- Primary Subject: Reassessing Elden Ring’s place in the modern open-world RPG debate
- Key Idea: Why Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 reframes what “role-playing” means compared to Elden Ring’s combat-driven design
- Status: Opinion
- Last Verified: August 2, 2026
- Quick Answer: The piece argues that while Elden Ring remains a genre-defining open-world action RPG, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 offers a more traditional and systemic interpretation of role-playing, where identity, reputation, and world-reactivity matter more than combat expression, challenging how modern players define “best RPG.”
Whenever I see people debating the greatest modern open-world RPG, the conversation almost always ends in the same place: Elden Ring.
To be fair, I get it - very few games weave together exploration, combat, environmental storytelling, and breathtaking spectacle with such confidence.
Even four years later, it's still the game I recommend to almost anyone looking for a massive fantasy adventure.
I've been turning this over in my head lately, and I don't think Elden Ring deserves to keep wearing the "best open-world RPG" crown anymore.
Notice I didn't say best game - because that's a completely different debate. I've started wondering whether we've become too comfortable treating every great action RPG as the pinnacle of role-playing itself.
The arrival of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is what finally pushed me over the edge. It didn't make me appreciate Elden Ring any less - in fact, I still think it's one of the greatest games ever made - but it did make me realize that I've been treating "best open-world game" and "best open-world RPG" as though they're the same thing.
Why Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Feels Like The Better RPG
To me, this is where KiWarhorse StudiosWarhorse Studiosngdom Come: Deliverance 2 begins to justify calling itself the better RPG.
In Elden Ring, I decide whether I want to become a battle-hardened knight, a glass-cannon sorcerer, a nimble duelist, or some wonderfully cursed abomination that somehow works (which, admittedly, is half the fun).
NPCs rarely acknowledge the person I've become - the world mostly cares about my level, my gear, and whether I can win the next fight.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 approaches role-playing from the opposite direction. Instead of asking who I want to fight as, it constantly asks who I want Henry to become within the world itself.
The clothes I wear matter, my reputation follows me, and even conversations feel shaped by the person I've gradually become instead of unfolding as neatly compartmentalized dialogue trees.
Even something as mundane as walking into town covered in dirt and blood can affect how people perceive me (which is such a small touch, but it adds so much to the illusion). I think that's the biggest difference between these two games.
Elden Ring lets me express myself through combat. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 lets me express myself through the world.
That's what I personally want from an RPG. I don't think role-playing should simply mean choosing a different sword or unlocking another spell tree.
If I'm calling something the greatest RPG in the genre, I want the world to acknowledge my existence beyond the enemies I defeat.
I want my decisions, reputation, conversations, and relationships to feel like systems instead of decoration.
Warhorse Studios doubled down on that idea - and I think it paid off. Here's where I think people immediately assume I'm attacking Elden Ring, and I'm really not.
I still believe Elden Ring has the better combat. I think it has the more creative world, the more memorable bosses, and probably the greatest fantasy landscape I've explored in years.
Few games reward curiosity the way FromSoftware does. I'll happily spend an hour wandering toward something strange on the horizon because I know there's probably another unforgettable discovery waiting for me.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 can't compete with that kind of fantasy spectacle, and I don't think it's trying to.
Bohemia isn't filled with dragons, cosmic monsters, or underground civilizations hidden beneath magical forests.
Instead, it tries to convince me that I'm living inside a believable medieval society, and somehow that's just as immersive for completely different reasons.
That's why I don't think these games are really chasing the same prize. When I want incredible boss fights, mechanical depth, and one of the best fantasy worlds ever created, I'll probably choose Elden Ring every single time.
But when I want to inhabit a world rather than simply conquer one - where every conversation, reputation, and decision feels woven into daily life - I find myself reaching for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 instead.
We've become so used to judging RPGs by their combat systems, world size, and spectacle that we've forgotten what the genre's name actually implies.
I've always believed the best RPG is the one that treats me like a person in its world, not just another weapon on two legs.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 doesn't rewrite Elden Ring's place in history - it makes me question whether I've been judging RPGs by the wrong yardstick.
If anything, I think both games represent the absolute peak of modern open-world design - they just prioritize different things.
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