Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a dream for players looking for an immersive RPG that doubles as a medieval life simulator. While Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 excels at telling a compelling narrative of political intrigue and rebellion, it also does a great job of allowing players to roleplay life in 15th-century Bohemia with its commitment to authenticity in tasks like blacksmithing, alchemy, and managing the various systems that other RPGs take for granted. For players looking to get a different type of experience in a similar setting, developer Obsidian Entertainment may have the ideal title to play after Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
While Obsidian's most recent game, Avowed, has hit the market as a fantasy alternative to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the studio is no stranger to a more grounded medieval setting. Its 2022 title, Pentiment, offers players a complex murder-mystery story in a less feature-dense package while still appealing to fans of the medieval European setting. As such, following a Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 playthrough with one of Pentiment provides players with an interesting narrative counterbalance worth experiencing in 2025.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's Blacksmithing Should Be the RPG Crafting Benchmark
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's blacksmithing system sets a new standard for RPG crafting by being immersive and rewarding players for a job well done.
2022's Pentiment Makes the Perfect Companion Game to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
How Pentiment Compares to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Despite both being set in medieval Europe, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Pentiment share very different gameplay systems and narrative themes. For starters, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is set about 100 years before Pentiment, with the Warhorse Studios title taking place in 1403, whereas Pentiment is set in 1518. However, both are set in very similar locations, with Pentiment's Bavarian town of Tassing sharing similar features with those of its neighboring region of Bohemia, where Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 takes place.
Gameplay-wise, Pentiment is a drastic departure from Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 as it trades the immersive sim and combat elements of the latter for almost visual novel-like gameplay with puzzles and exploration limited to the local environment. Players take on the role of Andreas Maler, a journeyman artist studying at the local abbey who is forced to unravel the mystery behind the murder of a nobleman. The RPG and choice-based gameplay mechanics of Pentiment feel similar to those featured in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, with consequences that can alter the way the game's narrative shakes out.
Pentiment Paints Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's Medieval Setting in a Different Light
What makes Pentiment such a great game to follow up Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 with is the way its style and narrative themes complement those of KCD2. While Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 hinges on the player traveling around the regions of Trosky and Kuttenberg, grappling with the greater politics of Bohemia, Pentiment narrows the scope to a single village and its accompanying abbey, following the intersection of politics and religion at a time when the Protestant Reformation was kicking off and the power of the Catholic Church had begun to wane. With Pentiment taking place 100 years after Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and both games grounded in fictionalized versions of real history, players can compare how the background themes of KCD2's setting evolve in Pentiment.
Pentiment is available on Xbox Game Pass.
Pentiment also offers a stylistic change after Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, with its art style adopting that of medieval manuscripts, woodcuts, and early printing techniques. This art style offers a different kind of medieval immersion than Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's realistic approach, as it helps the player feel almost like they are playing a work of medieval art. Following the authenticity of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's world and mechanics with Pentiment's unique art style and more focused narrative is a refreshing one-two punch of medieval gaming that is worth the time for fans of KCD2.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- February 4, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
- Warhorse Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Deep Silver
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action-Adventure, Open-World
