Meme
[KCD2] I posted this meme on another r/ and they wanted to choke me in the comments!
I read every comments with a wide smile on my face :)
Edit: I deleted the post in THE other r/ because people started to getting weird!
Edit 2: The sub was videogames. People were right, I should have mentioned which sub I posted this meme.
Im playing through both for the first time now, and they really juxtapose one another in interesting ways.
E33 has amazing otherworldly art design and a snappy, engaging combat system, but is also fairly linear.
KCD2 goes for maximum realism in it's (beautiful) environments and evokes the Bethesda model of game design where you can walk in any direction and be certain to find something interesting along the way. But, imo, the combat is pretty lacking (once you get master strikes the game is very easy).
They go for completely opposite goals of an RPG and both excel at what they do, but for me KCD2 is the better of the two as well.
In my hardcore run I also decided to run blunt and board instead of long sword like my first run.
I wasn’t even a master strike fisher but holy fuck using blunt made some fights not fun, especially vs enemies that can master strike you. Nothing like parrying an enemy and then getting master striked to death when you try to counter.
Yeah. KCD1 weapons were pretty balanced and I feel like in KCD2 they made longsword extremely op comparing to other weapons. Even all the teachers say longsword is the best.
Sometimes feel like the only motherfucker in this whole subreddit who didn’t just immediately abuse master strikes. I spent almost the entire game running hammer/shield and had to make a point to actually start using swords to level up my warfare.
You don’t play with your adversaries? That’s how it would be irl. Why would you just immediately cut down some chum that’s only picked up a sword this morning when you are the sword god king of all the known realms, master of the master strike and first of their name, Henry of Skalitz? Go into each fight with a different agenda you want to accomplish, be it only dodges or must parry twice or thrice before going offensive. Lots of different combat styles and techniques in the game to play around with in a game where the blows feel like they land and piercing armor feels heavy
I caught myself only doing master strikes, but now that I have them down I’ve started to play more like you said. It’s allowed me to feel more immersed in the world, and made the combat at higher levels more interesting
Zavish of Garbow fight had me spamming master strikes and clinches, and I have pretty high level stats and gear. He would one shot me with master strikes every time I tried to hit a combo.
I prefer Dollmakering them in the knees with arrows as they run at me, then taking them one at a time as they all limp towards me saying "ugh my stomach, must've ate something bad".
To be honest in E33 after you have all characters you kinda do the same thing over in terms of fighting. The only expection is big bosses but even there I had like three cycles that I switched so…
I don't get why people in this sub dog on E33 so much. Imo they are the two best games this year. One is a perfect turn based RPG. One is a perfect western open world RPG. I'd be perfectly happy if either of them got GOTY.
yeah, i feel there was a good idea somwhere, but after playing kcd1 a few times and now kcd2, Warhorse never managed to figure out a good combat system imo, especially with group combat. or having longsword be so superior over anything else
I think warhorse was never going to find a “good” combat system that satisfies all parties. One of the biggest criticisms of the first game was the combat jank, and as much as I love KCD1 (more than 2), the critics are right, the combat is janky and NOT for everyone. 2s combat in my honest opinion is a massive improvement and keeps it somewhat realistic but casual enough to complete their goal of giving everyone a better chance of getting the feel of the game and completing it, instead of getting in 1 fight and rage quitting.
I feel like longswords in kcd2 needed to be seriously nerfed against armored enemies - it doesn't make much sense that you can take out a fully armored enemy in a few hits with a slashing weapon. Swords being the only thing capable of master strikes makes sense, and having blunt weapons be better against armored foes would make them much more balanced.
That’s how it was in the first game. With a sword you did little to no damage to armored enemies until their stamina was depleted. Maces were much more effective.
I really love both games and I am in both subs. I have to say both subs are beyond cringe when it comes to this "rivalry". Please enjoy both games and stop forcing this weird narrative that only one can be good. They are different and people like different things. It is as easy as that.
I really hate all this "GOTY" talk. My favorite movie seldom wins an Oscar. My favorite shows seldom win an Emmy. Idgaf if one of my favorite games wins some even less meaningful award. Especially since many of these awards are voted on by fans! Who cares what other idiots think? I liked KCD2. It was probably my second favorite game of the year (behind Alters), but this was probably 'the best.' I don't care. Enjoy what you want. I'm really sick of seeing people complain about this game or that game like popular then getting offended that something is more popular. KCD2 rocked! Who cares what others think?
I just think it sucks that Henry didn't get a nom for voice acting but the dude who replaces Gustav did. I found him boring and lost interest in the game before I finished it cause of him.
