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[Senua]

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Introduction to Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

- Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is highlighted as a game that stands out from its contemporaries by embracing an old-school aesthetic and polished launch experience.
- The game launches in stark contrast to many modern titles that often suffer from technical issues at release, particularly in the 2020s gaming landscape.
- The reviewer expresses a desire to celebrate a well-crafted game instead of focusing on the frustrations typically associated with poorly executed releases.

Engine and Performance

- The game utilizes the CryEngine, specifically the DirectX 12 version, which powered the previous installment and contributes significantly to its performance stability.
- Unlike many other recent DirectX 12 games, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 does not suffer from stutters or frame time issues, providing a smooth gaming experience even on lower-end hardware.
- The reviewer tested the game on a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU and an RTX 4060 GPU, noting that frame times remained stable, achieving 60fps without significant issues.
- The game appears to effectively manage shader compilation, avoiding the common stutter associated with new effects appearing on screen.
- Overall, the performance on both high-end and low-end PCs indicates a well-optimized game that delivers a consistently smooth experience.

Gameplay Experience

- The reviewer reports minimal frame time spikes during gameplay, with only two instances noted in the prologue, demonstrating the game's overall stability.
- In dense areas populated with NPCs, the game maintains a stable frame rate, showcasing its capability to handle complex environments without performance degradation.
- The game’s smoothness is particularly impressive when compared to other titles in the genre, which often struggle with frame time consistency.
- The reviewer appreciates the advancements made since the first game, noting that Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 runs smoother despite being graphically more ambitious.

Graphical Fidelity and Lighting

- The game employs advanced lighting techniques, utilizing CryEngine's sparse voxel octree global illumination, which contributes to its realistic visual presentation.
- Real-time diffuse global illumination allows for a more natural color palette, enhancing the overall aesthetic and realism of the game world.
- The game's environments, particularly the forested areas, are praised for their visual appeal, showcasing a rich variety of foliage and lighting effects.
- Artistic elements, such as the representation of dusk and night, contribute to the immersive atmosphere, making players feel the weight of darkness in the game.

Graphical Limitations

- Despite its strengths, the game exhibits certain graphical limitations, particularly in the physics and animation of plants and water interactions, which run at a lower frame rate than the rest of the game.
- Cutscenes in the game are locked to 30 FPS, which can lead to inconsistencies and frame pacing issues when transitioning between real-time and pre-rendered scenes.
- The reviewer suggests that an in-game option to adjust cutscene frame rates would enhance the overall experience and visual consistency.
- Issues with reflections and lighting precision are noted, particularly around bodies of water, where the game relies on screen space reflections that can lead to visual artifacts.

Optimization and Settings

- For lower-end GPUs, it is recommended to maintain ultra settings while using image reconstruction to balance performance, achieving results similar to medium settings at native resolution.
- The game is noted for its excellent optimization, allowing it to run well even on mid-range hardware, with few drops below 60 FPS during gameplay.
- The reviewer emphasizes that the game’s graphical settings below ultra do not scale as effectively as in other titles, often resulting in visual shortcomings.
- Experimental settings should be approached with caution, as they can significantly increase CPU load and may not yield a substantial visual improvement for lower-end systems.

Conclusion and Future Prospects

- Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is characterized as a polished release that the developers should take pride in, marking a significant improvement over its predecessor.
- The game is expected to receive updates in the future, which may address some of the highlighted graphical limitations.
- Despite its minor flaws, the reviewer believes players will enjoy the immersive gameplay experience and the rich world that has been created.
- The video ends with a call to action for viewers to engage with the channel and support its content.

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[Fake]

Finally a game engine different of UE for a change.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I'm loving this game. Feels like an actual CRPG made by people who respect their audience.

 

[BennyBlanco]

More devs should use CryEngine. UE5 is trash.

 

[viveks86]

Shocking how an engine from a financially struggling company runs so much better than UE5, RE or Creation. Sure some of it is up to the dev, but none of the core issues that plague modern PC games are there...

