This comes out tomorrow, and even though it’s being called a unique sandbox experience and a Skyrim-killer, it’s still pretty much under the mainstream radar. For those of you who may not know, Kingdom Come is a historically accurate, realistic RPG set in Bohemia in 1403. King Sigismund of Hungary/Croatia has attacked the mining village of Skalitz, and you play as Henry, one of the only survivors of the massacre. Henry joins up with the resistance against Sigismund, and from there you’re free to explore the kingdom of Bohemia, take on quests and make decisions as you control Henry to vengeance for his family and village.
Here’s where it’s different, though, and what may put a lot of people off and perhaps lead KCD to more of a cult status than a mainstream success: it’s totally realistic. There’s no magic, the leveling system is brief and streamlined, there are no crosshairs for archery, and every single enemy in the game is a legitimate threat and combat is in-depth and intuitive. Also, the world is meticulously designed to match both historical accuracy and the actual landscape of the country where the game takes place. Some folks say it could turn out to be bland. Others say it’s refreshing and really brings the story to life.
Folks who’ve played the game say it’s difficult and there’s a learning curve, and the game moves at a slow but very deliberate pace, but the experience is very rewarding. Armor works in layers, so chances are two Henrys won’t look alike. What you wear and how you act determines how NPCs react to you. Combat is all about careful timing and strategy as opposed to hacking and slashing. You can be injured, and there are no potions; you have to treat the wounds in the field, then get yourself to a doctor or you’ll continue to bleed out. You have to eat, drink and sleep to stay alive.
It started out as a kickstarter project, and after a rigorous four year development cycle and several delays, it’s finally coming out. And since the game went gold, they’ve still been reworking and perfecting the game’s mechanics – the day one patch is 23 gigs and is apparently more of a 1.2 patch than a 1.1 if that makes sense.
So, who else is going to pick this beast up tomorrow?
It’s definitely on my radar. Basically looks like ‘Mount & Blade’ but with an actual plot and better graphics and well, that sounds just peachy for me.
I’m not sure WHEN I’ll pick it up cause my plate’s pretty full and getting fuller right now so I’ll wait this one out for now at least.
There aren’t any reviews yet. I’m not entirely sure why but I imagine it’s because of the extensive work that’s continued to happen on the title before release. The patch notes are pretty extensive:
Can’t wait for this, but keeping my expectations in check. I would’ve been ok with waiting for more polish and tuning, but kudos to them for meeting the street date.
The base download just finished (still the day one patch left to go) so I thought I’d fire it up for half an hour or so before bed. So far, so good: ran better than I was expecting on my vanilla PS4 (though I just wandered around the opening area) and got to beat up a drunk. First impression of the combat is that it takes a little getting used to, but it’s fun. It’s very methodical though, with stamina management being key. It looks like your attacks have a fairly long arc as well, so you need to keep a little distance when striking. The patch should;ve downloaded by the morning, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of difference it makes.
Back in my day, we had two gaming platforms. Three if your family invested in a home computer and you were allowed to play games on it.
Like one or three good games came out a year that you really wanted to buy, and you had to save up your allowance, wait for Jesus’s birthday or your own, or make sure your parents saw you enthusiastically doing extra chores until they finally caved and took you to Target.
Then you played that game for years. Your collection of games that you owned was lower than the number of years you’ve spent on the Earth. Everything else, you borrowed from the video store or the library. And it was good.
Now… now 72 games come out every single month for nine or eleven different platforms. My backlog is embarrassing. I have games I’ve 99 percent’ed and never finished because something massive and exciting game out. Games I bought and played for a weekend, then moved on to something massive and exciting that’s come out. I think the last game to fully grab me and make me play it until the end, uninterrupted, was Breath of the Wild.
I’m hoping Deliverance is that next game. I want to beat it, then start working on that backlog and get my gaming shit together.
And that’s just the fucking start. But do I play any of those games? NO! I’ll finish DOOM’s campaign for a second time and play through Witcher 3 for the third fucking time sure as hell though!
I need to finish Uncharted 4. I’m 99% of the way done.
I need to get further than the first village in Witcher 3 (you are all free to whip and harass me for this one).
I got to the third island or so in Pokemon Sun when something else grabbed my attention.
I have Secret of Mana going on the SNES Classic.
It goes on… I get bored or I get free time and it becomes paralysis by analysis trying to decide what to play. Instead of hunkering down and completing something, I give up and go back to something familiar like Breath of the Wild or Skyrim for a few hours.