She greets him like a nobleman.
I have Henry push back.
He’s a blacksmith’s son.
It’s a passing exchange that captures KCD2 at its most interesting.
The game is classless in the RPG sense, yet classbound as a piece of historical fiction.
These questions of class sharpen when they form part of a quest intrigue.
I had Henry go along with this to some degree.
More horses than men, from the looks of things.
Where did he come by them?
I greatly enjoyed the delicate line the game challenged me to walk here between my conflicting allegiances.
In general, Deliverance 2’s quests are all about navigating the competing perspectives of nicely fleshed-out individuals.
Rather than fraying under your agency, this medieval tapestry is richer for your participation.
Your forays are checked by the game’s touches of survival simulation - fatigue, hunger, equipment wear-and-tear.
I don’t think the survivally bits are a total success.
Still, practicalities like these impose broad rhythms that, again, add to the feeling of participation.
A new sword in KCD2 is a big deal, at least to begin with.
The guard presence will thicken.
I am not a technically minded player.
Or at least, that’s how I’ve tried to play him.
From that moment on, there’s less need to negotiate with the world to make headway.
All of which slightly sabotages one of KCD2’s other strengths: it makes failure worthwhile.
The more capable Henry is, the more tedious his yarn becomes.
This is a plot-first, character-second affair.
But a lot of the time, the plot just feels like pageantry.
The game portrays bigotry and gives you the opportunity to question it or go along with it.
Still, it’s not above a bit of elementary Othering.
And yes, it’s still pretty boorish in its portrayal of women.
The female cast consists heavily of nags, healers, comely maids, femme fatales, damsels and harlots.
Confronted with abundance, I’d have liked Henry to get a little spoilt.
Or at least, develop preferences or foibles that inconvenience me as the pressures of subsistence fall away.
Perhaps it gives him gas.
Perhaps hanging around Hans for too long has robbed him of his tolerance for the bare necessities.
Like Henry, he must dance around the whims of people of higher birth.
Perhaps that’s who Henry needs to become inKingdom Come: Deliverance3.
