Kingdom Come: Deliverance

1. Summary

Players praise how completely the game commits to medieval Bohemia: real castles and towns, NPCs with routines, guards who care whether you carry a torch at night, and no magic anywhere. The story of Henry, a blacksmith's son who cannot read or fight when it begins, is praised in positive and negative reviews alike, and a lot of positive reviews dwell on his slow climb from village joke to capable soldier. Some reviews call it a masterpiece, often adding that it is rough around the edges. The sequel comes up in 26% of reviews, with advice ranging from playing this game first for the story to skipping it for the more polished sequel.

Combat comes up in 58% of negative reviews. The complaints centre on fights against more than one enemy, where lock-on targeting works against the player, and on bandits who seem to block every swing. The Saviour Schnapps save system appears in 20% of negative reviews, usually as hours lost to an ambush or a crash, and bugs in 30%, with players annoyed that some quest-blocking problems are still there eight years after launch. Slow, chore-heavy pacing comes up often too. Fans answer that the hard start is the point and that the combat pays off once it clicks. The disagreement is mostly about these mechanics, and some negative reviews still praise the world and the story.

2. What keeps coming up

What players praise

An immersive, historically grounded medieval worldHigh

Immersion comes up in 25% of positive reviews and history or authenticity in 23%. Players describe a world that runs without them: NPC schedules, shops that close at night, reputation that changes with your clothes and the blood on them, and crimes that stick. One player enjoyed that "You can sell your items to a shopkeeper, then sneak into their shop at night and steal all your stuff back." Reviewers with an interest in history praise the codex entries and the real locations, and a few say the game made them want to visit Czechia. A minority finds the open countryside empty between villages, and some history buffs point out details they consider inaccurate.

Story, characters and HenryHigh

The story, writing or characters get outright praise in 22% of positive reviews. Reviewers single out Henry and Hans Capon's friendship, Father Godwin, Theresa and Sir Radzig, and the cinematic cutscenes; one player wrote that "the story is phenomenal (to the point that it brought me to tears)". Players also enjoy how often a serious revenge story turns into comedy. The usual criticism is the ending, which some feel stops rather than concludes because the story continues in the sequel: "It felt less like an ending and more like the story cut off mid-questline". A smaller group finds the main plot slow in its middle stretch or less engaging than the side content.

Earned progression from useless peasant to soldierMedium

Starting as a nobody comes up in 19% of positive reviews. Skills improve through use, Henry has to learn to read, and early fights against drunks and peasants are hard to win, which players say makes each improvement feel personal. "You feel like a real loser at the beginning, which makes your small triumphs feel so rewarding." Another reviewer said that "What I loved most was experiencing Henry's journey from being completely useless in a fight to becoming someone I could actually rely on." The same system frustrates players who want to be competent sooner, covered under the opening hours below.

Humor and memorable side questsMedium

Players regularly bring up the comic side quests, especially getting drunk with Father Godwin and delivering his sermon the next morning, and one praised "great sidequests that had me laughing out loud". A lot of short reviews are running jokes from the game itself, such as Henry feeling quite hungry. Players also praise quests that can be solved through fighting, talking or stealth, though critics say some choices change little.

Music and voice actingLow

The soundtrack draws regular praise ("Also the music slaps soo hard I've got it on my Spotify playlist."), and the lead performances, especially Henry and Hans, are often named. A minority finds minor characters' voices mismatched or the lip sync poor, and some players prefer the Czech dub.

Alchemy, dice and Hardcore modeLow

Smaller groups single out hand-brewed alchemy, the dice game that eats whole evenings, and Hardcore mode, which some returning players call the proper way to play. Others find alchemy slow and repetitive once the novelty wears off.

Where players are split

Combat: rewarding once it clicks, or clunky and unfairHigh

Combat comes up in 58% of negative reviews and 52% of positive ones. Supporters describe directional swordplay that feels earned: "Combat takes time to learn but once it clicks, winning a fight feels earned." They advise training with Captain Bernard early to learn the master strike, and 7% of positive reviews describe the combat clicking after a rough start, against 1% of negative ones. Critics say it never clicks: inputs feel slow, enemies counter everything, and one wrote that "every lowly bandit is a master fencer here and can parry perfectly every swing". The master strike divides players too; some say it makes the late game easy and turns duels into waiting games, others that the game is unplayable without it. Archery without a reticle and fist fights get their own complaints, and some players install combat mods.

