
To be honest, it’s still a little hectic for me, but I feel the most notable change is that you can avoid being countered / masterstriked. By positioning your weapon, you can block, perfect block (allows you to strike back) or masterstrike which remains unblockable. There is now an interesting back and forth between blocking, striking back and being blocked, which can go on forever - until someone has no stamina left or someone pulls off a masterstrike.

I think the NPCs did that in KCD1 if you were dirty, had high charisma but a fancy armor or similar. It feels like it works similarly in KCD2, since their demeanor changes significantly when switching from peasant clothes to a proper armor. Don’t have knights armor or any other fancy outfits yet though, so I can’t tell for KCD2.