Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

The devs abandoned the game, no more promised updates. I wanted to leave a postive review but honestly the only thing that is keeping the game alive are the modders.

Game is dead, no proper Updates since years. Could have been an amazing game, but everything is just barely in the state so it works but nothing more. No love, nothing special. Just an awesome foundation.

Quite sad to be honest.

Incredibly neglected by the developers, missing over a dozen features of the previous game. Looks really nice but after a couple dozen hours you get into the same boring routine of attacking small parties who don't challenge you, fighting and winning some easy to win but tedious and boring siege, and repeating the process over and over.

Another example of wasted potential

So many great features that are available as mods are missing from the base game
You need to have mods to make this game enjoyable
Devs have been no-comm for a long time

No major updates in a long long time. Game feels unfinished and lacking in content. Still waiting for a big patch so that I can jump back in. Until then, it's pretty much dead

An almost good game abandoned by the developers, it's okay ish but what you see is most certainly what you'll get without mods even 5 years from now. Very much a shame.

The game is abandoned by the developers and is left to the modders and the community to develop and fix. TaleWorlds did not deliver most of the promised features and the ones that are added are in a half-baked state. There are so many bugs and problems that could have been fixed YEARS ago that are still present in the game. The game is fun, especially with total conversion mods where the peak mount and blade experience can be achieved. But I cannot recommend this game due to the behavior and absence of the developers. They have failed their fanbase and customers. The surge of negative reviews should be a wake up call for TaleWorlds.

Its a awesome game but you need mods to even enjoy it. Would only recommend this game if you are are okay with abandonware and have a bunch of mods that will break when devs decided to push a micropatch.

Devs have practically abandoned this game. A lot of features are still missing and the devs have promised to add them but havent done jack besides at most change the price of a grain by 1 and add a hate that nobody will use in.

Once upon a time I would have absolutely given this game a positive review, however it's been years now, and there have been no significant updates from the dev team. If you enjoy unfinished games, you'll enjoy Bannerlord, otherwise steer clear.

I love the game and can genuinely recommend playing it, especially with workshop mods. Unfortunately the game is still very barebones, especially late-game, and I cannot endorse the way the devs have only dripfed extremely minor updates over the last few years and now basically abandoned the game.

While Bannerlord represents a decent visual upgrade over Warband, and battles continue to be solid, there's unfortunately not much more going for this game. Even after years of development (I've lost count), the rest of the experience still feels every bit as unfinished, unpolished, and shallow as its predecessor.

Original Warband+Viking conquest was far better.
So many years of development and such big disapointment.
This game is unfinished on conceptual level...
shame...

You can press play, walk away from your computer, and the game happens without you. You're not the main character in the game and, in a time where a lot of games want you to feel like the Hero of Time and don't really make you work for much, this game is a pretty good "Forge your own path" kind of game.

That said... after the first or second run so you can get a feel for the base game, browse the Workshop and find some mods you think might make future playthroughs more enjoyable and tailored to your preference.

BANNERLORD could become a masterpiece, but now it is dying compared to the early years. This game was released several years ago as Early Access and we bought the game hoping for good changes BECAUSE IT WAS EARLY ACCES. Still, the devs has not released any GOOD UPDATE. We don't even have a DLC after all this time. DEVS IS KILLING THIS GAME

I've waited for this game to release since its announcement and i have to say, i thought that my expectation were met at first glance. After a few hours though, i realized that this game suffers from the same issue that Warband had. In both cases, quests are repetetive, full of boring and soulles characters accompanied by a great combat system. Unfortunately though, the good combat system cannot save these games. Once you play it for a few hours and capture some castles, it just becomes a continous loop of sieges and battles until one of your castles gets gangbanged by an army of 2000.

When you look at it, the game has many features, such as: blacksmithing, trading and etc. But once you start digging deep, you realize that everything is done on a surface level and almost every feature lacks depth.
I enjoyed every second of my first singleplayer campaing (until i became a king and started doing sieges), but once i tried creating and playing with a different character, it just feels too tedious.
I also have to mentions the modding community. Even though the game has many mods, it CANNOT be compared to the amount of mods warband had.

