Zero Punctuation: Kingdom Come Deliverance

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Of all the things to criticize in KCD. He could have gone on about the game still needs a lot of patching, the NPC's who have American accents, the lack of variety in NPC faces, the exploitable gameplay mechanics, the dodgy horse controls, and the lack of grand pitched battles. I was waiting for that stuff. Yet he rags on the combat. I'd be keen to take his word for it too if I haven't seen so many people playing the game who don't have any issues.

I never thought I'd have to say this Yahtzee, but git gud.

The probability of Yahtzee ever getting gud at gaming is very slim. He has other qualities.

If you didn't catch the live stream, Yahtzee pretty much outed himself as a bit of a disinterested hater that didn't feel like putting up with anything the game threw at him, basically refusing to even attempt to understand any of the evident or underlying mechanics, self-sabotaging himself into a corner and proving for the entire runtime that he really, really couldn't be bothered to get over it or himself. When success in one particular fight eventually happened, it was too late to change his tune or the already uploaded video, so that's what we got.

For a game set in 15th century Czechia, any form of English feels quite wrong. That said, the story does not suffer any more from this than any movie in the past did. It certainly felt more tolerable than, say, A Knight's Tale (2001). I put the year there since I don't know how many remake reboots Hollywood has farted out in the meantime.

After playing through the game in English, I started another run and chose the German audio. It's fine. Regionally closer to the area depicted, the only bad thing that I noticed about it was that I didn't know any of the voice actors involved, which isn't necessarily a bad thing at all. I would have preferred a fully voiced Czech version, but that does not (yet?) exist, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[RobertEHouse]

The save system isn't really limited, despite what Yahtzee says. The game auto saves whenever you start/complete a quest, and it also saves every time you sleep more than two hours in a bed. Add onto that the fact that the recipe for 'Savior Schnapps' is auto-unlocked without the need to learn it, and that the raw ingredients for it a) grow outside the first house you have access to after the tutorial and b) can be bought at any alchemist shop for less than four Groechen and you can basically drop a save whenever the mood takes you (except in combat - you can't save in combat).

But there's the thing though. If it's so easy then why is it even limited at all? And that's the problem. You make it easy, it might as well not be there. You make it even just kinda hard and then it's just super annoying.

I'll admit it does add another level of faff to saving, but there are reasons which kind of make sense as you play the game. For example, even if you have a dozen Saviour Schnapps in your inventory you still need to be careful about popping one as they are, as the name suggests, alcoholic and getting pissed just before attempting delicate tasks (*cough* lockpicking *cough*) isn't the greatest idea in the world. The fact that it has, in most cases, been many in-game hours since your last save makes you approach decisions in general and combat in particular in a very different manner to most other RPGs that I've played.

Hard to predict bugs/crashes though.

Have you had the flying glitch yet?

I am enjoying the game but when i get off from a horse and start to fly ten feet off the ground unable to move. That is one reason the save system might need so rework. Not because i hate the save system the opposite is true it just because the game still is not glitch free yet.

If anything if they had the option in the menu for a player to decide if they want this type of saving feature or another. That i feel might be the best solution in order to please fans on both ends.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

There's realism and then there's stupid realism. So far the only game that managed to do realism well is Mafia 1. This game just sounds tedious.

 

[TheFinish]

The game gets infinitely better when you mod the save system to just be a normal save system, really. It's the game's biggest misstep.

Aside from that it's enjoyable, if a bit stunted. I really don't understand when everyone says this game is deep. It's not, nor is it particularly realistic, despite what the game claims.

The combat system is fairly okay, until you learn masterstrokes and then it devolves into baiting an opponent into attacking you so you can Masterstroke them to death (insert handjob joke here). If you try to fight high level enemies fairly, THEY Masterstroke you back almost always, so it's just boring. Honestly late game I just headshotted them with arrows to make it less tedious.

Stealth gameplay is also bad, given that stealthily eliminating sleeping enemies immediately wakes up everyone else around you. Want to clear a camp like an assassin? Too bad, bucko. And pickpocketing is just straight up random.

The game also completely lacks any sort of exploration incentive, which for me is a big, big minus in an open world game. Even without the save system actively discouraging you, there's nothing to explore. There's no unique loot to find (more on this later), no quests to stumble on, nothing. Aside from going into forests to hunt animals, the world is incredibly barren and lifeless.

