Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Brushes With Death

My first thought after finishing Brushes With Death was not 'wow, what an expansion' but rather 'Warhorse really does write the best oddballs in the genre.' That's both the highest compliment I can pay this DLC and an accurate summary of its ceiling. This is not a structural reinvention of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, it is a polished, self-contained questline built around one genuinely compelling new character, and whether that's enough depends heavily on what you came back for. The hook begins well. Henry stumbles across Master Voyta strapped to a tree, wolves closing in, and what follows is roughly ten quests that spiral across both the Trosky and Kuttenberg regions. Voyta is eccentric in the way great RPG companions always are: he holds conversations with a painted human skull, speaks vaguely about a past he clearly wants buried, and ropes Henry into increasingly dangerous situations in service of completing his magnum opus, a painting for the local monastery. The writing is sharp throughout. Voyta's voice performance carries real weight, conveying internal conflict and dark history through tone as much as dialogue. If you care about whether the people you help feel like actual people, Voyta earns his place in the KCD2 roster. The quest structure respects player agency too: Henry has multiple approaches to most situations, running the usual KCD gamut of persuasion, intimidation, stealth, and occasionally just swinging a sword at the problem. The new shield painting system is the mechanical centrepiece, and it is honestly more substantial than it sounds. After completing the opening quest 'A Sketchy Situation' you can commission Voyta to paint any shield in Henry's inventory. The customization window lets you pick a pattern, two colours, a symbol category, and a final design, with over 100 combinations available. It is purely cosmetic, so min-maxers can safely ignore it, but for anyone who spent forty hours crafting a specific Henry identity it is a small, satisfying reward. A unique dagger and some new armour pieces round out the loot side of things, neither game-changing but both thematically on point. Worth noting: the free update 1.3 that launched alongside this DLC added mounted archery and horse racing, which are separate from the paid content but make the package feel more substantial as a whole. Here is where honesty matters. The Mixed Steam reception is not unfair. Brushes With Death does not open new map areas, introduce fresh combat mechanics, or push Henry's arc in any meaningful direction. The overall plot stakes feel low next to the main game's civil war backdrop, and Henry spends most of the questline as a helpful bystander rather than a protagonist with skin in the game. Players who finished KCD2 and returned solely for narrative continuation may feel the ground shift under them. The DLC also sits in an awkward structural position: accessible early in the game but clearly designed for a Henry with solid stats, decent armour, and both regions already unlocked. New players folding it into an active playthrough will likely have the better experience. For narrative-first RPG players who want more time in Warhorse's meticulously grounded Bohemia, Brushes With Death is a worthwhile detour. Voyta is the kind of character I will remember when I eventually do my third playthrough. For anyone hoping this first paid chapter signals big-swing DLC ambitions, the two remaining expansions later in 2025 are probably the ones to watch.

Monika · Scout Team

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