It has alot of potential, but lacks depth and it seems to be abandoned by TaleWorlds.
ps. i cannot say much about the Multiplayer version of the game, not really my thing,

This game Is definitely in my top 20 games I've ever played... BUT The Vanilla Campaign is Not well thought out at all, The story is complete garbage & seems like they put no effort into it. The story is S*** but the gameplay is top tier. Now the real fun is when you add mods into the mix, just the feeling of creating your own kingdom, commanding your troops from the front lines & charging into battle with men you have to take the time to recruit individually & getting to know EVERY man in your army & upgrading them to higher tiers as they gain XP is a well thought out system. The combat system is similar to KCD or For Honor in a sense because you use Directional attacks. This game can be VERY difficult for a newer player but that feeling you get once you've got 100 men & defeat a 1000 man army is unmatched.

This game has TONS of customization & the world feels alive, every Noble, General, & Merchant all have Friends, Enemies, & their own Story, Personality, & Skills they're good at. I 100% recommend this game if you love Medieval style Kingdom Builders. After well over 400 hours invested I still pull all nighters with this hidden gem. Considering the game is MUCH better with mods but still an enjoyable experience without them, I'd say you should only get this game when on sale. I'd give this game a solid 7/10 without mods but if you play with mods it's a 10/10. there are so many dedicated creators STILL making new mods & updating old ones for this game & this game is still supported & being updated by the Devs.

Bannerlord 2 is an amazing game & I reckon once you learn the game you'll be dumping hundreds of hours into it <3

it is such a fun time building up from nothing i can't say much about he late game because i have never gotten to be my own kingdom but the huge armys are so good and the clan system is so much fun i love it and if you don't have this game get it and if you have it play it more because you will get your brain stuck in this medivel world and just a great expreance 10/10 would buy again

IDK its fun at first but once youve played it a couple times through it pretty much needs mods to remain fun...but all the good mods always are out of date just stop patching the game please let the community do its thing.

The game itself isn’t bad, but the developers absolutely don’t give a damn about us, the players. Compared to Warband, it’s just a prettier wrapper with a couple of new mechanics at the cost of others that weren’t carried over from the first game, lol.
I don’t understand how, after so many years, the game has barely progressed at all. Yes, updates have improved it: fixes, balance tweaks, all that. But it’s literally just fixes, balance changes, and minor additions. In three years!
A lot of things are improved through mods, but it’s frustrating that many modders have already given up and stopped supporting their mods. Official updates are useless, yet they somehow still manage to break the entire modding scene.

And overall, I absolutely don’t like the setting. The armor designs are incredibly ugly.

This game is great - with mods

That is basically what you will hear from everyone
This game, on its own without mods has an incredible early game
The start is always incredibly fun but that is the only fun part...
The end game is a slog, if you do not get a thousand mods to make it interesting you are just torturing yourself

This game is completely abandoned by the devs and i have no idea why
Crank out a few DLCs to fix the game or something this game is loved, it has an active community what more can you ask for as a dev???
Taleworlds isnt even gone or anything i cant imagine they are doing anything else right now
This really is one of the weirdest games out there but i cant not recommend it

PLEASE TALEWORLDS UPDATE THE GAME

Servers crashing constantly. You literally can't play two games consecutively. Fuck you TaleWorlds. You had the opportunity to make a great game, but it's just a crash fest right now. You lazy dumb motherfuckers.

good mods like realm of thrones good battles and story

This is the most polarizing game in my library, as wide as an ocean and as deep as a puddle, this game would last just as long as warband if not longer if they would just support mods. even with butterlib and harmony, your game is bound to crash at some point likely sooner than later. The base game is enjoyable but dumb AI can make you insane. I do enjoy this game and i think it has so much potential, but talewords decided that this was the final version and the inability to mod the game basically destroys that potential.

The strategy + roleplay aspects make it a unique experience I love advancing my Character, Clan and Castles / Towns. If this would've a coop-campaign I'd love it even more!

While it is incredibly frustrating that this game feels very unfinished and lacking in its vanilla state, the mods available cover for most of its glaring holes. With that said it's still one of my all time favorite games, nothing comes close to the experience a playthrough delivers.

I've been patient up until now, but even I have to admit there seems to be no hope for the game. Bannerlord is not a bad base of a game, but there is just no content. It's basically a showcase of their updated combat with some minimal trading, smithing and "diplomacy" thrown in. You can have some fun, but it won't take too long before you realise there is nothing to do with the nonexistent diplomacy and kingdom ruling. I wouldn't recommend the game to anyone without some massive improvements and updates. The game had massive potential, but I'm not holding out my breath for the much needed improvements to happen.

