Kingdom Come: Deliverance Royal Edition

It's not very often a single player game captures my attention for +400hrs before I start getting bored. There is just so much you can do in the vastness of this world. Good story and if it starts to feel like a grind just go off and do one of many DLC side quests. Graphics are good, the world is huge, more NPC personalities than I can count and you can play the story however you like. For $20 on sale you can't go wrong. The only problem with any game with so many choices and very realistic combat outcomes is you need to play smart, or it could turn into an impossible grind. If you come to terms with the fact that your charter is a poor peasant living in a medieval period with no initial skills you will be off to a good start. If you walk around being over the top honorable early on you will probably always be a poor guy who gets robbed or murdered. But if you don't mind learning to pick locks, sneak a few valuables from the rick, train when you get the opportunity or steal a horse so you don't spend all day walking the game gets awesome. With experience/equipment you get incrementally better at everything and then is the time to choose what kind of person you want to be. If your stuck on being an honorable peasant thinking the world will just go your way you won't put more than 20hrs into the game.

I had to take a break to finally give this game a 5-star review. I've been playing non-stop, for a month. I'm obsessed. I find myself thinking about this game even when I'm not playing. I've been a gamer since the early 90s (well, technically the 80s) and while I've played so many games, it's been a long time since I fell in love with game. (hello, Skyrim!) This game is a masterpiece. I'm not sure what else to add that others haven't said better than I but I will agree that this is a thinking person's game. The attention to detail is incredible. Never before has this Manhattan snob been more interested in 1403 Bohemia. I've spent so much time learning, both within this game, but also being inspired to read articles about the specific time/region, outside of the game. I write this in Feb 2021, so there are no more bugs and the game runs perfectly on my (high-end) PC. All I can say is that this is NOT a game for some hyper-active, power-leveling, loot-obsessed, God-mode obsessed player. No, your horse is NOT a flying unicorn mount from WoW. It's a HORSE. If you complain because you can't charge though bushes or fences, that is your own fault. If you complain because you can't wipe out 3 enemies at once, then get real. Not even the best knight could handle being alone, surrounded by 3 guys at once. Not even Chuck Norris could handle that. (lol, I had to throw in that old-school lame joke) Anyway, don't hesitate to get this game. Just a bit of advice...the game has (to me) a very long intro/prologue. (however, it is very enjoyable) Don't get discouraged with the lack of freedom during this period. Once Henry makes it to the town of Rattay, he (you) will begin to have freedom and your part in the game really begins from there. Also, take time to level up your skills. Don't worry, the main story will wait. Also, do yourself a favor and get the mod that removes the horrendous head bob from the game. I went from serious nausea to no issues at all after that mod.

Love absolutely everything about this game, and the most the fact developers didn't listen to twitter mob

In the past 20 years I have played mostly single player RPGs, ranging from Fallout 1 & 2, Torment, BG, IWD, Deus Ex, down to NWN, KoToR, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Witcher and the likes. But Kingdome Come is truly special. Apart from being a great RPG, the main thing that sets it apart from the others is its aspiration for authenticity and realism. You *are* Henry, a nobody in a historical setting of 1403 Bohemia, on a quest for revenge. It would have been an ordinary RPG were it not that the developers actually investigated medieval lore, combat and way of living. As you explore the world, tooltips pop up explaining events, places and society, which in turn incite you to read and learn more about history. Hence this is the first RPG I have ever played that actually has some educational value. The uniqueness of this game is that it proves that one can make an AAA game and story without a fantasy setting and lore, but just by plugging it into our own history. I especially love this because I am from Europe, and the setting is part of my own history. But I would also love to see something similar plugged into a historical setting less known to me, such as Ancient China, Persia, Egypt or America. This game is like a successful proof of concept for a RPG subgenre, and I really hope this game and the developers receive the recognition and support that I think they deserve. I congratulate and give them a straight 10/10. And you who might be reading this and wondering whether to buy it: If you enjoy RPGs, challenging combat, compelling story and a rich world. Doubt no longer. This game has all that to offer you, and on top of all that I am sure you’ll learn something about Bohemia too.

When I started this game, it felt like the old days in Gothic 2: A nobody who has to make his way up. You lack of any armor, weapon or skills. You have to learn how to fight (literally by practicing but also by training with Bernard). This felt so good in the early beginning. But then lockpicking happened. I stole a whole armor set in Talmberg (which is the prologue) - and if I remember correctly, I could keep it afterwards. This was actually emphasized as part of the story line. That was quite demotivating. However, even if you finish the quest in another way (without stealing), the moment you arrive in the next town the same thing happens again. I found one of the best swords in a chest and the first plate armor on some bandits still very early in the game. There is no correctly-paced, motivating progress for me, since armor can be looted from corpses and sold. This way you will earn a lot of money very fast and just buy high tier equipment. Usually you can wear that equipment early on, as you increase your stats enough during training or participating the weekly tournament (one of the greatest things in this game!). And this is the biggest flaw. Stealing and looting corpses ruined the game for me, as it allows Henry to become much too strong much too fast, killing the experience of the journey from a blacksmith's son to a knight. You even get a horse for free. And the best saddle as a quest reward. I think you know what I mean by now. The other big flaw is the fact that the game throws groups of enemies at you. As I really enjoyed duels especially during the tournament, fighting more enemies at once is just not working with that combat/locking system - not to mention that all the practice in duels is worthless in such encounters. The perfect block / counter-attack system seems great at first, but makes combos quite useless in my opinion as enemies interrupt you most of the time. Those are the reasons why I stopped playing. And the hunger system.