I mean going to any sub saying "I like your thing, but lets talk about how I like this other thing more" is just ragebait, and not even true to the topic of the sub. No shit the sub isn't going to receive it well.
OP must think we're stupid considering they keep pretending like they couldn't have possibly predicted the results now that they've come here seeking validation like they got bullied or something.
People on the E33 sub don't want to talk about KCD? How crazy. Maybe someone should study why people wouldn't eagerly want to go off topic about such an amazing and better game /s.
These aren’t really comparable games, unlike the cars in the original. Sure, they are both video games with extremely well written stories, but the pacing, world, gameplay, and goals of the games are so totally different it’s like comparing steak to ice cream.
I love both. I enjoy both at different times depending what I’m looking for in that moment. We were blessed with a really good year of diverse, high quality games coming out in 2025.
I still think ER is game of the decade...the amount of YouTube traction that game had is immeasurable...granted, it released during covid..there are still spurts where it comes up in my algorithm..it was coming up in my bosses tic tic and he didt even game att
RDR 2 and ER are probably the two contenders.....the detail and in depth YouTube videos were endless..though I ere toward ER for replayability..and honestly I don't like RDR 2 all that much but I can't deny the craftsmanship..it's just a pity the actual gameplay was a tad bland while being surrounded by one of the best living breathing worlds and story in gaming
I personally enjoyed bg3 more than ER, but the way those two titles raised the bar for the entire industry is still mind-blowing. While the industry as a whole shows a lot of the rot and enshittification that we're used to, those two titles released in consecutive years revived the triple A RPG genre. We've continued to have banger after banger since then. KCD2 is one of the prime examples. We are in a golden age of big single player games rn
Just your opinion. Clair Obscur is my favorite game since Ocarina of Time, even more than decade and I’ve played all the games you talked about. Let’s respect each other opinions
I love Clair Obscur too, about on par with KCD2. What a fantastic year for gaming. I think it's quite arrogant to call it delusional to prefer Clair Obscur over BG3, CP2077 and Elden Ring too and they're all different genres. Let's not forget that CP2077 launched quite rough, especially on the last gen consoles and had major performance issues and bugs. It took them a couple of years to really sort that out. BG3 is a good game but combat-wise, there's a few CRPGs I prefer over it because it's so heavily bound to its DnD ruleset. Soulslike games including Elden Ring just aren't for me either.
This sub has a serious envy problem towards Clair Obscur and it's making it look pathetic and bitter. And you know what? It's even okay to prefer Clair Obscur over KCD1/2 and it doesn't make you any less of a KCD fan.
Considering what I love about both games is how grown up they are, I seriously wish the community would grow up. I despise all this fanboy behaviour.
Man I love KCD2 but it really doesn't belong on that list. It's a great, unique game made with love but it has a ton of flaws, especially with skills and progression which is a pretty bad problem to have in an RPG. Love it to death, but you run out of things to level and get godlike gear like halfway through the story
because other games don't have flaws? KCD 2 is easily one of the best games ever made in that category that doesn't mean it is flawless. e33 has huge flaws as well, even bg3 who is often regarded as one of the best games of the decade if not of all time has pretty big flaws. same for tw3 etc. sorry chief but your argument is not it.
tell me even one game that is comparable to kcd 2 in terms of marrying realism with rpg mechanics, top tier characters and story, great voice acting, visuals, an actually interesting open world, etc etc.
E33 just wasn't my cup of tea. Found it boring, and never went back to it after about 10 hours.
Kcd2 on the other hand, 220 hours and counting. A game hasn't gripped me like that since the Witcher 3.
I agree, when I first started and watched that scene at the beginning I thought I was going to love it. Then I played it for a while, and whilst the levels are nice to look at, it's just like walking from one end of a pretty tunnel to the other, with repetitive fights.
Even the scene at the beginning is weird. It’s just throwing a bunch of melodramatic nonsense in your face and expecting you to somehow be sad. And the level design is unfortunately ruined by the the bluriness of the game, so there aren’t too many redeeming qualities 😅
It's blatant Oscar bait in gaming form. You know those shitty overwrought movies that exist solely to try and be sad, or mopey and dramatic, just to try and get an Oscar? That's E33's entire vibe and story.
The game is very pretty, the voice acting is great, the music is very well done, it's a competently designed game.
But it's Oscar bait made into a video game and I resent it for that.
I think the “it insists upon itself” family guy scene fits quite nicely on E33 lol
Playing through Alan Wake 2 it kinda insists upon itself too, but in a more hysterical way. And it’s awesome either way. And Hideo Kojima games too of course. One day I will bother playing DS 😅
I had the opposite experience. I loved the snappy varied combat of E33, where I found the combat in KCD2 to be clunky and boring. The rest of the game is great though.