The other thing (which Yahtzee touches on) is that the economy is absolutely broken. Just going through the story and looting everyone (which is easy once you get a horse) will net you piles and piles of money.......and there's nothing to spend it on. You can get the best armor and weapons for your playstyle halfway through the game, and then there's nothing to work towards. The game has one unique weapon, which as a reward for a specific quest that you can make impossible to complete by accident in the first big city after the prologue (the quest gives, meanwhile, is in the last big city you get sent to). And to top it all off, it looks exactly the same and has the same stats as a sword you can just buy in any of the swordsmiths. Or find as loot in high level enemies. Woo-hoo.

So it's a big open world with nothing to discover; and an RPG where you can get endgame gear by the mid point. At that point the only thing holding it up is the gameplay, which is good once you discount the bugs, and the story, which is serviceable without being anything great.

Take the engine, put it in a well developed fantasy setting, and you'll have a much better game. As it is, it's alright, but I'd tell anyone interested to wait 2-3 months for patches, and THEN wait for a good sale.

 

[Zaper]

Actually he said that, but ended with "..and press your button to slash your sword, about half and hour of camera jiggling passes and then the slash happens." Does lock-on negate the massive delay between telling the game to attack, and the attack actually happening? If so WTF are these devs on, and where can I get some?

Lock-on: The essential mechanic the devs could not be bothered to mention in the tutorial that is only 6-7 hours long...

To those claiming, or is that maiming, realism (not aimed at OP): If this is so realistic, why does does everyone have more stamina than a 20 year old blacksmith when running? Especially if they are in armor and he is not? Real-lipstick indeed, and you are the trap in that relationship.

If this is not early access, then why does the song "Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, glorious Bugs, Bugs, Bugs..." play in my head when I read the serious Steam reviews (excluding "get gud" and "crap")? What can this teach Bugthesda about the next Elder Scrolls game someone asked. My response: They do not need to work as hard (snicker) as they currently do, just toss in some artifical limitations, call it science (cough-realism-cough), and shove it out the door about a month earlier than usual, which is usually two months before being stable so they can work on the paid-DLC, or their tans at the salon.

Yahtzee - We are the PC Master Race, not those nock-kobblers. We are not exclusively S&M freaks for bragging rights on how virtually hardass we are. We leave that to the DS-ish crowd (nudge-nudge). If consoles can meet the average PC gaming rig, then consoles would be a welcome edition to the club. It would bring in some desperately needed membership dues. But those companies seem to think shiny (4K) is more important than refresh rate, so it may be awhile. The executives running those companies are the peasants, not the people forced to suffer their slavery to screen tearing, and lags. The true PC Master race hopes console execs will one day evolve into an equal, so we can all be one. We will bring the oil.

ok lets unpack your statement the game does explain the lock bearly a hour in you being blind is your own problem the reason it takes a long time to swing at the start is because you are shit as you increase your skills you swing faster and faster as to your condescending statement this game is what skyrim dreamt to be a actual rpg not a overly open mess with shit combat as to the bugs first of all you are massively exaggerating i have played 40+ hours and the worst ive seen is a single crash and some texture glitches second of all this is a indie studio with a budget of 12 mil

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

I'm interested in HEMA yet not overly interested in this game, which is kindof annoying.

The main character seems ferociously dreary, the main narrative scenes I've seen so far have been bewildering generic/tropey (voice acting and writing veers from the pretty darn good to the atrocious), and even putting aside some nitpicks with body mechanics and guard positions, the combat seems a clunky mess which ironically doesn't seem that realistic at all. Was it Skallagrim who gave the account of a peasant punching his plate armour so hard it got dented and did damage? Along with the insubstantial impacts (I'm not a gore hound but KCD really needed to be nastier), I can understand why Yahztee was so scathing.

...however, after some patching and a few months playing other games still on my backlog, I would like to try it out just to see how I get on with it.

Still, KCD's produced some hilarious bug/glitch compilations already, so it's already entertained me in that sense.

 

[CyanCat47_v1legacy]

While the game certainly looked interesting and has some pretty brillian quest design in places, it seems rather misguided overall. Realims does not excuse bad game design, and there is a limit to how far we want realism to go in a game, loath as the hardcore players might be to admit it. Do you want a WW2 game that can randomly give you an instant game over and force you to restart midway through the story because you caught dysentery? Plus, the needs and maintainance only really add chores, and there is a limit to how many you want which is why there is no need to relieve yourself, you can't get apendicitis from a bad diet and you won't randomly catch smallpox or beubonic plague.

 

[Cantehman]

Have you had the flying glitch yet?

No, but I did see a youtuber randomly start floating when stepping backwards from an opponent.

