EvaUnit02 on 30/4/2024 at 15:18

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Xbox version is stuck at 31fps. I wouldn't play it there.

They didn't go back and patch it to take advantage of the newer Xbox Series hardware, sadly. The Xbone X enhancements are used of course, which is having a rendering resolution of more or less 1440p.

Tomi on 21/8/2024 at 16:03

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The first proper gameplay video was released today:

[video=youtube;5VP6bjlger8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VP6bjlger8[/video]

Still six months until the official release and the game is looking great already! Looks like they've made little improvements here and there, but everything's still very much like the first game. Apparently Warhorse Studios has been working on this game for five years already, and I think it shows. Unless they've cherry-picked the only cool moments in the game, this is really impressive stuff already.

Anyway, here are some observations that I made while watching the gameplay video:


* The game is really pretty. Not necessarily hyper-ultra-realistic, but the lighting in particular is stunning. The characters and their faces especially look better than in KCD 1.

* The nature looks as good as always, but the towns and cities in KCD 2 seem much more lively. The interiors seem much more realistic now.

* Apparently NPCs are supposed to have their own daily routines, which could be something that really makes the world come alive! I'd love to see something similar to what Ultima 7 did.

* Combat looks almost the same as in the first game, but according to the commentary they've changed the system quite a bit. It does seem a bit "meatier" somehow, and maybe a little bit faster than in the first game? It's definitely still on the realistic side. Does it look a bit easy though? I believe that there will be options to tweak the difficulty to your liking, but on the other hand Henry is mostly fighting some peasants in the video, and he's supposed to be an expert swordsman at this point in the story as well.

* No sign of firearms in this video, which hopefully (?) means that they don't play a very big role in the game. Who knows, maybe they'll be cool as hell, but too much bang-bang will just ruin the mood.

* Crossbow might turn out to be a cool addition, but hopefully the sword will still be Henry's main weapon.

* My favourite game saving mechanism, Saviour Schnapps is back! They seem to be called "Remedium Savegamium" in the video though...

* It's always nice to hear other languages than just English in a game - it makes everything feel so much more authentic. Obviously they're not supposed to speak English at all in the medieval kingdom of Bohemia, but at least in the first game the voice acting was top notch, and it'd be strange to hear Henry speaking with a totally different voice. Perhaps I should play the first game with Czech audio some time though!

* Teleporting horse also seems to be back, which was a feature that I actually didn't like in KCD. I mean, you just whistle and your horse magically appears out of thin air. Of course it's convenient, but I don't like things too convenient I guess. :p This also made the first game too easy, when you could just call your horse whenever and wherever and escape just about any battle.

* Stealth seems to be a bit more advanced than in the first game. Not exactly as good as in Thief, but I'm hoping that it'll be fun and somewhat realistic.

* Speaking of realism, it looks like they've cranked up the level of realism all over the place, which is something that I really like. It's mostly just little details, but these little details are the things that make the truly great games stand out from the good ones.

* Lots of places to explore and a lot of secrets! (Or so they say!)


Yeah, I'm truly hyped up now. :D This is one of the few "shut up and take my money" moments in gaming for me - I think I may even be foolish enough to pre-order KCD 2. Try to guess what the previous game that I pre-ordered was? Correct answer: Thi4f. Hopefully KCD 2 will turn out to be a better experience. Right now I'm quite confident that it will be!

Tomi on 7/12/2024 at 19:53

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The KCD2 story trailer was released yesterday:

[video=youtube;vPS-pgg3scE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPS-pgg3scE&t[/video]

Apart from this trailer being a bit too "epic" for my liking, I think it's looking pretty damn cool. KCD2 is probably my most anticipated game of all time, and the hype-o-meter just keeps rising. :D The PC system requirements have also been announced, and while I'm really out of touch of what's good and what's bad in the world of PC components, I got the impression that you don't need a super computer to run the game. I think I'm still going to get KCD2 on the XBox though because I just don't feel like upgrading my computer just yet...

Also, there was a persistent rumour going previously that KCD2 will have Denuvo, but Warhorse Studios debunked that one. They claimed that the game will not have any kind of DRM, which is great news. Hopefully KCD2 will be available on GOG soon, but it's nowhere to be seen over there yet.

Tomi on 25/12/2024 at 10:02

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Only a little more than a month to go until KCD2, so I decided to start another playthrough of the first game, this time on the XBox. Yeah, the XBox version isn't that great because of the 30FPS limit and no mods, but I'm still having a great time. I love the intro even though I sometimes wish that the story progressed at a faster pace, but on the other hand I think that that's exactly what I actually love about KCD. You're not the invincible hero with epic weapons and magic spells who saves the whole world from some Evil Bad Guy, and that's really refreshing for a change. I love the history tidbits that the game offers when you discover something new. I have no idea how authentic KCD really is, but I get the impression that they've done their research really well. Last week I actually won a pub quiz because I scored high points for a question about medieval vegetables. :D

My favourite part of the game is still the outdoor exploration. Even though you're not chasing quest markers and there are no sidequests all over the place, there are still so many things to discover. And the nature looks so damn good. The combat in KCD seems to divide opinions, but I think it's fantastic, especially with the gamepad (not so much with KB+M). It's slow, but also brutal and tactical, and really challenging, especially in the beginning of the game. KCD does have its shortcomings and there are parts that haven't aged so well, but it's still very much worth playing. It would have deserved better console versions though.

Tomi on 29/1/2025 at 21:24

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Less than a week until the release of KCD2! :o

And of course I'm badly stuck in the middle of my replay of the first game right now. I had forgotten how damn long this game is (or at least how slowly it progresses!) if you want to play all the side quests and explore stuff. I've got over the 30FPS issue on consoles already, and I'm simply still damn impressed by KCD after all these years. Having said that, the many flaws of the game also seem more obvious than ever.

But still, I don't think I've ever been as hyped for any game as I am for KCD2 right now. Not that I'm going to play it on the release date or anything, even though I pre-ordered it and everything. I suppose that makes me look a bit stupid, but there we go. :p There are no proper reviews yet, but I don't think I've heard a single negative comment so far from those who have got their hands on a preview copy. According to them KCD2 is a lot like the first game, just better in almost everything. Yeah, I'm gonna take all that with a pinch of salt, but that's all very exciting stuff.