Almost every aspect of it is MUCH WORSE THAN WARBAND, Bannerlord stuff doesn't make any sense, lacks alternative experiences and there's bunch of hidden and annoying mechanics. Basically the only option you have is to recruit useless and stupid vassals who does nothing other than providing low level troops. Without mods this game is stupid and feel unfinished. From vassals, combats, diplomacy, marriage, to garrison troops and balance of power.

Let's talk about vassals first, in Warband you have the option to conquer the entire continent without recruiting any vassal as long as you have enough garrison troops in your fiefs. Although it would be a lot harder than having more helpers in Warband, it is playable and possible option. However in Bannerlord without vassals you would be greatly outnumbered, like 400 vs 2000 troops.

In addition to that, your garrison troops will always be starved to death since they only take food from settlements stock but not your party inventory nor the settlement stash. (The game tells nothing about this until you find your garrison all starved to death) Also there's zero way to directly increase settlement food stock, so the only and forced option you have is to have more vassals to waste enemy armies' time by basically suicidal attacks to let your settlement food stock grow on its own.

You might think, Oh I could avoid these just by having more vassals, but remember vassals are bunch of fools.
Both your vassals and enemy vassals are all crazy about besieging fiefs, they would constantly lead huge armies, with troop count anywhere from 1000 to 2000, and waste all of them on some useless castles which only gives about 500 denars a day in profit. For comparison troop wage for 1000 troops is roughly 6000 to 8000 a day. Not an economical choice at all, and they would probably waste around 1000 troops on this castle and still couldn't take it.

Then what happens next is the rest of army (of around 400 to 600 troops) would be attacked by the enemy army who's been waiting around the besieged settlement and the vassals would all be captured. The "War" is basically a repetition of infinite besiege - half of army died - half of army meets an enemy full army - full enemy army won - full enemy army besiege loop. Almost zero army would think about eliminating enemy armies first. And without strategical objectives, the "War" is just wasting lives on besieging useless settlements.

The AI of an army would always prioritize closer targets, let's say Vlandians and Aserains are at war, and my kingdom is at the middle. Vlandians would always create an army, thinking about taking back settlements from Aserai at first, and on the half way they would see my castles, and start besieging mine instead. In such a stupid fashion the game would always create giant forces with 12000 strengths like Vlandians and Aserai, with rest of forces all at around 6000 strengths, simply because they are farthest from anyone else and besieged less often. The rest fight each other only to weaken each other to prepare themselves to be taken by Vlandians, Aserai, and Khuzaits.

As a matter of fact, under such a stupid game design, for these stupid Kings and Vassals, the best option is actually not join any war, that would prevent any town or castle from starving, thus more prosperity and profits. But they are just stupid enough to always propose war for more fiefs, forgetting what they already have at hand.

Even if you're the king of a kingdom, there's zero definite way to have a nominate in settlement owner vote. I know it would be affected by bunch of hidden mechanics, such as number of fiefs you already have, fief proximity, or relation with other vassals. But you just can't tell how much they influence the nomination. It is not a problem in Warband since as king you could've just give it to yourself at the cost of vassal relations and tax rates, but again there's no such option in Bannerlord, even if you are willing to give considerable expenses.

In Bannerlord there's no such option. Even if I want to reserve some vassals for farther fiefs, they would always be one of three nominee as long as they have a closer castle or some of them have no fiefs. I would be willing to reward them denars, or influences, or my old fiefs instead, but in this game I don't have such an option. Every nominee is a forced choice of this game. Looking through online sources, I found the solution to be a "well-designed route of expansion", you have to design a route of your owned fiefs and fiefs to be taken by you for you to have your desired fiefs, again even if you're the king, you have zero right to nominate yourself in one of the only three nominees of a fief vote. I don't think it's a democratic senate considering the fact that I don't even have the right to nominate myself. Basically the outcome is that no one is happy with the in-game senate, the kings are not happy because they can't take the fiefs they want, and the vassals are not happy because only those who won the hidden mechanics would make themselves to nominations.