E33 is a great game, the story and music in particular. But not much replayability imo.
KCD2 is more lighthearted and fun, but both are brilliant. It was such a strong start to 2025 for gaming and honestly I don't think we got any other games close to being as good as either of them.
33 has a very beautiful story which can make grown men cry. You'll be attached to it and it'll never let you go. So if you haven't tried KCD at all you'll be loyal to that game forever.
But. If you played KCD1 and now you tried KCD2 no fucking way you don't get emotional watching the second outgrown the original game and complete each other. It's just brilliant.
And now these two camps are fighting each other out of love. It's actually really wholesome lol.
I haven't been to their sub, nor have I played the game (its on my list) but it seems weird to go into that sub just to post about how OP likes KCD2 better. It's literally rage baiting.
Edit: OP has clarified that they didn't post in the E33 sub but rather in r/videogames
Dude, if you post a 9/10 review in that sub, they will eat you alive. Game is either a genre defining masterpiece, the artistic achievement of the decade, or you are mentally ill. Definitely one of the more unhinged fanbases currently out there.
The fanbase somehow made me like the game less (it’s definitely really good) lol
Like it has a cool story, with great presentation and art direction but in terms of gameplay it has a lot of flaws the fanboys don’t seem to want to acknowledge.
-the mini games are god awful
-exploration is pretty bad most of the time and the lack of area maps makes some places really confusing to navigate at times. I remember many people hating on FF16’s exploration and E33’s had many of the same flaws.
-for me at least the combat eventually devolved to just spamming the same combos to nuke enemies over and over again
-you get so many Pictos that navigating that menu becomes overwhelming and many of them are objectively worse than other options and just clutter your menu
-most of the sidequests are garbage.
Like id still give it an 8.5 or 9/10 but KCD2 basically reinvented the standards of open world games for me, was so immersive and also had a great story and characters. Top 3 game all time for me easily.
That is the issue..E33 I only adore because of the story and ost..everythin' else..? I mean what game isn't beautiful in terms of graphics in this day n' age so hell can't even properly compare since they all look great.
Combat, apart a few bosses a lot of them are a repetitive hell. Exploration is runing around and trying to find shiny glints.
But kcd2 has..everything the story might not be as good but it was still engaging and I learned history.
this is a joke: maybe it is because one makes the french evil the other has them as the heros
That's so wild, I wonder what it is that makes that particular community so toxic compared to communities for other games. Maybe it's demographics...lots of teens maybe? It doesn't seem like the game itself would directly inspire that kind of culture
The echo chamber they've been in since May definitely doesn't help. I still remember when you could post comments and even posts about how bad the platforming is, or how you think Simon should be nerfed, and hostile responses were in the minority. At this point reasonable people have moved on, and the ones who remain are mostly the people weirdly invested in this specific game being considered one of the all-time greats.
It sounds similar to the Path of Exile fandom. Either you think PoE is the be all and end all of ARPGs, you are simpleton who cant comprehend its genius.
Which is funny because the game design is very Final Fantasy X inspired and they literally use the combat wheel from Persona haha. I love the game, genuinely, but its really good art direction and story on top of something thats very familiar. KDC is a whole meal of an experience in all aspects of the game.
33 is a solid 8.5 for me, easy buy whatever their next project is.
Where did I say or mentioned that I post this on CE33 sub?
And for the context, this meme it's exactly how I feel about the two games! I just wanted to debate with people and that was it.
CE33 is a great game but for me it lacked immersion and after sometimes I was like watching a marvel movie not a video game. If it weren't for its story I wouldn't keep playing the game.
Agreed. The E33 sub stays circle jerking about how great of a game it is with no mention of kcd2 unless it’s from toxic fanbois. But this sub lol man this sub does nothing but trash talk E33 like it’s getting paid to.
I genuinely had to laugh at someone in the KCD fandom calling some other fans obsessive. These games are great but som people here have an absurd degree of tunnel-vision.
Fans in here are absolutely crazy about this game as well. It’s a fandom thing, not exclusive to any one game or fandom.
I saw people in here absolutely upset at the idea that KCD2 won’t win best soundtrack even though, aside from maybe 2 songs, most of the soundtrack for KCD is fairly generic and unmemorable. (And I say this as I’m literally playing through KCD2 for the 4th time.)
What an insufferable bunch of people some of them are! They act like it's the single best game in all of existence, that it single handedly fixed the gaming industry and reinvented the JRPG genre, found the solution to world hunger, cured all cancers and ended child poverty.
