Mount and Blade Bannerlord

[Jarhead0331]

It's a real burden on the hardware.

I was running it very smoothly, but my 2080Ti was at 99% load and running at 80C.   

I know that's still inside the safe zone on heat, but man, never seen anything get it that hot.

Mine was working hard too. I experience the same thing in Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

[SirAndrewD]

Setting the frame limiter to 60fps shaved about 10C off the temp.

[Yskonyn]

I am enjoying the game very much. The slightly more guided approach to starting your dynasty in campaign mode is well received on me.
Combat is still as hard as it was in Warband.
Graphics are quite nice ! As is the interface. It works well and the shortcuts to be able to do stuff from the map are awesome.
This game will definitely see much playtime!

[ArizonaTank]

I played about three hours. BLUF: It's Mount and Blade with much better graphics and a bit more interaction with the world than previous.

+1

I am four hours in, and having a great time, but I am also an M&B nut from the very first release. Graphics are better. Interface is cleaner. Commanding your troops on the battlefield is easier. I have just become a small time mercenary, and attached myself to an army of nobles. Battles and sieges are gorgeous.

[Martok]

I've read that Bannerlord is Steam's biggest launch of the year so far, especially in terms of concurrent players.  Apparently it's even out-pacing Doom: Eternal.  :o 

[Yskonyn]

3 hours in now and I've raised my merry little band of thugs which can now be split in two groups, as I've just secured my first companion named Alchyla the Black. She's a nasty back alley brawler who know how to wield a blade and so far she seems fearless in battle.
Many a man much taller than her has met his maker by will of her blades. :)

A big setback came when trying to stand up for the Artisans in the capital of the Southern Empire; while trying to help them avoid unfair laws and extortion the head of the Merchant Guild confronted me. I stood my ground, but are now a wanted criminal in the Southern Empire.
It's even worse as this is the place I wanted to build my honour and renown, but if I need to do it by extorting the good people I'll find my way elsewhere.

The same sidequests are popping up fairly regularly, so that's probably something they are still expanding on.

But the game is definately playable and quite fun already, for me at least.

[sandman2575]

Would love to hear anyone's comments on how difficult Bannerlord is to get into for casual player? For reference, I found combat in Witcher 3 quite hard (and never got more than a couple of hours in as a result) -- I also found combat in original M&B hard. Could be that I'm just not cut out for hack & slash games but would love another perspective.

Also -- any chance Bannerlord can be played with XBox controller or equivalent?  Or is it strictly mouse & keyboard?

[ArizonaTank]

Would love to hear anyone's comments on how difficult Bannerlord is to get into for casual player? For reference, I found combat in Witcher 3 quite hard (and never got more than a couple of hours in as a result) -- I also found combat in original M&B hard. Could be that I'm just not cut out for hack & slash games but would love another perspective.

Also -- any chance Bannerlord can be played with XBox controller or equivalent?  Or is it strictly mouse & keyboard?

I think it is only mouse and keyboard... having said that, it is well implemented. For example, I find some games that are consol ports to be very hard to play with mouse and keyboard. Driving a car can be frustrating for example.  M&B:B feels very natural.

I am not a twitch jockey...and suck at combat games. But I can progress in M&B:B. 

The game has difficulty settings that can make you and your men very survivable so that combat is not that hard.  Also the game is really about commanding large groups of fighters. So you can fight battles as a commander, never really getting your hands dirty if you don't want to.

The only time I have been put down...not killed...was when I did something really stupid. Like dismounting in the middle of an enemy mob. Or making myself an easy archery target (not using cover) during a siege.

As somebody noted, there are a few...very few...rough edges. I have only noticed two small issues so far. I saw one video glitch...a shadow in town was bluish instead of dark grey...and that did not affect gameplay in anyway...and I only saw it once. Another time there was a missing piece of dialog...but it did not affect the ability to progress.

Compared to the original M&B, I am finding combat to be more natural. Horses respond more realistically, but are not really hard to ride. They seem to have done quite a bit of work on the melee AI. I can't explain it, but I actually am having fun doing fights...and I am not a twitch jockey by any means.

Sound and music are great. The theme song brings up memories of the first Conan the Barbarian movie.

[sandman2575]

Thanks AT -- "I am not a twitch jockey...and suck at combat games" pretty much sums me up as well. So what you say about the game being fairly accessible is encouraging. May have to check this out after all. Its success so far on Steam is pretty damn impressive.

[trek]

Sandman, just like AT I assumed that there was NO controller support especially since there is no indication of it on the Steam page or in the options/controls. So today I plugged-in my XBOX Windows controller and the answer is YES it does support controller use. However I found the controller is more sluggish and not as accurate as M&KB. As I too have always sucked at M&B Combat I played around with the options a bit today and found that with a few minor changes under options/gameplay I'm much improved and in the training area I beat even the more advanced enemy much easier.

I would suggest if you really want to play the game that you first set under options/gameplay the Enemy AI Difficulty to POOR. And then try changing Control Block Direct and Control Attack Direct from "By Mouse Movement" to "By Movement Keys."  Then try it out in the practice area against the two-tiered opponents. I found the key movement works better for me. Hope this helps.

[Gusington]

Bannerlord is outpacing the new Doom game??

[sandman2575]

Thanks trek -- That's great to know that there is Xbox controller support, though it sounds like you're not using a controller. I've found that I've always needed to use a controller in these types of games, whether Skyrim or Metal Gear or Fallout. I just suck with Mouse & Keyboard. But maybe I should give it a try in this case. Appreciate the advice.  O0

[trek]

Yeah Sandman, I'm with you on using a controller in many other games. Ghost Recon BP, The Division, Metal Gear V, Assassins' Creed, etc. Of course those are more mainstream AAA titles that are primarily made for controllers. I prefer the controller on all of them. Try M&B with the controller first and then M&KB and see what you think. The only other game I play that I prefer M&KB over the controller is ARMA3 as that is really optimized for M&KB.

[hellfish6]

For reference, I found combat in Witcher 3 quite hard (and never got more than a couple of hours in as a result) -- I also found combat in original M&B hard.

As an aside, there are mods out there that make combat much easier and/or make you invincible. I highly suggest any of those because imho Witcher III is one of the absolute best games I've ever played and is THE best written game. I'm generally not much of a hack-n-slasher myself, and the combat in Witcher III could definitely be tedious, but the game was still very worth the effort to me.

[Ian C]

For reference, I found combat in Witcher 3 quite hard (and never got more than a couple of hours in as a result)

That's unfortunate to hear. The Witcher 3 is one of the best fantasy gaming experiences I've ever had by far, and I recall you and I share similar gaming tastes and appreciation of game aesthetics.

In Witcher 3, selecting the difficulty setting on its easiest level simplifies combat greatly and allows you to experience the story at the forefront. I'd strongly recommend you retry the game at this level - it's too good a game to miss!