The second main DLC for Kingdom Come: Deliverance is now released (a little while ago in fact, I’m just late to the party) and hopes to entice you back, or pad out your current experience, with some Hans Capon questing shenanigans and a couple of extra treats. Much like the previous DLC, From the Ashes, the content is injected into the main game world and can be accessed after a certain point in the game. But unlike the previous DLC, The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon offers more traditional side quests to take part in – however, unfortunately very much like the previous DLC, this is short lived and leaves you debating if it was worth the price of admission.
The main pursuit of this DLC is in Hans Capon’s quest for love. You can start this questline after completing the Robber Baron quest in the main game (a side quest involving Hans) and once you do, Hans will be available to talk to you about his new burning desire. Hans has fallen in love with the local Butcher’s daughter and wants you to help him woo her.
Instead of doing things conventionally and simply, however, Hans wants to get a leg up (no pun intended) on the competition and so sends you on a few unusual errands to help him out. I won’t spoil exactly what he puts you up to, since that would ruin half the fun of the DLC, but you certainly get put through the ringer. As is typical with Kingdom Come, a lot of the experience relies on how you respond to these tasks and the people involved. So while you can get up to all sorts of nonsense, it is also possible to bypass some of it depending on your playstyle.
I’d say in this instance, to avoid any of the content would be a shame, because the writing is full of humour and fun activities. As an example (the only bit I will spoil) you can work with a Charlatan to acquire an item that Sir Hans desires, and while you can simply buy the item from him, doing favours for the Charlatan in exchange for the item is infinitely more entertaining – leading you on quite a sizeable side quest in its own right which sees you messing with the unfortunate folk of one of the game’s small settlements. This is where the DLC really excels. Hans Capon is a funny character in his own right – and your experiences with him in the main game are usually those of a humorous nature – but these Amorous Adventures take it a little further, and it’s all the better for it.
Many of your skill will be put to the test, including stealth, speech and maybe even a bit of combat, and there is some variety to your tasks. They do play about much like any other side quest in the game, so there’s no surprises on that front, but the subject of the questline I feel makes up for that.
In addition to these few extra quests, the DLC comes with the long awaited Tournament. This was a feature many expected to be in the base game, but were unfortunately disappointed by. But now alongside this new DLC, you can take part in a combat event for money and a prize. The tournament can be undertaken with a variety of weapons (you are automatically equipped with whatever you choose, so you can’t just rock up with fancy armour and destroy all the competitors) and pits you against a few opponents over multiple rounds. These one on one duels are a nice distraction, and a fairly safe way to practice genuine combat (beyond that which Captain Bernard offers) as you can’t sustain real damage and won’t die if you lose too much health. The only real risk is that you lose your initial Groschen investment, but this isn’t massively expensive – especially for already established players (we’re talking a few hundred – so a few looted shirts and bludgeons, to put it in perspective).
Unfortunately, just like the main questline of this DLC, the tournaments come across as short lived and a tad shallow. You can repeatedly compete in the tournaments (they don’t disappear after you win one) but even I found it to be a little too easy, winning the first tournament I took part in and therefore also the special unique armour prize at the end of it.
This has become an unfortunate trend for the DLC released so far, and one that I hope doesn’t continue in the two future instalments planned for next year. You go into the DLC excited by the new content and it’s over before you know it, without much to show for it. Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed both DLC instalments so far, however both have missed the mark in providing anything special. From the Ashes sounded very interesting with its settlement building, but you soon discover it’s not much more than an excuse to spend any excess Groschen (even with a desolate Henry like I have, finishing all the buildings wasn’t much of a task) and that you can’t actually do much with what you create. And similarly, The Amorous Adventures starts out strong with the promise of a humorous adventure filled with mischief, but then ends unspectacularly after just a few errands.
It’s a shame, because although Kingdom Come can be a frustrating and clunky mess, it also has a great sense of place and some very charming and interesting characters and pursuits. I’m not sure this DLC makes the best use of that, unfortunately. For the price it’s difficult to recommend (you will be spending £7.99 on what’s essentially just a couple of hours’ worth of new content), though fans of the game will certainly enjoy what little is on offer. Let’s just hope the future DLC is a bit more substantial.