As much as I would like to recomend this, I can't. Just because the vast majority of the enjoyment comes from mods. I have 150 hrs and 0 accievements because I simply cannot play this without mods. If I were to recomend something about this game, is the workshop

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is everything you love about Warband, but with a new coat of paint, more horses, and a slightly better chance of dying dramatically.

The enemy AI? Let’s just say they could use a few lessons in basic tactics. You’ll often find them charging headfirst into battle like they’re trying to impress the local tavern girl—entertaining... for about 10 minutes. Then you realize it's the same thing every time.

We’re still lacking in diplomacy options, but otherwise, it’s the same chaotic medieval mayhem we all love.

Has the game changed dramatically since pre-release? No, not really. But hey, the modding community is the real MVP here—they’re adding more fun, fixes, and horse armor as time goes on!

The quests? Let’s just say they’re repetitive. Rescue a caravan, defeat a bandit, ride around a village… rinse and repeat until you’re ready to throw your sword at a wall.

Overall, it’s a good time. 8/10, would die charging a shield wall again.

Its so sad. I have 36 hours in this game and then after update it crashes every time I try to start it up.
Ive had this problem for years now and revisit the game from time to time to check if something changes but it doesnt. Cant play it and it sucks!
But when it worked i loved it.

After 200+ hours, Bannerlord still feels fresh. It’s a perfect mix of strategy, medieval combat, and open-ended freedom.
You start as a nobody and can rise through war, politics, or trade. Battles are massive, the world reacts to your choices, and no two playthroughs are the same.
There are some bugs, but they don’t ruin the experience. Bannerlord isn’t just a game—it’s a medieval sandbox where you forge your own path.
Rating: 9/10 – A must-play for medieval and strategy fans.

Assume they've just stopped trying. Game is lacking features from warband, and the features in the game feel shallow/broken.

I love the Mount & Blade franchise, and I loved Bannerlord when it first released in early access back in 2020. However, Bannerlord has barely changed since 2020. The developers, it seems, forgot that this game needs features and not just minor bug fixes. Troop deployment is just as buggy as during early access, the late game is still just an endless grind to defend your castles and fighting lords, etc. It is sad that mods released for Warband over a decade ago have more depth of gameplay than this sequel.

If crack were a game, it would be this one. I've logged 2500 hours between the pre-release version and now, and I've been playing games like this since ... they were invented? My first system was an Atari, so you do the math lol. Some things could be improved, sure, but I have never in my 35 years of gaming found a game this good. The prior version (Warband) I got so obsessed with, it actually got me to quit smoking cigarettes because I was so immersed in the game. Bannerlord is even better. Highly, highly recommend.

I recommend this game, BUT - Only with mods. The game standalone feels like it was left behind. They made the core game and then basically left it in the dust after a few tweaks here and there, but it's severely lacking in content.

So if you like to mod you games for the ultimate experience, ABSOLUTELY get this game.
If you like to play games standalone, sure you might be able to get some satisfaction from the game, for a while - but it gets dull fast.
(Also too many damn exploits in standalone.)

Just a mess.

Zero depth: wars decided at random, characters are soulless with extremely ugly faces. Every character in this game is ugly, the armor is ugly, the voices are terrible.

I could spend dozens of hours modding this to fix it probably but there's no point.

Just play warband

Mods? Yeah, definitely mods.

Don't waste your money. The game was released in an incomplete state, the modding scene is basically dead due to the fact that the Devs keep giving useless updates that break every single mod and makes your game unlaunchable. Go buy Warband instead, as Bannerlord isn't much of a step up from that game. Extremely disappointed in how this game turned out and I wish I could get a refund and just be done this with company for good.

Abandoned game. The developers are so lazy they fix about 10 bugs a month since release instead of adding any real content. The game feels completely empty. It's basically just Warband with better graphics—nothing new at all. Feels like they just took a Warband mod, polished the graphics, and called it a new game. It still lacks so much content in the campaign.

There’s no proper diplomacy, kingdom management, family/dynasty systems, technology, or meaningful relationships. The AI is extremely dumb. You can’t construct new villages or castles, and scouting is so boring you just see party arrows on the map.

