Kingdom Come: Deliverance - From the Ashes (PC) Review

What is From the Ashes? It's DLC that puts Henry in charge of a medieval village; one that he "acquired" right after dealing with its bandit infestation problem. His mission after doing so will be to restore it back to its former glory, and, possibly, gain a bunch of rewards out of the whole thing, instead of something along the lines of:
- Thank you Harry!
- It's Henry.
- Whatever...

When can a player start enjoying this? Theoretically, after the first four-to-five hours needed for the introductory-esque first missions to end, and the real, more free-roaming adventuring begins. In practice, however, this is a mission better suited for those who are somewhere in the middle of the main quest line. More importantly? The one willing to engage in some village rebuilding must be ready to carry lots of coin to it for some spending.

The first part of this quest has you trying to save a landlord, and is arguably the best part, as, in true RPG fashion, can be done in a couple of ways, from violent to diplomatic, whereas the rest of the tasks follow the tired "go to X and fetch Y" formula - oh, and with no big rewards after doing any of these. Furthermore, there are some restrictions with what can be built, which feel silly, as there is no real reason to not have, say, an armoursmith, as well as a swordsmith... especially since you are the one who pays everything.

Note that although this sits somewhere close to the centre of the campaign, end-gamers will actually find it easier to fund the whole thing, as most structures need some pretty large sums of money to be crafted. The sad thing is that this is basically what From the Ashes is. Instead of providing Henry with the opportunity to play the hero, this feels more like going to a bank to deposit the monthly payment for your mortgage.

In the end, the biggest issue in here is the lack of an incentive. Apart from the pleasure of completionism, there's really no reason to do anything that From the Ashes adds to the game world. So, you have built a village with lots of helpful shops? Well, too bad that this area is too far away from any points of interest, not to mention that you will probably be too strong before doing so, to even bother with all this construction business...