KickStarter Kingdom Come: Deliverance - Dan Vavra's medieval chad simulator

[cvv]

Witcher 3 is the worst. The cities feels like a western prop background.

I for one vastly prefer the Witcher way of doing things. It annoys me much less when non-interactable NPCs are just a background.

Plus the point about resources. Warhorse had a very limited supply of them to begin with and this is a complete waste. Oh and it brings down the visual aspect since they couldn't afford to pimp up all NPCs faces the way Henry or other main characters are most of them look ugly up close. It would save them so much bother and money if you simply couldn't talk to the walk-ons.

 

[Funposter]

Witcher 3 is the worst. The cities feels like a western prop background.

Cities in real life feel like they're in the background. The transitory nature of everything is one of their defining features.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Witcher 3 is the worst. The cities feels like a western prop background.

Medieval Poland may only seem "Western" if you are from Russia.

Oh you mean western as in the movie genre? I didn't mind the NPCs in Witcher 3, but it was kind of annoying how they bump into you. After a while I got used to it and it turned into a typical thing about the game that I would laugh at from time to time.

Oh and it brings down the visual aspect since they couldn't afford to pimp up all NPCs faces the way Henry or other main characters are most of them look ugly up close.

That's also more taxing on the machine.

 

[Junmarko]

Witcher 3 is the worst. The cities feels like a western prop background.

Different open-world, in that the Witcher games were never trying to be a sandbox with a blank slate protagonist - they're story driven. There is still plenty of C&C, but it's Geralt's story.

Nothing wrong with either approach - there is a perfect balance between them both however. Gothic 1+2

 

[Gord]

Recent patch mentioned massively improved texture streaming.
Don't notice much about that, still get a lot of texture pop-ins...

 

[cvv]

I was thinking about the texture pop-in the other day. I played a bit of AssCreed Origins and I noticed a lot of pop-in too. It's just much smoother and there's no pop-in with NPCs, only environment. So pop-in is a thing in every open-world game but it's usually well masked. No idea what's the problem in KCD.

That said I did notice less pop-in after 1.7. Also I seem to be doing about 10 more FPS but only outside towns.

 

[Alienman]

Cities in real life feel like they're in the background. The transitory nature of everything is one of their defining features.

Yeah, until you steal something, which nobody in the game reacts to. That is my main point with what I wrote. It's a beautiful world, but it's as dead as a painting. Also, it's so exhaustingly huge! Not saying Kingdom Come is the epitome of interaction and "emergent gameplay", because it is not. And the interaction you can do in the game, murder and steal comes at the expense of the story. But that is Vavras open world design for you.

I actually think both games have questionable design choices, but the game with a smidgen of interaction wins any day for me.

 

[Valtiel]

Finished the game. Mixed feelings about it, when it started I felt really immersed and overall the down to earth and ""realistic"" approach to story/setting and character arc made a fun diversion from all the other EBIC games out there, but without a really solid writing and character development (which this game both lacks) the whole thing start to gets a little boring by the end. I skipped half of the secondary quests and in the end I basically rushed the main plot. The monastery quest was sick, crazy experiment that serves its tedious nature well, when I saw that hogwarts shit of following schedules and lectures I was brought back at ps2 era of Harry Potter games. Anyway I encourage these kinds of experiment, could be boring for someone but It was memorable indeed.

I could play a more polished sequel with less filler content and more meaty secondary quest and

Spoiler

the lady of the castle impregnated by Harry coming for trouble

 

[AwesomeButton]

Thanks to this game, I have memories of living in medieval Bohemia. Taking a bath before meeting the lords. Priceless roleplaying moments.

 

[Funposter]

Thanks to this game, I have memories of living in medieval Bohemia. Taking a bath before meeting the lords. Priceless roleplaying moments.

this but unironically

 

[cvv]

but without a really solid writing and character development (which this game both lacks)

Nah, the game isn't perfect but not for these reasons. KCD has better writing than most RPGs ever made and I'm not seeing any lack of character development either, far from it. Both gameplay-wise and mentally Henry's development is significant.

As for boring, RPGs that I wished would never end are very few and far between. Vast majority of RPGs are novel and immersive at the start only to turn into routine mid-game and later into a finish that can't come fast enough (including Witcher 3 tbh, except Heart of Stone, that one was amazing in its entirety).

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

I was looking forward to KCD for a very long time, but there are just things missing. I long for great historical games/RPGs, and the only way to get them down the line is to be honest about current games' shortcomings.

With KCD, it feels like Warhorse went way too far into realism, and not enough into interesting gameplay. Want to feel what it's like to live as a peasant in medieval Europe? This is the game for you. The thing is, most people don't, even the ones who love history. Yes, we do want a realistic medieval Europe as the background, but we still want to play interesting characters in it, not some village yokel.

Henry was a terrible character choice, it should've been either a blank character of player's choice, or if a fixed character was required by the story, it should've been some sort of a noble (knight, squire, etc). They were the interesting, colorful class of that age, and this would've automatically focused the gameplay away from whatever boring crap Henry does 70% of the time to more interesting things like chivalry, romance, arms training, jousts and tournaments. It would have also likely turned the story from a cliche "evil guy invades, kills muh village" to something more along dynastic politics, religious clashes, etc.