I'm interested in HEMA yet not overly interested in this game, which is kindof annoying.

The main character seems ferociously dreary, the main narrative scenes I've seen so far have been bewildering generic/tropey (voice acting and writing veers from the pretty darn good to the atrocious), and even putting aside some nitpicks with body mechanics and guard positions, the combat seems a clunky mess which ironically doesn't seem that realistic at all. Was it Skallagrim who gave the account of a peasant punching his plate armour so hard it got dented and did damage? Along with the insubstantial impacts (I'm not a gore hound but KCD really needed to be nastier), I can understand why Yahztee was so scathing.

...however, after some patching and a few months playing other games still on my backlog, I would like to try it out just to see how I get on with it.

Still, KCD's produced some hilarious bug/glitch compilations already, so it's already entertained me in that sense.

Don't forget that you can also block blades just by crossing your arms!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Soooo is the new ZP going up or what?

 

[Jamcie Kerbizz]

I...I think Yahtzee has actually influenced my decision to not get this game. Limited saves plus unfair combat!? No thanks.

Well at first I thought that this is absolutely old console games like (to limit save space), ridiculous idea and was my main reason to not bother with the game (between work and family I figured I will not have time for a game that tries to be obnoxious on utility side).
Given the actual gameplay? You will look at having available 5-10 saves per game session. It knocked me out of the habbit of saving like a spastic monkey (in RPGs... to 'just' look up what the other option does or make sure combat goes perfectly) and actually smoothed out the gameplay. Game's 'worth it'. Especially if you never seen / been to central Europe (Czech Rep) and would like to have a look at the setting and very peculiar culture and 'mood' of that nation. 'Un-McDonald-ized' version.

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

Eh,it's a game I can respect and admire from a distance, but no way I could ever get into it with the system it has. One of it's devs being involved in some apparent white supremacy doesn't improve the odds of changing my mind either.

 

[Urh]

Normally when I have a difference of opinion with Yahtzee I just shrug my shoulders and move along, but this time I cannot hold my tongue. When Yahtzee says the combat in KCD is "fucking terrible", I cannot help but conclude that what he is really saying is that HE is fucking terrible at it. I'm not going to blow smoke up people's arses and brag about my prowess at the swordplay in this game - I would describe my ability as mediocre at best. But I was able to reach my level of mediocrity with ease - all it took for me was to realise that combat in this game is *not* a case of charging in and mashing the attack button like one does in Skyrim (as much as I like the Elder Scrolls games, the combat is rudimentary and is more about having bigger numbers than actual skill), and is actually far more akin to dueling, a form of fighting which requires patience and....dare I say it? THINKING. And yes, once you start taking damage the reduced stamina makes winning more difficult (but not impossible), but the enemies are bound by the same strictures - as a fight progresses, you *will* start landing hits with increased frequency as the reduced stamina takes its toll on your foe.

Also, the save system is an absolute non-issue. If you need to talk to an NPC and try waking them at 2 in the morning, the majority of the time they will just tell you to piss off, so the logical thing to do is to just sleep in a bed until morning (which saves your game!). The game actually *requires* your character to sleep in a bed from time to time, so your game gets saved on a regular basis without having to spend money on potions (or brewing them in the game's fantastic alchemy system, which Yahtzee barely even mentions). I am scratching my head as to how Yahtzee was able to lose three hours of progress because of a lack of saving. I can only surmise that he chose waiting over sleeping, a la Elder Scrolls.

Finally.....I know this is a cheap shot, but I have to laugh at Yahtzee requiring "six or seven" attempts to clear the bandits at Pribyslavitz. I did it on my second go, and the only reason my first attempt failed was because my first try at sneaking around and sabotaging the camp failed. The boss fight at Pribyslavitz, while a nice challenge, was by no means unfair in its difficulty, and just bolsters my opinion that Yahtzee couldn't get his head around the combat. Instead of taking a moment to rethink his play style, he just blamed his failures on the game itself. And not being able to recognize your own failures is not the hallmark of a good critic (or it's at least a sign that Yahtzee may be overworked, and possibly even burnt out after averaging roughly 50 reviews a year for 10 years). I'm a little saddened that people have blindly taken Yahtzee at his word in regards to KCD - they are robbing themselves of an amazing experience.

