Kingdom Come Deliverance vs 2: Which to Play - Game Scout
Kingdom Come: Deliverance vs Deliverance II at a glance
| Deliverance (2018) | Deliverance II (2025) | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform on Game-Scout | PS4 (plays on PS5) | PS5 |
| Setting | 15th-century Bohemia | 15th-century Bohemia, direct sequel |
| Story | Henry's origin and revenge | Continues Henry's arc, higher stakes |
| Combat | Five attack directions | Four attack directions, streamlined |
| Main story length | No Game-Scout estimate | Around 90 hours |
| Player rating | 4.08 / 5 (32,000) | 4.61 / 5 (42,319) |
| Player sentiment | Not yet aggregated | Mixed (Steam positive, PlayStation split) |
| Best for | Players who want the full arc | Newcomers and anyone wanting the bigger game |
Same Bohemia, one continuous story
Kingdom Come: Deliverance opens with Henry, a blacksmith's son, watching his village burn and his parents killed, then spends its length turning that grief into a slow, documented education in how a nobody survives a medieval civil war. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a direct continuation of that same arc, not a reboot, and it carries Henry and his companions forward into a wider stretch of the same 15th-century Bohemia.
This is the part that matters most to me, and it is why I treat the two as one story told in two halves. Players on r/kingdomcome make the point repeatedly: you do not strictly need the first game to follow the second, but if you intend to play both, starting with the original gives the sequel's relationships their full weight. The sequel assumes you already care about Henry. The first game is where that caring is earned.
How the combat changed
Both games run the same real-time, stamina-managed swordplay built on real medieval fencing, and both are demanding by design. The sequel refines it rather than replacing it. IGN's breakdown of the combat notes the most visible change: the first game's five attack directions are cut to four in the sequel, which makes reads and combos easier to hold in your head without dropping the depth. Coverage at Game Rant frames the sequel as more welcoming to players who bounced off the original's fights, while keeping the same underlying system.
The friction is still real, and the Game-Scout review corpus for the sequel is honest about it. The recurring complaints players raise are the difficulty of the combat and the consumable-gated save system, the same two walls the first game was known for. If a demanding fight loop and the risk of losing progress sound like dealbreakers, neither game hides that from you. If they sound like the point, the sequel is the smoother version of the same challenge.
Which should you play first?
For most newcomers I would start with the sequel. It is the bigger, better-looking, more forgiving entry, it carries the higher player rating on Game-Scout, 4.61 against 4.08, and it recaps enough that you will not be lost. For anyone who already knows they want both games, the community answer on r/kingdomcome and r/ShouldIbuythisgame is consistent: play the 2018 original first, because it is where Henry's story and his key relationships begin, and the sequel lands harder when you have lived through that opening.
- Start with Deliverance II if you want one great medieval RPG, the smoother combat, and the current-gen presentation.
- Start with the original if you plan to play both and want the story in order.
One caveat worth setting expectations on: the original is a PS4 game with no aggregated player-review sentiment on Game-Scout yet, while the sequel is PS5 only. On PlayStation specifically, the sequel's stored reviews run more divided than the Steam consensus, mostly over the combat and save design rather than the story.
Featured Kingdom come deliverance vs 2
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
The 2018 original is where Henry's story starts: a blacksmith's son pulled into a civil war he is in no way ready for. It is the harder, rougher game of the two, with five-direction swordplay and no aggregated player sentiment on Game-Scout yet, but it holds a 4.08 average from 32,000 player ratings and carries the half of the story the sequel assumes you already know. If you care about the arc, this is where the caring is earned.
Key Features
- Henry's origin story: the revenge and coming-of-age arc the sequel builds on
- Branching, choice-based quests set in a documented 15th-century Bohemia
- Five-direction directional swordplay with blocking, parrying and stealth
- Non-linear world where quests can be solved through combat, talk or theft
- 4.08 / 5 average from 32,000 Game-Scout player ratings
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is the fuller realization of the first game's idea: the same lived-in 15th-century Bohemia, wider and better looking, with Henry's story carried into higher stakes. Review after review on Game-Scout comes back to the world, the story and the side quests as the reasons to play, and it holds a 4.61 average from 42,319 ratings. The combat and the punishing save system are still where it loses people, but as a single medieval RPG it is the one I would hand a newcomer first.
Key Features
- Direct continuation of Henry's story with higher stakes and a wider map
- Four-direction combat, streamlined from the original without losing depth
- New blacksmithing and forging systems deepen the survival-sim layer
- Around 90 hours for the main story, over 150 to complete everything
- 4.61 / 5 average from 42,319 Game-Scout player ratings
Gameplay Video
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II - Before You Buy
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need to play Kingdom Come: Deliverance before the sequel?
- No. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II recaps enough that it works as a standalone medieval RPG, and it is the more welcoming entry. It is a direct sequel, though, so players on r/kingdomcome consistently recommend playing the 2018 original first if you intend to play both, since that is where Henry's story and relationships begin.
- Which Kingdom Come: Deliverance game is better?
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is the stronger single game for most players. It carries a 4.61 player rating on Game-Scout against the original's 4.08, with a wider world, smoother combat and better presentation. The 2018 original still matters as the story's first half, but the sequel is the more polished and forgiving of the two.
- What is different in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2?
- The sequel keeps the same 15th-century Bohemia and stamina-based swordplay but streamlines the combat from five attack directions to four, adds blacksmithing and forging systems, widens the map, and continues Henry's story with higher stakes. Coverage at IGN and Game Rant frames it as more welcoming to newcomers than the original.
- Is Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 hard?
- Yes, though less punishing than the original. The two most common complaints in the sequel's Game-Scout reviews are the difficulty of the combat and the consumable-gated save system, the same walls the first game was known for. Players report the sequel is the more forgiving version of that demanding design.
- Can you play Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 on PS4?
- On Game-Scout, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is listed for PS5, while the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a PS4 game that also plays on PS5 through backward compatibility. If you are on PS4, the first game is the one you can play natively.