6/10

As much as I love the graphics, epic battles Bannerlord has to offer, it still lack the immersion and fun Warband did back then.

Warband had feasts where a lord can invite you to his town during peace time. This is also where you can also increase your relations with other lords and join tournaments to increase the town's relation with you. In Bannerlord, there are no feasts, barely any peacetime because whenever my kingdom is at peace for a couple days, they straight up declare another war with another kingdom, giving no time to rest, govern your castles or towns.

Whenever you enter a town or village, there's a chance of an event where bandits will surprise you, leaving you to fight them singlehandedly making the fight enjoyable and rewarding. In Bannerlord there are these alleyways where bandits hang around where you can attack them and take their loot, but it takes forever to walk to them.

Training villagers in Warband felt more fun, where you had to fight them with wooden pole arms, and at the end of the quest, you help them defend their village against bandits. Training villagers in Bannerlord however feels like a chore trying to keep them alive and by late game you wouldn't really need this quest.

Companions in Warband had a lot more interactions with player and with other companions. Some companions hate each other and if they do one or the other companion will leave the party and some companions like each other's company. I feel like in bannerlord, the potential of the traits each companion you have is wasted literally not interacting with eachother.

Wooing a lady or lord in Warband felt more rewarding because you had read poetry in order to increase your relations with them. You can even fight another lord if they also like the lady you're courting and duel for their hand in marriage. In Bannerlord you are presented with the most boring way to court a lady and its through dialog boxes and you just go for the highest percentage.

In Warband you can tell lords tactics and strategy on where to attack and defend villages or towns or to just follow you, while in Bannerlord you can't.

The soundtrack in Warband just feels more epic and fun compared to Bannerlord as well.

In conclusion I feel like Bannerlord is wasting it's potential and is lacking elements from its predecessor lacking immsersion, and feels more like a battle simulator/sandbox.

Its an incredible game.

Sadly it's nowhere near finished. The diplomacy in particular is an absolute grind. With a bit of work this could be one of the best games ever made but I cannot in good conscience recommend this to anyone.

You will hear the same criticisms, nowhere near enough content and unfinished product.

TaleWords haven't listened to paying customers. In fact they have ignored and lied to them. Please encourage them towards more ethical business practice by not buying this until it's finished.

geil