So, first things first, I really like this game. Being able to explore medieval Bohemia in first person is an incredible experience, particularly due to the impressive amount of research the team has put into this game. This is made clear by the large and detailed in-game compendium which describes many of the locations and historical events surrounding the game which provides a great opportunity for tangential learning. Even the combat has a focus on historical accuracy with swordplay, armour and weapons being from the era with attention paid to how armour was worn and how weapons were used. The game is made particularly interesting due to its protagonist Henry, who is not the prophesied chosen one or a lord ruling in a castle. He’s just the son of a blacksmith, which provides an interesting perspective on the world as well as providing some challenges such as not being able to read at the start of the game. However, despite the many places in which the game shines it seems to fall short in a few key areas. While some of these areas have already been discussed at length such as the saving system as well as the difficulty in both lock picking and archery, I’m going to examine a few other areas where I think the game comes close to the mark but ultimately falls short.

The first area I want to examine is the possible romances for the main character, Henry (Spoilers ahead). At the beginning of the game we are introduced to Henry’s girlfriend Bianca, who along with most of the rest of the village of Skalitz is killed by an army led by King Sigismund of Hungary. While Henry is witness to most of the slaughter including the murder of his parents he is able to escape and in the process of doing so has the opportunity to save another girl from the village, Theresa from being raped by the invaders. Whether the player chooses to help Theresa or not she will eventually help rescue Henry and nurse him back to health. This then begins a series of quests in which Henry can court Theresa through a series of ‘dates’. While the dates are fairly well written with the dialog and banter between the two seeming realistic as well as the dates themselves being likely choices of courtship in the medieval period it ultimately ends disappointingly. At the conclusion of the third date Henry and Theresa sleep together and Henry later wakes up to find himself alone. Upon going to speak to Theresa we get… nothing. No acknowledgment that they had slept together. No acknowledgement of the budding relationship between the two at all. It’s as if it had never happened which makes the whole relationship pointless. Even if Theresa or Henry decided not to continue the relationship for whatever reason it would still have given a more satisfying ending than just never talking about it again.

Unfortunately, this is true of all other romance interests for Henry. After sleeping with Lady Stephanie, a married noblewoman, Henry cannot even speak with her again. While this may be a bug it is still extremely disappointing as the consequences for this action could have led to an extremely interesting story line particularly as they could tackle the idea of forbidden love which was popular in the middle ages. Another woman Henry sleeps with also freezes up and refuses to speak to him and in my playthrough she was even rooted to the spot and couldn’t move from it. While this woman was a barmaid who Henry hooked up with during a night of drunken debauchery and may therefore have reason to not want to speak to Henry out of embarrassment, it’s still a disappointing end. Especially as on my playthrough Henry slept with the barmaid while also romancing Theresa which led me to feel guilty until the end of Theresa’s romance quests which then made me feel disappointed in the lack of consequences as well as no longer feeling guilty over the barmaid due to the lack of consequences.

Ignoring the sexist undertones of sleeping with a woman and then not having to speak to her again as you have accomplished your ‘goal’, it’s an extreme disappointment from a writing perspective. I’d grown to care for Theresa over the course of the game which reflects how well she was written and the to have that all end meaning nothing was an incredible let down. Especially because of the excellent earlier writing for her left the ending for this relationship feeling cheap or unfinished. Personally, I’d recommend that there be some continuation to the relationships after sex, however small it may be. For Lady Stephanie this could be her refusing to see Henry anymore due to the guilt over cheating on her husband or Henry could end the relationship due to the fears of being caught. For Theresa it could be due to her trauma from nearly being raped that she doesn’t feel like she can have a relationship. Hell, even for the barmaid she could explain that all she wanted was a night of fun and not a relationship. Almost any ending would be better than a refusal to acknowledge that it happened in the first place. I’d also recommend adding something for poor Bianca. When Henry returns to Skalitz to bury his dead parents he also finds Bianca’s corpse and grieves for her, being able to take her ring as a memento. While this is an ending for her and Henry it would have been nice if during other romances the player had an option for Henry to remember her and maybe not go through with a romance due to still mourning her. While it is unlikely that many players would take advantage of this option it would allow for some emotional roleplaying for some which would be deeply apricated.

Another area that I want to briefly talk about is combat. While it may be due to hardware issues on my computer, several times during combat I have found myself attempting to block or strike only to find myself being outmanoeuvred or beaten by the AI due to the slow reactions from Henry. While this may be due to the way that the levelling system in the game works I often felt it was more due to laggy input. And in a game which prides itself on skill based combat laggy input is unacceptable. This is also shown in the many times I have been suddenly grappled by an enemy who should have been out of range for a grapple. Tightening up these systems would lead to a much better experience.

Ultimately, I feel that this is a very good game but falls short of being great. However, the developers seem to be continuing to support the game with a recent update adding beards for Henry as well as plans for DLC in the future, so these issues don’t necessarily have to be permanent. With an expansion to some of the romance quest lines as well a tightening up of the combat mechanics this game could be fantastic. But only time will tell if the developers can get it right. Even if they don’t I am a big fan of the risks they took making this game as well as different direction they took a lot of the gameplay in.