So I preordered with this one retailer (Europe) before and they often deliver games a day or so early. I was pretty stumped to receive KCD2 four days early - long story short, I played like 15 hours since Friday and have been enjoying my time.
A few points:
- PS5 (no pro)
- I play in quality mode (30 fps) and it feels stable, haven’t been to a large city though.
- Gold edition, ie after you get access to your chest of holding, I got access to the additional huntsman clothes.
- Game launches without issues.
- Copied ~75GB from the disk and downloaded 80GB (probably patches).
- Any online features are disabled, achievements dont appear on my PSN account and PrismRay doesn’t show any activity.
- I expect a large day one patch in tuesday.
Relating the actual game:
- Really liking the world.
- Gameplay similar to the first, just as you would expect following the pre-release infos.
- There is a super awkward optional tutorial (where you don’t play as Henry) before the tutorial (where you play Henry). Might be a showcase thing, or stage setting.
- I had a single crash in roughly 15h gameplay.
- I kind of don’t (yet) get the stealth / thievery mechanics. I broke into a place, stole something for a quest, and although not getting any indication of someone noticing me, I got a ridiculously high bounty.
- I haven’t gotten anywhere in the main quest, but getting off the ground without equipment and gear takes some time.
- The introduction mission (at which’s end you get quite literally released into the world) is long. It spends quite some time to establish Hans, the world, Henry and his motivation in it.
- You can still game the system (like in KCD 1) by outsmarting bandits, stealing and reselling their gear, giving you quick progression equipment and money wise.
- You can easily save-scum by using the “save-and-return-to-menu” feature. Saving and loading back in takes just a few seconds and your previous save doesn’t get deleted after loading.
- The hunters gear… I dont like it. While you might not have the coin to pay a fucking bathhouse, you can get a nobleman’s clothing, which has a significant impact on how the world treats you. I expect you lose some sense of progression using it.
- The preorder mission gives you hints that are vague as fuck and will probably lead you to a fancy armor, just like the Warhorse armor in KCD 1. Unlike the hunters gear, this will involve getting around and solving riddles.
I’m sure theres more to say, so AMA!
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Does the crosshair remain active when you aim using the bow?
No. But the arrow tip points towards the center. Weapon sway makes it nigh impossible to aim on the controller. I can’t relate to KCD1 since I played that on PC.
Ah damn. I wish they add an option for that
Do NPCs get angry even though your charisma is high but the moment you engage in dialogue they get very sweet to you?
I think the NPCs did that in KCD1 if you were dirty, had high charisma but a fancy armor or similar. It feels like it works similarly in KCD2, since their demeanor changes significantly when switching from peasant clothes to a proper armor. Don’t have knights armor or any other fancy outfits yet though, so I can’t tell for KCD2.
How different is the combat compared to the first one? Exactly the same or is there some improvement seen?
To be honest, it’s still a little hectic for me, but I feel the most notable change is that you can avoid being countered / masterstriked. By positioning your weapon, you can block, perfect block (allows you to strike back) or masterstrike which remains unblockable. There is now an interesting back and forth between blocking, striking back and being blocked, which can go on forever - until someone has no stamina left or someone pulls off a masterstrike.
Interesting! Is it still hard as heck in 1v2? The first game lock your target in combat by default and it’s hard to see, react, or shift between enemies, the game simply not allow me to do so reliably that i keep dying very early into the game. I remember i have to mod it to make it so it’s easier to do so.
Yes, you don’t want to fight against more than one enemy, the game even has a tutorial with a stylistic drawing of you lining up the enemies in a line, so that only one can engage you at any time. I managed to pull this off with two enemies, with three you would need to tank some hits.
Why not just stream it?
I can’t imagine myself streaming to an audience, just not my thing I guess.
Any platform that offers some reach will swiftly ban you permanently if you do that.