Recent reviews by ElderShrub

Viking Conquest pushes the limits of what the Mount and Blade can do. But it may have been punished for it.

Firstly I would like to summarise, this game's features are by far an improvement over native. The game feels more realistic, more alive and more expansive and engaging, however in its current form there are many issues and bugs. The most noticeable is the framerate.

Pros:
- A complete overhaul with all new scenes, characters, factions and items.
- Many new features, including religion, naval battles, further character customisation, a tactical view, a post death camera and many other amazing features I have not discovered yet.
- The scenes feel more alive with horses, children and villagers running about or doing day to day work with animations for chopping wood, eating and many others. They are also shown off in the town menu.
- A realistic and historical world that feels like it should. I am no history expert however both mechanically and asset wise this matches what I know of the period. (This does however make the game significantly more challenging)
- New multiplayer gamemodes (as well as maps and items) with a theme on axe and shield combat.
- When the soundtrack does play it is largely new songs and very exciting, vastly superior to the native soundtrack.

Cons:
- Both some shoddy coding and the engine limitations means even the best rig will struggle to run this well. However most rigs that can run Floris Modpack should be able run this, do not expect high framerate.
- Reports of numerous bugs and crashes (But I have not had one of these firsthand except for the music cutting out, hopefully they will be patched)
- A lot of things feel rushed or unpolished, for example there is barely any crossbows or two handed weapons in the game
- The early game is a lot longer and a lot more challenging. Probably not best for people new to the series.

Conclusion:
I know many people have been complaining about this DLC however feature wise this DLC is amazing and doesn't just overhaul Mount and Blade Warband, it outdoes it substantially. However the game feels unpolished. Hopefully TaleWorlds patches these issues. I am uncertain as to if I like the game in its current state myself however I will still vote thumbs up for it as if the issues are solved we are left with a substantial improvement to the franchise and one that may just raise the bar for Bannerlord.

Disclamer: This review was done on release day (For my county) and is really only a first impressions, there may be an update in the future.)