There isn’t any doubt that when Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 launched in February, it was the forerunner for excellent issues to come back in 2025. This 12 months has been an unimaginable 12 months for gaming already, with huge shock hits like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Donkey Kong Bananza, in addition to others, like Demise Stranding 2: On the Seaside, that had been just a little extra anticipated. Regardless of these many different splash landings, although, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has achieved a fantastic job of sustaining the popularity it gained from the beginning. And though some may not suppose it has any likelihood of profitable Sport of the Yr in opposition to 2025’s different giants, I urge to vary.
Because it seems, even Warhorse Studios appears to suppose its possibilities of profitable Sport of the Yr are slim, citing masterpieces like Clair Obscur as its important motive for that. Nonetheless, after seeing the developer’s recent Twitch livestream doing a deep dive into Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s Legacy of the Forge DLC, I am personally beginning to imagine the medieval RPG would possibly truly stand an opportunity. The enlargement isn’t solely a extremely anticipated content material addition to the sport, however it is usually some of the substantial post-launch upgrades I’ve seen made to a sport since Elden Ring‘s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, and there is much more the place that got here from.
Legacy of the Forge Would possibly Change KCD2’s Sport Awards Outlook
Warhorse’s Humble Stance on GOTY
Warhorse’s current dev stream on Twitch for Legacy of the Forge was chock-full of juicy particulars concerning the DLC’s story, options, and gameplay, and I merely could not get sufficient of it. About midway by way of the stream, I discovered myself questioning whether or not I used to be taking a look at a DLC or a completely new sport that may doubtlessly take in a substantial portion of my gaming time after its launch. Warhorse comms director Tobias “Sir Tobi” Stolz-Zwilling even mentioned through the stream, “It is like Stardew Valley, however slower.” Stardew Valley in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2? Signal me up.
Nonetheless, Tobi additionally mentioned one thing else that left me confounded, each by his humility and the utter and full falsehood of his assertion — strictly from my standpoint. After mentioning a number of of 2025’s greatest games (like Clair Obscur), he unassumingly said, “I do not suppose GOTY is a factor for us.” Possibly it was at one time, Tobi, however now, DLCs like Legacy of the Forge would possibly truly give Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 the bump it must at the very least have an even bigger shot at profitable the coveted award than it did earlier than.
Legacy of the Forge May Shift the Dialog
Having reviewed Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 for Sport Rant myself and giving it a strong, non-negotiable 10/10, I am clearly a fan of the sport and I imagine it is a masterpiece that different RPGs needs to be studying from. On the identical time, I additionally reviewed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and gave it the identical rating. To me, the 2 do not evaluate with each other and are each worthy of these scores. Nonetheless, after enjoying Clair Obscur, I began to imagine there was no method Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 would be capable to beat it on this 12 months’s Sport of the Yr race. Now, I am starting to suppose that would change.
Legacy of the Forge is a massive expansion for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Certain, it’d solely give gamers a further 15–20 hours of content material, however Warhorse has additionally said that the time it takes gamers to finish the enlargement finally will depend on their playstyle and what they need out of the DLC. That apart, a very powerful factor about Legacy of the Forge is that it’s finally a solution to numerous requests from followers, with an abundance of recent options and a patch being launched alongside that may deliver with it a bunch of quality-of-life enhancements.
That is not all both, as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s next DLC is meant to be the largest enlargement in franchise historical past, as it will likely be introducing a completely new area to the sport. On prime of that, it will likely be launching in Winter 2025, doubtlessly proper earlier than the Sport Awards happen, which may give it the highlight it must show that it not solely has the potential to win Sport of the Yr however that it has additionally been onerous at work dominating virtually all the 12 months, from February to December, in contrast to lots of this 12 months’s different large successes. Tobi did say he thinks Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has an opportunity of at the very least profitable Greatest RPG, however Legacy of the Forge and the sport’s remaining DLC really feel like they’re dreaming a bit larger than that.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
10/10
- Launched
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February 4, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content material, Sturdy Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
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Warhorse Studios
- Engine
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CryEngine
