The original medieval action role-playing game Kingdom Come Deliverance featured a robust crime system, where players could be punished for everything from stealing to disturbing a villager's daily routine. For the upcoming sequel, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, developer Warhorse Studios promises an even more elaborate reaction system. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 players will be given a wide range of choices to make as protagonist Henry explores the city of Kuttenberg - but their actions will most definitely have consequences.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 developer Warhorse Studios recently showed off many elements of the upcoming game, including the location, updated combat system, and stunning soundtrack. One thing the team focused on was the many options provided for the player, both when building their version of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2's protagonist Henry and in deciding how Henry handles the various situations and problems he faces on his journey to become a true knight.

A group of NPCs watching a battle in Kingdom Come: Deliverance
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Players Can Take Henry In Many Different Directions

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As in the first Kingdom Come Deliverance, players will have options to customize their Henry and approach quests and objectives in a non-linear manner. It is an open-world game, after all, and these features are to be expected. However, crime doesn't always pay, and, just like in the first game, NPCs will be more than happy to report Henry for his misdeeds. In Kingdom Come Deliverance, players who took Henry down a darker route could look forward to spending a lot of time in jail, and this system promises to return in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 - but more elaborate than ever.

Now, the developers promise that practically every decision the player makes will result in unique responses from NPCs. Stealing, lockpicking, and murdering, of course, will provoke outrage, but it's not just that - even a seemingly small choice like deciding to be drunk in the daytime or walk down the street naked will attract different sorts of attention from NPCs. Design and combat director Viktor Bocan summed up the players' options neatly:

It's actually on you, who you want to be. You can save the world, or you can help to punish it for its sins.

Unlike in the first game, Henry now has a chance to respond when called out for his less-than-ideal behavior. Lead designer Prokop Jirsa gave an example: should a resident of Kuttenberg get on Henry's case for appearing naked and drunk in public, he can reply "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" or give a simple "Piss off, man." The game will remember everything the player chooses, causing suspicion to rise and treatment of Henry to worsen should he regularly break the law - and, presumably, showering him with praise should he take the heroic path and gain a reputation as a beloved knight.

The Dev Hints at Possibly Darker Paths for Henry

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While Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 will certainly allow players to take Henry in a heroic direction, the preview video does focus quite heavily on all the crime and other nasty shenanigans Henry can get up to in the game's vast medieval world. He's shown slitting a man's throat, kicking a downed opponent, stealing, branding a prisoner, starting a tavern brawl, and more. This focus on the dark side of things may indicate that Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 will have more options for mischief and mayhem, including more "evil options" and perhaps even a true "evil route" for Henry to take.

Regardless of what heroic or roguish options are available, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2's reactive systems promise a game that offers plenty of replayability, as Henry can be a dashing knight in one game, a suave thief in another, and a brutish brawler in yet another. Players who do take Henry in a darker direction, though, should still expect to spend plenty of time in jail - after all, in the medieval metropolis of Kuttenberg, every action has its consequences.