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HoloDust on 04 February 2025
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Mummelmann said:
HoloDust said:

Meanwhile...

As someone who enjoys watching Matt Easton's videos, it is a delight to see actual HEMA practitioner, archeologist and antique dealer talking about this game and giving it thumbs up when it comes to authenticity of combat.

KCD2 might look like mainstream AAA action-RPG, but, just like original, it's really not in lots of aspects - which might be either plus or minus, depending of what you're looking for (a major plus for me).

I agree, I also watch Matt Easton a lot, as well as other within that space. I have a cousin practicing HEMA och Glima as well. Almost all open-world RPGs are third-person action games with crazy animations, kill-cam, slow-motion, and absurd skills with supernatural elements or style. They are thirteen-on-the-dozen, at the very least. It's refreshing to see someone approach combat like this; tactical, slow, and grounded. The market is flooded with more action-oriented fare for those who enjoy it, this game is made for those who are either tired of that, or outright disliked it to begin with. Most reviews add that as a preface or caveat somewhere in the review; this is not a game for everyone. And that's fine. We need games that aren't aiming for the maximally mainstream common denominators like most studios.

For someone with zero interest in online-multiplayer gaming, 3rd person-action games with the same elements and jazz & jingle, and with a heavy interest in immersion, history, and bleak realism, games like this is perfect. For me, KCD2 is just what the doctor ordered. What's more, this, and STALKER 2, are showing the industry that a slower and more impactful approach is still capable of leading to great sales and reviews alike. This is the breadth that benefits all of us in the end, regardless of preference. I'm very happy that the industry doesn't cater to me and my tastes at all turns, even titles that don't interest me benefits me as a gamer down the line. Innovation, creative risks, narrative exploration, and perspective, are all aspects of gaming that need more time and love, in an industry chasing trends and archetypes to squeeze the dollars and cents before all. A breath of fresh air, is what it is.

I hope and think that KCD2 will shake up the biz much like The Witcher 3 did in its time. And, like TW3, it will be divisive, but ultimately very beneficial to an industry having grown rather shallow and tired.

100% on everything you said. I'm always on the lookout for RPGs that are trying to be both more akin to roots of the genre and/or do something new (Exanima with its physics based combat was also instant must for me back in days). Really looking forward to playing it (once I find the time for it, that is...I still have about a month of crunch).

Otter said:
HoloDust said:

Haven't read any of the reviews, but let me guess, another "there's no _______ in game....so what if it's 15th century Bohemia, it's just, like, fantasy"?

Has this ever been a thing in game reviews? One think piece about Witcher 3, 10 years ago is shouldn't warp our perceptions of critics 

It actually was, with first KDC no less.