Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Giving it a 3 because it lacks a lot of features and polish and the more I play the more annoyed I get. That said the game is absurdly fun and replayable. Here's and example: In my current playthrough I decided that instead of doing the usual I was going to be an all around nice guy and the perfect vassal for whatever kingdom decided to pick me up. I began as usual by gathering companions, doing some quests and bandit hunting and trying my hand at tournaments until my renown got me a pretty good mercenary contract from the Vlandians. From that point on I tried to make myself of use. Hitting targets of oportunity, helping friendly lords, capturing enemies and generally doing the right thing. At some point my efforts got recognized by the crown and Derthert, king of the Vlandians, offered me vassalage which I promptly accepted. Years go by and I was now happily married with baby daughter and another one on the way. We now owned several towns and castles that were slowly but surely becoming prosperous. My clan had become strong, wealthy and influential and since I had built an excelent relation with all the Vlandian lords and also with many from the other countries I was thinking nothing could go wrong. Flag raised. In 1091, 7 years into the playthrough, I received a urgent message: The King is dead, long live the King. Derthert--king of the Vlandians and by this point a very close friend--had peacefully passed away at the very old age of 55. The message also included an invitation to participate in the nomination of the succesor so I renewed my determination of being the best vassal possible and serve the new king with the same loyalty and devotion as the last. Imagine my surprise when I was elected king of the Vlandians. And not only that but with a landslide 100% approval. All the years I spent making friends and building trust with the other lords had paid off in the most unexpected way. So now I'm back to unifying the continent under one flag. :)

If I'd know this was coming to GOG, then I would have waited, but I already have amassed over 100 hours on Steam. This game has a lot to love, and in my mind has more depth and enjoyment than an unmodded Warband. However, it is important to note - this is an Early Access release, and things like balance are still being adjusted, not to mention the fact that there are a few bugs here and there. If you're looking for a polished game, this isn't for you. However, if you can look past some of those shortcomings, then there's really nothing quite like Bannerlord. As of the start of October 2020, TaleWorlds have released the first official modding tools, so its safe to say that over the coming months, the amount of user-created content in this game will explode, and the experience will be somewhat more remeniscent of a modded Warband. Bannerlord has heaps of potential, and is already a really fun game. It's lacking polish, but that's a small price to pay for the hours of enjoyment you'll find.

Bannerlord is a good sequel in the Mount & Blade series of games that further develops the sound gameplay of its predecessors and adds interesting new game mechanics. It has preserved what worked well and rather than merely serving up more of the same with modern day graphic spectacle it evolves the concept to give an even better experience. This being said the game has massively updated its graphics and increased the scale of combat with many hundreds of participants in exciting skirmishes, battles and sieges that will immerse a player in an excellent bout of escapism. The love of the developers for their subject comes to the fore in a lovingly created earlier era of the imaginary Calradian setting that is strongly reminiscent of the early Byzantine period of the Roman empire. The attention to detail and internal consistency of the world they created adds to the further enjoyment of Bannerlord. With mod support for user made alterations to the base game its longevity is assured even when the default content were to lose its appeal over time. There is no doubt that this title will claim a significant portion of my gaming time for a considerable span of years.

I've patiently awaited this full release only to have shit thrown in my face by this joke of a crash. I see such a start-up issue has been common thoughout early access; however, those suggested fixes don't work for me. Why? Because this is as fresh of an install as possible, never had the game before, I was biding my time for today, haha. I'm using no mods whatsover, latest drivers . . . pathetic.

There's so much good in this game, but also so much bad. It's maddening. The developer seems to have lost their passion for developing the series, which they had for the previous games. I can't honestly recommend the game in its current state—buggy, imbalanced, rife with poor design decisions, and clearly unfinished. I do recommend keeping an eye on it, in the hopes it will be fixed enough to be worth buying in the future. One other thing: while I normally prefer buying games on GOG, in this case, if you do buy *Bannerlord*, I recommend buying it on Steam instead. The GOG version is missing a couple of features; there's no access to the official modding tools and to the latest beta patches. Steam users get both of these.