Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Catch-all (EA out now)

You could really scale down the last games graphics so with those min requirements it is probably going to look more like early M&B (vanilla).

I wonder if they are going to allow for early access purchases. I would love to hear early impressions and possibly pre-buy myself.

That's going straight to the top of the wishlist.

The shots look fantastic but can we just get a launch date already? They are just being mean at this point.

I gotta admit, these screenshots are really impressive, leaps and bounds above the middling graphics of Warband.

Copingsaw wrote:

I gotta admit, these screenshots are really impressive, leaps and bounds above the middling graphics of Warband.

Yeah, definitely. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they also improve the animations a bit, especially on the horses. Not a deal breaker, in any way, but would be a nice touch and add quite a bit to the battle immersion.

The photo of the single white horse running looks promising where the horse seems to be leaning into the turn with it's shoulder instead of just turning its head like the first game.

Man, 2017 could be the new 1998.

So far it's already blown 2016 way out of the water. The top 10 lists last year were filled with people saying how there wasn't a standout game but there were a bunch of really good games. I call BS, last year sucked. This year is destroying 2016. Big time.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Developer Blog 15 - Valuable Relationships

As in Warband, completing quests for NPCs will increase your relation with that character. This however, takes on a new dimension in Bannerlord, as that relationship can have a more profound impact on your character, and the decisions you make. As an example, when you go to a town to recruit soldiers, instead of simply receiving a number of local recruits, the town's NPCs act as recruiting agents, or middle men, through whom you receive a supply of troops. The higher your relation with a specific NPC, the greater the number of soldiers they will make available to you.

Still no release date?

WizKid wrote:

Still no release date?

I'm losing hope this will ever see light of day.

Maq wrote:
WizKid wrote:

Still no release date?

I'm losing hope this will ever see light of day.

From that pcgamer article:

While we missed our 2016 target, we are confident we’ll be able to get the game out in some form this year.

Yeah, but just what does "some form" mean?

Early Access wouldn't surprise me. Taleworlds sold the original M&B in pre-1.0 versions, after all.

Taleworlds and Mojang both did what I believe is the best way to do early access. Discount for early buy in that decreased with releases. Both got me to jump in early, and I enjoyed both the most before they actually got released.

I would say that the original M&B was one of the forerunners of Early Access. I'm actually surprised that they didn't go that route with M&B2. I wonder if they had problems with Early Access or if it wasn't as lucrative as they hoped to fund the development. I'd be curious to see Taleworlds take on the whole thing and what they've learned from it.

Looks like we should get some info at E3 they say it will be playable there:
https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/...

TaleWorlds Entertainment will offer hands-on demonstrations of its upcoming title to press at the expo in Los Angeles, June 13-15. Attendees will experience Mount & Blade’s deep and intuitive combat system firsthand in an epic, large scale battle, featuring hundreds of on-screen combatants; supported by an all-new tailor made engine. Multiple gameplay videos will be shared during the event, giving fans a detailed look at the game’s field combat.

Looks like the same gameplay, just better graphics. Of course, if it ain't broke...

So, E3 2020 will be the year they announce a release date?

Nevin73 wrote:

Looks like the same gameplay, just better graphics. Of course, if it ain't broke...

Add on some better UI and I'm sold.

Nevin73 wrote:

Looks like the same gameplay, just better graphics. Of course, if it ain't broke...

Yeah, they have had that gameplay down for years. I am actually more interested in the strategy layers of the game.

I'm in the same camp as NathanialG, I would also enjoy if the game had depth to the trade, travel and negotiate side of things too, weirdly I enjoyed that in M&B as much as the combat.

Still no release date?

I'm interested in getting into Mount & Blade. Should I start with the original or go straight for warband?

Warband just adds to the content in the original so there is really no reason to play without it.

Clitch wrote:

I'm interested in getting into Mount & Blade. Should I start with the original or go straight for warband?

Go straight for Warband.

Go straight for warband. About the only complaint I can remember having is that lancing got nerfed, but that's okay because it was extremely over powered in the original.

And really it's not like lancing is bad in warband, you can still basically one shot everything. I think they just added a cool down to be able to couch the lance after a successful hit.