I’m loving this game. I will be playing it again as well. But I do hope they add a few things and I hope the story continues.
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Skyrim may dominate the RPG market, but in quantity, not in quality.
Without the mod support it had never been such successful.
Actually, no…Hans is already justifying his behaviour and indirectly saying sorry on the way to the hunt. He has no reason whatsoever to do this, except that the story writers needed to make him slightly more sympathetic so the player doesn’t go “Well screw that c**t” when he gets kidnapped by the Cumans.
And since you mentioned it, the entire motivation of getting that bloody sword back is one of the major flaws the game has. I mean Radzig even flat out tells the player that it’s stupid, but Henry, being the moron that he is, just can’t take the hint. Yeah okay, it’s kind of a memento, but if he had actually cared one bit about his parents he would follow their wishes and NOT GET INVOLVED in all the murdering business.
Wrong.
The combination of modding AND a flexible sandbox game play mechanic (especially before mods are added) has been the “Quality” that has kept players attracted and engaged with Skyrim and the TES universe as a whole. TES RPG model has proved this fact since Morrowind. Any RPG (regardless of whether its fantasy, realism and/or historical realism based) that wants to be successful/have longevity needs those 2 features to be “quality” at minimum.
If you removed the game breaking bug factor since launch, KCD would’ve been a very satisfying RPG to play in it’s unique historical realism niche. But IMO, KCD has limited replay value once the MQ story line is completed. Modding tools are on indefinite hold for obvious reasons. So the only thing engaging players after replaying the MQ some 3? 4? FIVE??? times? would have been the ability for sandbox game play.
Except KCD is very lacking in sandbox game play. The top 2 sand box features are hunting and map exploration. Side quests are a distant 3rd. But this feature is limited/undeveloped given the dev production constraints. So the player is limited to simple favor quests (like getting hides for the tanner to make coin & learn/level hunt skill). More complex side quests (especially interrelated side quests) are very limited. Because KCD lacks active legal NPC factions (aka guilds like Tailor, Blacksmith, Alchemist, Butcher, Mason/Stone/Carpenter, Weaponsmith etc). Or official non guild line factions like the Clergy (which the player gets to infiltrate as part of the MQ but can never permanently be part of once the quest line ends). Or a crime career track, by means of illegal guilds the likes of a robber/murderer/beggar faction. The player only gets to moonlight as a thief the entire game. All while Henry keeps vehemently protesting how noble and good he really is when you force him to RP a life of crime?? 
No faction/guild features were enabled in the base game–despite the fact they existed in the real historical medieval world. The lack of such a sandbox feature makes it extremely difficult to mod (assuming mod tools are ever allowed in the future).
So what after a player tires of “beating the game” several times? What alternatives do they have left to keep them engaged playing KCD? Given no mods on horizon, the non existent sandbox features leaves the RP replay potential for KCD very limited. In fact, the only RPing Henry has available outside of a Knight/merc build is as hunter/trapper/hermit type trying to live off the land. The only alternatives to that is a life of crime as a poacher/beggar/rogue. And the thief profession is extremely limited at best. Yet could’ve been SO MUCH MORE had the devs bothered to improve the game mechanic of the Miller theft racket.
IMO, KCD is at best only good for 1-3 play throughs. Where the player gets to test drive the different outcomes of the major decisions they made to affect the MQ. Same for the side quest decision tree. The number of players willing to replay KCD to experience Every. Single. Decision. Outcome is not in the majority. The number of players willing to replay KCD for the sake of punishing themselves (with an unforgiving game design) is even less. The Dark Souls franchise is a good example of this niche demographic. So IMO, replaying KCD is completely unecessary, since Youtube KCD playthroughs more than make up for whatever decision tree replay value lost by not restarting the game.
Wrong. Skyrim is generic. This has nothing to do with quality. The world size is stretched, wide as an ocean, but flat as a puddle. This game has no depth, dialogs are boring and instead of a solid story your quest log will just get flooded with generic quests and neverending dungeons to spend more than 400 hours in this boring game. And it was not TES who defined the open world RPG genre, it was Gothic.
And you say a game “that wants to be successful” has to have quality. This is not right. A game that wants to be successful has to be mainstream and then quality goes down. A mainstream game is not what I call high quality.
The best games have never been made with the goal to be successful, instead they want to show their own vision. Or do you think movies like “Transformers” are the best, because they are successful?
