Mount & Blade: Warband

If you have never played M&B prior to Warband you will likely enjoy it. However if like me you have invested hundreds of hours into the original you may find this game to be an epic frustration. The perspective of the 3rd person view has been changed (just enough to throw off the skills you developed in the original) , the lance controls changed (even in auto couching the lance point moves with your free look), the new opaque friendly unit markers blind you in combat (where as the old school titles never did), and over all they took a well made game and over did the attempt to upgrade it. I cannot express the sheer shrieking frustration of couching the lance to charge and having it shifting all over when I change my view angle... While it is great to be able to play multiplayer I am a solo gamer and thus gain nothing from it.

I have some nitpicks, but despite them, the game is very good and deserves the stars I gave it: * QOL as a king: Managing vassals is a pain in the ass. I heard it can be mitigated with mods * I don't like the RPG elements, the only saving grace of them is that they have interesting interactions with the vassals. It's just stat increases most of the time.

The native game itself is one of my two favorite melee combat games (the other being JK: Jedi Academy). That being said, you can only grasp the true value of the game, once you try the community modifications. Managing all your installed mods is easy- they are stored as separate modules. Each of them creates a unique experience, to name a few: - Star Wars Conquest - Phantasy Calradia (D&D) - Warsword Conquest (Warhammer Fantasy) - A World of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) - The Last Days of The Third Age (LotR) - the mod you may decide to develop - Chronicles of Might&Magic, as a Might character - Fires of War (Ancient Greece) - Legacy of the Dragon ... see where I'm going with this?

There isn't anything more I can say that hasn't been said by others except my personal view. I love Mount and Blade: Warband. I have mostly played vanilla as I like to start a game how it was originally and even the basic Warband experience is fantastic. The combat and troop hiring/upgrading is what stands out most to me. I was hesitant at first considering I am more of a console gamer but the mechanics do make you feel like you are actually there in the world. On that alone I can suggest buying this game but there is obviously so much more. I don't have Bannerlord but I wouldn't pass up on Warband at all. Especially so once you delve into the massive modding community. Buy this now!

The premise is basically this: you build an army and fight other armies in order to capture territory for your kingdom. Take prisoners if you like; maybe sell them for ransom, attempt to flip them or kill them if they don't prove useful. The battles are a ton of fun and the replay value is insane. I had always wanted a game like this but I had no idea that one existed.