Kingsroad Demo Review: My Hands-On Experience

Alright, folks, I’ve put in about two hours with the Game of Thrones Kingsroad Demo Review, and I’ve got to say, I’m genuinely impressed. When I first saw the promotional material, I was skeptical. It looked blurry, kind of cheap, especially with that mobile release looming. But after playing, my Kingsroad Demo Review is changing my tune.

The Positives: Surprising Quality

First off, the visuals. Initially, the game looked blurry and washed out, especially with FSR 3.1 on balanced mode, which I noticed during the first cinematic. However, turning off upscaling made a huge difference – the game looked sharp and crisp.

The main cutscene facial animations are decent, not AAA level, but definitely not bad. While normal dialogue animations are basic and lip movements are default, the overall story progression, voice acting, and narration were surprisingly good for the two hours I played. When I launched the game, they gave me three characters to choose from, allowing me to become the bastard son of the region’s head. After that, there was a decent character creation option with very generic tools.

Combat? Wow. It’s simple, old-school, and flashy. Combos, parries, satisfying dodges – it doesn’t feel like a free game combat. The skills and running attack animations, especially for my dex class, are great. Unlocking parry was a game-changer. Plus, the rewards are insane. Chests everywhere, daily bonuses, menu rewards – it’s loot heavy, but rewarding. Literally by just moving around in the menus you get reward. And some of the high-production cinematics? They really make you wonder if this is a free game.

The Negatives: Room for Improvement

Okay, it’s not all sunshine and roses. The depth of field (DOF) is shimmery and just plain bad. The horse and some character movement feel floaty, like they’re skating on ice. The tap-to-run is a pain, and a hold-to-run option is sorely missed. The rotational minimap, without a ‘keep me centered’ option, is confusing.

Combat gets messy with multiple enemies; off-screen attacks are hard to see, and combo opportunities are limited. With the amount of loot in this game, an auto-loot option would be a huge plus. The keybinds are a mess, especially on controller. A for light attack and X for heavy? Seriously? And the cursor thing for menus on controller? Just stop. Keep it simple.

And seriously, no pause during cutscenes? And that ‘skip’ button staring at you the whole time? Annoying. Plus, the subtitle size is way too big. I’d love an option to scale that down. It’s distracting.

Bugs and Issues: Work in Progress

Performance and technical issues are present, as expected in a work-in-progress build. Heavy pop-ins occur during grand scenes, and optimization isn’t perfect. On my 6750XT at 1080p, I averaged 80 FPS with FSR 3.1 quality and 60 FPS without upscaling, with occasional dips to 40 FPS. Some side NPCs lack voice acting, indicating missing localization. Additionally, there’s no FOV slider, and the game’s lighting and visuals can be inconsistent.

Overall: Enjoyable Despite Flaws

Despite the negatives, I genuinely enjoyed my two hours with the demo. This game has ‘oh-shit’ moments, good action sequences, solid storytelling, and voice acting. It’s not a forever game, but I can see myself putting in 40-50 hours or more. It’s a solid work in progress.

And if you’re looking for more gaming news, don’t forget to check out my previous post about the AC Shadows Leak.