Kingdom Come: Deliverance

[Ian C]

I hit a weird loop bug and there's a post on it here: https://forum.kingdomcomerpg.com/t/stuck-in-conversation-with-the-charlatan/39882


Yes, combat is better than the Witcher 3 and Skyrim. I've rarely had that 'seat of pants' feeling for a game during combat, as if you were actually in the character's shoes.

When the bugs are squashed and the game is polished I have no doubt this will become an all-time classic.

[SirAndrewD]

I'm honestly surprised it's as polished as it is considering the semi-indy nature of the game combined with the size and scope of the game   Once they get rind of the glaring bugs it's going to be amazing.  I'm already loving it even in its current state. 

As an aside, echoing something Glen55 said about the early game.   Pick ALL the flowers!  If you're just getting going and you're in Skalitz, pick every single flower you can.  Sell them, pick more. 

Herbalism is a very strong early game skill and it really helps you if you level it ASAP.  Two of the Herbalist perks give you +2 Charisma when you're carrying 30+ fragrant flowers, and the other levels your Strength while you pick.  Also, if you pick some poisonous flowers, you get a +2 permanent vitality boost.

Of course it also gets you early money for selling flowers, and it gets you the herbs needed to turn into alchemy brews that all come in very handy. 

[mirth]

Flower Picking Simulator 2018 :P

[Gusington]

Love me some Ian C and glen55 right now.

[SirAndrewD]

Flower Picking Simulator 2018 :P

You can use those flowers to brew poison and spice up the perpetual stews that are scattered all over the cities in the game.

Makes for very unhappy bandit camps if you can sneak in and get to their wine.

[Ian C]

And this is why the combat is better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgCkhe0g3NU

[bboyer66]

Really enjoyed my first 4-5 hours with the game. While walking through the countryside, it was one of the few games that imparted in me a sense of wonder. Almost a peaceful zen like feeling, until ambushed by bandits LOL.  The graphics even at the lower levels are exceptional. Also I am quite enjoying the story, and going through the codex learning things about Bohemia in 1400.

The bad: load times and cut scenes. While fiddling around with the graphics settings, any change seemed to lead to a 3 minute wait. The cut-scenes would constantly stutter and pause, however, I seem to have fixed that with a program that keeps your CPU cores from running at 100%, which seems to be the reason the cut scenes would stutter. Also the whole save system is just ridiculous in its current state. 

Hope this could be a new trend in gaming, where a REALISTIC historic setting is used for first person RPG games. Throughout history, historic events, people , battles, etc. have taken place that most fantasy authors would have a hard time coming up with themselves. Put me in medieval England or Germany as a young squire. or Ancient Rome as a young legionnaire. The possibilities are endless. Actually I think the biggest draw of the whole Assassins Creed series so far, has been the historic settings minus obviously the realism.

So as I of now, I am going to hold off until the new patch drops. It wont be easy however, as this game has really been enjoyable so far. 

[Ian C]

The bad: load times and cut scenes. While fiddling around with the graphics settings, any change seemed to lead to a 3 minute wait.

Same here. I think it;s got less to do with our system specs and more with the game being optimized.

Also the whole save system is just ridiculous in its current state. 

This will take care of that. Save anytime.
https://www.nexusmods.com/kingdomcomedeliverance/mods/1

[SirAndrewD]

I do love the combat.  However, it does tend to hew massively in the player's direction once you are over 10's in Strength, Vitality and Defense and unlock some key perks. 

It does not take long to hit those scores if you just spend some time training with Bernard in Rattay and hunting bandits/dueling wayfairing Knights.

For example, last night in Rattay, I was caught out with an inadvertently stolen item on my person by a guard, and ended up deciding I was just going to end there for the night by getting in a fight with him and dying to the massive guard response that was sure to come.
 
I had Henry get out his trusty Warhammer and Sheild and expected to pretty quickly be dealt with. 

The fight began and I, well, killed the guard with one riposte.

The whole garrison of course descended on Henry, so I backed him up a bit into the arch of the lower gate, making a good defensive position just to see how many I could take out before death. 

After a couple of minutes, the bodies stacked high like cordwood.  I eventually pressed Henry forward in a counterattack, hacking down more guards as I worked my way up to the merchant quarter. 

At this point Henry had a wake of corpses behind him.  Guards came in, engaged for a few blows, but a quick strike to the head or well timed riposte ended them fast. 
The Bailiff himself stormed out and gave Henry a bit of a hard time, he landed a flurry of blows.  However, his light armor proved no protection from a well handled Warhammer, and he joined his watchmen in their fate of having their heads caved in. 

The street was now a charnel house.  Citizens stood, locked in horror screaming.  Cries of "Murder" filled my ears as they begged for help from the garrison.

However, now the guards were coming to meet a scene akin to an abatoir, and they stood stunned, realizing that they were just the cows come to meet the knocker. 

The guards were actually frozen.  I'm imagining from a technical bug in which they were unable to process the massacre.  But at this point all Henry had to do was come in and deliver a flurry of blows.  Some woke out of their shock to fight back.  Most didn't.  They all met the same end.

Finally archers joined the fray, but in their terror most of their arrows ended up in the backs of their compatriots that I maneuvered in between us.   After taking an arrow or two on the shield, they were dispatched as well.

Now most guards were instantly falling to their knees to beg for mercy.   There was none.

Finally, I tired of the slaughter.  I hit the G key to surrender.

The arresting guard was quite cross at Henry.  He said he'd prefer to see Henry strung up but that the best he'd be allowed to give was a few nights in jail. 

I decided on a speech check.  "Hey, this was all just a big misunderstanding" said Henry, as he picked a piece of skull and brain out of his chainmail, "Why don't we just let this go this one time?"

The guard eyed the gore dripping from Henry's hammer, and fortunately that speech check failed.  Henry spent a while in jail, and then was out. 

So..yeah.  You can get pretty strong.

[Gusington]

So instead of going to Bernard is it realistic to level up while completing quick easy missions out in the world?

[SirAndrewD]

So instead of going to Bernard is it realistic to level up while completing quick easy missions out in the world?

It is.  However, going to Bernard is very important as well.  He's the one that teaches you the combos, and ripostes, and he provides paid skill training.  He's pretty necessary.

You'll level your main physical stats very fast doing both or either. 

But it is absolutely necessary to go to Bernard before Henry's first battle, and then after in order to unlock all the combat moves.

This is pretty inevitable..

[Gusington]

^ :o

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/117175-zero-punctuation-Reviews-Kingdom-Come-Deliverance

[SirAndrewD]

If you find things getting a bit easy, I've found the Immersive Balance mod seems to work well.  I've been happy with the results so far.  I'm still strong, but not a one shot killing machine anymore.

[Ian C]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/117175-zero-punctuation-Reviews-Kingdom-Come-Deliverance

He's right about the save method. It's stupid. He's not right about combat though - he's doing it wrong. Button mashing will get you killed. There is a method to it and it is a bit difficult at first.
Choose direction -press once -strike. There's a knack to it.