There's a lot to say that needs to be said if you're considering this game and have questions before you purchase. But if you don't feel like reading, I'll lay out the basics here, this game is an easy 8 out of 10.

Now if you've made it this far, this means you actually want to read, so let's dive a bit deeper into what makes the game good, but what takes away from the experience as well.

The Pros:
The game may seem a bit steeply priced at $50, but I have found over 160+ hours of gameplay that it is well worth the money, it's one of the few things I heavily criticize when playing a new game, answering the whole "Do I get my money's worth out of it" question, but with Bannerlord, I can happily say yes you will.

The map is large, the cultures have unique units and landscapes, and the battlefield reflects upon that. No matter where on the world map you are, or what you are doing, the game reflects the location within the battle scenario. Run into an enemy unit near a village? That village becomes the battlefield. Rivers and bridges nearby? Prepare to try to not get bottlenecked on a bridge. The Siege mechanics are decent as well, considering things like food stocks, morale, manpower, siege engines, etc, all into play in a simple and clean structure that is enjoyable, but not perfect.

The game is laid out in a very "Create your own adventure" kind of way, which can be good and bad. The good is that your character is actually your character, with your name, your chosen looks, and the game generates viable parents to help describe how your character obtained those looks and their background culture. I think it's well done, and certainly helps deliver a more personal connection to the character on the ground, which helps me immerse myself and really get into the game.

The Cons:

Outright the game just does not feel finished. With the help of mods you can add a LOT of features that you would have expected to be in the base game, but in a game about warfare and kingdom building, you'd expect more diplomatic features, cultural influence features, rebellions, civil wars within factions, or even just things like treaties and alliances. Only through the help of mods can you add these features to the game.

Voice Acting, now, while the game is voice acted, the character dialogue feels shallow, and even the dialogue that isn't VA'd feels obscure and "one size fits all." This mostly falls back on the lack of diplomatic actions within the game, but I feel there are far more scream sound bites of soldiers in combat than there are those of Lords actually saying things like sentences.

The AI. It's rather basic at times, overly insane at others. Following your fellow Army of 1,200 men towards an enemy unit of 2,200? Prepare to have them tuck tail and abandon you at the very last second and take on that enemy force alone. Sieging an enemy city when an enemy Army rolls up on the siege camp you and another Army have formed? Again, prepare to have them magically evade the enemy leaving you to fight them alone. Even within the battles themselves the AI can get silly. Units spawning outside the map, under the map, or even just outside the City Walls or in places that make it impossible to end a battle without having to Retreat and go back into it. The AI pathing, modeling, and behavior all need a polishing, but it seems the Devs are pretty happy to leave the game in it's current state, so do with this information what you will.


Of course these are not ALL the pro's and con's of Bannerlord, but instead the main ones, the reason the list isn't huge and ongoing is because of one very important reason.

Modding.

This game has a massive base of mods and modders constantly pumping out new and unique things for the game, whether it's new weapons, new factions, new behaviors, AI fixes, or entirely new ways to play the game built on the game's assets, the modding community is the glue that keeps me stuck to this title, and playing away at it. Anytime I get bored, desire a new challenge, or want a change of scenery, all I have to do is go to the Steam Workshop or Nexus and find the newest, coolest, or most interesting looking mods, add them to my game, and find myself willing to spend another 80+ hours on a single campaign.

If you're in the market for a middle ages style game with interesting features like crafting your own weapons, being a part of your own massive battles, and building a kingdom from the ground up, or helping another one conquer the world, then this is the game for you.