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Grinding… keep attacking every battle spawn point in Bohemia. Admittedly without battle sandbox it’s starting to wear thin. Re-spawning Vranik and Pribyslavitz with bandits and Cuman would help.
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There are different measures of quality. I liked Skyrim. It’s unlikely I’d ever replay it, but one should be able recognize that being able to support a robust modding is a meritworthy quality
Contrast the groundbreaking realism of KCD to fantasy RPG Skyrim. For better comparison, remove all of Skyrim’s fantasy game play elements i.e dragons, magic wielding NPCs & fantasy creatures like vamps/werewolves, Spirggans, Flea striders, etc etc from the game world. Leave normal domestic & wildlife animals like farm livestock. Natural predators like wolves & bears. Wildlife like horses, game like deer, various avian/fowl and fish species etc.
If Skyrim was so buggy at launch (i.e. to the point where game progression made impossible for players to complete the MQ) they would’ve been distracted by a TON of other non MQ related activities/quests etc. aka sandbox activities to do outside of said MQ. Which would buy the devs the time to push the necessary patches to fix the game. Because of Skyrim’s inherent mod friendly design, PC gamers had the ability to use the command console to workaround said game breaking bugs without mod tools. And this very early access of PC gamers to the developer’s command console cheats, led to refinement of mod oriented bug fixes. Which is how the TES modding community was able to produce mods like Arthmoor’s Unofficial Skyrim/DLC patch suite. And console gamers began to receive the benefit of this once Bethesda made mods available to the console community with Skyrim SE release. So bug fixes like Arthmoors remain SUPERIOR to any patch/hot fix update Bethesda was able to release to date. All because Bethesda as a dev, was insightful enough to design the base game to be mod friendly to begin with. Exploiting the proactive support from the mod community within the fan base. Unofficially permitting the PC mod community to help them in fixing said game breaking bugs. Instead of modeling themselves after this, WHS took a risky strategy to push out a buggy game, rely solely upon limited/strained Dev QA/QC support resources (praiseworthy accountability which ironically, been detrimentally damaging to the KCD franchise brand), and then further alienating its PC mod base i.e by stating the former Kickstarter goal to release an official mod tool kit will be in the distant future…
If WHS had taken Beth’s route to designing KCD to be both more mod AND sandbox friendly during development, all the negative PR fallout with the game breaking bugs/patch releases would’ve been minimized. Period. Because players would’ve been preoccupied playing other non MQ related aspects of the game. Period.
TBH: Bethesda has never been known for writing good RPGs the way Obsidian (the original dev of Fallout 1 and 2) ever could. WHS excels in this endeavor where Bethesda has failed. For Bethesda could NEVER hold a candle to the story/character writing and development ability of the Obsidian dev crew. Or at least the Obsidian dev team that produced Fallout New Vegas (since the Fallout NV dev team had software coders who developed Van Buren that was reincarnated as FNV). Regardless, that is why Fallout New Vegas is still being played by so many gamers to date (including myself). Gamers play it for the superior story line AND sandbox/mod capability players can additionally experience AFTER completing the base game (before you factor in the DLC). Fallout NV will always be the better story driven Wasteland than the Fallout 3 DC Wasteland IMO. The FNV story line was and still is far superior to anything Beth did in FO3. This is where WHS dropped the ball with KCD.
Developing mod friendly games AND providing the fan base community with user friendly mod tools is what saved saved the TES & Fallout franchises. Especially since Bethesda’s story writing began to go down hill after Morrowind’s release (and for obvious design limitation reasons in future TES game world architecture).
WHS is admirable for taking the Kickstarter route in developing KCD. For engaging and building a fan base community when KCD was conceived on the drawing board. But where they dropped the ball IMO, was not integrating a more mod friendly and greater degree of sandbox game elements. It seems all their effort went into designing a unique 1st person combat fighting simulator. (Isn’t that what VR is for really?).