Battles are fun at first, but they get boring quickly. The AI either camps at their spawn waiting for you to push, or they just send wave after wave at you. The morale feature feels unfinished and pointless. The only cool thing is that you can separate units and control them individually, like putting archers on the backline in a line formation to pick off enemies from a distance, while cavalry flanks the sides. But even that gets old after a while.

The only thing keeping this game alive is multiplayer and mods and even mods barely work half the time, plus they take a ton of effort to set up.

Three years of constant bug fixes instead of adding content.

For 50 euros? No way. If I could refund it, I definitely would.

I was so hyped for this game before release. I waited patiently for content updates because the game was in such bad shape at launch. But after 3 years? Still no real content updates. I don’t understand how people can actually rate this game highly. They’ve probably never played Warband and don’t know how much better it was. This is basically the same game with way better graphics—for 50 euros.

Look, I want to love this game - I've clearly played it a lot, going back years to when it was pretty early access. I was a big fan of Warband, and hoped this could give the same experience as that. Unfortunately, it's basically the same game it was back in early access -- the devs don't really do anything other than introduce 'updates' that tend to break as much as they fix and, most importantly, completely brick all of your mods.

That last part about mods is key, and the reason why this is a negative review even with over 800 hours logged (at least half of which was using mods, like Calradia Expanded). Other than that, all of my complaints could easily be fixed by the modding community that, at least earlier on, was very active and dedicated (like it was in Warband). That was where Warband shined -- there were a TON of mods that not only improved the base game, but also other conversion mods that entirely transformed it into various new (and even better) games, like POP and Bretwalda (which was turned into an official Warband DLC, Viking Conquest). Unfortunately, Talewords has made that next to impossible here - even tiny updates break pretty much every mod, and most of the modding community has understandably grown frustrated with the ceaseless task of rebuilding their mods because Talewords changes a few pixels in a model or makes it so you can buy some helmet that you never noticed you couldn't get before.

In any event, the base game is mediocre -- fun, but shallow and very repetitive, particularly once you get to end-game. It's lacking in basic features, like diplomacy, and while mods have traditionally existed to add those sort of things that TW never bothered to add, good luck keeping them up to date when they constantly break. TW has given up on adding meaningful new content, but they don't allow the game to flourish via mods like Warband did, leaving it the worst of both worlds here...vanilla lacks in content and has little prospect for getting better, and the modding community can't fix that issue because TW continuously breaks the mods and disrespects that community.

Buy on sale, perhaps, but don't expect it to have the longevity of Warband.

Мне кажется Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord можно описать одной фразой - "Игра потерянного потенциала". Это хорошая качественная игра, она мне нравится, но играя в неё я часто испытываю какую грусть, обидно, что так много можно было сделать и так мало сделали. Очень обидно.

Base game is very shallow, but try to mod it and stuff will go wrong at every possible opportunity and it will make you wanna pull out your hair in clumps

This game is not Mount and Blade II. This game is a broken promise. Don't buy it unless a mod comes out that you really want to play (hopefully the Star Wars mod comes out for singleplayer on this game).

The devs delayed the game as long as possible to get subsidized, released it into Early Access, and then gave the game less features than Warband. There's less diplomacy. The quests are fewer. The only additions are the sieges (kind of okay) and a crafting system that takes about 12 real life hours of grinding the same few items to level up to unlock new items. The combat and sieges are okay, but they're not worth the price.

Abandoned game. No respect for the consumer. No respect for the work of the modders. People at TW are horrible people that took the money and ran. We want content. not random bug fixes that no one notices and breaks the mods that people put hours of unpaid work into. The game is even missing features from warband lmao.

This used to be a good game, then Taleworlds ruined it with constant pointless updates that break mods and create additional bugs.

Honestly, this game did not live up to the hype it promised years ago.

The only justice Bannerlord has that its got nicer graphics and better battle mechanics.

Bannerlord is meant to be a Sandbox game but there really is no real content there to sink into.

Mods and Multiplayer do not even have proper support as Taleworlds continue to push out "updates" with no actual new content to Sandbox or to the story, additionally any gameplay issues that players have had since Bannerlords' "1.0" release have not been addressed but hey, at least Taleworlds patches will break your saves lmao.

I do not recommend this game. Although I love the Warband and all the warband mods, Bannerlord to gets old and boring very quickly. There is nothing to do and this happens very quickly. I may have played for many hours, but I realize that at no point was I having very much fun. The game lacks content. It's too sandbox and not enough features to make use of that.
What can I do? When I take a kingdom it gets boring quickly. Please add more content. This game feels unfinished and abandoned by the developers.

