“A Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Following a launch that garnered widespread critical acclaim at the start of the year, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and Warhorse Studios seemingly can’t miss, with the first official DLC for the game arriving ahead of schedule, titled: Brushes with Death. Following everyone’s favourite peasant turned armoured badass: Henry of Skalitz; our young rogue finds himself embroiled in the personal affairs of an enigmatic artist known as Master Voyta, who doesn’t quite seem himself at the best of times. Following their initial interaction, Voyta soon has Henry doing jobs across both the Trosky and Kuttenberg regions of KCD2, all in aid of helping him complete his Magnum Opus, all whilst slowly unearthing the mysterious past of the artist. Having launched on all major platforms on the 15th May 2025 alongside patch 1.3, I’m going to be covering the time I’ve spent with the DLC and the current state of the game; as always breaking down the good and the bad, whilst concluding whether it’s worth your time and money at the £4.99 (UK Xbox Store).
To say that Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a breath of fresh air in an industry that has gone stagnant, is a massive understatement. Within the era of microtransactions, quick cash grabs, inflated game prices and massively overhyped games that are broken on release; Warhorse Studios are extremely modest by comparison to a lot of these studios, yet somehow still manage to stand as a shining example of how game design ‘should be’ in an industry that has left so many disillusioned. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II was exceedingly polished upon release, and with a budget of only $41 million, it begins to paint an image of where the problem lies, with certain companies churning out the same broken, AAA garbage every couple of years, with budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars, only to fix them later on down the line after all the pre-order money has settled. Issues with the industry aside, Warhorse Studios has been full speed ahead with their 2025 roadmap following the game launch back in February (shamelessly plugging my own review here) adding in the barber feature, as well as the fan-favourite hardcore mode, which has been overhauled since it’s first iteration (I’m saving HC for when all the DLC is out, I haven’t played it at the time of writing this review yet). Following some bug fixes and other QoL changes based on player feedback, we’re currently sitting on Patch 1.3.1.0, which includes the new horse racing & archery minigames, a hotfix for a recent texture stuttering bug on consoles, as well as the first DLC for the game: Brushes with Death.
The DLC released on the 15th May 2025 for the extremely modest price of £4.99, and sees our faithful rogue cross paths with a mysterious, yet enigmatic artist known as Magister Voitecus ex Aridis (although his friends just call him Voyta). After rescuing him in the woods just outside Trosky Castle, Henry soon realises that Voyta isn’t quite as sane as he seems, talking frequently to a painted human skull that he refers to as his muse (think Wilson from the movie Castaway) soon involving Henry in a myriad of strange requests that take him across both the Trosky and Kuttenberg regions, all the while slowly but surely uncovering the artist’s dark past. In terms of a DLC straight out of the gate, think of Brushes of Death similarly to the likes of Hearts of Stone from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt; it’s a slower paced, standalone story set apart from the high-stakes operations of the main campaign, featuring a smaller net of characters, with a more tightly focused story to boot. The large over-arching theme of the DLC is medieval attitudes to mental illness, most notably schizophrenia, as well as a large number of other customs and taboos that explore the attitudes of medieval bohemia. One quest has you hunting down the egg of a basilisk, another has you dressing up as the devil, all whilst being analysed by Henry within the confines of the Christian morality of the time period.
Bullshitimo: Votya is a mysterious character, and getting him to open up about his past is as hard as trying to make sense of the oddball requests that he sends Henry on.
In terms of gameplay, Brushes with Death changes very little from the main game, albeit building upon the game’s stellar writing and interesting cast of characters. The DLC doesn’t introduce any new gameplay mechanics, however patch 1.3 has seen difficulty rebalances for the combat, especially within the Kuttenberg region. This is mainly done with addressing the quality of the armour that combatants have in the Kuttenberg region, giving them equipment that is of substantially higher quality (which makes sense being so close to a major trade centre) as well as weapon rebalancing for certain weapons, most notably longswords. Whilst being able to two-tap opponents with a master strike or well-timed combo is satisfying at first, the balancing at the end of the game was a bit skewered in Henry’s favour too much, making him feel untouchable, this however has changed for the better with the fixes presented. In terms of the DLC, you can expect around ten quests overall, four in Trosky and the remaining six in Kuttenberg, spanning around ten hours overall depending on how you tackle the quests, which can be approached in multiple ways depending on your playstyle. Voyta is arguably one of the more grounded characters of the entire game, benefitting from having a narrative that is solely based around the customs and taboos of the time period as well as explorations of the attitudes and opinions of his mental health.
Many NPCs within the game will disregard Voyta, passing him off as a either an oddball or a lunatic; the guy clearly suffers from a form of schizophrenia, which from a modern view point is a mental health condition, however from the skewered perspective of medieval bohemia, many (including Voyta himself) will put it down to clairvoyance or influence from Satan himself. The story of Brushes with Death is by far it’s strongest value to the game, as the DLC doesn’t really change up the formula too much (and in all fairness, it doesn’t really need it). The oddball requests that Voyta send you on directly relate to both his clandestine nature and psychological affliction, at points making him seem like he’s mid trance and not totally present in the room. Over the course of the quests, you will slowly but surely piece together Voyta’s past if you both probe him enough, as well as interacting with the various NPC’s relating to the quests. In terms of gameplay mechanics that the DLC adds, the main feature is of course shield painting. Depending on when you start the DLC, once the feature unlocks you will have a number of styles and motifs auto unlock; which unlock from different feats that you’ve performed or quests that you’ve completed over the course of the game. The painting itself is a nice feature, allowing you to personalise a shield with great depth with various different layering options and motifs, ultimately creating your own crest if you’re feeling bold enough. Obviously this only applies to those who use shields, if you’re a longsword main (which the game almost kind of entices you to be, giving you Radzig’s stolen sword back) then this doesn’t really apply. However, it’s a nice feature that only adds to an already solid experience, allowing you to customise your Henry that much further.
Paint me like one of your French girls: Shield painting is a nice feature, offering numerous combinations for you to create truly unique designs, if you use shields of course.
All in all, it’s hard to complain about Brushes with Death in any meaningful way, as it’s honestly worth more than what Warhorse are actually charging for it. Yes, it lacks any meaningful stakes when compared to the main campaign, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing; a tighter-focused story that acts as a character study, only offers to flesh out the world of medieval bohemia that much more, touching upon a profession that was a highly-skilled and sought after trade in the Middle Ages, and one that wasn’t really explored in either title. For £4.99 (or if you own the season pass) it’s hard to find fault as to what’s on offer here, as it offers another solid 8-10 hours in one of 2025’s best games.
An Xbox Series X review code was provided by Premier Comms/Plaion, with a special thanks to Warhorse Studios.