Then, the world should've been a lot more filled with things to find and interactions. Warhorse kinda played into the hands of those people who claimed beforehand that a non-fantasy game will be dull, by recreating the EXACT map of medieval bohemia. Anything 100% realistic will be dull in a video game, because for example, 3-4 duels in your lifetime will be very shocking/exciting in RL, but in a game, it's nothing. Making a game realistic within reason is a good thing, but you have to understand when to stop.

And of course the combat system should've been a lot better, based on all the bragging about the realistic medieval fencing. The truth is, the final product barely has anything to do with actual fencing, when you look at it in terms of what the player has to do. I don't care that the underlying system has realistic fencing principles if they are all automated and handled outside of player control. The actual combat system is functionally similar to Morrowind, where once you get higher stats/skills, you automatically do better.

 

[Funposter]

Henry isn't inherently a terrible character, and even if he were ACTUALLY peasant (spoiler btw), you'd still be able to do some ahistorical/uncommon crap and have him rise up to the ranks of nobility because it's a video game. The problem with Henry, and his growth as a character, is that it doesn't match what's happening in gameplay. Henry does grow, and he does have dome nice interactions with Hans Capon and Radzig which feel genuine and well-written. However, even by endgame when Henry is more literate than all of the local lords, covered from head-to-toe in Milanese plate and riding an exotic horse from Arabia, he is still presented in dialogue and cutscenes as a potato headed oaf. Henry is a bad fit for the later parts of the story, more than bad by his very nature

 

[Jenkem]

HENRY'S COME TO SEE US!

 

[AwesomeButton]

this but unironically

I was not being ironic, at least not completely. If the player takes his time when playing, and actually emphatizes with the characters in the world, this game will reward it. Not all games offer this many opportunities to get in the player character's shoes, but this one does, and if the right kind of player approaches the game, the opportunities are there.

 

[thesheeep]

The actual combat system is functionally similar to Morrowind, where once you get higher stats/skills, you automatically do better.

At least in Morrowind you didn't have to play this somewhat awkward directional minigame.
I'd really love to see a new game that just does Morrowind's combat. Purely stat-based, the only thing the player determines is when to strike, but a hit/its damage is determined by the rules & RNG.

One thing I wonder:
Is it only me who tends to lean towards the monitor extremely when playing KCD?
I don't have it this extreme with any other game (including other first person titles), but whenever I played KCD, I noticed myself leaning very strongly towards the monitor.
Strange, and definitely not good for any back. Feels like I'd need a seatbelt when playing

 

[cvv]

snip

Honestly, none of this bothers me in the least. I don't mind playing a peasant (plus ofc Henry's story is more complicated), the exact landscape of Bohemia is great if you absolutely don't insist on low-brow Skyrim-like lolscape and I'm p. sure the combat is as close to fencing as it's possible in a game like this.

There are things I'd change and I've been banging about them a lot ITT. I'd prefer if the game was 3rd person, including combat, if we could choose a difficulty at the start (although hearing the lead designer's talk recently this is not gonna happen, this dude hates difficulty options lol), if only key NPCs were interactable and yes, if the world was a bit more inhabited with activities.

 

[Jimmious]

thesheeep maybe you're forgetting your glasses grandpa?

 

[Luzur]

This DLC policy gives Paradox a run for its money.

It's not quite that bad. At least you're getting actual gameplay content. Paradox wanted you to pay $5 for the ability to customize your beard in CK2, or $13 for the ability to play on snow maps in Cities: Skylines.

Or you do it like i do, buy the main game but pirate every DLC+ addon.

 

[Quillon]

Henry's the dullest shit, should be flushed down before the sequel. Better yet OUR NEW GREAT CUSTOM PROTAG who is a knight in some important family should cut Henry to pieces in a duel cos of some reason at the very beginning of KCD2.

 

[Jimmious]

Yeah Henry sucks, I always wondered why is the topic called "chad" simulator, since he is far from anything "chaddy".

 

[cvv]

Everybody whines about always playing TEH CHOSEN ONES till our brains bleed but when we get to play a normal dude it's suddenly booring and not awesum enough. Gaymers lol.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Yeah Henry sucks, I always wondered why is the topic called "chad" simulator, since he is far from anything "chaddy".

Depends on how you roleplay him.
...
Mine is a chad

 

[Quillon]

Depends on how you roleplay him.

I lack the imagination of RPing a pre-defined character. f.i. When I played Witcher games I made choices for Geralt not for me, Geralt is an interesting character and the narrative content of the games are mostly good.

Give me custom protag with story agency, if you won't and you want to force a story down my throat at least make the protag & the story interesting. I wouldn't watch a movie with a dull, uninteresting dude/gal lead, fortunately games have other shit going on for them also.

And too bad there ain't anything in between dull as fuck & TEH CHOSEN ONES, damn.

 

[Alienman]

Everybody whines about always playing TEH CHOSEN ONES till our brains bleed but when we get to play a normal dude it's suddenly booring and not awesum enough. Gaymers lol.

Henry is kinda the chosen one though. Chosen to do all dangerous tasks alone