Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a historical RPG without dragons or magic, set in Bohemia at the start of the fifteenth century. The player takes on the role of Henry, a young blacksmith whose home village of Skalitz is burned down by Hungarian troops, and from there unfolds a story of revenge, coming of age, and what war looks like from an ordinary person's point of view. The plot is grounded in real events surrounding the dispute over the Bohemian crown and features historical figures, giving the game an unusually documentary flavor.

The focus is on believability. Melee combat works with several attack directions, blocks, feints, and considerable momentum, so fighting several opponents at once is genuinely dangerous and fleeing is often wiser than heroics. Henry starts out able to do almost nothing, he can't even properly read, and all skills from swordsmanship through alchemy to persuasion improve through use. The game wants the player to eat, sleep, keep their clothing clean, and mind their reputation in individual villages, and it only saves at a bed or with a rare potion, which gives every decision real weight. The side quests rank among the best written of their generation and often have several equally valid solutions, including ones that avoid violence entirely.

On PlayStation 4 the game had noticeable technical problems after launch, with long loading times and bugs the developers gradually fixed. The reward is a beautifully built Sázava region landscape with changing weather, misty mornings, and music that uses period instruments and choir. Reception was very good, and the game became the most successful Czech game project of its time. Its influence lies in demonstrating the viability of a realistic historical RPG without fantasy elements. Today Kingdom Come: Deliverance is slow, demanding, but immensely rewarding. The player has to learn just as much as their character does, and that's exactly where the unique feeling comes from when an incompetent village lad turns into a feared swordsman. For Czech players it also carries extra value thanks to familiar locations and Czech-language voice acting.