It’s worth mentioning that at this point I had no coin and all of my clothes were bloodied and dirty, meaning when I interacted with NPCs they were asking me if I’d been mugged and if I was ok, almost scared of me. It’s just that I’d picked up the only clothes I could find and was bloody struggling, I was literally a peasant due to war, and all I want is to become a knight!
Anyway the situation right now is that I was bleeding, poor and I looked like shit but I could see various settlements and farms in the distance and I thought “surely there’s a horse around here” and the answer was a big fat no! I searched barns, and fields for about 2 hours with no luck, what was worse is that I somehow had caused my legs to bleed so my pace was that of a snail. At this point I realised I clearly can’t just head into the big open and I had to follow the game’s beginning a little. I went back to Rattay and picked up some quests, but not the main quest that had been given (sword training) I was so determined to go it alone. One which I believed would yield the most money was a treasure hunt back in my burnt down home town, because the game started here I could fast travel back – Ideal I thought. Unfortunately what I didn’t know is that fast travelling punishes you, it acts as if you were actually travelling and drains fatigue and hunger; not only this but I was also not aware you could be stopped by bandits, which is exactly what happened. I got stopped by 3 weaponed, armoured bandits. As I didn’t have any weapons I tried to run, which resulted in them killing me and I got GAME OVER. Obviously I had to load my last save!
Loading up this time I’d finally succumbed to the fact I HAD to go and follow the main quest, which was essentially that lord Radzig of this new settlement said that I could work for him so I could start training as a basic guard, during this cut scene there is also an altercation with lord-to-be Hans Capon, but he’ll pop up later. First up was sword training, I’d actually already done some early on before my village was burnt down but this seemed more serious – And it was. I was now training with one of the guard captains, who taught me some new skills.
Quick note on the combat – The only thing I’ve played close to it is For Honor. You have different directions in which to block or attack, you have to match the direction they’re attacking from to block or attack where they aren’t blocking – That’s the simple version and as with everything else it is difficult as it drains your stamina quickly early on.
Next up was archery, guess what this is also tough, and during this I get into a dispute with Hans and he beats me at archery and but I beat him at battle, this starts an arc with him which will continue throughout the game I feel.
After this I’m told to go on guard duty, before which I get some basic armour and a club, FINALLY I HAVE A WEAPON!!! I go on a tour of the town with a friendly bloke who tells me everything there is to know, this ends with snotty Lord Hans having a drunken go at me. Luckily we’re interrupted by a more important bloke (I’m shit with names) and he forces us to go hunting together “Oh boy let’s hope we don’t have a Robert Baratheon situation on our hands.” I think to myself. During the hunt me and Hans Capon become closer and he starts to hate me less, after giving me a bow we have a rabbit hunting competition, which I win but it’s not easy (shocker). We then go back for a second day and he gets captured by bandits… After 4 attempts I kill the bandits and save him. For which he’s genuinely grateful. Upon returning to the village I’m awarded with a horse and get a lead on the guy who has my dad’s sword. This is where I’ve got to but I feel that’s just past the intro.
So there we have it, a briefish intro to Kingdom Come Deliverance. Now for me I’ve thoroughly enjoyed what’s happened so far, and the way it’s happened. I have so much love for the way the developers have created this game to punish you, but not in the way something like Dark Souls does. This experience is more like not having slept well for a couple of days and then going for a run, you really struggle and it’s a slow process but eventually you build up speed and enjoy it. This game requires you to spend a lot of time with it and to fail, a fair amount. It’s a struggling process but becomes so rewarding when you start to figure out how to play the game, and how you can push it and your body. The thing is I just want to get better at all of it, I want to avenge my parents and become the best knight in the realm (I hope that’s a possibility). Watch this space because I’m probably not done talking about this game…