Genre: RPG
Developer: Warhorse Studios
Publisher: Deep Silver

Seeing as how it's not set in a fictitious universe, the artists for this game opted for as close to extreme realism as they could, mimicking what we know today as "Czechia" as closely as possible. They do a good job too, pushing CryEngine to the limits with dense forests and towering castles. There isn't as much visual variety as is possible in a pure fantasy game, but nonetheless the huge map is pockmarked with interesting ponds, brooks, bridges, and even the occasional small cave. Player models aren't up the standard of, say, "Horizon Forbidden West" or something, but they still convey the personalities and distinctiveness of the game's various characters. The title runs great on an OLED Steam Deck-- consistently between 45 and 65 fps, at medium detail.

For this title composers Jan Valta and Adam Sporka composed a sprawling song, broken up into various small sections, which dynamically flow from one another depending on the action or location in the game. This reviewer's favorite part is here, and is fairly representative of the title's music as a whole. The way the whole epic flows as the game is explored is reminiscent of Jeremy Soule's work in "The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind." It's not this reviewer's favorite style of music, but what's here feels period-authentic and well done, especially the portions with chanting. The game's voice acting is phenomenal, with "Henry" and "Hans Capon" stealing the show.

This game revolves around exploring a huge map while taking on story and dialog-driven quests. The game tracks all sorts of things, among them: hunger; sleep; how smelly the character is; the level of noise the character makes during movement; whether the character is bleeding, or has wounded appendages. The title has an almost "Shenmue" or even "Pikmin"-esque flow to it: progress can largely only be saved during sleep, so the player must plan each game day in advance. The game's melee combat is a real highlight, where different directions can be chosen for each lunge or slash.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is sort of like a super hardcore version of "The Elder Scrolls" formula. Being in a life-or-death sword fight, with various layers of armor getting damaged, with cusses and curses, and when the player hasn't saved for awhile, is very intense. This reviewer, a practicing Catholic in real life, loves the Catholic world in which this title takes place, with all of its "God be with you"-like vendor greetings, and historically accurate church buildings-- even if the game's priests are largely not very admirable. At the same time, sometimes the game's intense focus on realism makes the title feel fussy, and diminishes what could have been a more low-key medieval sandbox escapade.