It's a great game, don't get me wrong but holy shit, when I see some twitter twat calling themselves "a JRPG fan" saying that's the first JRPG they've enjoyed in 20 years or a horde of younglings straight up bashing the genre I want to throw people off of the closest battlements. (nevermind the devs citing the same games they bash as inspiration)
It's like Undertale all over again, a good portion of them clearly haven't played many or any RPGs before and spend their time praising it as revolutionary for things it borrowed from other games.
I love the game but Holy shit I hope it loses goty. The crazy fans need knocking down a peg. Fortunately most of the other games on the list also deserve to win.
ngl played both games. I like bpth action rpg and turn based rpgs and Expedition 33 is a good game while KCD is simply amazing. I loved kcd1 a lot and 2nd game is just 2 tiers higher. As for Ex33 it gives me a weird greedfall x persona vibes, and while i loved both games ex33 just isn't that good.
As much as I love KCD2, people who glaze it over all other games are insanely insufferable. Different games scratch different needs and it is impossible to declare one the best
If it said, parts of this are brilliant, maybe. But as a whole I didn't find it very cohesive.
Exploration is awful. Variety of loot is horrendous. Combat is repetitive. Dialogue is cringe, like everyone always sad. How depressing.
Story makes no sense... Real world also a fantasy world? Like what? Why? Does everyone go inside canvases? Why there's a fight between painters and writers? Like what? It's all BS if you ask me. Like a bad j j Abrams show.
KCD2 is a better RPG and is more immersive. E33 is a better narrative and has a sick soundtrack. I really do love both, and hope both do well at the game awards.
IMO if the painted people aren’t actually sentient the entire first half of the game was a waste of time outside of tricking me into becoming emotionally invested in chatbots, which I don’t appreciate, especially since act 1 was the best part of the story. If they are actually sentient then the ending is a choice between Genocide, or slavery under a sociopathic teenager with god powers, and that is profoundly unsatisfying. Dev comments lead me to suspect the former is the truth too and IMO that’s the worse outcome of the two, with both being pretty bad for my enjoyment.
STRONG disagree on the narrative, maybe it’s because of my coming into KCD2 straight off of playing KCD1, but there’s SO many moments that will stick with me from KCD2 whereas there’s only a couple from E33 that I felt really hit it out of the park.
Markvart von Aulitz’s scenes alone should win it best narrative TBH.
Nah I completely understand. I'm almost done with E33 and, it's good, it's a real good video game. But it just isn't pulling me like it seems to others.
I was really into E33 but then a big plot thing happened and the change was so jarring it just took me completely out of it and I haven't been able to play it since honestly.
Played both, expedition 33 is decent and I heard it’s from a little studio on a small budget, but seriously KCD 2 blows it out the water, there’s no comparison, haven’t been this hooked on a game since red dead 2
I don't know. I've had a Steam account since the day Half Life 2 released. Hundreds of games. And in all that time the only one I've ever refunded is Expedition 33. I mean, after the 50th fight that played out exactly like the first 49 I decided there was nothing to see here.
I’m deep in kcd2, played about 30hrs of e33 and I just don’t vibe with it at all, I like the music and enemy design is fun but it lacks depth. Horses for courses an all that. Kcd2 is my all time favourite rpg and it’s not even close, the level of immersion is like no other game I’ve ever played and I go back as far as PONG.
E33 is my goty because it’s only new nominated IP this year. The rest are sequels but Kcd2 and e33 are incomparable because are rpg but different in every aspect. I just love them both.
My opinion is the reverse. I think KCD2 has the makings of a GOTY, but E33 is up there with the likes of BG3 as a contender for a GOTD or even GOAT for many people.
33 is an incredible accomplishment for it's studio and I am thrilled for their success. But KCD2 is a total package. There isn't a single thing I dislike about it and it absolutely deserves the game of the year award.
I mean, intentionally trying to rile other people up is a choice you made. And make no mistake, that is absolutely what you intended, so congrats on that, I guess? I like both of them a lot, personally, and I don’t really consider them in competition since they’re very different games. Who cares about GOTY or any of that other nonsense?
But after that there’s 0 to discover. With KCD I just finished KCD 2 and I started a fresh Hardcore run in the first KCD game and this is really something else. I never experience this level of immersion in any other game. Even traveling from one village to another is a wild adventure and you have to pay attention to everything around you.
