made a promise. In the end, Henry fell off a cliff while trying to hit him, and when he got back up, the other fellow went crying for the guards. An excellent job all-round.I panicked and knocked him out, but when Henry went to sleep at a camp down the road, his victim followed him, woke him up, and threatened him with the bailiff. Since Henry was pretty much destitute, I tried intimidating the angry gentleman, failed, panicked, and knocked him out again. Haven’t seen him since. Legend.Another time, I sent Henry on a long walk across the map, finally arriving at my objective. I fell asleep in what I thought was a bed for Henry (it wasn’t) and the house’s inhabitant indignantly woke him up and threatened the bailiff.I agreed, since I was a little curious, and ended up being marched back all the way I had come since that was the closest bailiff. Henry was chucked in the pillories and came out tired, humiliated again, and stinkier than ever. Huzzah!When dealing with crime or suspicious NPCs, you can spot what’s going on when people are looking for you by keeping an eye on a hare icon that pops up on your HUD, and which tells you if people are actively looking for you, ready to report you to the guards, coming to fight you, and more.Along with exploration, combat, dialogue, building reputation, and your skills, there’s all that side content to explore too: losing Henry’s hard-earned groschen at dice, investigating weird rumors and landmarks, and gossiping at the tavern.Everything feels wonderfully detailed, right down to the NPCs’ irritation if you ask them the same question twice. Random encounters are back, too, which I absolutely love. It makes fast-traveling a risk and encourages you to travel everywhere yourself, and really makes for some unexpected side-stories.In general, KCD2 looks incredible. From that “new game” screen onwards, the world is just gorgeous. Like the first game, you’re encouraged to explore via landmarks and the world itself, rather than charging from point A to B on the map. KCD2’s extensive cutscenes are a delight, too, and give a cinematic feeling to Henry’s adventure. Everything from the loading screens to the artwork on the map is just lovely.That’s not to say everything is running smoothly. I started the game on Fidelity mode, which was noticeably struggling with flashing lights and assets popping in and out. Performance mode looks much better so far (aside from one crash) although there are still issues with NPCs in cutscenes.There have been the usual background characters wandering into things while you’re talking to someone (NPCs can look pretty wooden, while Henry occasionally moves with his whole body like a Bugsnax character). However, the game still has a month or so before release, and these issues aren’t enough to detract from KCD2. Plus, the first game was loved partly despite and partly because of its issues, simply because it was so clear that the game’s only real issue was that it couldn’t keep pace with its ambition.Even this early on, it’s clear that KCD2 is building on the first game in every way, and with those last issues ironed out, we’ll be happily causing mayhem in the Middle Ages for a long time yet.What do you think? Are you excited to go charging into medieval Bohemia? Do you see Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 joining the ranks of the best Xbox games? Let us know in the comments!



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