Because it seems they left supporting sandbox features by the wayside i.e crafting (i.e. working smithy/other crafting stations except alchemy which is superlative), camping/backpack feature if you want to RP a poor henry walking everywhere on foot. And then there’s just greater world/NPC interaction overall by means of holding a simple fishing rod to catch fish in the gameworld’s many streams. Yes you can get fish from the 1? 2? fish traps in the game. But fishing with a fish rod would’ve been far more realistic/immersive. Using Henry’s carpeting sill to make said fishing rod would’ve made for superior realism/immersion. Then there is the social aspect such as interacting with Thresa/Lady Stephanie besides bath maids. Why was this not pursued outside the MQ? Then the obvious potetnial for guild member growth via guild factions etc. WE’RE IN THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD FFS. GUILDS ARE OMNIPOTENT AND OMNISCIENT. JUST LIKE THE BACTERIA, VIRUSES, STDs & INFECTION THAT MURDERED PEOPLE ON A DAILY BASIS.
All of these supporting sandbox game play features were either gutted or neglected on the cutting room floor due to production schedule constraints. It will be challenging trying to incorporate such fundamental features in a future patch, since they have such a global impact on the game play. If any additional sandbox content is going to be added, it will probably have to be after Act III comes out. i.e a new KCD game entirely built from scratch.
What do you think about the belgian RPG classic “Divine Divinity” by Larian Studios? How does it compare to the Obsidian classics?
No. Having Henry play double agent and try to infiltrate the enemy camps around the map. That way, he’d get to use his Charisma skill set and would’ve made for superior realism/immersion. Even if this didn’t historically happen, it would’ve made for an excellent sand box diversion. Because realistically, Henry didn’t exist. But there were most likely real characters like him aka SPIES who did exist.
Hell, add a courage/vitality route. Un-impress these Cumans with his poor grasp of Czech? Whatever language the Cuman barbarians are speaking. Be rightfully labled as a poor spy. Have the Cumans imprison Henry and/or torture him for info. If his courage/vitality is high enough, he would be able to endure the torture/imprisonment and use his nifty thief lockpicking/stealth/sneak skills to escape (before becoming too weak and/or starving to death).
At least give the player SOME form of alternative interaction with the Cuman (and robber) NPCs to keep the game play and game world interesting FFS. These barbarian invaders need to eat. Raiding nearby farms for food isn’t an efficient means of sustenance. Hunting is available, but time consuming and somewhat risky (encountering other NPCs). So what’s to stop a charisma driven Henry from rising from his poor roots and becoming a respectable blackmarket trader? Work with the Robber NPC camps to collaborate with the Cumans (seeing that they were already kissing brony cousins by the rescue Timmy quest?) Use the Miller thief ring to trade with the Cumans and launder his goods? Work with those outcast harpy-witch healer old women to get medical supplies to the Cuman camps etc etc.
I mean, just having to keep seeing all those broken down roadside carts makes my blood itch with frustration. The amount of unrealized in-game and out of game profit potential --which will never be realized because of no sandbox features-- is very disappointing. Which is why IMO, WHS dropped the ball.
I’ve never played that franchise. So sorry, but I can’t really make a statement about them.
Can you explain/summarize what it was about?
edit: Obsidian as a studio didn’t really have “classics” because their studio went bankrupt and was bought out by Bethesda (under Zenimax as parent company). The only “classics” that Obsidian produces that was worthy IMO was Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 1 and 2. All of which are retro futuristic sci-fi RPGs. So you really can’t compare them to a fantasy RPG like TES franchise. But where they do compare is in the quality of the story line & character development. Obsidian wins that hands down v Beth everytime.
here’s one of the best compilations on the making of Bethesda. How it nearly failed as a game company & survived with a title called Morrowind (when Todd Howard came on board as the young lead dev for TES). How his gamble with making Morrowind both sandbox and mod friendly paid off to date. At 23:00 they show why and how sanbox game play made playing Morrowind so addicitve—long after players had completed the game. KCD has quite a few of these elements (reading a well written book). But it lacks the capacity for the player to reinvent Henry as anything other than a lowly blacksmith’s son once the Skalitz tutorial ends. The player is foreve locked into being this warrior/knight build because of a specific end game spoiler. But if KCD were to truly be a sandbox game, it would’ve allowed the player to achieve the same endgame setting in the MQ by Act II–except the player would’ve been able to achieve this from alternate progression tracks e.g As a secret black market Cuman/Robber trader/merchant, a covert spy operative who may be a thief/rouge/assassin character. Or as an upstanding citizen who could’ve pursued membership in several guilds…before realizing his ultimate destiny the MQ will pigeonhole him into belonging.
Henry is a fictitous character living in the realism of a historically fictitious medieval RPG. So why doesn’t the player have the flexibility to achieve said MQ goals by their customization of Henry?
