Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Review (PS5) | Push Square

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With Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Czech developer Warhorse Studios demands a seat at the table of role playing masters with a dangerously immersive WRPG that, almost disappointingly, is polished to mirror-brightness, like a dazzling suit of tourney plate.

Armed with a bizarre mixture of mechanics seemingly inspired by Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption 2, and The Witcher 3, and armoured in the eccentricities of Warhorse's own deeply emergent, painstakingly historical world, the developer's relentlessly hardcore medieval knight simulator is one of the most immersive, all-consuming experiences we've faced down in years.

The direct sequel to 2018's Kingdom Come: Deliverance, it's clear Warhorse has been gathering itself for this charge, and the sequel throws down a defiant RPG gauntlet that very few studios (CD Projekt Red, Larian) could ever hope to follow, let alone accede.

Continuing the relatively low-stakes tale of Henry of Skalitz, set in the Kingdom of Bohemia (modern Czech Republic) in 1403 during the high Middle Ages, our unlikely hero is now squire to the ludicrous (but undeniably lovable) Hans Capon, the flamboyant young Lord of Pirkstein. The two are swept up in the violent, endless, Machiavellian political machinations of the Holy Roman Empire (which, in one of history's great ironies, is neither holy, Roman, nor an empire).

Daring to do the seemingly suicidal, Warhorse offers players a Skyrim-like experience but completely mundane. The developer contrives a way (following a string of scene-setting cinematics) to make players feel truly alone, penniless, and underpowered all over again. There are no difficulty settings here; before you get a faithful hound beside you, a noble steed beneath you, and a stable roof over your head, life is hard, eked out by the hour, and you must spend every waking moment moving forward.

Warhorse has valiantly attempted to file away some of the original's rough edges and largely succeeds; there is just no getting around how much the