Kingdom Come Deliverance Switch Review
Kingdom Come Deliverance is a game that I missed in its heyday despite it receiving a positive critical reception. I tend to love open-world adventure games so when Plaion announced it was coming to Switch, I was part skeptical about how it would work, and part excited at the prospect or a game of this magnitude coming to the Switch. After tracking down the only copy available within 100 kilometers of me, I made the trek to pick it up, and sink my teeth into it. What’s it Like? Make sure you’re well rested, get your sword, and mount up as we review Kingdom Come Deliverance for Nintendo Switch.
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Developed by Warhorse Studios and ported by Saber Interactive, Kingdome Come Deliverance tells the story of Henry, a young man whose life is torn apart by a war in the Kingdom of Bohemia in the 1400s. One day, your peaceful village is attacked and you manage to barely escape with your life, frantically running away on the edge of your seat and heart-pounding set piece that does an amazing job of setting the tone for the rest of the game. There are some heavy themes, explicit language, and acts of violence against animals portrayed in the game that may be upsetting to some, and I will be avoiding delving into those themes in this review.
Kingdom Come Deliverance is a slow burn. Your first 5 or 6 hours are spent building on the story, before giving you the open-world freedom you crave when initially loading in. As a fairly impatient gamer at times, I actually wasn’t frustrated at all by this slow burn as the narrative is expertly written. Henry is naive, can’t read, and doesn’t really know how to act around noblemen which leads to some conflict in the early game. These minor clashes are slowly resolved as comradery and friendships are built, much like the trust people have in you due to the superb writing. There was a particular character that I absolutely detested initially, but as the game went on in these opening hours, a friendship and banter built, warming me to them. It’s all very well done.
What I love about the narrative and the way it’s pushed forward as you the player and Henry, the main character, really don’t know much starting out, and the player and character development work together hand in hand to create a unique game. Initially, you are unable to block or parry, even dodge because you haven’t been shown how, and when going up against soldiers and bandits, it’s not clear how out of your depth and lucky you were to survive until you undertake training from professionals. This stumbling through the prologue builds character, and makes you appreciate things more as the game progresses forward. This lack of knowledge becomes rather evident when facing trained soldiers. At an earlier stage in the game, you can clumsily cut down a bandit or two, but then you are faced with stumbling upon 2 enemy soldiers making camp. I initially tried facing them in combat to which I was quickly and effortlessly cut down, forcing me to rethink my strategy. I waited quietly until the more armored one sat down, lowering their weapon before charging at him, slashing wildly and viciously not giving him a chance to stand. This approach left me facing only one lesser armed soldier which I still had trouble dispatching. This first taste of real combat was exciting and felt rewarding, I had somehow scraped through by using a little strategy, and a lot of luck.
Kingdom Come Deliverance is full of these savage and heart-pounding moments as death can be just one hit away, but that also works on the enemies which can fall to a lucky arrow or wild swing just as much as they can to an expert swordsman. Arrows can also instantly kill or gravely wound enemies provided you can lose an arrow or two before drawing your sword, evening up the odds in combat. Later on, you will learn combos that help you defeat opponents, and it’s very rewarding as you slowly build up your skills much like how Skyrim levels skill trees, except Kingdom Come Deliverance maintains a decent difficulty vs skill curve that kept me on alert for my time in the game. It’s not just combat that levels the more you play, but many other things like speechcraft, herbalism, and many other skills that will allow you to shape Henry into the character you want him to be.
Speech plays a huge part in Kingdom Come Deliverance, as getting people to trust you by empathizing, threatening, or asserting your authority could uncover new ways to accomplish tasks. People will react to how you are dressed and being donned in a guard’s outfit will help your authority speech checks, while being dirty will dip your charisma points. Sleep and hunger also play into these stats, as a tired Henry may not be thinking as best as he can, and a hungry Henry won’t be able to fight as long due to limited stamina. Wearing stolen goods or clothes above your station will also make you more conspicuous, and picking up loot from fallen soldiers may prove unwieldy due to your strength, agility, or prowess with that weapon. There’s a lot of little mechanics at play that add up to an amazing experience. Kingdom Come Deliverance could almost be looked at as a simulator due to the depths of these mechanics, but thankfully, it doesn’t weigh you down with tutorials and walls of text, allowing you to learn things much like Henry, by making mistakes here and there.
Graphically, the game has compromises which is to be expected. Textures are lower quality, the environments might not have as much foliage and there’s a lower resolution and low mesh objects. Admittedly, it didn’t really bother me too much once I was immersed in the game as it does such an incredible job of world-building. There are framerate issues that tend to rear their head in combat and sometimes while galloping about towns and in some in-game cutscenes, and yet again, I was largely unbothered by these personally as the game had me gripped with the mechanics and narrative. That being said, the Switch Version of Kingdom Come Deliverance isn’t the best way to experience this game, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.
The musical score does a fantastic job of setting the scene whether you are skulking around a forest hunting game, or fighting bandits, and the environment and ambient sound production is a stellar quality that builds the world around you. Oddly enough, speech does appear washed out and lower quality for some reason. It’s not terrible, but seems to be a lower bitrate than the rest of the audio which is a shame as the voice acting is well done and breathes the ensemble of characters to life. These characters are the backbone of the game and you will warm to some, and hate some with a vengeance.
This package comes in at $80 AUD which may be high considering the game is cheaper on other platforms, but the Switch Verison comes with all DLC in the package that effortlessly weaves into your game right from the get-go. These DLC packs are not what one would expect and delve into the back stories of certain characters chasing love, recalling events, and even giving you a chance to partake in rebuilding a town as the appointed bailiff. There are also a few treasure-hunting quests as well that give you some unique and powerful armour, provided you can open the chests.
To be honest with you, I thought Kingdom Come Deliverance on Switch would be a bit of a disaster, and I was pleasantly surprised by not only how it looks and runs on Switch, but also the incredible gameplay it has due to its visceral and ferocious combat, well-implemented mechanics, and exceptional writing. If you enjoy open-world adventures and are looking to play one that’s seated in reality instead of high fantasy, then look no further. It may not look flash, and there are some performance issues, but Kingdom Come Deliverance on Switch is a fantastic game that’s sure to be enjoyed by knights and maidens who enjoy a great story, and even better action.
So, What’s It Like? Kingdom Come Deliverance is like Skyrim, minus the dragons and magic.
