Swording people out by smacking them with sharp bits of metal never gets old in video games. That being said, 2018s Kingdom Come: Deliverance taught me theres an extra layer of satisfaction to be had if youve also spent ten minutes hammering your NPC-sticker into life via an anvil minigame.Armed with that blacksmith know-how and after many an hour of play, I feel qualified to say that todays subject has been vigorously worked from rough and raw materials into finer craftsmanship and polish.From what I now know of Kingdom Come Deliverance II: Deliver Harder, it falls into the category of More of the Same, Only Better. If you somehow missed the original, I guess the very rough analog would be: a modestly-sized Skyrim with all fantasy elements replaced with the often deliberately mundane trappings of late medieval times plus a by the angles approach to fisticuffs.Oh, and a rich, multi-path tapestry revenge tale threaded with (literal) rags-to-riches elements, too.Im going to dive into the whys and wherefores of this sequels worthiness, but for now I should supply some bargains to the impulse buyers among you. Personally, Id rather get more intel about my games before I reach for the coin purse and cough up some Groschen. If thats you too, click here to skip the window shop and read my continued thoughtsBest Prices for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2Kingdom Come Deliverance 2Standard Physical:Amazon: $99 | $139 Gold Ed.Big W: $99JB Hi-Fi: $89 | $139 Gold Ed.Digital:PS Store: $114.95 Standard | $144.95 Gold Ed.Xbox Store: $114.95 Standard | $144.95 Gold Ed.Steam: $89.95 Standard | $119.95 Gold Ed.Hands On ContinuedLets start with a basic synopsis. Just like the previous game, youll be slipping into the Peter Pan-y tights of Henry of Skalitz. He's a blacksmiths son whospoilers and a very long story shortgoes from surviving the slaughter of his village to somehow entering the service of Sir Hans Capon. Said young lord is pretty good comedy value as hes a bit of a playboy and pompous arse whos constantly getting the more straight-laced Christian Henry into sordid sidequest shenanigans.I cant say too much about the setup of the one he gets you in during the opening section of the game; suffice to say, its one of those remove all your sick gear and abilities chestnuts that we gamers adore so much. Kingdom Come Deliverance II, in that regard, is a clean slate proposition that decently welcomes the uninitiated among you into its particular brand of sword n board and/or buckling of swash.Fair warning from the onset, though: if youre not prepared for the more sedate and measured approach to almost every system in this RPGtraversal, progression, and combatyou might find yourself sword and bored if youre unable to downshift to its preferred pace.And that speed is a slow burn for the first few hours. Verily I say that theres some knightly action in its intro, but, after a fall from grace, youre in Peasantville, population: you. That means eking out an existence in a foreign land to earn the scratch needed to keep your constitution meters and degrading equipment statuses at bay as you desperately try to find some elusive rung thats needed to hoist yourself back up to your true station in life.Honestly, as a masochist gamer who eats this sort of misery up, KCD2 appealed. And thats true despite the developers approach to onboarding being almost always pausing the game to throw a four-page pdf of explanations at you before asking you to demonstrate in high-stakes, low-health real-time what youve just learned.You might find yourself sword and bored if youre unable to downshift to its preferred pace.Couldve been worse. The realism-obsessed Warhorse Studios could have put all of those info dumps in Latin (and probably would have considered it at some point, such is their incredible attention to historical accuracy).After much gawking at this beautiful, spacious worldas I traipsed through its richly populated villages full of reactive and perceptive townspeople with their own schedulesI found purpose. TL;DR: Reentering the upper class requires a shrewdly planned wedding crash. Pleasingly, KCD2 branches off into two main approaches here: cosy up to the miller and his concubine or get into the good graces of Radovan, the local blacksmith.As for performance on the PS5 Pro code Ive been smashing through, Im technically still in the preview window for KCD2, so were quite a bit distant from any day one patch rectification (if that is indeed planned). That being said, Ive seen one or two full game crashes while I was perusing these remarkably deep stats and inventory screens. Mind you, having played the first game and fallen victim to AI oddities with regards to pathing and quest progression, I found myself quite surprised by the polish in the out-in-the-field ecosystem. Essentially, I cant recall any Share-button-worthy instances of this vast complex sandbox going awry. Maybe the odd enemy trying to (unsuccessfully) push through, but then going around one another in order to get me into stabbin range. Low-level stuff.Speaking of combat, it goes quite well, but series newcomers should go in expecting a very different approach to making the uppance come to ones opponents. As before, whats here is a lock-on heavy, stamina-constrained combat system that is on one hand quite fluid and tactical but, on the other, highlights how sluggish the average person is when circle-strafing in real life.Basically, expect fun but not flashiness.PlayI enjoyed returning to it. Quick flicking the right stick to select an attack angle that matches the stance of your opponent feels fluid and satisfying. Its the same deal with timing your blocks and ripostes to their incoming swings with L2 and R2, respectively. But mostly, I enjoyed waiting for a bandit or two to shift their focus on my allies, at which point Id loop around to wail on their exposed pancreas.What can I tell you, folks? Henry is a good Christian soul but Im a godless min-maxing opportunist.What happens after a scrap is even more compelling. Above and beyond most other open-world RPGs is Kingdom Come Deliverances robust and far-reaching consequences system. Even more than before, it seems that every NPC took sharp note of my behaviour, cleanliness, reputation, and proximity to any suspicious deed (be it grand larceny, casual pickpocketing, or deleting them for anything less than self-defense).Henry is a good Christian soul but Im a godless min-maxing opportunist.Trying to come up by five-finger-discounting my way through this Holy Roman Empire landed me in trouble often. I love that certain attributes can give you brute force conversational options during the interrogation that ensues. For most encounters, I wound up in the stocks with my ill-gotten booty confiscated and my good name in the mud.Honestly, I enjoy that KCD2s social systems are as brutal and high-stakes as its combat. If you have the temperament for it, theres something immensely satisfying to be gained from grinding for every skill you need (via repeated use as opposed to some perk tree) and every item on your person.More importantly, I'm invested in the characters and twists in this rollicking roadtrip tale about a lord and his bodyguard in the direst of straits. Plus, and while the code I have doesn't quite feel day one perfect, it's abundantly clear that Warhorse Studios has spent their extra polishing time well. In the short time it's taken to collate my thoughts and slap them into the site, a rare and telling thing has occureda definite itch to return to KCD2 has developed. That being said, I very much think you should carve out some calendar space and prepare for a hard day's knight come February 4th.Back to top Adam Mathew is a 19-year industry vet and an Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube cranked to Hard.