Kingdom Come Deliverance:
Last week's article introduced the historical grounding of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but also its subversion of the player's control in order to tell its story. This second article looks at the RPG elements, combat,
Though the settings and stories have
little in common, Kingdom Come Deliverance
compares favorably to the famous The Elder Scrolls:
Morrowind. While one is set in a fictional, magical realm,
both feature the same style of game-play in a medieval-esque world.
Like Morrowind, the protagonist improves in numerous Skills by
performing them. Henry is composed of a Core Level, nine Stats (like
Strength, Vitality, Speech), ten Skills (Alchemy, Horsemanship,
Drinking), and seven Combat Skills (Defense, Warfare, Swords).
Deliverance resembles Morrowind, but improved the
leveling system. In Morrowind, an insufficient sword skill
displays a sword hitting the enemy, but not inflicting damage.
Attacks in Deliverance never miss. Instead, the power of each
attack improves as proficiency increases. Each Stat and Skill also
includes perks to choose from, like classic role-playing games. Some
Skills are difficult to improve, like Stealth, because it requires
unnecessarily sneaking around enemies to practice. Even if the
player doesn't want to steal they still need to pick locks whenever
possible, so they can open that one locked chest for a mandatory
quest.
The protagonist's Skill improves in
combat in the same way, but unlike Morrowind, player skill
impacts the outcome. The player swings with their mace, sword, or
axe from one of five different angles, making blocking difficult.
During combat the duelers attack and dodge, parry, and
counter-attack. Damage prescribed by hits is deflected by armor with
the rest absorbed by the character's stamina. Damage is easily
inflicted in the early game, as low level characters have limited
stamina and poor armor, but plate armor and an extended endurance in
the later game leads to drawn out battles. If Henry has no stamina
to deflect damage then he loses health. Stamina returns slowly when
Henry is not giving or receiving blows. A winded foe is a vulnerable
target, and following up with attack after attack is a winning
strategy.
Even as Henry learns from experience,
combat retains its difficulty against one foe. Two enemies are
frustratingly unbearable, while its impossible to fight three or
more. Deliverance doesn't include a button to switch battle
targets manually. Instead Henry targets whichever foe in nearest.
But sometimes the target doesn't switch when the enemy changes
positions, forcing the player to attack the foe in back, leaving
Henry open to attack from the closer enemy. I never felt like I
mastered combat, but it's a deep system with its five angles of
attack, stamina, parrying, and armor. Part of my failure was using
swords against armored foes. Bladed weapons may be effective against
unarmored foes, but against chainmail or platemail, they inflict
minimal damage. What I never understood about combat is how enemies
could parry my attack, and immediately flow into an unblockable
counterattack, which I find very frustrating.
Though combat is always relevant to
protect oneself riding the roads and woods of tumultuous Bohemia,
Deliverance features three large scale battles. In each Henry
is only one solider in a massive attack led by Lords against rebels.
The first battle is a surprise, and I wasn't properly prepared for
the event. While it was fun at first, it became frustrating as death
followed death. Kingdom Come doesn't allow the player
to save at any point in the battle, even though it is separated into
three scenes. After fifteen attempts I won, only to arrive at
Kingdom Come's only boss. It's odd that this singular
boss appears fifteen hours into a forty hour game, but at least the
game did deign save between the battle and the boss. This was easier
than the massive melee. It only took five attempts to defeat him.
The next two engagements, which occur in the last third of the game,
are much easier with a well trained and equipped Henry.
While combat is a significant part of
Deliverance, before it can begin the player must arrive at
their destination. The world of Kingdom Come is
massive, with ten towns of varying size. Some hamlets include no
more than a grocer, while the largest contain taverns, blacksmiths,
apothecaries, and a castle. Each include a fast travel point which
is unlocked by visiting once. Many games implement fast travel
poorly, with no restrictions, but Deliverance avoids these
pitfalls by imposing limits. During fast travel time passes and
Henry needs to eat. Manual travel seems faster in in-game time, but
fast travel saves the player real life time. At first Bohemia seems
full of locations to explore, and yet reveals itself as mostly empty.
But over time, one comes to appreciate the detail and the beauty of
the hills, rivers, fields, and woods, even if they lack activities to
perform.
It helps that the developers made riding a horse enjoyable.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was an open world
game that mangled both regular and fast travel. Fast travel had no
penalty. The horse in Breath of the Wild
wasn't able to traverse any but the flattest terrain, and Hyrule
contained too many cliffs, valleys, and rivers. In contrast, Henry's
horse, Pebbles, can cross almost any terrain. He can jump fences,
climb all but the steepest terrain, and cross streams, though not
rivers. Also, Link's horse could only be stabled or recovered from one
of a few locations scattered across Hyrule. Deliverance
solves this problem by making Henry's steed a magical appearing
horse. All he has to do is whistle, and Pebbles appears instantly
out of the corner of his eye. This detracts from the realism the
developers works hard to create, gameplay successfully trumps
realism. If Henry does employ fast travel, it isn't an instantaneous
teleportation from one location to another. In addition to the
passage of time, Henry's travel is likely to be interrupted by a
pilgrim seeking aid, an ambush by vicious Cumans, a wayfarer selling
a treasure map, or a wanderer interested in a friendly duel. The
opportunities are endless and create a fast travel experience both
engaging and risky. Whether traveling by horse through the woods of
Bohemia, or cruising from town to town with fast travel, travel is a
delight in the wide world of Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
Part of what makes travel enjoyable is
the visual effects. Admittedly, Kingdom Come is a
mixed bag on visuals. Riding through the woods and fields is
enjoyable, and the characters look realistic. They appear even
better during the cut scenes, but are overly prone to exaggerated
head and hand gestures during in game conversations. But the real
issue is pop in visuals. Imagine riding along the road and seeing a
man in the distance. He appears to be dressed in a simple peasant
garb. Upon closer inspection, the man appears to be wearing the
basic equipment of a soldier; sword, chain mail, and shield. But as
they approach each other, the player now sees that the peasant is a
fully armed and plated knight eager for a fight. The problem isn't
as obvious with the terrain or buildings, but it isn't negligible
either.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is full of
these little issues mixed into an otherwise expansive campaign. Next
week will conclude with further details about the characters, story,
and conclusion.
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