**Note, this review was written after beating the main story, at about 60 hours played. This review will contain spoilers for the first game, as well as a slight spoiler for this game in the summary, however, this is marked as such.Before I really get into the nitty gritty of my KCD: 2 Review, I want to preface this by saying that KCDP: 1 is one of my favourite games of all time, and ever since I first completed it on 3rd March 2018 I have longed to complete the two objectives you cannot within that game. So you could say I have been very much looking forward to the sequel.
I also feel its really important for me to add for anyone looking to dive in but are apprehensive due to the first games rocky launch with bugs, crashing and all manner of issues, that I had 1 crash, and no real bugs to the level the first game suffered. Its a really well polished game, and if that's what is preventing you from picking it up you can rest assured that, at least on the Xbox Series X, it plays magnificently. Now... onto the bulk of the review!
StoryKCD: 2 takes everything you loved about the first game, and continues it along a similar vane, as expected it continues off right where the first game ended, and I do not wish to add spoilers here at all, so I won't say more. The story actually lasts a lot longer than expected, and I didn't feel bored at any point, with each plot point hitting quite nicely along the way. The one real frustration I have is
*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***that it does contain a fair few stealth needed missions. I personally do not think that KCD is at all set up well for stealth mechanics, and whilst there is now a rock throw, it didn't seem to do much unless you threw it at a guards head. Equally, stealth takedowns (either killing or knockout) seemed a bit clunky, and if you so happened to be building your Henry to be less stealth, you will struggle on several missions.
That being said, being able to continue as Henry had me smiling the entire time, and I was delighted to be back playing as my favourite son of a blacksmith from Skalitz.
GraphicsI played on fidelity mode, but there is also a performance mode. The game ran really well at 30 fps, and looked beautiful, I really have no complaints on this regard. It isn't really too much of an upgrade on the first game, but that's not a bad thing, it still looks like a beautiful recreation of medieval Bohemia. I did not try performance mode, but given fidelity played fine, I assume that this option is also good, and therefore personal preference.
MusicFor me, the first games soundtrack was somewhat iconic, and I can still recall "Rattay Feasts" from the first game, and it'll often shoot my memory back to riding pebbles around Sasau. Whilst there isn't a tune (yet) from KCD 2 that I can recall like that, its more of the same, excellent music.
SummaryTo sum it up, anyone who has been waiting to play this since KCD: 1 should jump head first into Bohemia once more to support King Wenceslas, and new fans to the series should also do so, but perhaps stop by KCD 1 to get a overview on the story so far. I shall have some slight story spoilers marked below this..
*** Spoiler - click to reveal ***Finishing Henrys story so far, ticking of the getting Radzig's sword back, seeking sweet revenge and roaming Bohemia has felt like finally getting closure to an old friend.
Perhaps it helps that I love all things history, and games with swords always top my lists, but I would recommend this game to absolutely anyone. I would give it 98/100 if I could, just where the stealth elements aren't clean, but its not enough to justify anything other than a 5/5!
5.0