Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

After having played the first Kingdom Come Deliverance game, my expectations were high for the second iteration. My expectations were not met, they were shattered. The sheer amount of stuff to do, the gorgeous landscape and the detail that went into creating this medieval masterpiece are just incredible. It improved on about everything from the first game, and it feels like a labour of love. Keep in mind, I am playing hardcore mode, which means - amongst other things - no compass, no map marker of your current location and no fast travel. It makes you pay more attention to your surroundings, and you end up navigating via landmarks. I also make it a point NOT to run / gallop all the time, as I want to immerse myself into the universe created by Warhorse Studios. And yes, it is an entire universe. The research done and all the info found in the codex really give you a good impression of medieval Bohemia. When they took some liberties for the sake of the game, they will actually mention that in the codex entries along with the reasoning. I love that meticulous approach to desiging a world inhabited by NPCs who - mostly - will react in a manner you might expect. More so than in the first iteration. Then again, this also falls short on a few occasions. For example, when I ride on an old mare, just about every NPC I come across feels it is their duty to inform me that they would never be seen dead on a shabby horse like that. Keep in mind, most are peasants who couldn't dream of ever owning a horse. And after 10 minutes of being shunned by people this gets on your nerves. And it simply doesn't feel immersive. Same goes for all sorts of interactions initiated by NPCs in order to make the world feel more "engaging". This is an issue with nearly every single open world game. And one I think they could have improved by simply realising that a lot of times you will pass people without them feeling the need to comment on your lovely dog, your shabby old mare or the fact that your clothes are slightly dirty. The fact that this irks me so much is less an indicator of the actual nuissance of this particular little annoyance. It rather shows how little I have to complain about so far in this game. Yes, I would like the tasks to be less "gamey" and more real-life like, but I assume that 90% of gamers would hate to do mundane stuff and rather have their adventures, regardless of whether they are super immersive or not. And I have no intention to die on that particular hill, as I still like doing some of these tasks and I have the option to ignore the rest (which I do on some occasions). So, the fact that I am nitpicking at tiny stuff should give you a good idea about how much I actually love this game.

Easily one of the best games I've ever played. If you're into RPGs, this is the kind of unique experience that comes out once in a decade, or might never repeat. So take your time with it :)