Such a disappointing release... The developers had so much time and resources to create a superior game to 'Mount and Blade Warband' but this game suffers from so many non-intuitive systems, and objectively flawed combat. And why is it even in early access, and not just a full release given the length of development and a 90+ man dev team?

I loved Warband back in the day, but Bannerlord is just the same thing with very little added polish or modern 'quality of life' additions, and for a such a sizeable price tag.

The characters look goofy, and the overall graphics look dated.
There is no reward for successfully blocking an attack, the enemy swings again at full speed.
Have fun chasing other warbands on the campaign for 10 minutes.
You are punished for not having a shield, have fun with every enemy having a projectile side weapon.
You will wander around aimlessly in an overly large town, trying to complete 'where's waldo' quests. You can press Alt to have names appear but then why did they even bother adding exploration in towns and NPCs to follow when you can 'wallhack' to find things anyway.
The tutorial explains nothing properly...
The tutorial fighting instructor is hard as nails, bad for newbies (I have plenty M&B combat experience).
Upon meeting any NPC, you have the choice to say 'hello' in three different ways... Why?
The game is riddled with crashes and bugs.
If you don't keep multiple save files up to date you WILL lose your progress. I lost mine despite having two save files. Apparently both and the auto save got broken after a fight with a lord.
Bandit hideouts are a complete joke. Send in 7 of your men at random to fight up to 30 enemies. Watch their mlg noscope archers shoot your men to death before they even get near. Especially if they didn't have shields.
Going between menu (character/inventory) etc takes ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ FOREVER even on an ssd it's like a loading screen simulator.
Also, up to three loading screens to enter a battle. Nice.
The quests offered by NPCs are the most generic crap I've seen in a long time and feel straight out of 2009. Deliver some sheep escort a caravan. BTW there's no way to follow said caravan at their speed to enjoy clicking alongside the entire way. Sending your companions on the missions instead can relieve the tedium but they also take WAY longer to complete.
The army control system is a mess. Your troops wont even take formation unless you first issue a movement command. If you issue no command they won't even attack when the enemy arrives. Your archers will sometimes just not fire the entire battle.
Enjoy losing high tier units to tier 1 ranged spam. If you let your shield down you will die in 2 hits.

I could go all day on complaints, and not very much to compliment that 'Warband' didn't already offer.

I am utterly baffled by the design decisions made here, and dumbstruck as to why the developers would not have taken community input to produce a better experience than this.

Such a disappointing release... The developers had so much time and resources to create a superior game to 'Mount and Blade Warband' but this game suffers from so many non-intuitive systems, and objectively flawed combat. And why is it even in early access, and not just a full release given the length of development and a 90+ man dev team? I loved Warband back in the day, but Bannerlord is just the same thing with very little added polish or modern 'quality of life' additions, and for a such a sizeable price tag. The characters look goofy, and the overall graphics look dated. There is no reward for successfully blocking an attack, the enemy swings again at full speed. Have fun chasing other warbands on the campaign for 10 minutes. You are punished for not having a shield, have fun with every enemy having a projectile side weapon. You will wander around aimlessly in an overly large town, trying to complete 'where's waldo' quests. You can press Alt to have names appear but then why did they even bother adding exploration in towns and NPCs to follow when you can 'wallhack' to find things anyway. The tutorial explains nothing properly... The tutorial fighting instructor is hard as nails, bad for newbies (I have plenty M&B combat experience). Upon meeting any NPC, you have the choice to say 'hello' in three different ways... Why? The game is riddled with crashes and bugs. If you don't keep multiple save files up to date you WILL lose your progress. I lost mine despite having two save files. Apparently both and the auto save got broken after a fight with a lord. Bandit hideouts are a complete joke. Send in 7 of your men at random to fight up to 30 enemies. Watch their mlg noscope archers shoot your men to death before they even get near. Especially if they didn't have shields. Going between menu (character/inventory) etc takes fucking FOREVER even on an ssd it's like a loading screen simulator. Also, up to three loading screens to enter a battle. Nice. The quests offered by NPCs are the most generic crap I've seen in a long time and feel straight out of 2009. Deliver some sheep escort a caravan. BTW there's no way to follow said caravan at their speed to enjoy clicking alongside the entire way. Sending your companions on the missions instead can relieve the tedium but they also take WAY longer to complete. The army control system is a mess. Your troops wont even take formation unless you first issue a movement command. If you issue no command they won't even attack when the enemy arrives. Your archers will sometimes just not fire the entire battle. Enjoy losing high tier units to tier 1 ranged spam. If you let your shield down you will die in 2 hits. I could go all day on complaints, and not very much to compliment that 'Warband' didn't already offer. I am utterly baffled by the design decisions made here, and dumbstruck as to why the developers would not have taken community input to produce a better experience than this.