Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 stormed into 2025 with a vengeance, selling over 2 million copies in its first two weeks after its February 4 launch and earning a 90% from PC Gamer for its wild, systems-driven take on 15th-century Bohemia. Warhorse Studios crafted a sequel that’s equal parts ambitious and unhinged, a sandbox where Henry of Skalitz can bumble from blacksmith’s son to noble bastard amid war-torn chaos. But as of March 9, 2025, the real talk isn’t just about the game’s sprawling quests or brutal combat—it’s the upcoming Patch 1.2, set to drop mid-month. Teased in a Twitch stream by lead designer Prokop Jirsa and PR manager Tobias Stolz-Zwilling, this update’s packing a hefty punch: “zoomer” haircuts for Henry and the return of a hardcore mode so savage it might kill you before the game even kicks off. Buckle up—this patch is about to reshape Bohemia, one mullet at a time.

Let’s start with the hair. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 1 added bathhouse haircuts in its 1.4 patch back in 2018, letting Henry ditch his scruffy default for something sharper. KCD2 launched without that flair, leaving players stuck with Henry’s medieval mop—a sore spot for a game obsessed with immersion. Patch 1.2 fixes that with a free “Barber Mode” DLC, hitting bathhouses across Bohemia by mid-March. Jirsa and Stolz-Zwilling showcased the goods on stream: undercuts, bouffants, and yes, the “brawler”—a mullet so TikTok-ready it’s like Henry’s prepping to ask bandits their body count. “Luxurious” doesn’t even cover it—these aren’t just trims; they’re a glow-up that clashes hilariously with the game’s gritty realism. X users are losing it: “Henry with a mullet is my new religion,” one posted, while another quipped, “Zoomer Henry’s about to drop a diss track on Sigismund.” I’m sold—give me a clean-shaven Henry rocking a fade, and I’ll forgive every glitchy horse I’ve ridden.

But the real beast in this patch is Hardcore Mode, a fan-favorite terror from KCD1 making its triumphant return. This isn’t your casual stroll through the crownlands—Warhorse is cranking the realism to 11. No fast travel, no compass, no hand-holding; you’re navigating by map and gut alone, deciphering landmarks like a lost peasant. Then there’s the kicker: negative traits you pick at the start—think sleepwalking (sonambulant), a bad back (lower carry weight), or “bashful” (speech check penalties). Stack them all in KCD1, and you’d snag an achievement if you survived. KCD2 ups the ante: there’s a chance you’ll hit a “You Died” screen before the prologue even loads—maybe a cut gets infected, or you drown in a pond, or you don’t make it past birth. “It’s immersive as hell,” Stolz-Zwilling grinned on stream, and X agrees: “Hardcore mode killing me before I play? Peak Kingdom Come,” one user cheered. I’m tempted—foolishly—to see if I can outlast medieval RNG.

This patch isn’t just fluff—it’s a response to a community that’s been vocal since day one. KCD2 launched strong, with over 250,000 peak Steam players, but it wasn’t flawless. Bugs like quest stalls, NPC wall-glitches, and wonky horse AI plagued early runs, while the UI’s been a punching bag (echoing Monster Hunter Wilds’ menu woes). Hotfix 1.1.2 in February patched some stability—locked-door crashes got the axe—but left bigger fixes dangling. Patch 1.2, with its 34 pages of notes teased earlier this month, promises more: bug stomps, QoL tweaks, and maybe a combat tweak for those who find Henry’s swings too sluggish. “FIXED,” Stolz-Zwilling captioned a tape-sealing GIF on X, hinting at a thorough scrub. Fans speculate on forums: “Stealth needs love—getting caught’s a dice roll,” one begged. Another demanded, “No more rolling sausages for Mutt!” If Warhorse delivers, this could be the polish KCD2 deserves.

Warhorse has form here. KCD1 launched a mess in 2018—crashes, jank, the works—but patches like 1.4 turned it into a cult hit. KCD2 started smoother, but its scale (twice the original’s map) and density (crime systems that brand you a pariah) mean there’s more to iron out. Barber Mode’s a crowd-pleaser—customization’s catnip for RPG fans—but Hardcore Mode’s the soul of Warhorse’s vision: friction as flavor. “It’s not instant gratification,” senior designer Ondřej Bittner told GamesRadar+, channeling Bethesda’s old-school ethos over modern ease. X users vibe with it: “Hardcore mode’s why I love this game—pure survival,” one posted. Me? I’m eyeing that mullet-and-misery combo like it’s my next obsession.

Skeptics aren’t silent, though. “34 pages of fixes means it’s still broken,” one Redditor sniped, and they’ve got a point—big patches can spawn new gremlins. Console players, especially, dread PS5 sky flickers or Xbox texture pops persisting. With three DLCs looming—Brushes with Death (summer), Legacy of the Forge (fall), Mysteria Ecclesia (winter)—Patch 1.2’s the bedrock. Botch it, and the 2 million sales glow fades; nail it, and KCD2 could rival Baldur’s Gate 3’s post-launch legend status. Stream snippets show promise—Jirsa hinted at mod support too, a boon for sphere-loving weirdos—but the proof’s in the pudding, due around March 12 per Prima Games.

The buzz is electric. X posts range from “Mullets and death? Warhorse gets me” to “Hardcore’s gonna break my soul, and I’m ready.” Steam’s “Very Positive” rating (over 100,000 reviews) could climb if 1.2 sticks the landing—though some early quitters might not return. I’ve got 40 hours in, dodging bandits and failing speech checks, and this patch feels like Christmas. A sharp-haired Henry facing a world that might kill him before he swings? That’s Kingdom Come’s mad genius—embracing the jank, the grind, the absurdity. Monster Hunter Wilds spiked cheese naan sales; KCD2 might make mullets medieval again.

But beyond that, you even get the chance to make things even more difficult for yourself by selecting from an array of negative traits at the game’s start. You can give Henry a bad back, or make him sonambulant (a sleepwalker), or give him a malus to speech checks by picking the ‘bashful’ trait. In KCD1, if you turned on every single bad trait and still managed to beat the game, you got a special achievement for your trouble. Do I find this tempting? Yes, because I am very foolish.

My favourite thing about KCD1’s hardcore mode, though, was that it upped the realism by straight up killing you in character creation. If you try to start a hardcore game, you stood a great chance of hitting a ‘You died’ screen, outlining the circumstances of your early death in a harsh medieval society (a cut could get infected, or you fell into a pond, or maybe you never made it through birth at all). You’d often have to start a new game multiple times just to make it to the actual character-creation screen. That’s how hardcore we’re talking.

I’m not sure if that particular aspect of the game’s hardcore mode will make a return when KCD2 gets its own version later this month, but I hope it does. It’s a weird, rare, and special thing Warhorse has made. Aspects like that just make it even better.