 

[Cantehman]

Normally when I have a difference of opinion with Yahtzee I just shrug my shoulders and move along, but this time I cannot hold my tongue. When Yahtzee says the combat in KCD is "fucking terrible", I cannot help but conclude that what he is really saying is that HE is fucking terrible at it. I'm not going to blow smoke up people's arses and brag about my prowess at the swordplay in this game - I would describe my ability as mediocre at best. But I was able to reach my level of mediocrity with ease - all it took for me was to realise that combat in this game is *not* a case of charging in and mashing the attack button like one does in Skyrim (as much as I like the Elder Scrolls games, the combat is rudimentary and is more about having bigger numbers than actual skill), and is actually far more akin to dueling, a form of fighting which requires patience and....dare I say it? THINKING. And yes, once you start taking damage the reduced stamina makes winning more difficult (but not impossible), but the enemies are bound by the same strictures - as a fight progresses, you *will* start landing hits with increased frequency as the reduced stamina takes its toll on your foe.

Or just spend some time training and roll over anything with your inflated combat stats. Or just use the mechanics that rely mostly on dice rolling. Or use perks like headcracker to just flat out OHKO enemies. See, it's alright to call Yahtzee out and all that, but must people be so pretentious about the whole thing.

Also, the save system is an absolute non-issue. If you need to talk to an NPC and try waking them at 2 in the morning, the majority of the time they will just tell you to piss off, so the logical thing to do is to just sleep in a bed until morning (which saves your game!). The game actually *requires* your character to sleep in a bed from time to time, so your game gets saved on a regular basis without having to spend money on potions (or brewing them in the game's fantastic alchemy system, which Yahtzee barely even mentions). I am scratching my head as to how Yahtzee was able to lose three hours of progress because of a lack of saving. I can only surmise that he chose waiting over sleeping, a la Elder Scrolls.

It's still busywork that benefits nobody though, sleeping. Sure there's inns in every town and all that, but just being forced to do it over and over certainly doesn't make the game more fun. And it's not that hard to lose three hours of progress:

Step 1: Do stuff that takes a few hours.
Step 2: Game glitches/crashes because the game is a buggy mess for plenty of people.
Step 3: Lose said progress.

A simple autosave function could alleviate so many issues, but no, the devs don't want you savescumming lockpicking etc so you just have to deal with it.

And the alchemy system looks cool and all that, but after you've seen it once it just takes so damn long to get stuff done.

Finally.....I know this is a cheap shot, but I have to laugh at Yahtzee requiring "six or seven" attempts to clear the bandits at Pribyslavitz. I did it on my second go, and the only reason my first attempt failed was because my first try at sneaking around and sabotaging the camp failed. The boss fight at Pribyslavitz, while a nice challenge, was by no means unfair in its difficulty, and just bolsters my opinion that Yahtzee couldn't get his head around the combat. Instead of taking a moment to rethink his play style, he just blamed his failures on the game itself. And not being able to recognize your own failures is not the hallmark of a good critic (or it's at least a sign that Yahtzee may be overworked, and possibly even burnt out after averaging roughly 50 reviews a year for 10 years). I'm a little saddened that people have blindly taken Yahtzee at his word in regards to KCD - they are robbing themselves of an amazing experience.

Good for you that it worked out. And I'm not even being smarmy or sarcastic about it. People that didn't take the time to gear/train up instead get stuck in a setpiece that often doesn't allow healing in some cases, has enemies spawning in big numbers despite whatever you do in the prior mission and is overall just cringey when there's a squad of enemies marching in in formation while ignoring the fact that you're whacking them in the head the entire time.

I've seen plenty of let's plays now already and for some people, it's just a painful and buggy experience. The game obviously requires some polish and someone in the dev team that doesn't hate people playing a game that doesn't rhyme with the devs' notion of how the game should be played.

 

[mrdude2010]

Its commitment to realism is admirable aside from that weird decision to completely exclude anyone who wasn't a white dude from the game, despite there definitely being people who weren't white dudes in Bohemia at the time.

That and the totally out of place American accents.

That and the [insert glitch].

I'm not asking for a game this big to be perfect, I'm asking for it to be playable.

 

[Urh]

Its commitment to realism is admirable aside from that weird decision to completely exclude anyone who wasn't a white dude from the game, despite there definitely being people who weren't white dudes in Bohemia at the time.

I have heard people make this claim, and yet absolutely none of them have provided a shred of evidence to back it up. Anything that is asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.

 

[Mad World]

Haha! Yahtzee acknowledging the fact that he created the "PC Master Race" thing is hilarious. That's got to be the funniest moment I've seen on Zero Punctuation.

Anyway, I hate limited saves. Obviously, there should be a lesser difficulty and/or option to use a more typical style of save.