Ah yes, Bannerlord.

More than a year ago, the first glimpse of releasing the game to EA, to be actually playable, after years and years of teasing, was a great moment for this game. People flocked to the early access chance in huge numbers, I mean, EVERYONE boarded the hype train, and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, what a hype train it was. New Youtubers were born just thanks to the EA release.

The game received enormous amount of support, praising the new visuals, the new game engine and overall look. It was an instant hit on Steam.
Then, the Warband community stepped in and showed the issues the game had, outlined the perks and mechanics that are not working, and the overall lack of content in the game, outside of gathering troops and swinging swords.

I thought to myself - They must be wrong, the game is good, it is exactly what I expected, swinging swords, leading troops, winning battles. Tens of hours later (and months and months IRL time later after EA), the realization kicked in - they are right. After the novelty of the new eye catching game engine wears off, this game just has nothing to offer.

Modding support is great for any game. It keeps it alive for years to come - just look at Cities Skylines. The modding community has kept the game alive all these years after the initial release, and if one would run the numbers, it still generates hefty income on sales - YEARS after release.

Why am I mentioning modding support, you'd ask?

Well, it is quite simple - it is acceptable for the game to be extended with great mods after initial release, it's just there is this elephant in the room that started to grow as soon as Bannerlod hit the EA - if you step back and look at this game, nothing has changed within the game itself and it has been on life support from modding community - WHILE STILL BEING IN EARLY ACCESS.

- Balance fixes
- AI fixes

These two points can describe the year Bannerlord has spent in EA. No mechanics have been added to the game.
How is it possible for a game to not change that much after a year in EA, while modding community can churn out fixes for the problems the game has faster than developers can?
How come, the community can create and release new mechanics for the game, while the developers have not even mentioned a single thing that is coming?

The Early Access title has become a badge of shame for Bannerlord.


It is a fun game for the initial hours of gameplay, dont get me wrong, but it has nothing more to offer once the initial novelty wears off, and the non-existant roadmap or anything in that regard does not help much.


I don't know what to recommend you guys - if you want couple of hours of fun, sure, buy it, but remember that in that way, you are supporting the ongoing problem with this game, hence I am leaving a thumbs down for this.