Bohemia, early 1400s. It may not sound like an obvious setting for a TV game. "Kingdom Come: Deliverance" skipped monsters and magic and instead let its story revolve around realism, knights, and a medieval power struggle.
Behind the game is Czech Warhorse, and a grassroots-funded Kickstarter campaign. Both the campaign and the release in 2018 were successes, and "Kingdom Come" has sold 8 million copies, despite some shortcomings.
It was buggy, broken, and unfinished, says Ondrej Bittner, game designer, and continues:
But everyone thought "they'll fix it. It's their first game."
Not as tolerant
Now that it's time for the sequel, the studio has grown from around 40 employees in 2014, when the Kickstarter campaign was launched, to over 250. Furthermore, the predecessor's success has financed the sequel, and they have a major publisher in Embracer-owned Plaion (formerly Koch Media).
We understand that people won't be as tolerant this time around, he says.
To make it possible, the developers have strived not to take on too much.
It's more of an evolution than a revolution of the first game. We're not trying to do something extremely different, but trying to make everything feel better, says Tobias Stolz-Zwilling, PR manager.
Large city
Not to say that the game is small. Two large open worlds have been put together.
It's not just a large landscape on four by four kilometers. It also has a large city, which is so dense that it's almost like a third map, says Bittner.
Once again, the player takes control of Henry, the blacksmith who climbed the social ladder in the predecessor.
Now it's about actually becoming a hero, and finishing his journey, says Bittner.
"Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2" is the sequel to the 2018 game. It's a first-person role-playing game set in a large, open medieval game world.
The story is about Henry, a blacksmith seeking revenge for his murdered parents, just like in the predecessor. Behind the game is Czech Warhorse Studios.
The game was released on February 4 for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S, and reviewers are generally satisfied, with a score of 88 out of 100 on Metacritic, which collects review scores.
