Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is a medieval sandbox RPG that ambitiously expands on its predecessor, Warband, with improved graphics and deeper mechanics. Players enjoy commanding armies, managing economies, and engaging in real-time battles. The game offers a complex skill tree, companion management, and a living economy, providing a rich strategic experience. However, many players feel the game remains incomplete years after release, with core systems like diplomacy, endgame content, and questing underdeveloped. Frequent bugs, crashes, and unstable updates disrupt gameplay, while modders play a crucial role in enhancing and stabilizing the experience.

Despite its potential and loyal fanbase, Bannerlord struggles with unfinished features, repetitive gameplay, and lack of developer communication. The announced DLCs have been met with skepticism, as some view them as premature monetization attempts. Overall, the game is best enjoyed with mods, but its vanilla form feels like an unfinished project that may never fully realize its promise.

Highlights

Players praise Bannerlord's engaging combat system that offers directional attacks and cavalry mechanics, making battles rewarding and skill-based. The strategic depth in army command, companion management, and the living economy is often highlighted. Graphics are a notable improvement over Warband, providing a more immersive medieval setting. The sandbox nature allows for emergent stories and freedom in gameplay. The modding community is widely celebrated for significantly expanding content and improving the game's longevity.

Criticisms

Common criticisms include the game's unfinished state, with many promised features like diplomacy and troop tactics either missing or shallow. Players report frequent bugs, crashes, and save corruption, severely impacting progression. The game's mechanics can feel overcomplicated and tedious, with excessive micromanagement detracting from fun. Updates often break mods and introduce new issues, frustrating the community. The story and questlines lack depth, and endgame content is sparse. Many feel the developers prioritize DLC over fixing core problems, leading to perceptions of abandonment and cash-grabbing.