The sequel looms over every comparisonHigh

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is mentioned in 26% of reviews. Some players came to this game after the sequel, and several recommend playing it first for Henry's backstory ("Must play before KCD2, and remember, you're a damn peasant. So act like one."). Others say the sequel fixed combat, saving and polish and that newcomers should start there ("Get KCD2 instead of this."). A minority prefers this game: one reviewer wrote "I played the second game first and in my opinion this one is better because the combat is more complex.", and others prefer its tighter story or its towns and churches you can enter.

Slow pace, chores and realismHigh

Tedium, boredom, chores, grinding and fetch quests come up in 30% of negative reviews and 13% of positive ones. Critics describe long walks between NPCs, waiting for the right time of day, searching wide areas for clues, and survival needs such as food, sleep and washing; one put it as "It's like 10 hours of content hidden in 40 hours of chores." Fans accept the slowness as part of what they came for: "Sure the game can be slow at times, but that's the point." Several positive reviews advise turning off distractions and playing in long sessions.

The opening hours and learning curveMedium

The prologue, the tutorials and the first hours come up in 13% of reviews. Critics describe a long, cutscene-heavy start with scripted fights they cannot win and a horse chase before they have learned to ride: "Worst opening to a game ive ever played, 3 hour tutorial filled with rigged fights that teach you nothing". Some quitters say the opening outlasted the refund window. A number of positive reviewers admit they bounced off the game once or twice before it hooked them on a later attempt, and they urge newcomers to push through to Rattay.

The DLC questsLow

The expansions get mixed reactions. Band of Bastards and From the Ashes, where you rebuild a village, draw praise. A Woman's Lot, Theresa's story, draws the most complaints here because talking to her early can lock you into hours of stealth and chores with "no option to back out", and positive reviewers warn newcomers to "make sure to not accidentially start a DLC mission right after the beginning". Others name it a highlight. The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon is liked for its humor, but several players were angry that it has to be finished before the main story's ending: "For some God forsaken reason, the devs decided to LOCK THE ENDING TO THE GAME with this DLC".

A late game that gets easyLow

Some players say the challenge collapses once stats, armor and the master strike come together, and that money stops mattering: "somehow I became a bit too overpowered by the end and it lost its challenge." Others enjoy finally overpowering the bandits who beat them early, and a few say Hardcore mode keeps the tension.

The 2026 updateLow

A small number of reviews discuss what they describe as a 2026 next-gen update. Some praise sharper visuals and smoother performance ("This is much more playable since the update dropped."), and one thanked the studio because "They could have easily release next-gen update as a paid DLC but chose not to." Others objected to a new EULA and account linking, or found their mods broken ("Random update 6 years later breaking mods."). Players disagree about the account itself: one complained it was required, while another wrote that "They updated the EULA and added an optional button in the main menu to link an account for an in-game horse caparison."

What frustrates players

Bugs, softlocks and quest blockersHigh

Bugs or glitches come up in 30% of negative reviews and 21% of positive ones. The serious ones stop progress: NPCs who will not spawn or talk, infinite loading screens during main quests such as Cold Steel, Hot Blood, quest items that never appear, and the Hans Capon epilogue requirement breaking for some. Players describe working around them with console commands, mods or reloads from hours earlier, and some are frustrated by how old the bugs are: "it's been 8 years since its initial release and it still has excessive amount of bugs, glitches and stutters." A few players reported losing their saves, for example after pressing New Game. Positive reviewers more often describe smaller glitches they could live with.

The Saviour Schnapps save systemMedium

Saving through a potion, a bed you own or quitting appears in 20% of negative reviews and 8% of positive ones. The usual story is an hour or more of exploration lost to a fast-travel ambush, a fall or a crash. Critics ask for basic control ("Give me my F5 quicksave and let me play a single player game the way I want to play it."), and one argued that limited saving demands a stable game: "you better make damn sure that your game is rock-solid in terms of bugs and stability. This game is neither." Some players simply install an unlimited-save mod. A minority defends the system, saying "the saving system also gives it real consequences for risks".

Fights against groups and lock-on targetingMedium

Complaints about lock-on, target switching or fighting more than one enemy appear in 16% of negative reviews and 8% of positive ones. Players describe the camera fixing on one enemy while others hit them from behind, being unable to turn and run, and ambushes of five or more bandits with a dog that stunlocks them. "The combat only works if its a one on one fight", one player wrote, and fans of duelling often agree.

