Vortex Gaming

This surprise update adds a new questline called 'A Jester's Visit', bringing fresh fun to the game. Additionally, a collaboration with 'Balatro', a roguelike deckbuilder poker game, introduces quests related to a new dice game. Besides this, special items like clown-themed outfits and 'Jester's Dice', 'Jester's Tin Badge' have been added to enrich the player experience. In addition to the questline and item additions, game usability improvements have also been made, such as fixing the 'So It Begins' quest bug and adding Steam controller support.

The 'A Jester's Visit' quest begins with an encounter with a jester who appears at the Executioner and Hound tavern. This quest is short but prepared to add fun to the game, and the jester is depicted as a comedian and artist from ancient Roman times. The jester says that laughter is highly contagious and can sound like a disease, likening himself to a being that removes pain. Through this quest, players will experience an interesting story related to a new dice game.

Through the 'Balatro' collaboration, a character named 'The Juggler' appears and offers quests related to a new dice game. The most significant addition is the 'Joker Dice', where if a face with a joker's face appears, the player can determine the dice value as they wish. This gives players more control in the dice game, and with the 'Balatro Badge' item, you can also manually change the dice faces. These mechanics open up new strategic possibilities in the game.

Through the update, players can obtain the 'Joker Dice' itself, which offers a significant advantage in dice games. Additionally, various jester-themed outfits are unlocked, allowing Henry to dress up as a medieval entertainer. These outfits have bells that make noise when moving, adding to the fun. You can also acquire 'Marotte', a traditional jester's staff, one of the most unique weapons. The Marotte deals bludgeoning damage effective against heavily armored enemies, offering a unique appearance and playstyle.

In addition to new content, this update includes several important fixes. The most notable is the fix for a bug related to the progression of the 'So It Begins' questline, resolving an issue where the game incorrectly indicated recruitment was needed even after a certain NPC's death. Furthermore, official Steam controller support has been added, and a problem where the game would lock to Xbox controller prompts when using mouse and keyboard has been fixed. For hardcore mode players, UI issues in the negative perks selection screen have been fixed, making settings more convenient.

The extensive new voice lines added between Henry and 'The Juggler' in this update suggest that Warhorse Studios is working on the next Kingdom Come project. This implies more than just a crossover update; it means Henry's voice actor has recorded new dialogue, which could be an important clue about the future direction of the series. Warhorse Studios has already officially confirmed that a new Kingdom Come adventure is in development, scheduled for release between April 2027 and March 2028. This project may not be Kingdom Come Deliverance 3; it could be a smaller, more focused experience utilizing existing technology or serve as an epilogue to Henry's story.

In a test environment with a Ryzen 7 5700X, RTX 5070 Super, and 32GB RAM at 1440p resolution, the game achieved an average of 65-80 FPS with maximum settings. However, in market areas, GPU utilization dropped to 90%, and momentary frame drops were observed, suggesting a CPU bottleneck. Applying DLSS Quality mode slightly increases frames, but the CPU bottleneck persists with reduced GPU utilization. Overall, it's playable, but a CPU upgrade should be considered for higher performance.

Considering the game's CPU-intensive nature, for AM4 CPU users like the Ryzen 5700X, a custom setting is recommended, with textures set to Ultra and other options mixed between High and Medium. This setting provides an average of 90-120 FPS at 1440p resolution, minimizing CPU bottlenecks for a stable gameplay experience. It offers better overall performance and stability than experimental settings or using Ultra options alone, so this custom setting allows for the optimal play environment.