How do I begin?

KCD2 is a very refreshing AAA game for the longest time in the midst of AI, remaster, and gameplay replayability. It has been nominated and won several awards in 2025, and now I can see it why. Like most people, I'm one of those who feel playing game nowadays seems like a chore or doesn't feel fun anymore because as a "GaMer" (*hur-dur sarcastically*), I always think how I want to win it ASAP or if I already have the prerequisite knowledge of similar games. Initially, I went blind into KCD2 while avoiding spoilers because I already played KCD in the past....and I'm glad because I feel something that I haven't felt for a long time...I'm actually having fun in single player game. I actually DESIRED it to play more, and that's not an easy exaggeration.

KCD2 is an open-world first-person RPG medieval game where you play as Henry, a friend and squire of Sir Hans Capon. The game sets heavily in historical timeline of Late Middle Ages of 1403 in Bohemia with succession war looming across the Holy Roman Empire. Your role might seem insignificant at first, but you actually play parts in the bigger picture.

Positives:
+ Very good optimization: Warhorse Studio optimization has come a long way since first KCD. I gotta say, at launch, first KCD was not the most optimized version. Even after I played it again somewhere this year, it's still not as optimized as KCD2. But KCD2 actually surprised me with 100-150 fps in Ultra 2K with FSR. There were stutters if you went into some heavily guarded areas if you are running too fast, but it's quite mild. With my PC specs, I never went under 100 fps, so the result might be varied.

+ Great story-writing and easter eggs: you will laugh, you will feel joy, you will question "what if?", you will feel sadness/empathy, but the outcome will be decided by...some dice roll. Yes, that's true. some conversation actually strike by dice rolls similar to DnD. Not too many which feels random, but it's there. Dialogue mechanic options aside, the writing in this game is...very good. Again, it's an RPG game, therefore there are some limitation with to what-if dialogues by the dev, but they basically give Henry options to be an absolute menace or good boi. Sometimes trollish even. And for modern audience, the dev understood perfectly when they put hilarious meme references you saw in internet. Very cultured indeed.

+ Gameplay mechanic and contents: since you could say KCD2 is a game which is quite close to medieval realism, it doesn't need to be as close as historical as possible. But they did. Which feels more fun and less of a medieval history simulator. That doesn't mean the content is not authentic, it's just presented as simplified history version. What I mean is, you must remember this is a GAME and not historical simulator, it doesn't have to be perfect, but at least tolerable to some degree of realism. With that put aside, the content in the game were beautifully designed than I expected and it's hard to mention it without spoiling some story or content.

You want to save your game? Too bad you need to brew a Schnapp for it. You want to buy something? Too bad you are branded now because of your past misdeed. Did you get food poisoning? Better have antidote or you will die in the next 5 minutes (accurate irl too). Ohh, you better check that grave, might be have some quest item for later. Sometimes some quest puzzle like a riddle need an ACTUAL BRAIN to solve it out. Yes, it was that detail. And I love how Warhorse gave insightful Codex to player who are interested in this periodical of time. It's like you are learning and playing at the same time (watching Ubisoft games with face palm). Like depicting NPC's daily life in medieval time of what not and what does. From the architecture of Trotsky castle to Kuttenberg city and (arguably) accurate armor and clothes in the 15th century. There will be lot of historians who will debate this, but still, kudos to Warhorse studios team for putting tremendous effort in the game for the sake of authenticity.

In short, yes there're lot of contents in the game and justify the price tag.

+ - Good music and sound effect: I don't have lot to say. The music in the game fits perfectly on every action sequence. For example, if you are on the road, you will hear the standard lute and pandeiro so Henry won't be so lonely. Or if you are in Italian quarter, you will hear funny Italian pizza medieval music. For most part, the game will give you sequence of music based on the cinematic, location, and your action in the game. Overall, very good choice of music. That said, the SFX might need some variations. Because most of the SFX sound so high or doesn't have lot of grumble or "thump" variation except the horse hoof gallop. It's not bad per se and certainly won't affect your gameplay, but it's there.

Negatives:
- Minor bugs and soft lock: unfortunately even though I have been such a fanboy about this game, it's with heavy heart that I also must come clean that this game is not without bugs. No game is perfect, and KDC2 is one of those. For example, Kuttenberg Tournament quest notification have such infamous bug where you need to return the gears but it won't allow you, therefore you could just leave the tournament or pay the gear to remove the notification. It's a minor bug I say, but it's annoying because it's such a wake up call. Another example is an investigation quest in Forge DLC where you need to investigate lost materials or schematic for the guild. If you "accidentally" learned one of the required schematic, it will count as lost item and you couldn't lie nor decline the quest to fail it. So the notification dangling there awkwardly and you can't finish the quest. Or maybe you met with strangers in Kuttenberg street, but you couldn't see who you are talking to because they already gone behind the cart in marketplace. For completionist, you better make some Schnapp in case you soft lock some choices (or maybe that's part of the gameplay?).

- Limited save slot: this is just me being very picky. Like aforementioned above, I need to save a lot because I want to try to finish all the side quest first, then the main quest. Therefore I need to save a lot. Turn out, you only could have 500 slots or you need to overwrite the older saves.

- Questionable decent-ish stealth mechanic: this is more like a complaint. Since it's very weird that sometimes enemy could have x-ray vision to see the body inside the building or night vision which could see a body from far away even though it's so damn dark unless you need to get close to it. It's not bad, but it's not good either.

And that's probably it. Kudos to TomMckay (Henry VA), rest of the casts, professional sources, and the developers, you all did brilliantly. Go give KCD2 a try. It's worth the full price, and even better on discount.

Amazing from start to finish. KCD2 is one of the best, if not the best RPG I've played. It is a very long game so don't rush and enjoy the journey. 10/10 would hungry again.

有一種突然自己朝特定方向亂走還停不下來的Bug，鎖輸入法甚至取消輸入法快捷鍵都沒用。