Troop transfer is again stupid, if you want to give troops to a vassal, in Warband you simply move troops from your party to theirs, but in Bannerlord there's again no direct way to do that. You can only donate troops to their settlement garrisons and pray that they would take the high level troops you trained to battlefield.

Even as a king, you have zero way to command the stupid AI armies or parties, even if party leaders are your clan members, which causes them to always be captured by enemy parties and exhaust you by constantly having to change party leaders and saving your clan members. As a comparison, in Warband if you're the marshal, you could ask other vassals to scout, defend in settlements, besiege settlements. Even if you're not the marshal, you could ask your friend vassals if they are willing to perform the above operations.

What all of the vassal junks add up is a simple result, is that this game becomes a game about whoever have more troop count wins, whoever have more vassals wins, whoever stays away from wars wins.

This eliminates the joy of defeating an enemy army with fewer troops, take the towns you want to take, or command armies and parties for strategical moves. What has left is that you can control nothing strategical in this game, even if you're the king. Most of the time wars feels like watching two idiot soccer teams kicking balls into their own goals.

If there's anything better for Bannerlord when compared to Warband, it should be the game graphics and combat movements, but these things deteriorate in later gaming when you worry more about strategical factors over combat factors.

It shouldn't be called Mount & Blade, it should be called SPAM VASSALS & TROOPS. Only Warband deserve the title Mount & Blade.

I've played this game since it first released in Early Access in 2020. Its release build is just as shallow as it was in 2020, and its current build is still just as shallow. No kingdom or culture actually feels different from the others beyond color schemes. Once you reach a certain point in the mid-game all you will do is fight, there is no diplomacy, the rogue skill tree is completely pointless, nobles have zero character. There are zero world-wide events, no storms, no bountiful harvests, no horde of united bandits, no feasts.
The game has received no major updates since release, the game has not received any new systems since early access
Wide as an ocean, shallow as a pond

For evrybody who wants to buy this game:

Only really good with mods. Its a great game that lacks (not lags) when its getting interesting.

You want to refuse a fief? Only possible by giving it back never by denying the offer.
You want your son to marry the youngest daughter of a Knyaz? Wait until his eldest daughter is married because you cant ask for a specific daughter.
You want to besiege a castle? No Problem. Until another Lord comes by and joins your Camp. He's the commander now.
You want to talk to a Lord in the hall of his castle but your name is unknown and the guards wont let you in? No problem bro. Just click the portait up right and you can talk to him anyway.

And so on. Taleworlds created a huge and goodlooking piece of gold but refused to smith it into jewelry and despite the facts that, what i said up there is known for a long time, never did they anything to change or repair it or even to better it up. They leave it to the modders. Its a true shame that a company that only became relevant by the title Mount&Blade lets their MasterPiece rotten in an unfinished stadium.

As i said. many mods were made to handle it and many work pretty good..others just try to. Especially for those of you who need or want an translated version...better get used to the fact that some of these mods probably dont have a translation und you will be forced to play a german version and evrytime youre doing something thats handled by a mod you will have to switch into your english lesson. Maybe not a big problem but it starts eating and grows until youre fed up.

For those of you that played Warband or Viking Conquest.

The graphics are better now. The map is bigger now. But the mechanics seem to be made to make people happy that have never played M&B or/and for those never had the backbone to play it right. Im talking about that type of players that complain about not getting a fief and stuff. That type that want it easier not deeper. Viking Conquest was functionally inventive. Bannerlord is just a bigger and easier version of warband with some upgrades and sadly some downgrades. They didnt learn from the DLC VC. They just seem to totally ignore the possibilities of their own great creation.

It is not finished and Taleworlds dont seem to have the will to do it and that is really really stressful at some point...but hey...you can play it on Playstation now ;)

If you want to buy Bannerlord you will see yourself that there is a lot stuff that will make you crazy and a bit sad because you will know for sure and very quick that it wouldnt exist they way it does if they would do their job right.

I love this game and im playing it often but i really hope that what ever is going on at taleworlds headquarter is getting back into their strengths soon.

Read the negative Comments after your looks at the positives!! there are many who go way deeper into topic and most of them are totally right!