OT: Kingdom Come Deliverance

[TCrouch]

Not sure if anybody else has had their eye on this one, but I've been watching it for a few years. Then the beta came out of relatively nowhere yesterday. Basically one of those open world RPGs, but there's no magic, no mythical beasts. It's more along the lines of what it would be like to have a story-based RPG (you're a blacksmith's son) in 1403 Bohemia as they're invaded by the Hungarians. Entire storyline is based on real world historical events.

Real sword fighting techniques were supposedly used for coming up with the fighting styles, etc. In case there's any other nerd like me here, I figured I'd throw a heads up out there about the beta.



And a trailer about the insane graphics. The forests are some of the best stuff I've seen in gaming, but this has pretty much nothing to do with actual gameplay:

[TCrouch]

Even though it's painfully obvious I was the only one interested in this, I'm resurrecting a 2 year old post, as the game released today.

Think of it was a sort of janky Witcher-attempt with a mish-mash of For Honor combat stylings (you have to really work on leveling up the swordplay to be able to do anything other than die).

It's very clearly an over-ambitious attempt at doing many, many things in a massive world, but I'm enjoying it thoroughly so far.

[Danimal]

I'm interested in it but I just don't have time. Besides you, me, 34 and Rob I don't think we have too many RPG players here.

[Pete1210]

No magic or dragons? I need that stuff in my medieval RPG. And I didn't care much for For Honor. I'll stick with Witcher 3. I still need to finish that one.

[Bakes]

Interested in the game but worried about all the glitches and other technical problems people are talking about. Have you guys noticed this?

[Zeppo]

I'm interested in it but I just don't have time. Besides you, me, 34 and Rob I don't think we have too many RPG players here.

Hey, I’m still lurking around! I just don’t have a lot of gaming time anymore. Also I don’t game on PC. But I just started crawling through Divinity: Original Sin, Enhanced Edition on the Xbone. Plus I’ve been working through a couple of playthroughs of KOTOR on my MacBook since thanksgiving - an oldie but a goodie! Witcher 3 hasn’t grabbed me - I’m more compelled by Divinity, but again lack of gaming time really hurts the RPG itch.

This would be very, very intriguing to me but it ain’t gonna happen unless it shows up on Xbone or PS4.

[TCrouch]

This would be very, very intriguing to me but it ain’t gonna happen unless it shows up on Xbone or PS4.

It's on both.

And yes, there are some janky moments. It's definitely got that "small studio overextended itself" vibe to it...but I somehow don't mind it. The voice acting is generally serviceable, but the delays sometimes make it feel like a game that came out in 2010.

The graphics, though...they definitely don't suck. And as you get the hang of the combat, it's surprisingly fun.

[Danimal]

Can you give me an idea of what the story is like?

[TCrouch]

Without venturing into spoiler territory, you're a peasant's son. You're not a sword-wielding knight, nothing fancy. You try to use a sword but it's clunky (intentionally) because you were never trained to be one.

Then, some bad stuff happens and you're caught in the middle of the war for the Bohemian throne between Wenceslas IV and his brother Sigismund. You're not out to save the world from impending doom, nor are you the "special savior" from some prophecy that the whole world seems to be awaiting. You're just a peasant, and nobility will look down on you, but your reputation dictates how conversations and quests go.

I don't want to rant too much, but it goes so far as to change conversation outcomes based on how dirty your clothes are (or what clothes you're wearing in general). You can use troughs to try to clean up a bit if you're going to be meeting with nobility, but maybe you want to look intimidating instead? Leave the blood all over your clothes and try to muscle your way around.

But, at least in the early goings, you're no Dragonborn. You never get more health, you never become The Terminator. You gain more stamina and learn how to wield a sword better, but you're still just a dude. You're never going to wade through a dozen guys, cutting them down with slashes left and right. It's not that type of game. But the armor system has 12 layers, and swords will just not do crap against plate mail unless you pierce a weak point (combat is like For Honor with 6 strike points instead of 3). You learn combos, and as you fight more, you get better at those skills (or any other skill you use, a la Elder Scrolls).

But the story is basically "peasant with a vengeance mission" after the first few hours. It's just funny how crappy you are, and how little everybody thinks of you for a while. I've never really played any sort of RPG like it. For a while, it feels like "Peasant Simulator" more than a grand RPG, and that's OK with me.

But you'll definitely feel the "small team" vibe everywhere in the game. It's not polished, but I haven't hit anything game breaking yet.

[Danimal]

Thanks for the info Terry.