Summary
Player agency has become increasingly popular over the last decade, as more and more gamers crave the ability to chart their own path in a video game. This design philosophy is most prevalent inrole-playing games, where players essentially get to create a character that either best represents them or the person they don’t feel like they can be in real life.Kingdom Come: Deliverancewas a shining example of this design philosophy in action, andKingdom Come: Deliverance 2takes it to the next level with choices that have a much more significant impact than those in the first game did.
InKingdom Come: Deliverance 2, choice is everything. The game never ties players down to doing one thing or another, nor does it make them feel bad for neglecting the main story. It is an open world meant to be explored and discovered at one’s own pace, encouraging players to be driven, not by the icons on a map, but by their own curiosity. However, unlike most RPGs that place more emphasis on the “big” choices than the “small” ones,Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2ensures that even the smallest choices feel significant.
Choice Is Everything in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Even the Smallest Dialogue Choices Can Have Big Outcomes in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
There are plenty of major choices to make throughoutKingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s main narrative, as well as many of its side quests, since even those can have an impact on the overarching story. The smaller, seemingly less significant choices, on the other hand, are often easy to take for granted inKingdom Come: Deliverance 2, as they often appear to be harmless decisions. That couldn’t be further from the truth, though, as evenKingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s minor decisions can have a major impact.
Unlike most RPGs that place more emphasis on the “big” choices than the “small” ones,Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2ensures that even the smallest choices feel significant.
For example, simply choosing to stay silent during a confrontation rather than speak up can have a lasting impact on the perception that certain NPCs have ofHenry inKingdom Come: Deliverance 2. A decision like that can also lead to certain characters even being killed, andKingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s punishing save system all but locks in those choices once they’re made — unless players are okay with potentially losing a significant amount of progress by reverting to a previous save.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Gameplay Technically Counts as a Choice
These minor choices aren’t always made duringconversations inKingdom Come: Deliverance 2either, as simply playing the game technically counts as a choice. If players choose to mindlessly wander into a private area, for instance, any NPCs who bear witness to it will remember Henry’s face. At that point, should they find anything amiss, they will report Henry to the guards.Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2also does a great job of hiding which choices are minor and which are major, often leading to difficult decision-making.
Finally,Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’sside queststruly are optional activities, but the game almost wants to encourage players to see them as essential. This is largely due to how much impact completing a side quest inKingdom Come: Deliverance 2can have on the world, the story, and even the gameplay experience of players. Completing some side quests might give players a discount at certain shops, or they may even make certain services entirely free. This makes what some players might define as minor choices a bit more significant than they might seem.
OneKingdom Come: Deliverance 2side quest, in particular, will allow players to utilize the full services of a bathhouse at no cost once it’s completed.
In short,Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2takes player agency to a level that few RPGs achieve, ensuring that every action carries weight, regardless of how small those actions may seem. By blendingopen-ended explorationwith a world that reacts dynamically to the player’s choices, the game creates an experience that feels both immersive and personal. The line between major and minor decisions is effectively blurred, reinforcing the idea that even the smallest choices can leave a lasting impact inKingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