Divine Divinity is a fantastic and well written RPG with a lot character depth, rich on story and item interaction. But you should get the physical release (v1.0034A), because all digital “remastered” or “enhanced” versions on GOG and Steam are buggy due to the final source code got lost and they base on a beta code. There’s also a physical Anthology trilogy edition that also use the bugged version!
The max resolution is 1024x768, tweaked resolutions will cause a small zoomed out picture.
This game is really great, and the studio recently released “Divinity: Original Sin 2” which got very good critics world wide, but I only played the first game “Divine Divinity”.
This game has one of the finest soundtracks ever composed for a video game:
No. A game does NOT need to be mainstream in order for it to be successful.
The Sims 1-3 and Dark Souls are perfect examples of niche games with fanatically dedicated fan bases who’re still actively playing to date.
Tbe Sims franchise for being superior at sandbox open ended gameplay, unlimited player innovation in creating/designing and customizing the gamer’s game play and mechanics. From an entire world space right down to the freckles on a sim’s nose.
Dark Souls for being a game that standouts for encouraging perfection in execution. For brutally punishing the player for their mistakes.
Both are niche games. the sims franchise in particular, was never originally taken seriously by the publisher which believed the limited “doll house” game mechanic was doomed to fail. The fact this sandbox driven game continues to attract both sexes and a variety of age demographics who still play The Sims 3 to date is proof quality does NOT equal mainstream. The Sims 3 is a household name. But it does NOT command the fan base that mainstream DOTA and FPS games like CoD do.
Gary’s mod is another example of niche quality game. But it’s a strange creature which is 100% like the Sims on Minecraft steroids. Yet continues to attract a GTA/Skyrim/Fallout level mainstream fan base following (based on Steam PC stats) to date. And isn’t even a real game…
Yes 
There’s a whole lot of backstory that could use changing but that’s not an easy fix
That’s all fine and well but there’s a more fundamental problem. KCD is so historically situated many of the things you mentioned are interesting but implausible pursuits for bastard during a March foreign invasion
That and things are so ossified … eg why in the Sam Hill are Rattay and Skalitz soldiers stationed at the Merhojed soldier camp during the siege on Talmberg!?
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What?! Not every player has to be a modder.
So they dont need them all back. If it is released, the people will come back, sooner or later.
There are several old games who are modified 8-10 years later. And most times they are total conversions.
Sorry, but Sims and quality? And Dark Souls? I think the meaning of quality is very different for us.
But you are right. Not every game that is successful has to be mainstream. I would call “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” as the best example that was created with a budget of only 400.000 $ and sold over 3 million copies. Okay the game cost 20 $ at release and was very often on 85 % sale! But this game made the devs rich and guaranteed that they had enough budget for their next masterpiece “SOMA”. Both are some of the best games ever made in history.
But this is not the topic. To be successful is not the same as being primarly made to be successful.
Vavra et al wanted to create the game they wanted. They did so and earned a comfortable amount of revenue. Accordingly, they succeeded. That personal mission has now reached a crossroads
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Couldn’t agree more.
Comparison to generic AAA titles is pointless. I’ve personally seen pretty much all they can offer and can’t find any interest playing them. KCD on the other hand has a lot of unique strengths that make it a true master piece already now and hopefully the remaining rough edges are more or less ironed out.
If the current success if sufficient to make it worthwhile for WH to support the game and finish the act 3 I’d say that mission accomplished. If it enables them to make a sequel that would be even better. Maybe this is a start for a series of games that will only grow bigger or better, or at least for a studio that can exist making games with serious content.
BTW, KCD is my top2 most played Steam game already which is pretty crazy. Though after all those hours it is starting to show that I’ve accomplished most of what this game has to offer so naturally I won’t be spending much more time with this game in the future. Second playthrough with different style maybe later at some point…
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Good AAA games are extremely rare. I would say “Tomb Raider” (the new reboot series) are the best AAA games currently out there, followed by “The Witcher” (indie AAA), “Alien: Isolation” and “BioShock”. But masterpieces are none of them because of mainstream/casual gameplay elements.
Except “Kingdom Come”, but here I don’t know how big the budget was. Was the Kickstarter campaign the only budget, or there are additional 35 million € budget from a private investor? If KCD is a true AAA game, then it’s the number one!