Kingdom Come Deliverance 2's dedication to letting me be a drunk, boorish oaf is so committed, it honestly left me astounded - preview

I've not played an open world RPG as thoughtful, earnest, or funny as Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 since... well, The original Kingdom Come Deliverance. With the sequel, Warhorse Studios has managed to strike a fine balance between historical accuracy and deep-rooted seriousness, resulting in a tale packed to the gills with boozy, slapstick hijinks. Just like in real Medieval European history.

For this preview, I was able to play up until a wedding set inside the first major region you get to explore. As of hitting this point,I have 25 hours on my save file, and I've completed all content on offer up to this point, save for one side-quest. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is a rich well, packed full of engaging side content, smaller activities that demand your attention, and side quests that actually weave into the main story so that you feel rewarded not just through material goods, but narrative pay-off, too. Eat your heart out, Witcher 3.

But - best of all - it's the finest open world RPG I've played that not only respects your decision to be a wanker, but has deep systems built around allowing you to be the most competent wanker you can be. You like robbing people? Getting drunk and punching random people on the road? Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 promotes unique progression paths for brawlers, burglars, and drunks. All whilst the people of Bohemia take note, muttering amongst themselves, leading to lasting and impactful consequences. I am left astounded.

Many other previews will likely note how different styles of clothing impact your charisma, how (if you don't wash yourself often) you'll stink like p**s, and if you don't take a bath your clothes will remain dirty as a kind of permanent scruffbag debuff. Countless, I'm sure, will note how your dog is adorable.

All of these are great depictions of Kingdom Come Deliverance's strengths, but allow me to summarise more succinctly: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 feels like a hobgoblin game. A game for late nights, sick days off work. A game you can obsess over. It's a wonderful historical romp for the average video game-enjoyer, if they have the constitution to munch on the occasional wave of tedium. Allow me to make a case for the game's merit by comparing it to the inevitable rival it'll have in the eyes of gamers: The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim for good measure.

Bethesda and Warhorse are on two polar opposites of the design philosophy spectrum when it comes to making open world RPGs. While Bethesda emphasises breaking down barriers between the player and a sense of joy and wunderlust, Warhorse embraces these barriers. In Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, this not only makes the experiences you encounter more special (without having to resort to ample bombast), but somehow manages to make mechanical roadblocks an integral part of the adventure, too. There is no better comparison point in my mind between the two approaches than thievery.

In Skyrim, you're less a thief in the dark and more of a ghost haunting the chests and pockets of those around you. Lock-picking and pick-pocketing isn't hard. A stranger can walk into a town, everyone's gold and gems can vanish, and the townfolk will shrug and mourn their lost wealth as that same phantom stumbles out of town the next day, overencumbered and rich. The shop owner will stand stoic as a basket is placed on their head, as a voiceless rogue practically tears the floorboards from the ground. How on earth could this have happened, and who could possibly be to blame? If you are caught, you pay a fine. Not a huge fine, mind you, especially not if you've been selling off your stolen goods. The biggest problem for a thief in Skyrim is that the people of Skyrim often haven't got enough money to buy back their stolen wares.

In Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, being a thief is a struggle. Lock-picking can be hard, and breaking a pick will make a loud noise that'll get you nabbed. If dogs see you snooping, they'll bark at you, chasing you off the premises. When you pickpocket someone, you've got to spend a few seconds digging through their pockets before you even get the chance to get loot, and most of that loot is hidden! On top of all of that, store owners can spot if goods you're selling are stolen, and refuse to buy them. You've often got to travel to another town to actually ditch your loot. Oh, and if you're over-encumbered, you can't mount up or fast travel. Get to walking, bud!

But it gets even deeper. The game has a reputation system, so if you're caught stealing stuff or lurking around houses at night, people will treat you as a thief and act accordingly, even when you aren't doing crimes. Even if you aren't caught, they will piece together that you were in town while stuff went missing, and you'll gain reputation as a thief - even without spending time in a jail cell! Losing this reputation is incredibly costly, requiring you to empty your wallet or go on a time-consuming good-will mission. Just like real life, I suppose.

The reason why this matters, and why I'm picking it out, is because the whole game is like this. So many playstyles are not only possible, but clearly taken into account by the devs. You wanna be a soldier, then there's a rich combo system for a hard-to-master melee system, a layered armour system, and weapons that excel against different types of protection. You wanna be a woodland ranger? Aside from the thieving business I've already talked about, you can do so well for yourself lurking around the forest, poaching game and picking herbs for poisons and other reagents. Don't wanna fight at all? Put on a nice outfit and talk your way out of almost everything.

Or, get drunk every day and play dice. To hell with it, right? The more you drink, the more levels in drinking you get, which might sound useless until you see you can almost half fall damage you take while drunk. More than once, I've seen a sketchy drop, downed eight bottles of schnapps, and come away okay. Just like real life. No other game lets you do this.

There are going to be a lot of people who won't like Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. An inevitable cost of its deep roots in historical accuracy, and the drudgery that comes with it, is that occasionally you've got to carry six heavy sacks to a basement, or sit on a cart slowly rolling across the map. It means that some who want that Skyrim-style quick payoff and power fantasy will be left kicking their heels. Three guys can box you up (and with saves not exactly generous for the alchemy-averse among you) a fight gone wrong can set you back by 20 minutes, easy. Folks will fall off one hill, break their ankles, and uninstall the game. This is the sacrifice required for a game like this, though. It is what it is.

Hitting the preview point of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 was, to me, like slamming the breaks on a moving train. I'm fiending to get back on it. If you're an open world RPG fan this looks to be an absolute banger, and well worth putting some money aside for when it releases on February 4, 2025.