It's been some time since I was taken by a game so much, one I know I will look back fondly on instead of instantly forgetting. This explains my writing absence on HIVE of late. I can't drag myself off it.
Kingdom Come Deliverance – Royal Edition has been collecting dust on the shelf for a while. This is my third attempt to play and this time it clicked. I can’t remember what happened on the first run, but the second was definitely down to me getting some rusty sword, using the grinder and making it even worse due to my terrible maintenance skill.
You see, this game tries to emulate real life, does not hold your hand, and that's the appeal. Everything is hard at first as you play as Henry, the Peasant who has no skills whatsoever in anything.
I am not going to attempt to review this game as there are countless other reviews on Metacritic, so instead I will present a journal hopefully with ideas that can get you started a little easier and not rage quit.
So long as I don't get bored of it like I do with most games, what I present will add some value to a beginner player as that is always my intent when writing anything and hopefully, there will be more than one Kingdom Come Deliverance journal.
The fighting mechanics of Kingdom Come Deliverance are cumbersome and difficult to master. A first-person view with melee weapons is hardly ideal, and though I prefer third-person games I tolerate it due to the rich storyline and medieval setting.
The game is set loosely in the Czech Republic though it reminds me of England with the sprawling forests and meadows. For a second-rate game from 2018, it looks fantastic on my PS5.
The prologue is long and heart-wrenching, and these articles will contain no story spoilers, but like most games, it takes a few hours to get into it, and for the open world to become navigable.
You will have utterly shit gear to begin with and no weapon. If you follow the main story, the garrison of Rattay will eventually give you some rudimentary armour and a basic club… however…
When you go back to Skalitz (during the prologue), ritually search all the dead corpses you may come across a bad-quality Axe or Sword. I managed the former and managed to sharpen it this time on the Blacksmiths grindstone.
Kingdom Come Deliverance takes the stance used in Skyrim. Practice a skill and it increases. I have always liked this motivation, and even talking to other NPCs raises your Speech skills.
Speech is important as it's a factor to influence other NPCs, as per all the other skills in the game, don't neglect it and always 'talk' at every opportunity.
Maintenance Skill
Even at zero skill, it’s not so difficult to sharpen your extra bad Axe or Sword on a Grindstone that can be found near most Blacksmiths. The trick is to find the sweet spot and mash the L2 button (PS5) until you are out of energy.
If you fuck it up and decrease the quality to 0%, you can always try again. This is something I didn't fully read about on my second attempt at the game.
With a Maintenance skill of 10, it’s now a synch to get any bladed weapon to 100%.
If you have the Grochen (currency), buy Training in any skill you want to raise. It’s not expensive, you can haggle and it raises your skill by a full point.
Combat
Captain Bernard will train you for free. Join him outside the north gates of Rattay and engage with practice weapons. Don’t use real ones as he will kick your arse and leave you wounded and bleeding.
...Using Training Weapons will also fuck you up, but not as much...
If you score against him, you will raise skills in Defence, Warfare, Agility, Vitality and whatever weapon you are using.
...'thanks Captain, for the free grievous injuries...'...
It can get tedious being constantly beaten up but you will need a weapon skill of at least (3) for this next tip I will give you.
Money is a big problem in the early game, use the free soup urns to keep Henry from starving, they refill daily and there are lots of them around.
You have lots of clothes and armour slots to fill in Kingdom Come Deliverance, just my type of game. How do you get these?
Bandits can be easy targets but they can also hand you your arse. I found a spot where they wait for unsuspecting peasants and where you can ambush them from behind.
...'you can see him on the road waiting, sometimes his mates are in the trees to the left, so go that way first'...
This seems to work every few days, even though the next lot of Bandits will see a pile of corpses piled up from your last lot of work.
Crouch and approach this area from the forest and you will see them waiting to pounce. Ever so slowly cut the throat of the nearest Bandit, which will alert the others. There seems to be a maximum of three dudes here and dispatching them is not always easy.
So save your game first with a Saviour Schnapps (which makes you a little drunk).
This particular dude was a motherfucker to beat, and it was close. If they have nice looking gear then you are in for a proper fight. Look at the image below, I have injuries to my Torso and Foot.
If you manage to slay them, you will find 1-3 corpses full of goodies. Fill your pockets, become overloaded and walk back to Rattay, firstly equipping yourself with their soiled underwear and endure the stench.
You can get up to 200 Groschen if lucky using this method. If the Bandit has a helm and shield then more, but he might just kick your arse. It got me started and is a medium jog from the Millers farm where your handy bed is.
On this occasion there was just one dude, but I netted over 500 Groschen. Handy when you need some spare cash. I think the difficulty of these bandits may scale with your level and skills.
...'Miller Peshek does train you in Lockpicking and Pickpocketing, always good skills to have, especially the former'...
The Miller happens to be a fence, so steal that ring he wants you to do as a job and he will let you sleep for free, otherwise the bastard keeps waking you up when you bed down.
Little is free in Kingdom Come Deliverance, besides the Soup. Eat, but don't overeat or you will get the 'Piggy' icon.
...To Be Continued... maybe...
...ALL Images were personally captured with my PS5 using the Media Snap Feature...
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