Owned this since release and was stoked to see where things go. This game is such a fucking disappointment and I don't see any reason to play this over Warband with how bare bones and half baked every single aspect of this game is.

One of the best and most addicting game I have ever played. I have 90 hours of gameplay in the past week of owning this game. If you are looking at skipping meals and losing weight, buy this game.

A very good mix of strategy map movement with personal combat on the field of battle. Taking control of your character on the battlefield is very rewarding and keeps you coming back for more killing. The dynamic systems for empires and kingdoms fighting for control and the economy system always moving and changing goods is 2nd to none, I played Eve which was spawned from a system built for real world stock movement, I think this game does its economy better by having the smaller scale and faster pace. The addition of a complete RPG element that choices spawn on to your fighting, is complete gold.

There are some gripes, I did get stuck in a falling animation a couple of times in siege battles, forcing to rely upon the AI to take the town, and once an AI enemy fell and AI did not know how to kill them, forcing me to retreat. But these have happened in siege battles and not other.

The skill upgrading is great, it is not just selecting a skill up, but then needing to work at it is good, however the differences of working on skills is vast. In a single siege I went from 50's Engineering to ~200 by using siege weapons, I then went from level ~270s Bow to past 300 in another siege because I had unlimited arrows and they never went up to fight me, that is over 100k xp

The late game seems to lag for me, the beginning building up your name and clan, being an unlanded merc is the best parts of the game. However doing the bandit holds gets annoying, I would rather choose to ambush or just go during the day and fight or challenge the boss

I've put a lot of hours into Bannerlord. I can recommend it for the idea of battle simulation, but as of now that is it. Quality battle simulation. I feel immersed in the action prideful of my renown earned from it.
I despise the diplomacy. It actually got worse as the updates progressed. It devolved down to money. Are you getting tribute or giving it. You used to be able to exchange fiefs, equipment, supplies, plus money for peace. No longer an option, just good old cash. This is down right stupid. If you consider diplomacy to be a tribute system you are simple. No alliances, trade agreements, border negotiation, nothing. Don't say you can do diplomacy if this is it. Its fucking lying.

Economy has potential but is wasted. Work is need to make it fully operational. I love trying to be a merchant lord in any game. Bannerlord taunts you with this, but the rewards are so paltry that the game forces you to go back to warfare. You can do it, you just wont be successful overall. You shop ownership is maxed out very quickly, same with caravans. But you can own as many Towns or Castles as you want. This is done to coerce you back to the fight.
Warfare is excellent in battle, crap outside of it. Your vassals armies are short lived and uncontrollable. You cannot direct them in a unified fashion. Sieges are ok, but I just learned that my stashes of food that I horded in my castles and keeps will be untouched by the garrison, even when starving. This is such an obvious problem that makes no sense.
Court intrigue, nill.
Ruling your kingdom, bare damn bones.

The worst of all is the campaign. I just rage quit because I learned that I "Unified the Empire" 256 day ago. This was news to me, seeing as I was in a war with the northern Empire and paying tribute to the Western Empire. This ruined my game plans utterly. The campaign punishes you for participating as well. You can literally ignore it and just play sandbox. If you play it then you are forced in to a war with the three most powerful factions against you. If you lose than all you work is gone. If you win than the game is basically over at that point.

They have released the game as completed and no longer in beta. This is unacceptable. I will not purchase any more titles from the publisher.

Despite the significant hours played on this game, i still feel it deserves a negative review. The vanilla version of the game is extremely bare bones, thin and repetitive. The end game is just wack a mole trying to conquer all cities and castles. Very little actual RPG elements and no quality or variety to dialogue. The AI is garbage, with very poor siege tactics and will make very poor war decisions such as besieging a castle in on the opposite side of the map, instead of besieging a closer castle that actually has value to the war effort. Probably 50-100 hours of my time on steam has been just trying to get mods to work to make this game somewhat enjoyable that is not dry and repetitive, with little game play of just vanilla version. A game should NOT require mods to be enjoyable and actually make the game function correctly. I can understand complete overhaul mods or troop change mods being an exception, but needing mods to make AI function correctly, mods to actually add diplomacy such as alliances and non aggression pacts, or making sure armies dont simply starve themselves to death is baffling. Without the modding community supporting it with crutches, this game would be dead