KCD is above all an incredibly ballsy design move. Making combat skill tied to character's skill rather than player skill is something that could be seen in older RPGs (Gothics come to mind) but was generally phased out, so it really surprised me to see it come back. Then you get an RPG where fighting is like... 30% of the content, and I'm being generous there. Incredibly brave decision to rely on the non-combat part to such an extent, and to thus be so confident in its quality. Finally, you get the story which was clearly designed to be as down to earth as possible while at the same time guiding you through the late medieval society and its customs. No great villains, just some bandits and mongoloids, no great quest to save the land, and, well, kind of the average Joe as a protagonist. It's a lie that Henry has no personality, on the contrary it's apparent that there was concentrated effort to make him come off as an average village boy (a bit on the virtuous side but not too much) and keep him that way throughout the entire game.
There were flaws, of course. Big ones, even. Masterstrike and combos were overall a clusterfuck that just doesn't work, archery is OP as fuck, in game economy is absolutely broken, power progression of player is too fast, many of the quests are repetitive (I swear there has to be like 8 or so quest givers who just pile entire questchains of poaching on you, same with stealing. It'd be fine if they were at least unique in some way, but it's always just busywork), random ambushes get incredibly old after a fairly short time, especially if you aren't using fast travel, and the main story drags its feet in some parts.
Overall, however, the game is quite good despite those flaws, and is a breath of fresh air in the genre in more ways than one. I can only hope the sequel will fix and improve upon these things.
Not that it is needed, once you learn Masterstrike combat becomes a joke anyway. Especially if you equip some decent armor too.
