Like many of the years before it, 2025 has proven to be a year chock-full of high-quality game releases all across the industry. From blockbuster hits like Borderlands 4 and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered to critically successful indie darlings such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Hollow Knight: Silksong, there's no shortage of awesome new titles to enjoy.
In my view, though, the best of them all is Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 — Warhorse Studios' ambitious sequel to the original 2018 medieval RPG, and a must-play title that immediately cemented itself as a Game of the Year contender when it released in February earlier this year.
It's undoubtedly one of my favorite all-time open-world RPGs (I'll dig into why I love it so much below), which is why I knew I had to get on my soapbox and gush about it after seeing that right now, the $59.99 game is just $32.99 at Fanatical thanks to an amazing deal.
This is the lowest its price has ever fallen, so there's never been a better time to pick the game up if you're interested in it. The console versions on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 are on sale, too!
Trust me, KCD2 is an absolute must-play
It's not often that I truly believe games are must-play experiences, especially in a genre as crowded and rich with great titles to enjoy as the RPG. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, though, is one of the lofty few that I genuinely consider to be one of the best roleplaying games I've ever played, complete with some of the most impressive game design systems you'll find today.
My review of the game goes over it (and why I'm so fond of it) in great detail, but I'll happily discuss much of it here, too.
For me, the greatest RPGs are the ones with the most "crunch" — in-depth systems and mechanics that interact with one another in layered and dynamic ways, and that support multiple different types of playstyles while simultaneously making the game world reactive to the approaches that players take.
Though sometimes complicated and hard to learn at first, I find that crunchy RPGs tend to have the most engaging and satisfying gameplay to dive into and master — and KCD2 stands as one of the crunchiest games I've ever had the joy of getting lost in. It's stuffed to bursting with nuanced, intricate systems that make it extremely immersive, more so than many of its peers.
Set in medieval Bohemia, KCD2 is driven by mechanics that strongly influence how you're perceived in the world and what you can and can't get away with. Everything from the clothing and armor you're wearing and how clean or dirty it is to when and where you're seen walking around will impact your reputation and how persuasive (or frightening) you appear, which in turn affects everything from how easily you can haggle to how hard it'll be to frighten bandits into fleeing.
Notably, these systems even play a role in many main and side quests, and have the potential to unlock some special options for resolving conflicts or accomplishing tasks.
Successes and failures in the game bring positive and negative consequences, respectively; you can profit greatly if you dress properly for stealth and can manage to steal expensive loot to sell without alerting anyone or are at least able to talk your way out of trouble with a silver tongue, but if you're caught and arrested, you'll have to pay hefty fines or spend an entire day in a stockade.
Severe or repeated crimes will result in a long-lasting brand that identifies you as an untrustworthy ruffian to others, and eventually, you might even be executed if you fail to change your ways (or keep getting caught, at least).
Another huge highlight of the game is its combat, which uses directional-based melee attacks, combo strikes, and timing-based parries and ripostes to simulate realistic medieval fighting — all of it based on historical techniques of the era. Armor, too, draws from history, with more layers of protection (textile, chainmail, plate) offering more resilient defenses at the cost of speed and higher stamina drain.
Beyond simply learning all of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's mechanics, you can also take special perks that unlock new passive benefits, gameplay options, and combat moves as you level skills by practicing them. These allow you to fine-tune your playstyle and reward you for long-term investment with specific types of gameplay, resulting in a very satisfying progression curve.
The whole experience is wrapped up together with a terrific story about protagonist Henry's struggle to grapple with his desire for revenge against the men that slaughtered his family in the original 2018 game, along with stellar acting, voice performances, animation work, gorgeous audiovisual presentation, and excellent performance.
All in all, it's simply one of the best Xbox games and best PC games, and it's only gotten better since launch thanks to the release of two of its DLC expansions. The first, Brushes with Death, sees Henry meet and work with an enigmatic painter who teaches him the art of shield painting. The second, Legacy of the Forge, involves embracing Henry's blacksmithing roots and restoring a legendary forge in Kuttenberg. There's a third expansion coming later in 2025, as well.
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