So after playing the game long enough to get a good gauge on it; and as a long time player that has been here since day one of OG game; it is with a heavy heart I write this review, and inform you that as one of the biggest nerds of the KCD series; don't buy this game.

Let me explain;

This game has all the graphical wonders, amazing story beats, and intricate world details the last game in the series had; chefs kiss there.

HOWEVER.

In no small way the very soul and unique foundation that KCD's original game captured in it's nuanced systems has been gutted and thrown to the wayside.

Lets talk about it.

- Drink the Booze Henry. It is the only way to save Henry; They kept the Savior Schnapps mechanic from the first game despite this being one of the only reaches for immersion we all as a community agreed was too much and even devoted one of the most downloaded KCD mods to solving. WHY WOULD YOU DISREGARD THAT KINDA OUTCRY FROM YOUR COMMUNITY WARHORSE?

- Combat; This is a big one for everyone. You either loved or hated the combat of the first game; but as someone whom has dropped an ungodly amount of time into the first game I can promise you; the full scope and fully unlocked version of KCD's first game's combat wasn't unfair nor poor in quality; just difficult. That difficulty curves down if you take the time to not rush the game and spend some time with the weapons trainers (Most Notably Captain Bernard) which will see you even learning how to block better; eventually unlocking the full scope of the combat system when you hit perfect blocks.

KCD II Butchers this. Three of the six strike zones have lazily been taken and warped into a single zone (Bottom right, Bottom Left, and Center) which now only stabs. The three remaining zones lock you to shoulders and up for the sake of simplicity. Combos have been reduced from following real world examples and combat logic to overwhelm your opponent to left, right, left. Or for the more complex; right, left, right. You get more combos later but again I stress; their complexity and rewarding nature for taking the time to learn and master your weapon has just become a gimmick pandering to players with a lower skill retention instead of creating a better method of learning for said players to overcome the learning curve.

- Customization: Anyone else think base Henry looks a little...meh to be nice? Sure, but you know what no big deal right? We can just change his hair and beard options and get a little more personal with our window into the world yeah? I mean that was such a basic part of the first game that would of course be here yeah?

No.

They just didn't bother? Looking it up it seems they plan to release it in a month or so but that is just disgusting to think something so basic could just be left out when this whole game is supposed to be about getting into the character your playing. This is like opening a burger restaurant without Burgers or Fries on the Menu, or showing up to a race track to race race cars on a petal bike. It is a joke, and no one is laughing.

- The Character Assassination of Sir Hans Capon; You either love Hans, or you hate him. But hear me out. This man has done more than enough and shown more than enough character development throughout the series to STOP BEING A JERK TO HENRY. Banter isn't what I am talking about either. The game sets it up like so;

Hans is cool, acting like he should.

Hans saves you.

Hans is cool again, he acts like how he should reasonably act following the events of KCD aaaaannnnddd.....

BOOM. Suddenly he has regressed back to the childish idiot we worked so hard to build into a worthwhile noble in the first game. It is like a light switch got toggled. I am sorry to say, but the writers dropped the ball here.

There is more nuance to this, I swear, and more to the game as well but these glaring issues permeate the beginning of the game and result in the most lethal assassination of immersion that by the time you get past them; unless you're a diehard fan of the series; you're not going to want to continue. It will feel like a chore, and that is something no game should EVER dip into if they can help it. And this train wreck could have been helped.

I am grateful for all the love and care that I can tell went into this game in other places. This could have been the best game of 2025, instead it is just another lack luster launch for the history books that saw the game we loved oversimplified and made mockery by poor early game writing. I love this series, but it is because of that love I cannot accept a game that should have been at minimum an equal or ideally greater than it's predecessor. I pray they do something towards fixing what they can of this, but I am not so delusional to think that they're gonna care what I have to say here nor that they'd take the time to address and fix the needed story elements like, say, Cyberpunk did.

FINAL VERDICT; If you're a diehard fan of the series, wait for a sale and get this game as cheap as you can. If you're not, don't buy this and go get the first one instead. Once you've done that if you become a diehard fan thereafter, then as above wait for a sale and get this for the sake of the story if nothing else. BUT DO NOT BUY THIS GAME AT FULL COST.

