Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a great game and easily one of the best RPGs of the year. Warhorse Studios' ambitiously rich experience has been the subject of rave reviews and has sold millions of copies since its release in February.
But it's also an incredibly daunting adventure that isn't afraid to test your patience with harsh mechanics that require rigorous experimentation. Until you settle on a playstyle, you'll often screw it up. Even so, you'll still be doing something, and you may never fully understand exactly how this game and most of its systems work. However, if you don't engage with them, you're going to have a bad time.
So you won't be surprised that KCD2 is not for everyone. However, this willingness to go against the grain has allowed it to attract a hardcore community of gamers who want to explore a world where every single mechanic is something that needs to be mastered bitterly. I love the stories this medieval journey wants to tell, I just wish it wasn't so hard.
Those who balk at Deliverance will likely gravitate towards more indulgent RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 or The Outer Worlds 2, games that are still rich in systems and story, but understand that some people just want to have fun without any friction. That's why I want to talk about some recent comments made by Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 director Daniel Vávra.
I'm glad that not every RPG tries to be Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Taking to Twitter after the recent credits roll for The Outer Worlds 2, Vávra had this to say about Obsidian's recently released RPG:
“Finished. 7/10. But what I find sad is that the company and people who gave us one of my favorite games ever (Fallout & New Vegas) couldn't even after 15 years and with all of Microsoft's money and the latest technological advancements come up with a single new game mechanic that could take this tried but ancient formula somewhere new. Can any of you think of a single new game mechanic World or the original Fallout game mechanics in The Out in The Out? 25 years ago, unfortunately, I can't give me a living, simulated world!
I understand where Vávra is coming from, and the formula that Bethesda originally introduced with Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion in 2006 hasn't evolved drastically in the two decades since. The Outer Worlds 2, despite advances in gunfights and execution of its RPG systems, still relies on the same predictable characters. It doesn't offer players a reactive or simulated world to explore, or sweeping moral decisions that can shake its environment to its core, but it doesn't really intend to either. It's not the same type of experience as Deus Ex or Deliverance 2, and if it was, it would probably play and look very different indeed.
Vávra also criticizes The Outer Worlds 2 for things it doesn't have, such as loot boxes or level grinding, seemingly expressing a more general frustration with the genre, despite offering a brief review of Obsidian's RPG. Putting a game in the viral crosshairs for not meeting your very specific standards of what the genre should be doesn't seem fair, even though a large part of me agrees with Vávra.
Obsidian used to be more ambitious, pushing the genre forward in ways no one else could. Under Microsoft ownership, it creates RPGs that have mainstream appeal and gameplay mechanics that won't alienate most audiences at every turn. Do you know how Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is doing?
In a time of protracted development cycles, Obsidian has also managed to release six well-reviewed games since The Outer Worlds in 2019, which is an overlooked positive if all you're looking for are genre-changing mechanics.
The Outer Worlds 2 isn't trying to push the boundaries, and that's fine
It would be great to see The Outer Worlds 2 include a living, breathing world ripe with a variety of immersive sim qualities, but that would be a completely different game. This would mark a departure from the formula of the series, which despite its archaic nature still entertains thousands of players. I've written before about Obsidian proving that Bethesda's outdated way of doing things is a product of its own ignorance, and The Outer Worlds 2 proved in more ways than one that this supposedly static RPG can still be full of life.
I don't believe Warhorse does a better job because they don't make the kind of RPG that the mainstream audience wants to play. Deliverance 2 is niche, difficult, and pushes the boundaries in exciting ways, but to pretend it doesn't have an inherently limited appeal is ridiculous.
There's also an irony in bashing Oblivion's mechanics for being dated and unattractive when they were remastered earlier this year to become the biggest RPG release in recent memory. People still love these games.
The RPG genre is changing right now, and in the coming years there will be new titles that will make a significant impact from Kingdom Come: Deliverance itself, as well as Baldur's Gate 3. Games that try to push the genre forward by learning from recent successes that have made a name for themselves by subverting player expectations and deviating from the norm.
Vávra criticizes The Outer Worlds 2 for not living up to the expectations it never aimed for, playing as an RPG cannot exist unless it constantly challenges the audience or immerses them in a myriad of systems. The sooner we realize that RPGs can come in endlessly different forms, the better.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Released
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February 4, 2025
- ESRB
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Adults 17+ / Use of alcohol, blood and gore, sexual content, strong language, intense violence, partial nudity
- Developers
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Warhorse Studios
