Summary
- Swimming was not a common skill in medieval Bohemia due to limited exposure to large bodies of water and superstitions.
- Henry’s background as a blacksmith’s son didn’t require him to learn to swim or have opportunities to do so.
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s commitment to realism justifies Henry’s inability to swim as a genuine depiction of 15th-century Bohemia.
Swimming in video games has often been one of the industry’s most contentious design choices, as water in a game’s map was once used as an impassable barrier of sorts to prevent players from going out of bounds or a hazard that would kill characters who happened to fall into it. However noble those intentions might have been, the contention ultimately arises from the frequent lack of an explanation for why characters have been unable to swim in such games. Like its predecessor, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is one such game that doesn’t allow its protagonist, Henry, to swim. Yet, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for that, once again making Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 a shining example of immersion and role-play in video games.
More recently, developers have been taking strides to ensure a character’s inability to swim is explainable and somehow tied to a game’s lore. While these games generally have to make up some wild reason as to why that is the case, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s approach to historical authenticity and realism effortlessly does all the explaining for it. At the end of the day, Henry’s inability to swim in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is derived from the common practices of medieval Bohemia, as well as Henry’s background as a blacksmith’s son.
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Review
With Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Warhorse Studios delivers one of the first great games of 2025.
Why Henry Can’t Swim in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Swimming Was Not a Common Skill in Medieval Bohemia
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is set in 15th-century Bohemia, and since its aim is to do everything in its power to accurately represent that, that means Henry’s ability to swim is ultimately affected. In medieval Europe, particularly in regions like Bohemia, swimming was not a common skill among the general population. Many people, especially those from more inland areas, had very limited exposure to large bodies of water and would even often harbor superstitions about them.
During Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s introduction, Hans Capon, who is a noble, can be seen swimming well, with Henry even making a comment about it as he struggles to stay above the water.
One prominent figure in Bohemian folklore was the vodnik, a water spirit believed to dwell in rivers, streams, and ponds. It was often said that the vodnik would lure individuals, especially those who bathed late at night, into the water and drown them. On account of those superstitions, fishermen were often hesitant to rescue anyone they found drowning, as they were afraid that interfering with the vodnik’s victims would lead to their own demise as well. These superstitions and others, as well as the geographical location of some communities, made swimming both unnecessary and worth avoiding in medieval Bohemia.
Henry’s Background Didn’t Require Him to Learn Swimming
Apart from the fact that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s Henry grew up in Skalitz, which isn’t near any large bodies of water, his background as the son of a blacksmith from a small village led to very little opportunity or the need to learn to swim. While Henry did have a social life growing up, his focus was primarily on the responsibilities tied to his father’s blacksmith trade rather than recreational activities. His upbringing mostly revolved around learning how to make a living rather than having fun or exploring where crossing a body of water might be necessary.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is set in 15th-century Bohemia, and since its aim is to do everything in its power to accurately represent that, that means Henry’s ability to swim is ultimately affected.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 may trade convenience for immersion and realism, but that’s what makes it such a genuine role-playing experience in the end. As far as Henry’s inability to swim goes, it can’t be seen as a frustrating oversight but an intentional depiction of medieval life in 15th-century Bohemia, with these mechanics digging their roots deep into the history and culture of the time period. Rather than breaking immersion with an unexplainable boundary, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 doubles down on its commitment to realism in a way that feels natural and justified.
RPG
Action-Adventure
Open-World
- Released
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February 4, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
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Warhorse Studios