One Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 System Might Finally Make Me Care About Punishment

Kingdom Come: Deliverance has always been my white whale of sorts, a game that I have sunk close to a hundred hours into, but never quite beaten. It's a game I love, unconditionally, and yet one that frequently sees me beat my head against a wall as I become increasingly frustrated with its combat, RPG systems, and sometimes, honestly, general design. There is so much to be frustrated about in Kingdom Come Deliverance, and yet, time and time again, I find myself coming back to it.

That's because Kingdom Come: Deliverance is one of the most immersive open-world games of all time, a game so densely detailed, so brimming with life, so carefully crafted as to allow players to genuinely roleplay. I have never played anything quite like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and I thought I'd never again until KC:D2 was announced. Now that it is finally here, I couldn't be more excited, especially as it fixes so many of its predecessor's flaws while adding a number of impressive immersive elements, including one revolving around its crime system.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Makes Breaking The Law Matter

It Can Lead To Permanent Consequences

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has perhaps the most ambitious crime system in any RPG ever, thanks to how it permanently affects Henry. This is perhaps not so surprising to fans as KC:D2 is a bigger game, featuring a number of genre-defining features that will revolutionize the RPG genre. However, while I expected Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to offer a unique spin on its crime system, I never envisioned it would be as impressive as it is. In fact, I am so blown away by it that I shudder to imagine returning to the likes of Skyrim and GTA.

In Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, like with any good RPG, players can commit crimes, including stealing, getting into fights, and murdering others. However, if the player gets caught, then they'll receive increasingly severe punishments, starting with being put in the stockade and ending with being hung. While I was a little apprehensive at first about the idea of dying, I've absolutely come around to it, as it plays into KC:D2's intense focus on immersion and perfectly capturing reality within its well-researched and painstakingly recreated historical setting.

The aspect of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's crime system that impressed me the most was how it affects Henry's standing with the various NPCs. Should Henry steal something, then shopkeepers will be less likely to trade or haggle with him, and passersby will remark on how he is a thief. Similarly, if Henry murders someone, then he'll be branded - literally - meaning that others will be able to see at all times what kind of person he is. This will see certain vendors send him packing, but will also see the less savory members of society welcome him with open arms.

It is this level of commitment that puts Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 above all other RPGs, at least when it comes to the most important part of the genre's namesake that games all too often forget: roleplaying. KC:D2 wants players to really embody the role of Henry, benefit from all of his triumphs, and suffer at his lowest moments. I'm really glad that Warhorse Studios not only fixed Kingdom Come's worst features but also doubled down on its most immersive gameplay mechanics, even if they can end up becoming quite punishing.

Most Games Make The Law More Of A Suggestion

It Can Often Feel Gamified

An NCPD officer leaning out of a police car shooting at V driving a yellow sports car in Cyberpunk 2077.

Crime systems in other open-world RPGs have never felt like an important feature to me. Until Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 came out and revealed to the world what it's been missing out on, I didn't mind that. In fact, RPGs will purposefully squander their crime systems by making them feel inconsequential in order to offer players a more convenient experience. This can often be to their detriment, at least in terms of roleplaying. For example, Cyberpunk 2077 prevents evil roleplays thanks to its lack of a meaningful criminal system - something, importantly, it didn't introduce until long after its initial launch.

There are some exceptions to this rule. Players will be sent to prison in Skyrim if they get caught and choose not to fight back. It's an immersive way of making criminal acts punishable, but even then, I found it to be a slight step up from GTA's Busted system. After all, if I get sent to prison in Skyrim, I can just go to sleep and be teleported outside with a few coins missing from my enormous coffers of gold. It's a fun addition, but also not particularly meaningful as there are no lasting consequences.

Certainly, few games I can recall actively increase the punishment players receive the more they commit crimes, like in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. I also can't recall any games that actively have vendors and other NPCs turn you away or react meaningfully once the player has committed a crime - if they exist, I'd love to know about them.

That level of immersion seems to be reserved entirely for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, which is likely why it is quickly becoming one of the best RPGs of all time. It seems trivial, but these details are what separate good RPGs from the very best, as they illustrate that the developers understand the whole point of the genre, something I feel many, including Bethesda, often don't.

Permanent Consequences Are Perfect For KCD2

It Helps Make It More Realistic

Two knights fighting each other outside of a gate in Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

However, as much as I believe that RPGs need to lean more into these immersive mechanics, I do understand how Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is perhaps better suited for them than, say, Skyrim. Of course, I'd love for the next Elder Scrolls game to see players branded for committing crimes and the townsfolk reacting appropriately, but I'm not entirely sure the game's target audience necessarily wants that. Immersive features like NPC schedules and lively towns are definitely tenets of the Elder Scrolls franchise, but it isn't and perhaps should never be as hardcore as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

That's becauseKC:D2 has been purpose-built to be the ultimate roleplaying experience, one that emphasizes the mundane as much as it does the climactic, which requires players to bathe and keep track of a million survival meters just to keep Henry going. It is a game that's for people like me who revel in spending days begging for bread and slow walking everywhere as much as they do dragons, trolls, and Fus Ro Dahing people off of cliffs. It is for that reason that this strict, punishing, and immensely immersive crime system works perfectly in KC:D2.

Of course, in an ideal world, every RPG going forth will be as immersive as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 in their own unique ways, perhaps even innovating where Warhorse Studios' limited budget struggled. However, that is unlikely to happen any time soon, at least from the bigger developers like Bethesda who continue to cater to too broad of a demographic. Thankfully, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is not going anywhere, and I will be able to cause a ruckus as Henry for all eternity and enjoy all the painfully realistic punishments he receives.

Source: Warhorse Studios/YouTube