Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an RPG masterpiece
It took me a few tries to fully get into this game, but once I did it had its full grasp on me. Around 30h into this rpg masterclass and I'm having a blast. Here's why I consider it so good.
It feels like an actual RPG, not an Action-adventure game with some RPG elements.
Unlike games such as TW3, Origins and Odyssey, KCD feels like a fully realized RPG. You start out as an average guy that barely knows anything, and you get to witness and experience your own character's growth almost firsthand: how cool isn't that? I sucked in the beginning but now after sparring and doing many things my character is experienced enough to fend for himself. You can sort of play this game in different ways, for example my character is a complete jerk: he has been in jail several times, partly due to a lot of thievery—but it was worth it because now he is very experienced. What I also like is that this can sort of make sense story-wise (the story in the tutorial). It's this sort of roleplay that I love. This game ultimately feels quite similar to an Oblivion 2.0 with a different theme and story: you got quite large towns with npcs having their own routines, you can trespass and you level your skills by performing them.
The immersion is amazing in this game: the amazing visuals, the great freedom, and the progression that I mentioned all enhance it to be one of the most immersive games I have played.
Speaking of the visuals, this game is most likely the best looking game I have played—and I have played many good-looking ones. On a good PC with Reshade and changing some commands this game looks awesome. The environments steal the show, making it possibly the most "photorealistic" open-world I have played. The vegetation is amazing, and the draw distance can be really good. Now you won't get RDR2 levels of animations and character models, but you can't have everything. KCD's environments look much better and more realistic than RDR2's in my opinion. The performance isn't quite there always though, especially in Rattay where I feel like it's almost impossible to get a locked 60 fps regardless of your PC.
The combat is another thing I like, but isn't perfect. It can be quite deep, but I really like the impact and feedback: feels realistic and impactful. My issue with it is fighting against several enemies can be an exercise in frustration due to enemies wanting to get up very close to you which makes it hard to adjust and seeing what the enemies are doing, and I hate the enemy dogs in this game; among the worst enemy types in a game in my opinion. Overall, I do enjoy the combat and its tactical feeling.
There is quite some more I can write about this game, but I'll stop here. It's fantastic, but definitely not for everyone—it can even take a few tries to fully get into, at least it did for me. Thanks for reading.
94/100.
