One of the best games of the year so far has just got even better, as Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 adds the long-awaited Hardcore Mode.

Hardcore Mode makes the medieval adventure game even more challenging, removing things like fast travel and mini map locations. It's available for free as part of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 update 1.2.4, which is out now on PlayStation, Xbox and PC.

As pointed out by developer Warhorse on X, the update also makes improvements to other aspects of the game, and fixes a selection of gameplay bugs and glitches.

However, the real highlight of update 1.2.4 is Hardcore Mode, which according to Warhorse is "not for the faint of heart".

Hardcore Mode begins with players choosing three or more negative gameplay perks. These perks add negative modifiers to the game, such as removing visual clues in combat.

The Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 developer explains more: "You won’t see your location on the map. You won’t fast travel. You won’t get surrendering enemies, visual cues in combat, or even basic directions—unless you earn them.

"Hardcore Mode reshapes how you play Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. No handholding. No shortcuts. Just you, your instincts, and a whole lot of trouble."

As you can see from the patch notes below, the new update also balances the shop prices for herbs, and adds a new hairstyle option for Henry.

Fans can also expect general stability improvements, as well as fixes for bugs when playing Dice and during specific missions.

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 update 1.2.4 patch notes...

New

Hardcore Mode

• Introduced the option to start a new playthrough in hardcore mode.

Features

Balance

• Rebalanced shop prices for herbs, so that they never sell for a higher price than their buying price.

Barber

• Added the bald hairstyle option for Henry.

• Fixed shadow flickering under certain weather conditions.

Dice

• Fixed a crash caused by getting hit while choosing dice.

Items

• Fixed the broken wreath model.

Mods

• Fixed issues with saving when having too many mods installed.

Skills & Perks

• Fixed Sagittarius, On the Road, Salva, and Wildrider perks not working properly when taken while playing on 1.1.X and after loading on 1.2.X.

Stability

• Fixed several most frequent crashes.

Platform-Specific Fixes - Xbox

• Fixed some saves not being available to load due to Gold edition / Season pass licensing issues.

Quests

• Judgment Day

 - Fixed incorrect NPC behavior after completing the final quest.

 - Fixed the victory overlay sometimes not displaying correctly.

• The Jaunt

 - Fixed Lord Semine sometimes getting stuck after the practice fight on the way from Semine.