So after playing the game long enough to get a good gauge on it; and as a long time player that has been here since day one of OG game; it is with a heavy heart I write this review, and inform you that as one of the biggest nerds of the KCD series; don't buy this game. Let me explain; This game has all the graphical wonders, amazing story beats, and intricate world details the last game in the series had; chefs kiss there. HOWEVER. In no small way the very soul and unique foundation that KCD's original game captured in it's nuanced systems has been gutted and thrown to the wayside. Lets talk about it. - Drink the Booze Henry. It is the only way to save Henry; They kept the Savior Schnapps mechanic from the first game despite this being one of the only reaches for immersion we all as a community agreed was too much and even devoted one of the most downloaded KCD mods to solving. WHY WOULD YOU DISREGARD THAT KINDA OUTCRY FROM YOUR COMMUNITY WARHORSE? - Combat; This is a big one for everyone. You either loved or hated the combat of the first game; but as someone whom has dropped an ungodly amount of time into the first game I can promise you; the full scope and fully unlocked version of KCD's first game's combat wasn't unfair nor poor in quality; just difficult. That difficulty curves down if you take the time to not rush the game and spend some time with the weapons trainers (Most Notably Captain Bernard) which will see you even learning how to block better; eventually unlocking the full scope of the combat system when you hit perfect blocks. KCD II Butchers this. Three of the six strike zones have lazily been taken and warped into a single zone (Bottom right, Bottom Left, and Center) which now only stabs. The three remaining zones lock you to shoulders and up for the sake of simplicity. Combos have been reduced from following real world examples and combat logic to overwhelm your opponent to left, right, left. Or for the more complex; right, left, right. You get more combos later but again I stress; their complexity and rewarding nature for taking the time to learn and master your weapon has just become a gimmick pandering to players with a lower skill retention instead of creating a better method of learning for said players to overcome the learning curve. - Customization: Anyone else think base Henry looks a little...meh to be nice? Sure, but you know what no big deal right? We can just change his hair and beard options and get a little more personal with our window into the world yeah? I mean that was such a basic part of the first game that would of course be here yeah? No. They just didn't bother? Looking it up it seems they plan to release it in a month or so but that is just disgusting to think something so basic could just be left out when this whole game is supposed to be about getting into the character your playing. This is like opening a burger restaurant without Burgers or Fries on the Menu, or showing up to a race track to race race cars on a petal bike. It is a joke, and no one is laughing. - The Character Assassination of Sir Hans Capon; You either love Hans, or you hate him. But hear me out. This man has done more than enough and shown more than enough character development throughout the series to STOP BEING A JERK TO HENRY. Banter isn't what I am talking about either. The game sets it up like so; Hans is cool, acting like he should. Hans saves you. Hans is cool again, he acts like how he should reasonably act following the events of KCD aaaaannnnddd..... BOOM. Suddenly he has regressed back to the childish idiot we worked so hard to build into a worthwhile noble in the first game. It is like a light switch got toggled. I am sorry to say, but the writers dropped the ball here. There is more nuance to this, I swear, and more to the game as well but these glaring issues permeate the beginning of the game and result in the most lethal assassination of immersion that by the time you get past them; unless you're a diehard fan of the series; you're not going to want to continue. It will feel like a chore, and that is something no game should EVER dip into if they can help it. And this train wreck could have been helped. I am grateful for all the love and care that I can tell went into this game in other places. This could have been the best game of 2025, instead it is just another lack luster launch for the history books that saw the game we loved oversimplified and made mockery by poor early game writing. I love this series, but it is because of that love I cannot accept a game that should have been at minimum an equal or ideally greater than it's predecessor. I pray they do something towards fixing what they can of this, but I am not so delusional to think that they're gonna care what I have to say here nor that they'd take the time to address and fix the needed story elements like, say, Cyberpunk did. FINAL VERDICT; If you're a diehard fan of the series, wait for a sale and get this game as cheap as you can. If you're not, don't buy this and go get the first one instead. Once you've done that if you become a diehard fan thereafter, then as above wait for a sale and get this for the sake of the story if nothing else. BUT DO NOT BUY THIS GAME AT FULL COST.