Smejki
I want to ask you a difficult question, which I will understand if you can't answer, but I am very curious about this, in terms of general game development and the industry.
Since KC:D was first announced back in 2012 or 2013, one of the biggest talking points was the realistic combat system, modeled on actual European historical fencing. Daniel Vavra and others constantly emphasized bringing in HEMA experts, and things of that nature, to make sure it was all realistic. Having now played the actual game, I have to say that I am very disappointed with the final melee combat system.
You guys were honest in that you did model the underlying fencing system very accurately, but there are two levels to a game combat system, the underlying model, and the actual system that the player uses. In KCD, the underlying model is very complex, as you have directional parries, directional attacks, combos, feints, and this is what makes people think at first glance that it's a very deep, challenging system.
But the actual combat system overlayed on top of this model is extremely simple and devoid of depth or challenge. It is essentially similar to Morrowind, in that it is almost entirely stat driven. Directional model of combat does not matter at all, because parrying is done automatically in the correct direction with a single button press (Q), and the attack direction does not matter either, as the success or failure of getting past the enemy's parry is stat based. Your character's stats are compared to the enemy's stats, and the result comes out of that. Combos always fail (as they should), so they are not an actual element of the combat system. And then you have more silly stuff like the Master Strike, which makes combat all about who has the ability and/or strikes/defends first.
The final outcome of all this is that once your character has sufficient stats/skills in the appropriate abilities, the combat system boils down to easily pressing Q (the window can be huge after a while), and doing a mindless follow up attack or masterstrike. Over and over. So this supposed "accurate" fencing system boils down to something exceedingly simple and boring.
I am especially disappointed because you guys have some of the people who worked on Operation Flashpoint and Mafia, both of which had amazing combat systems, and to be honest, I expected more.
This is not a negative criticism post, as I enjoyed parts of the game, and I have hopes that some DLCs or mods down the line will fix these things. I wish Warhose well, and hope you continue to release great historical games, but I am just curious to get your take on this, and why it happened this way. Was it just a concession to the casual mainstream gamer and better sales? Could a more in-depth and challenging system be introduced in the recently announced Hardcore DLC? I hope it won't just be a mode where the enemies have more hitpoints or armor, I want something that is technically more interesting, and as gaming enthusiasts, that's what you guys should be shooting for.
of Czechia then. You would think a decade later this wouldnt be a problem. Oh well...