Hype is starting to build around Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 as the game's February 4 release date draws closer, with fans now having an excellent overview of what kind of gameplay experiences the title will offer. Given that players have waited seven years for this upcoming sequel, it is no wonder that Warhorse Studios is emphasizing how much more detailed and expansive KCD2 is aiming to be.
With a much higher budget being behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 compared to the first game, Warhorse Studios has thankfully been able to implement a lot of ambitious game mechanics that were cut from the original, with a fully-fledged blacksmithing feature finally making the appearance it deserves in KCD2. If done well, blacksmithing in KCD2 could be the perfect way to expand upon the meticulous RPG elements of the Kingdom Come franchise, with a lot already being known about how exactly this feature will work.
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Blacksmithing Could Take Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 To the Next Level
The popularity of the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance largely stemmed from how immersive it was in its portrayal of medieval Bohemia, with Warhorse's ambition originally intending to see the likes of blacksmithing, fishing, mining, crafting, and more appear in the first KCD alongside the other mechanics that made the final cut. The increased profile of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has allowed some of these cut features to finally get their time in the spotlight, with blacksmithing being one of the most important.
The playable area of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is reported to be twice the size of the first game, with several fresh mechanics coming alongside this increase in scale.
Following in the footsteps of the first KCD's detailed activities like alchemy, blacksmithing in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is set to be a grueling yet rewarding task. Firstly, players will need to acquire recipes for different weapons which can be purchased from smiths or found through exploration, with each weapon then requiring its own set of materials before any forging can occur. Some quests and special events open up opportunities for powerful unique weapons to be crafted, offering an extra incentive to tackle everything KCD2 has to offer.
The actual act of forging a weapon will see the player seek out specific smithing locations, where they will need to evenly heat metal by controlling its positioning as well as shrewdly using a forge's bellows. Players then need to hammer the entire blade on both sides, with Kingdom Come's protagonist, Henry, whistling to provide a rhythmic guide of how evenly a given weapon is being crafted. This is repeated until the blade takes shape before the metal is finally cooled off, leaving huge room for error that can seriously impact the quality of a weapon's final product.
Smithing in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Puts More Power in the Player's Hands
A wide range of crafting recipes are available for the many bladed weapons of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, with Henry even being able to turn his hand at forging other items like horseshoes which can be used to aid travel or even turn a good profit. Of course, a wide range of brand-new perks have accompanied the addition of blacksmithing to KCD2, which can greatly aid the quality and effectiveness of forged weapons.
The lack of blacksmithing in the first KCD seemed strange given Henry's status as a blacksmith's son, yet Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 does more than enough to make up for this absence. Alongside a new crafting system for things like lockpicks, smithing in KCD2 seems like a highly-skilled way to earn some of the best weapons in the upcoming game, with this new mechanic possessing the same kind of difficulty and eventual satisfaction that made many elements of the original title so enjoyable.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- February 4, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
- Warhorse Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Deep Silver
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- CryEngine
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Playable
- PC Release Date
- February 4, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- February 4, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- February 4, 2025
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action-Adventure, Open-World
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
