Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Penny Arcade's Tycho describes this as a game by perverts for weirdos and I 100% understand this now.

https://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2025/02/12/nuclear-winter

Is it fun and engaging? Sometimes. Does it go on for what feels like *forever* and make a completionist run feel like several back to back marathons? Probably.

What it *does* bring to vidyagames is to be one of what I would consider to be the first post-bethesda bethesda games, where we get a glimpse of what it might look like if some of the #immersivesim aspects of The Elder Scrolls was taken further instead of left to rot on the vine forever as Todd Howard has done.

Here we can see improvements in systems like crime, combat, and even *fashion* where NPCs can comment on appropriateness of attire to the situation at hand.

It has systems jank similar to Bethesda jank, but it's at least forgivable because it is trying more than many other imsim's have in the past decade.

It's not perfect, but it's not trying to be a mass market blockbuster and instead doubles and triples down on being an action rpg that puts you into a very specific time and place and then commits fully to that bit, and I am super impressed by the results and would love to see more studios do similar things.