What a game, again.

It's been a hot minute since I last touched KCD and left this review. I haven't played the game again, not even for its sequel, whom I have accompanied from the very start. 2025 was a gaming boon and I'm happy KCD 2 is as popular as it is.


If you asked me to choose between the two games, I really couldn't. While technically speaking KCD 2 is the better game on account of the polish and tweaks they made to better improve the first's mechanics, I fear the game feels a bit too different to be called a continuation. I mean, not story-wise, that would be stupid. But just as like the first game's story is only completed in the second, this one can't really exist properly without knowing what happened in the first one.

I wish save importing was a thing here, just like it is in The Witcher. While ultimately the prologue here covers all bases in Henry's story for those that didn't play KCD 1 or need a refresher, and there's heaps of mentions to events of the first game if you're vigilant enough, it will always bother me you never get the joy of learning to read - after all you start the game knowing how to (which in turn makes KCD 2 assume you learned to read in Uzhitz in the first game, an optional choice) - nor know Radzig's story with you, why Hanush would send Capon to Trosky or even who Godwin is. You would never have the knowledge about Kuttenberg's executioner, who directly mentions the executioner's quest of the first game. You wouldn't know why Mutt and Pebbles are so important to Henry besides being your dog and horse. But that in the end are my minor nitpicks which is easily solved by playing the first game if you started with this one.

The engine mostly didn't undergo major changes. I am a humble owner of a 2060 laptop and the first game ran decently well at 70 FPS. Sometimes, it would dip to the 40s, but it always felt a bit jittery. You could see it in action whenever you were in Skalitz, Sasau or Rattay, with Henry stopping for a moment whenever I opened a door and the game loaded the interior. In this one? Not so much a peep from stutters. Sure, it's a tad heavier, requiring me to drop almost everything to low, but even then it looks incredible. The game's smooth, even in Kuttenberg. Intelligent culling will you get you places. The only two bugs I found were guards occasionally floating above benches and typos in the subtitles, of which I have seen a handful.


With two entire regions, there's a good amount of side content to complement the absolutely gigantic main quest and world. While there's sadly no mutually exclusive quests like the first game, there are a lot of time-limited quests. While those in the main quest can be easily identifiable by a "no time to lose!" message when you try to wait, there are a lot of sidequests that do not get that information. For the most part they're clearly denoted by telling you to do X at a certain time period or to hurry up, like Ill Repute or Bad Blood. It reminds me of playing Daggerfall and makes the game world feel alive and not just waiting for Henry to dictate time. Not that it really matters, as if you ♥♥♥♥ off when you reach Kuttenberg to do side content like I did you'll experience a bit of a dissonance regarding the chronological order of the events. But that's what happens when you are given freedom.

All of the side content felt better than the sidequests of KCD1, with a bit more thought put into them rather than being mindless fetch quests or a telephone game. I especially commend Wedding Crashers, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Taking French Leave, Oratores and The Italian Job from the main quest and The Fifth Commandment from the sidequests. These ones are exceptionally well-made, with the tension and hilarity in them are incredible. I love all the cutscenes for their impeccable direction and sometimes even comedic effect (A Good Scrub's night-day contrast for example) and that they kept the hidden chicken tradition alive.

I always liked how you could do quests in more ways than one. In KCD1 during Ginger In A Pickle, you can go back and fetch Captain Bernard to help you with the bandits. While in KCD 2 I don't recall such a case, you can go back to a lot of NPCs after their relevant quest to have special talks with them, like the one in The Fifth Commandment or earlier during The Hermit with Gerda. Honestly, it feels like KCD 2 added more of these than the first one, especially in the DLCs.


The gameplay hasn't been changed much. Honestly, I think KCD2 is a far easier game. From merging skills to replacing others, I think the easiness comes from the increased level cap and more perk points to work with. In KCD1, the level cap was 20. In this one it's 30. This means you can get all the perks in any skill category besides the mutually exclusive ones. It makes Henry very powerful and removes the need to plan out a build. However, I miss Auto-brewing with potions at level 10 Alchemy. Shields feel useless. I like the increased weapon variety and while more of a gimmick, the pistole is kind of fun, though bows are still the best ranged weapon. Faster to reload, to shoot and to honestly aim with, they felt more serviceable than they were in the first game. Of course, KCD1 had the struggling aim of Henry up until level 7 and the need to have vambraces equipped.

Combat changed a bit. From a 5+1 star down to just 4 directions, they streamlined and made sure combat didn't felt limited. I honestly don't mind it, it feels just like the combat in the first. Infuriatingly punishing in the early and mid game and by the late game you're either used to combat or have access to Master Strikes. I think you know where I'm going with this. In the first game, I described MS as a game-trivializing tool. In KCD2, it's basically the same. Whereas in the first game, you just had to press Q when you saw the perfect block window, this one has you also be aiming in the opposite attack direction and attacking. KCD 1 will tell you to always be moving in combat, but when you get Master Strikes, you can just sit still and wait. It's still a Nash Equilibrium, but this time around they made the NPCs a bit smarter. I was feinted more often than in the first one and they'll circle you more effectively. While I can still perfectly block those attacks, it was nice to see them try to overcome that game flaw.

But for me the biggest problem with master striking is the game's inconsistency with what it is. Tomcat himself says it's why swords are the rulers of weapon. You can only master strike with a weapon - but enemies can and will master strike you with anything. I've been master struck by a polearm and the Kuttenberg fistfights teach you everyone will master strike you unarmed. Despite having a perk that tells you you can master strike unarmed, you actually can't. Just spam kicks.

Combos are far more viable and fun, which is good. But the newly added Riposting is not. It's a slugfest where you'll be riposting ripostes until someone runs out of stamina. But the biggest change is that you can actually run away from battles. In the first game, everyone would catch up to you if you tried to run and it made battles impossible to escape from.


They might have removed the iconic "I feel quite hungry" line from the hunger lines, but I absolutely lost it when I heard it as a battlecry. That's how you know they love their fanbase. KCD 2 is a fantastic game that I could never put down, just like the first game. Even if the world feels duller, it's still lovingly made and extremely enjoyable.