 

[Dr.Morris79]

It's a breath of fresh air alright. Its this type of game that reminds you of why you game at all.

 

[Denton]

I am 50 hours in, still haven't done even a single quest from the main questline after the tutorial, and I am regularly amazed at how beautiful and immersive it is, while running flawlessly no matter what. Zero crashes or frametime stutters or framedrops.
Great video by Alex. Really the SSR reflections and rain at night are my only niggles.

 

[clarky]

It's a breath of fresh air alright. Its this type of game that reminds you of why you game at all.

Well said my good man.

Currently playing on my back up 3070ti laptop and it plays like a dream and looks great.

 

[mèx]

Can't wait to play this once I'm done with all the other games I want to play. Looks awesome.

 

[Lokaum D+]

can this ppl travel to Japan and teach Japanese devs how to optimize their games ? pls ?

 

[Crystal Winters]

 

[GymWolf]

For the budget and scope it has, it look pretty good, other games do single graphical aspects better but the sum of its parts is still very competent.

 

[Senua]

No what

 

[Crystal Winters]

No what

 

[bbeach123]

global illumination and shadows look amazing without costing half of your frame .

 

[DenchDeckard]

Ok, ok I'll buy the gold edition to support decent pc games.

 

[Senua]

Not desu enough?

 

[Crystal Winters]

Not desu enough?

Just because I like Japanese stuff, it does not mean I speak weaboo. What the hell does Desu even mean?

 

[Kamina]

Not desu enough?

Reeks like sour Avowed fan

 

[Luipadre]

It was so good to come back to this game after avowed. This game looks so fucking clean and crisp and runs beautifully

 

[Mister Wolf]

More games should use CryEngine.

 

[BennyBlanco]

What are you even disagreeing with?

 

[mckmas8808]

More games should use CryEngine.

Agreed!

 

[viveks86]

What are you even disagreeing with?

Celebrating the game, I guess?

 

[Madserb2023]

Cryengine is clearly one of the best engines out there. Crysis 4 could truly be amazing. It's a shame that it was Unreal that came out on top. It's quite amazing that we have a situation where just about every other engine is able to deliver great performance and visuals, whether that be IDTech or Cryengine and yet every developer is moving towards Unreal. It's got to the point where if a game is not using Unreal, it will almost with 100% certainty run well and look good. I would rather the Witcher 4 use this engine than Unreal if they don't want to use their own.

 

[Denton]

Henry playing a matchmaker for a hungarian-speaking Cuman

 

[R6Rider]

What other recent games have used CryEngine?

Last one I know of just from memory is Sniper Ghost Warrior - Contracts 2.

 

[viveks86]

More games should use CryEngine.

Nah. CIG should acquire it!

 

[nemiroff]

Only complaints I have with KCD2 is the 2D rain overlay, especially at night, looks weird. Also, the skybox is a bit blurry. Other than that, I'm lovin it.

 

[geary]

Are you yanking my pizzle?

 

[Crystal Winters]

Are you yanking my pizzle?

 

[Crystal Winters]

Reeks like sour Avowed fan

Keep telling yourself that.

 

[Crystal Winters]

What are you even disagreeing with?

The "we" part. I just do not have any interest in it. Is posting that really so terrible? Everything is not always going to be for everyone. Some people like trash like Dragon Age veilguard, and some people like good stuff like Stellar Blade or The Last of us part 1.

 

[BennyBlanco]

The "we" part. I just do not have any interest in it. Is posting that really so terrible? Everything is not always going to be for everyone. Some people like trash like Dragon Age veilguard, and some people like good stuff like Stellar Blade or The Last of us part 1.

It’s just weird to go into a thread about the technical performance of a game and post “no” gifs with zero context. I thought you were trying to say you disagree that the game runs well, but now I see you were just letting the world know you have shit taste in games.

 

[Crystal Winters]

It’s just weird to go into a thread about the technical performance of a game and post “no” gifs with zero context. I thought you were trying to say you disagree that the game runs well, but now I see you were just letting the world know you have shit taste in games.