Recent reviews by zuz

First off, a lot of people are going to be put off by the fact that this isn't a conventional medieval swordfighting RPG. Combat forces you to actually learn how to block and parry, and there's no crosshair when you're using a bow. You're going to have to aim your attacks and your defenses. That's right, you can't block just by holding the right click. The right click is, by default, the stab button, even. And arrows will not penetrate shields. Shoot an arrow from behind onto someone with a shield on their back, congrats, they're undamaged and you've been spotted. Unless you weren't already noticed, because trying to sneak up on someone while wearing metal armor means you're trying to be stealthy while clanking like a kitchen. Attack someone wearing plate armor and you're going to find that not much happens to them on your first slash. Why? Because that's plate armor doing it's job. Go for the face or a limb or an opening in the armor, or get like 15 good hits to the armor, and he should be dead. Why? Because that's how it worked in early 1400's Czechia. Sword clinch against someone better trained and better equipped? Yeah, sorry, you're gonna be kicked and slashed. Alone against 5 guys in plate armor? Just run.

So where's the fun in the combat? It's that once you learn it, it is some of the most immersive combat you're going to play. It takes the best parts of Mount and Blade, Mordhau and Chivalry and mashes them together into the closest thing gaming has to a HEMA simulator. Once you have good gear and understand the process, you will be able to execute maneuvers that, if only virtually, make you feel like the unstoppable killing machine that a medieval knight was.

This game isn't just about fighting in late medieval Czechia either. This is about life in late medieval Czechia. Both the life of the protagonist and those of the people around him. Women, men, soldiers, millers, coal-burners, blacksmiths, nobles, monks, all of them. This is historical fiction written with enough research and counsel from historians of different specializations that, if one goes in blind, one can mistake the story for a documentary. Although every event you'll see in the game is fiction, speculation and conjecture, this game's plot represents the most appropriate usage of the phrase "based on a true story". As someone who's spent the better part of four college semesters studying history, this is historical fiction done right.

Don't care about that? Okay:

The plot is excellent and the mechanics are great.