Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Dev Says Combat Will Be More Accessible, Explains Why The Game Still Uses CryEngine

Following the official reveal of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, IGN was able to speak with Tobias Stolz-Zwilling (Warhorse Studios’s PR Manager) to get some extra details about the newly announced action RPG sequel.

To begin with, while the first-person combat system will still lean towards realism, the developers have made some changes to make it more accessible in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.

It is important to say that we stay true to what KCD and what Warhorse stands for, and that is trying to depict real medieval combat. That being said, we made some changes in the combat system and we tried to make it more accessible while retaining the realistic in-your-face feel. We want the combat to feel hard and heavy but also easy to pick up. You should feel the weight of your weapon and every hit you land. If you take a mace for instance, you can bash your way through the enemy lines without thinking much of tricks and combos. However, if you really wish to go deep into the system, learn all the ins and outs, then a longsword would be your weapon of choice, offering a more sophisticated approach.

Stolz-Zwilling also commented on Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 keeping the CryEngine in favor of the far more popular Unreal Engine 5.

The easy answer would be that we stayed with the CryEngine because all our internal pipelines are built around it. And I am sure that every developer on earth gripes about the engine they’re using and dreams of something else—that is the natural way of things. However, even in the early days of the KCD I development, we already heavily adjusted the CryEngine to make it fit our needs, and we are doing the same today. I am sure it is very different from what one would call “a CryEngine,” and still, we are happy to have it—it does what we need and in all honesty. If you look back at the first KCD, I strongly believe that the game visually aged extremely well—thanks to the engine.

Lastly, the PR Manager discussed the ins and outs of the highly reactive world players will find in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.

We don’t spawn any NPCs magically behind your back. So if an NPC sees you committing a crime, they will either fight you directly (depending on their stats, your stats, your looks, your reputations—as you can see a lot of RPG elements going on there), or the NPC will run off, call the nearest guard who will try to get you.

If you happen to be gone by the time the guard arrives, the NPCs in the area will be more vigilant than they were before, and skill checks might be harder. But this goes both ways. If you are standing with a bloody weapon next to some poor victim, they might connect the crime to you. Overall, the world should offer more random encounters, or people shouting something at you… you can now even give a quick answer in a new chat mode (select a button for a quick answer) that lets you interact with the world of KCD in a way more natural way without locking you into a dialogue screen.

The sequel will be released in 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X. It’s said to be twice as large, featuring two maps, each as large as the map featured in the original game. The plot line has been described as darker and deeper, not to mention more epic. Henry of Skalitz will take on the King of Hungary on the backdrop of Kuttenberg, a large and densely populated medieval city that will be pivotal in the story.