Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 has recently been released and if you’re playing it right now, you might notice right away that the game isn’t your typical RPG. The medieval sim is not only hard, but it’s also slower than most other contemporary RPGs that often cater to players who want instant gratification. Hence, one of the developers for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 has explained why they chose that direction for the game and it has something to do with The Elder Scrolls games.
Thanks to our friends at GamesRadar+, we now know the motivation behind some of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2‘s design choices. Warhorse Studios senior developer Ondřej Bittner sat down in an interview and gave his thoughts on RPG design, stating that The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind was one of his prime inspirations for Kingdom Come Deliverance.
The aforementioned Elder Scrolls game was often considered one of the most experimental yet groundbreaking RPGs of its time because of its inherent difficulty and the fact that you can murder just about any NPC in the game (including quest-givers). You can even see some traces of Morrowind‘s design philosophy in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
“I’m not much of an Oblivion guy myself. I’m more of a Morrowind person… Most of our designers are in their mid 30s – like, 30s to 40s – so these games had a huge impact on us
Instant gratification in games has become a problem where, to sustain dopamine for people, you have to constantly bombard [them] with stuff. One day they wake up and go ‘oh, this is all really obnoxious’ and they shut it all down. So we kind of go back to the roots of RPGs where it’s sort of like: well, you can do whatever you want, and maybe go and do the main story,” explains Bittner to GamesRadar+
Hence, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 challenges players to think for themselves and explore the world on their own terms, sandbox-style instead of following quest markers. Granted, there are still objective markers in the game, though they’re not as obnoxious or as ubiquitous compared to some of the more cookie-cutter standards in the industry.
Potential Success Despite the Hardcore RPG Roots
This approach for the series comes with the added risk of reducing accessibility, especially for the more casual gamers who prefer the on-rail objectives and more hand-holding. However, there’s no denying that Kingdom Come Deliverance has always had the charm of older Elder Scrolls games. Even the sequel’s user interface is a bit of a callback to The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.
Interestingly enough, the more sandbox RPG approach is starting to pay off for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and Warhorse Studios. The game is currently among the most-played games on Steam alone, with nearly 160,000 players, and considering it’s also available on the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, there’s no doubt more unaccounted players, and perhaps there are bound to be even more over the weekend.
Many players praise the game’s polish and have even likened its quality and atmosphere to The Witcher 3. It appears even those who might not be too keen on more hardcore sandbox RPGs will be pleased to know that they paid for a complete game.