Movement, horses and solid bushesMedium

Players complain that small bushes, rocks and fences stop Henry and his horse dead, that minor falls break legs, and that horses throw the rider when spooked or dragged off by enemies. One positive review lists the problem in three words: "Bushes are walls". Horse riding itself gets mixed reactions, with some enjoying long rides and others finding steering clumsy off the roads.

Crashes and performanceMedium

Crashes come up in 8% of negative reviews and performance or stutter in 6% of reviews overall. Reports include crashes during cutscenes, frame drops in towns and cutscenes, shadow flicker and missing gamma or frame-cap options, sometimes on recent hardware. Because saving is limited, crashes hurt more: one reviewer was fine with the save design "except that the game crashes too much". Other players report that it runs well, including on Steam Deck and Linux.

Controls, lockpicking and other fiddly minigamesLow

The controls draw criticism in 9% of negative reviews. Some keyboard players find directional combat awkward ("The game controls are made for console (don't know if they work there) and don't really work on PC with mice and keyboard."), while others recommend the opposite ("Combat takes some getting used to, better with a controller"). Lockpicking and pickpocketing draw their own complaints, and a few players quit over lockpicking alone.

Vague quest guidance and hidden rulesLow

Players complain that quest markers point to wide areas, that some quests fail on hidden timers, and that rules such as night curfews or trainers refusing lessons are never explained, sending them to guides: "Did I have to look up a guide for almost every quest ever? Yes". Others enjoy reading dialogue for clues instead of following markers.

The monastery questLow

The monastery stretch, where Henry is confined as a novice, is singled out as the low point of the main story by a number of players, including some who recommend the game. One positive reviewer advised: "When you get to the Monastery quest, go online and find the guide which will get it done as quick as possible." A few players liked it.

Head bob and motion sicknessLow

A handful of players could not keep playing because of camera sway and head bob, and one noted that "There's no accessibility features to turn this off." Some rely on mods.

3. The player conversation

The tone is affectionate and often joking. A lot of short reviews are memes from the game ("Jesus Christ be praised", feeling quite hungry, getting drunk with the priest), while the longer ones weigh a world and story they love against systems that fight them. Some positive reviewers say they disliked the game at first, quit and came back years later, often after playing the sequel, and that it worked once the combat made sense or once they installed save and combat mods ("Tried playing it > sucked at it > installed some mods > amazing game."). Among negative reviews, 13% still praise the story outright and blame the mechanics for their verdict.

Early and late quitters raise different problems. Negative reviews from players who stopped early focus on the opening and tutorials, the controls, lockpicking, motion sickness and missing the refund window. Players with long playthroughs who still did not recommend it talk far more about bugs, and also about quest blockers, group fights, the save system, crashes, horses, the monastery and the Hans Capon ending requirement.

Most of these reviews were written between September 2025 and October 2026, seven to eight years after launch. In every month of that period the positive share of game-focused reviews stayed between 79.9% and 87.1%, with the same praise and the same complaints repeating throughout.

4. What the developers could do

1. Fix target switching in group fights. Lock-on that ignores attackers behind Henry comes up in 16% of negative reviews and in 8% of positive ones, often from fans who otherwise enjoy duelling.
2. Add autosaves or an optional save-anywhere setting. Players describe losing an hour or more to ambushes, falls and crashes, and some already use mods to save freely.
3. Clear the long-standing quest blockers. Reviewers cite infinite loading screens in main quests, NPCs who never spawn and missing quest items, and they stress that some have survived eight years of patches.
4. Make DLC quests opt-in and release the ending from the Hans Capon quest. Players were locked into A Woman's Lot without warning and blocked from the main ending until they finished the Capon DLC.
5. Teach combat earlier and shorten the scripted opening. Early quitters cite a long tutorial with fights they could not win, and a common tip from fans is to train with Captain Bernard for the master strike before anything else.
6. Smooth out traversal. Bushes that stop a galloping horse, small falls that break legs and riders thrown by spooked horses come up in positive and negative reviews alike.
7. Improve stability and add basic graphics options. Players report crashes in cutscenes, stutter in towns and missing gamma and frame-cap settings, which hurt more because saving is limited.
8. Add comfort and clarity options. A head bob toggle, an optional archery reticle, clearer warnings on timed quests and better keyboard bindings would address smaller but repeated complaints.