Kingdom Come – From the Ashes
Manage a village in Kingdom Come: Deliverance — from the Ashes.
Naturally, he asks the son of a blacksmith to pay for everything
At a certain point in Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s story, medieval everyman Henry helps to clear out the bandit-occupied village of Pribyslavitz, eventually killing the gang’s leader. The hamlet is left abandoned and in ruins after the battle. Now, though, if you buy From the Ashes — Kingdom Come’s first DLC package — you will be given the opportunity to restore the settlement to its former glory.
You start the quest by speaking to Lord Divish in Talmberg. Story-wise it’s designed to slot into the middle of the game, but you can start it in the epilog, too. Divish names Henry the village bailiff, but says he can’t spare any coin, so, naturally, asks the son of a blacksmith to pay for everything, too — somewhat of a clumsy way of making Henry the focus of the DLC.
Your first task is finding Divish’s surveyor, Marius Bilek, who has been kidnapped by the last few loitering bandits. There are several ways to rescue him, including simply paying them the ransom.
When Marius is free, you join him on a survey of the area. He takes note of the local resources and picks out parcels of land for the buildings you’ll be coughing up a fortune to build.
You choose what to construct by talking to Marius. I started with a woodcutter’s camp, which generates lumber to build more complex structures such as taverns and trading posts.
Buildings and laborers cost money. But income-generating structures will make you your cash back. The initial investment is hefty, though. Constructing the village cost me something in the region of 80,000 Groschen.
That’s prohibitively expensive for a good chunk of the game, so make sure you have a fat wallet before you think about restoring Pribyslavitz. The problem is, it doesn’t feel like a good investment. A completed village will generate a steady income, but you won’t visit it regularly.
BROKEN HOME
Inexplicably, Henry doesn’t get his own house. You can build an armorsmith or swordsmith, but not both. There’s no option to construct a bathhouse. And the village is tucked away in a remote corner of the map.
Having these amenities in one place would’ve made Pribyslavitz somewhere worth visiting as a base of operations. But after completing it, I felt no real urge to return. From the Ashes ultimately doesn’t add much of worth to Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but if you’ve bled the game dry and want more, it’s a passable reason to return to Bohemia.
verdict
An expansion that broadens the scope of KingdomCome, but not in an interactive or rewarding way.
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