It’s true KCD lacks the game play mechanics Skyrim has by default of being the newer base game.
But I’ll begin to believe the “bar raising” claim if KCD will offer more sandbox game play in the future. The way Skyrim did on game launch. Despite it’s realism, KCD is sorely lacking in a sandbox dynamic compared to base game Skyrim. Compared to some 12+ game factions the player could interact with in Skyrim ( 9 which player could join excluding 2 from DLC like dawnguard/vampires), KCD has zero (unless you count Henry joining the Bailff’s service). He can’t seek honest work as a smith apprentice or alchemist. So IMO, KCD as a base game is sorely lacking in content e.g. where non MQ factions, side quests and overall sandbox game play are concerned. So as a base game, KCD loses out on a variety of RP character possibilities. Europe was teeming with all sorts of guilds in this time. But a shortage of such NPC factions exist (tailor’s, butchers, armorers, Smiths etc). Also whatever proxies exist in KCD offer poor opportunities for player RP:
Example 1: the Miller faction being weakly implemented as an unofficial thieves guild. This should’ve been an official faction (the way the Thieves Guild was in Skyrim) with a proper side/faction quest line. This would’ve given players the opportunity to play a stealth based character. Instead of the warrior/fighter Knight in shinning armor the game locks you into from tutorial start.
Example 2: That mafia family of charcoal burners in their camps dotting the map. The game gives you a sense these NPCs are unaccountable to their society. Much like the Millers in that they stick together. And take care of their own if you’re able to reach a certain point of the MQ without bugs. So WTH couldn’t these NPCs have been made a more shadier faction? Like a shadowy set of murders for hire (similar to the DB assassins in Skyrim?) who provide radiant hit quests on NPCs who crossed them? Or to whom other upstanding town/village NPCs/guild members could turn for help in dealing with other guild/NPC rivals? That charcoal vendor NPC could’ve given Nenry an invitation side quest to seek out a charcoal burner camp before Skalitz was sacked. Player could’ve used this alternative to start the game once Henry escaped Talberg. Start the game as a lowly merc thug/thief/murderer who could gradually work his way up to the upstanding knight in shining armor trope it forces Henry to be.
Example 3: The heavily implied Stonemason/brickmason/construction builder guild. You’d think a bunch of side quests would exist with all the noise those NPCs make hammering around on stone, wood and things in general. You rarely get the chance to interact with any of these NPCs. The ones who you can converse with, don’t have anything interesting or noteworthy to say. Vanilla Skyrim bests KCD in this regard. Wasted opportunity to give the player a source of rumors and possible side quests.
Example 4: The bandit faction. WTH can’t Henry get the chance to join this in one of his wayfarer encounters on the road? Like being offered membership after he beats the typical 3 man gang of bandits who always ambush him on the road? He gets an option for unconditional surrender so he can accept this offer, instead of killing them every time? Would make for a nice alternative from being locked into his role in the bailiiff service
Example 5: Skill sets/Perks. It’s realistic for Henry to pick either highborn v low born perk, as the Nobility didn’t socialize with the peasantry in that period. But it would be even more realistic if Henry had the option to pick BOTH. Because people don’t stop being naturally charismatic --regardless of whom they speak to. So realistically, Henry should’ve had a random chance to relate to a lowly beggar/con man while say haggling/conversing in his travels on the road. This dynamic would’ve increased the player’s sandbox ability by allowing Henry join a cut purse/bandit/murder faction. Being able to do this – while in the Bailiff’s service–would’ve increased the degree of realism, risk and reward the player could experience.
So right there, these omissions are “bar breakers” IMO. Because unlike Skyrim, the game constrains my ability to sandbox around the character the MQ forces me to play in KCD.
In vanilla base game Skyrim after escaping Helgen, the game went 100% sandbox. It gave you the CHOICE to RPG as a civil war vet based on your experience following the Imperial/Stormcloak NPC in escaping Helgen. But it NEVER forced you into joining either faction once you got to Riverwood. The only push you had from the game was having to notify the jarl in Whiterun. Once you did that, base game left you free to go off and do whatever the hell you wanted. You DID NOT have to pursue the MQ as your ordained role of the DB. You could immediately go to Riften and become a lowly thief/assassin working their way to become the TG/DB Master. Or an adventurer/dungeon crawling/errand boy for the denizens of Skyrim. Or a Priest of Mara and perform the Temple faction quests. Or RP other numerous possibilities given the numerous side quests and non MQ factions which came in the base game. Like the Daedric side questline where you could RP an adventurer/daedra whorshipper. KCD weakly hints at relgion in a certain MQ related quest. But once Henry accomplihes this, it never comes up again—even though the priest NPC in the quest said they were disciples of the new teachings. This was a lost opportunity for a deeper side quest (since the KCD quest was based on a real life religious priest who was later burned at the stake for heresy). Lost opportunity to join a religious faction, in a time when the medieval politics were all about the Church & state.
When you add Skyrim’s vanilla HF/DG/DB DLC, Skyrim became opened with infinite possibilities for sandbox game play. And when you factor in the modding community, you see that Bethesda’s devs had nothing to do with promoting Skyrim’s longevity to date. It’s the modding community (NOT the dev) which has been the responsive party. It’s the modding community that has empowered, nurtured, and supported the growing/dedicated TES fan base over the last 20+ years to date.
So I’ll become a believer if KCD achieves GOTY. The way legacy Skyrim did for being a Single Player RPG in a MMO/FPS obsessed gaming space. If KCD still ranks in Steams top 20/100 a year from now, then I’ll seriously consider it belonging to the realm of “ground breaking”.
Most specifically, if KCD gains a bigger fan base demand for a universal mod platform (the way Bethesda was motivated to do in remaking Skyrim SE, making SSE & Fallout 4 available to console gamers) then IMO it will have superseded Skyrim in “raising the bar”.
