2.5/5 ★ – MPT's review of Kingdom Come: Deliverance – From the Ashes.

the first main KCD DLC and the most unique of the 4, the last thing From the Ashes wants to do is add a huge new narrative adventure. instead it’s central focus is a completely new feature: funding, managing and overseeing the creation of a cute little village. while the results are mixed, it’s cool but a bit forgettable, and mostly only memorable for the wrong reasons. it’s impressive how natural the incorporation of the central mechanic is done. after you’ve cleared Pribyslavitz of bandits and Cumans in the main story, instead of leaving it a stinky smoking ruin full of bodies, the idea comes up that it should be rebuilt and that you, as Henry, should oversee the process because no one has asked you to do anything for them and you definitely don’t have enough responsibilities at this point in the story (they have, and you absolutely do). it’s just brought into the game in a very immersive way that makes it feel like it’s been planned since the start. seeing the place physically grow (after some massive Groschen investments) is cool enough, and the layout itself with the church and the little hill and the judgement tree is just real cosy and homely. like most of the rest of its side content, KCD continues making choices actually matter in same way by giving you certain mutually exclusive building options, like taking a butchers or bakery, stables or guardhouse, or weaponsmith or armoursmith. each gives you different unique rewards/ abilities, which is a nice touch. you feel like you’re given at least a bit of actual responsibility as bailiff and aren’t just robbed blind for the thousands of Groschen the place demands. the judgements are probably the best part of the DLC just by being funny and charming little scenarios to deal with that can hold some weight and add some lore to your settlement’s creation. it’s much more rewarding for the simple satisfaction of seeing the settlement grow, getting nice little rewards and playing bailiff than the money you get. this shit takes a whole lot of pennies and time to get on its feet, and by the time you’ve put thousands into it and start to make real profit, you’ve already stole or made more than you could ever spend in other ways. the profit making aspect ended up being the least useful of the entire DLC for me. this, and the absolute cross country quest it is to get there made it so i didn’t really visit the place super often, especially not after everything was built and upgraded. even with the attractions like your own little fighting arena or the drying rack for free dried food (ultra useful) there’s not that much to do there. there’s also the fact i have some insane beef with a key technical issue this DLC seems to have brought to the base game: the Cold Steel, Hot Blood crash, where reporting to Sir Divish that Pribyslavitz is complete while he’s praying causes an infinite load screen on this mission. boggles by mind how a DLC could add a game bricking bug and STILL be part of the game 8 years after release. fuck you Sir Divish and From the Ashes you destroyed my first Henry. playing this all the way through then cluelessly playing 100+ more hours of the game and getting to the final story missions where there’s no hope of a save that old is SOUL crushing 💔. absolutely fuck the game bricking that it adds, but From the Ashes is cool enough for a time for the cute new village, neat rewards and engaging bailiff management. there’s enjoyment to be had, especially with the immersive way it’s incorporated into the game after the Nest of Vipers story mission, but it loses its steam when you realise the main attraction of profiting isn’t all that useful. the amount of time and money you put in isn’t worth the time and money you get back, and Pribyslavitz’ location and the fact there’s not much to do there makes it turn into a bit of an afterthought.