I’ve recently been enthralled by a let’s play of Kingdom Come: Deliverance and found myself wondering why I never bought it. It’s exactly the kind of game I love. It’s an open world RPG set in a painstakingly detailed environment. It’s absolutely gorgeous, has some interesting mechanics and a gripping story. As an added bonus, it’s even set in a realistically represented time period from hundreds of years ago. Being a massive Elder Scrolls and Assassin’s Creed fan, I should have thrown my money at Warhorse Studios to get this game pre-release. However, I was never interested buying Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
It’s So Similar to Games I Love
I love the environments of the Elder Scrolls games because they’re so foreign and unique. I really feel very unfamiliar and that prompts me to explore. Similarly, Assassin’s Creed has always delivered environments that excited my sense of discovery and appeared to do justice to the old time periods being represented. In both cases, the land itself gives insight into the nature of its inhabitants. Kingdom Come: Deliverance cultivates a world closer to the realistic style of the Assassin’s Creed series, but it doesn’t make me want to discover everything the land has to offer.
The story – without going into spoiler territory – is very good. I care about Henry and his journey. The people he meets along the way are interesting characters and I genuinely enjoy learning about people through conversation. Every bit of dialogue helps the player understand the culture of the time as well.
The Main Reason
So why don’t I just play Kingdom Come: Deliverance for myself instead of watching someone else play it? In short, it comes down to the realism. I truly do admire and appreciate the developer’s product and delivery of realism in every facet of this game. The world looks and feels how I imagine Bohemia would have. The gameplay seems to represent how tough it is to learn skills like horseback riding and swordplay. Even the story is a realistic one of war and the complex nature of humanity.
I think all of this is amazing and I’m truly impressed by the consistency and scale of this realism. That’s also why I’m not in love with this game. There’s no mysticism or complex fictitious lore to sink myself into. I love Assassin’s Creed for its realistic depictions of different time periods, but there’s also a beautiful mix of science fiction and fantasy that truly inspires a sense of wonder. I love The Elder Scrolls for the openness and detail of the world, but also the detailed nature of the fantastical lore. Kingdom Come: Deliverance just doesn’t do that for me.
I hate to say it, but I most likely will never buy this game. It’s still in my top ten games of 2018 on grounds of sheer quality, but it doesn’t grip my interest. I must hasten to add that this is in no way a bashing of Warhorse Studios’ work, but rather an analysis of my own personal preferences. I think I’m just hopelessly addicted to fantasy.
Silver Soul Gaming 