Inconsistencies and implausible developments
1. In a region that's so small that it's one day's ride from one end to the other, Henry has to scout and describe to experienced warriors twice as old as himself that Vranek a) even exists; b) is occupied by enemies? Neither Radzig nor Hanush are aware of Vranek's location? Hanush's constable was in Sasau just recently and the place is right next to Sasau.
2. Hanush's temper is well and fine, but his sudden rashness when it comes to the attack is at odds with his role as a responsible governor and Capon's regent.
3. Why even attack Vranek? The place has no independent water supply and can easily be surrounded. A few days to two weeks, and the defenders would have given up without battle, or tried to sally.
4. After the battle for Vranek is over, Henry is the only person in the world capable of walking up to a table and bringing back a letter?
Warhorse, you were rushing development soo hard at the point you designed this part of the main quest!
5. But before that, I should have mentioned the corridor advance through the camp, together with my clunkily bumping into me armored buddies. Invisible walls preventing us from straying from the One True Path which would throw freshly spawned enemies at us. Simply inexcusable.
6. The game maintains that I have to "pick up my stuff" from the tent? Why this sudden gamy approach? I'd have the player actually lose everything once he *lost* it already. Also, I took the game's hints at heart and when I went into the camp I had dressed up as a simple soldier, I didn't approach it in my shiniest armor and with my grand bascinet on! Actually I expected I would raise suspicion based on flashy armor and be immediately captured by the bandits. I expected the game would continue to adhere to common sense.
7. There was no real need for the forced drama of Henry's being captured at Vranek. It was Hollywood style shit in terms of plot construction. Outright lazy and unoriginal. If the point was the introduction of Istvan as the main villain, this could have been done in many other ways, each of them more plausible than what we got.
8. While we are at it, there was no need for the forced drama of how Henry solves the riddle of who is Pious at the monastery either. In both cases I was on a covert mission and I wanted to roleplay a covert mission, and solve it in my own way. Not be a part of someone's attempts to play at movie director. FFS.
9. Talmberg's capture by treachery was one of the least convincing parts of the plot in any game I've played which has been taking its plot seriously. Witcher 3, a fantasy story where at any point "magic" or "Ciri's powers" can be an excuse for anything happening out of the blue, still treats its plot more seriously than this. And with KCD this was in stark contrast to the tone of everything up to now. It was like watching Heat in one minute, and the tone switching to Lethal Weapon 4 in the next.
10. Talmberg, while it does have a well in the castle's inner courtyard, is also easy to cut off. Even if the occupants eat from the castle's reserves, they still have no endgame, and they don't even have enough people to man the castle properly. Would Sigismund come to their aid with a larger force? And even if he would, what was Istvan hoping to achieve in the first place - take the castle by treachery and at huge risk to his own life, and at the cost of sacrificing his whole force at Vranek, just so he can sit on his hands in Talmberg and wait for relief by Sigismund? If I were Sigismund, I would classify this as a major fuckup and Istvan as more trouble than he is worth.
11. Going back to discussing Vranek, Zbyshek's motivation was plausible enough, but again - the game's development was so forcefully rushed through, so that QA could begin (or for some similar reason), that Warhorse even made it impossible to make a stealthy exit by stealing a guard's armor. The first guard I encountered once I got control over Henry was alone and positioned perfectly for a silent takedown. I took him out, carried him to my cell, finished his unconscious body off with his own axe, then took his clothes, put on his helmet
which even conveniently covered my face and tried to stroll out, but no dice! I was immediately recognized, despite my disguise and helmet. Some smarty pants mr. game designer had decided that for plot reasons I have to exit the camp by means of "making an exciting escape" between two guards, and then run down a hill and into the woods. I won't even comment on how after I hooked up with Zbyshek, Henry was shown in undergarments in cutscenes even though I escaped the camp completely armored.
These 11 things are just off the top of my head. Jesus Christ, Warhorse, I had such a good impression of the game, and you had to shit it up at the end, from going completely linear from the monastery quest, to switching to a badly scripted interactive movie which doesn't even cover for reactivity. You still managed to run out of funds and time to give the main story a proper conclusion. For shame!
