What’s the hardest game you’ve ever played? Elden Ring might leap immediately to mind. Hollow Knight can be a real pain. Civilization 6 on Deity is definitely a challenge. But looking at Kingdom Come Deliverance 2’s hardcore mode, all of those feel like mere training. One of the biggest hits on Steam, Warhorse’s beloved medieval RPG is suddenly much, much tougher. The new KCD 2 update has just arrived, and with it the already often-brutal adventure of Henry is about to turn into an endurance contest.
The new Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 hardcore mode does a lot more than just crank up the difficulty – this isn’t a mere case of making enemies harder, items rarer, and Henry softer. That would be too straightforward; Warhorse has more imagination. No. It’s a lot more cruel and unusual. First up, the RPG’s combat interface is completely gone. That means no on-screen information during battles whatsoever. Similarly, you can say goodbye to compass markers. A true, hardcore player doesn’t need to know which way they’re facing anyway. Triangulation? Ha! Mere folly.
Anyway, if you need to know your location you can just check the map- oh, no, the map screen won’t show where you are now, either. If you want to zero your position in Bohemia, you need to ask the NPCs, and if they’re feeling inclined, they’ll tell you roughly where you’re standing. As for getting around, fast travel is no longer an option – it’s a long walk from Kuttenberg to Suchdol. Fortunately, you can use the stars, the sun, and the Moon to guide you, so long as you’re up on your astronomy.
So, no combat UI, no fast travel, no compass markers, and you don’t show up on the map. That might just be manageable, if it weren’t for the fact that Kingdom Come Deliverance 2’s hardcore mode also thrusts new, game-changing negative traits upon you. You need to pick three. ‘Bad Back’ means you have a chance of injuring yourself whenever you stoop to collect some herbs. ‘Punchable Face’ will make enemies more confident and aggressive during combat, and with ‘Menace,’ if you get arrested and punished, you’ll also be given a tattoo brand on your neck, meaning that guards all over Bohemia will treat you more harshly.
‘Numbskull’ means you gain experience 40% slower, ‘Heavy Footed’ causes your shoes to wear out quickly (fantastic when combined with manual travel), and ‘Picky Eater’ means food in your inventory will rapidly spoil. My personal favorites, however, are ‘Sweaty,’ whereby you get dirty more easily and can be smelled from a greater distance; ‘Hangry Henry,’ where the ‘hungry’ status effect also knocks down your charisma, speech, and intimidation stats; and ‘Sonambulant,’ which means that every time you go to sleep, there’s a chance you’ll sleepwalk and wake up somewhere completely different.
The Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 hardcore mode is available as of today, Tuesday April 15.
If you want to customize KCD 2 precisely to your liking, get all the Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 console commands and cheats. Otherwise, try some of the other best medieval games.
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