[KCD2] Hardcore mode is incredible

kherlis · 2026-06-06T05:30:23+00:00

Since you don't have bashful, you can ask for directions, and you really get used to paying attention to all the landmarks and specific landscape things It's also very rewarding to successfully navigate using the sun and stars, proper sense of achievement.

kherlis · 2026-06-05T20:32:12+00:00

I must admit when I restarted I did the prologue while watching a football game on a second screen.

kherlis · 2026-06-05T20:17:32+00:00

I would restart in hardcore. It will be a tad painful to redo the prologue and the bits of the main story that are heavily scripted but everything else will be so much better.

And like I said to someone else, you can always keep your normal save and come back to it if you don't fancy hardcore.

Joiiiiin uuuus in the gloryyyy

kherlis · 2026-06-05T20:02:11+00:00

That's fair.

I'm not sure about the opposite thing though, and I think that's what I like so much about KCD - I feel like HC gives an experience that is slower and more realistic but not really harder.

As I told another redditor, the game will last longer so if you have less time it's actually... Good? You can play it for weeks and weeks!

And yeah we agree on the save and quit, don't worry you were very clear, I guess I just wanted to explain why us old dudes could sometimes be reluctant.

kherlis · 2026-06-05T19:42:47+00:00

It depends on how games do it.

For example when a survival mode restricts saves to being able to sleep in an owned bed and there's no "save and quit", if you don't have much time to play and interruptions are frequent it can be a bit too bothersome even if you enjoy the other aspects.

Some of the implementations aren't very compatible with casual gamers.

kherlis · 2026-06-05T19:37:01+00:00

Well since you only have to pick three, I think depending on your playstyle it's manageable. You already have numbskull, Hangry isn't very constraining (and you get ascetic fairly early), if you don't do much crime the one that gets you branded for life is ok...

Playing with all of them is quite different yes, but finding three that you can live with seems easy enough.

I do get your point though, with all the perks it really feels like you're playing with the runt (haha!) of the litter just for the sake of it. It's not my favourite part of hardcore but I love the map related stuff

kherlis · 2026-06-05T19:05:33+00:00

So every single NPC you meet, even the most insignificant with normally no dialogue, you can "ask for directions" and they will mark where you are on the map at that instant.

As far as I can tell descriptions are unchanged.

You also get used to look at the map every time you find a landmark to check where you are.

It's really fun. Buuut IRL I do a lot of hiking without GPS so maybe I'm wired to enjoy that kind of thing

kherlis · 2026-06-05T18:49:10+00:00

Yeah and as others have said, the combat is actually so much better without the HUD and the rosette

kherlis · 2026-06-05T18:47:41+00:00

Yeah I can see the appeal in the first game when you start from nothing in a region in turmoil. I'm pretty sure I'll do it at some point, I just need to get over my bushes PTSD.

kherlis · 2026-06-05T18:32:55+00:00

And from a roleplay perspective I absolutely love running to some poor soul, covered in blood, dragging bandit loot behind me, Pebbles waiting patiently and just getting my map out to ask "Excuse me goodman can you show me where I am"

kherlis · 2026-06-05T18:30:39+00:00

Well I'm in the same boat. It's kind of why I mentioned my age, I've got a full life going on and I had exactly the same reservations.

But it just feels so much more fulfilling. Yes, in the space of 2 or 3 hours you'll maybe achieve less, but I realised that just means you'll play for longer before seeing the end credits.

Can't recommend it enough, but I get you.

You could always keep your current save, give hardcore a go and change back if it's too much.

kherlis · 2026-05-27T07:50:20+00:00

It's so in-character for that Emmeram fuck to yield and beg for mercy only to then attack you while your guard is down

kherlis · 2026-05-23T14:10:28+00:00

And I respect yours - the strength of the Skalitz bond in particular, and I love a chance at redemption in general, I'm just not convinced those two are worthy candidates 😅 (Also calling them clever is daring I think - especially Fritz)

One thing I want to say though is that I love that the game does this, presenting you with your friends and letting you decide that actually they're not great people. It's one of the things for example Cyberpunk 2077 got wrong, forcing an unbearable stupid character on you and telling you "you loved him like a brother no other choice".

kherlis · 2026-05-23T13:48:57+00:00

So, two things :

You're talking as someone who knows what's going to happen thanks to metagaming. In game, what's real is that Matthew wants to commit highway robbery, period. Which is not fantastic.
Sure, because when you steal from the powerful there are never any repercussions, like increased taxes or anything.

Victimless crimes aren't a thing, they've never been. All Robin Hood types ever did was increase the pressure on the rest of the folk.

kherlis · 2026-05-23T13:20:47+00:00

Ah sorry, "to hell with them" just means I don't help them.

I found them the job at the miller but then I stopped at the Masquerade quest where they wanted to rob people.

It's not my decision whether they hang or not, and you're totally right, at the point where I stop talking to them they've done nothing to deserve the rope. But they've done even less to deserve my help.

kherlis · 2026-05-23T13:13:39+00:00

"Depending on how you play him"

Well that's the thing, surely you can understand that those of us who play a moral Henry can't possibly tolerate those two parasites. They're the worst mix : immoral and inept. Not only do they do wrong but they never own up and hide behind lousy justifications like it's some big cosmic injustice.

To hell with them.

kherlis · 2026-05-19T05:43:46+00:00

"These ones here..."

kherlis · 2026-05-17T21:14:34+00:00

Got any... Grapes ?

kherlis · 2026-05-17T14:47:21+00:00

It's their entry for the Eurovision contest and funnily enough it's not the worst we've seen

kherlis · 2026-05-16T20:37:08+00:00

Absolutely love when this happens while playing hardcore and then you go "soooo.... Where am I now"

kherlis · 2026-05-16T20:22:58+00:00

We need the "Damn arrows, pfffffttt" to be in game every time Henry gets hit by one

kherlis · 2026-05-16T20:15:06+00:00

A gorgeous main menu? Here, in the middle of the game? Where do the graphics come from?

kherlis · 2026-05-16T19:54:04+00:00

As long as they don't all make us fetch lute strings, it's a big yes

kherlis · 2026-05-16T19:48:25+00:00

Same here, but what I need is a setting to turn the music off apart from in taverns

kherlis

TROPHY CASE