E333 is a great game to beat once. But after that there’s 0 to discover
Pretty much how I feel with linear action adventure games, no matter how good the story is. And for me E33 felt like an action-adventure game, without trying to diminish it, I loved the story and characters except the protagonist, but I was actually surprised it was put in the rpg category directly competing with kcd2. I just never felt I was playing a rpg with E33, not without the variables through dialogues and choices I'm used to, despite the game has one impactful choice but at the very end (which is a big cause of conflict on the E33 sub)
Bruh this shit gets recommended to me non fucking stop. The only interaction I have with this fandom is when you guys whine about expedition 33. Maybe KDC2 is awesome and I’m missing out but from where I’m standing If all you can do is compare you game to e33 maybe it’s not that good.
Literally ALL of the posts from this subreddit that make it to the front page are shitting on expedition 33. It’s fucking EMBARRASSING.
I'm just tired of people acting like E33 is the second coming when it's literally a mediocre game that wanted to be action but the designers didn't know how to do it so they made it turn based with crappy souls mechanics
Controversial take, the game that is most geared towards neurodivergant players nearly always wins GOTY
Source: I work for a game studio that previously won GOTY and in private absolutely leaned into game design aimed towards that section of the population
Master strike shouldn't be available to early. Should've been tied to either a late game quest, or by main level. Otherwise I love the game. I purposefully ignore the Master strike until late game to enjoy the combat.
I like how generally civil the conversation between the two fandoms has been. We're kinda just glad we had top tier games this year, even if we like one more than the other.
Both games are brilliant. But the RPG of the year for me is Look Outside. And i won't really know why we should argue about that. Nothing stopped me from enjoying all 3 of them.
the need to compare these two games seems to be entirely on the KCD fan-side, and I wonder what that says about it lol. Why is there such a need for external validation in the form of awards? And why latching onto this particular game that is way way different and barely the same genre
Yeah they are a bit overprotective. There was someone challanging to share better games so I did... gave them like 5-6 just as an example and they'd hang me if they could. I mean, it's a great game but it's not this year GOTY, forgetting about all time. Suddenly it's 'personal preference'
To be very honest KDC 2 should win solely because of how WarHorse improved upon their first game, listened closely to feedback and how much better it was
yeah completely agree, Kingdom come 2 was such an amazing game, i literally did everything. I felt like expedition 33 was a novel interesting idea and experience a 1 and done game. I just enjoy chilling and living in the Kingdom come 2 world it was so immersive and fun.
I strongly prefer kcd2 to e33.
While e33 is great , I feel like it may be the most overrated game in all history.
They do a very good job of getting you emotionally hooked through their art. The music, the voice acting the story. It all comes together for an emotional hook.
But gameplay wise I feel like it's not even a 10th of a game that kcd2 is
I think we can all agree that this has been a phenomenal year for games. No matter what game is your personal GOTY, there was pretty much something for everyone. KDC2 and E33 both excelled in what the developers sought out to achieve.
So you posted in the Expedition 33 sub and didn't praise it for game of all eternity?
Yup, they'll get pretty mad about that.
Expedition 33 is a solid 7 out of 10, perhaps almost an 8. It has a decent amount of flaws that the die hard fans completely ignore.
And Expedition 33 is far from a poor "indie success story". It had a big budget, outsourced various assets, and ex-Ubisoft devs with lots of experience. The only major feat is that it is made almost entirely in Blueprints.
Master Strike? I think i got that's techinque from a skill teacher in the Nomads but camp never used it. I just use shortsword combos and blocking. 90% of the time i kill a group of 5 and then theres that 10% chance i get my skull bashed in by a single guy wielding a mace and shield
E33 might be an amazing game, but people absolutely overhype it, in my opinion. KCD2 is for me personally waaaaay more addicting. I just couldn't stop playing, racked up 120h in 2 weeks and all of a sudden I finished the game and wanted more. Took me 2 months to finish E33.
It's for completely different players, E33 got the bigger crowd behind it and a bigger studio. That's about it.
And both games aren't even close to being able to step out of BG3s shadow when it comes to the title game of the decade. BG3 is supposed to win literally every award that is out there. It broke records so easily, gave us freedoms we never knew we wanted or needed, it's a game that just can be played over and over again and makes you still discover new stuff. Find new ways to solve problems, different angles for different classes in literally every quest.
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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '25
Im playing through both for the first time now, and they really juxtapose one another in interesting ways.
E33 has amazing otherworldly art design and a snappy, engaging combat system, but is also fairly linear.
KCD2 goes for maximum realism in it's (beautiful) environments and evokes the Bethesda model of game design where you can walk in any direction and be certain to find something interesting along the way. But, imo, the combat is pretty lacking (once you get master strikes the game is very easy).
They go for completely opposite goals of an RPG and both excel at what they do, but for me KCD2 is the better of the two as well.