Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

 PlayStation 5
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 33 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 33
  3. Negative: 4 out of 33
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  1. Errol1967
    Oct 28, 2022
    10
    Great game, with great updates to come. The devs did a great job by importing pc to PS5. It runs smooth and the stability is awsome on PS5 on performance mode. Keep it up :)
  2. megafun89
    Nov 1, 2022
    9
    No other game offers such a stable alchemy between battle, command, strategy, and management. And no other console game offers so many features.

    The console adaptation is incredible, for its stability and for its ergonomics. To achieve this result two modes are available, there are fewer units displayed but this does not affect the feeling of size. The only flaws I see are the lack of    No other game offers such a stable alchemy between battle, command, strategy, and management. And no other console game offers so many features.

    The console adaptation is incredible, for its stability and for its ergonomics. To achieve this result two modes are available, there are fewer units displayed but this does not affect the feeling of size. The only flaws I see are the lack of mods, and the loss of some precision compared to the mouse. Everything else is flawless and some shortcuts are even faster and more efficient than the PC!

    It's really an excellent surprise in terms of stability and controller efficiency, I didn't expect it.

    For the few sound bugs or empty cities, the game is not entirely finished and the few patches planned will correct these minor problems.

    Another positive point the developers have done a great job concerning the ergonomics of the menus with the pad, which despite some omissions on certain menus, has the luxury of being faster and more pleasant than on PC for others. However, this pad does not only work wonders and loses precision during battles compared to a mouse, which is the first flaw of this version. The absence of mods is not a surprise but also constitutes a lack of replayability compared to the PC. Finally, the console version is not without sacrifices, either visually/number of units (performance mode), or in terms of fluidity (quality mode). These 3 faults constitute about the only 3 major faults that I have been able to encounter, the rest being only minor bugs or certain cities which are a bit empty but will soon be corrected by patches in the pipeline.

    At the time of the balance sheet it is therefore an excellent surprise that this PS5 version, I did not think it was as stable and pleasant in the menus. So much freedom and functionality on the console and at the bottom of your couch, it's just crazy!

    The only question to ask now is do I want a typed role-playing game? If the question is yes then this game can become the game of your life, but if your love is corridors and nice graphics then no this game is not for you.    … Expand
  3. Fikoos
    Apr 4, 2023
    10
    I do not usually put reviews but this game in my veiw is totally worth it!
    0ver 50+ hours in the game and still enjoying it!
    The fighting mechanism seemed weird at first but after I got used to it, I've been moving from town to town for ooking tournaments!
    Hope to see more like this
  4. Tecneek
    Oct 31, 2022
    10
    One of the best strategy game on console. Anything you could ever want in a strategy game is in Bannerlord. You have a constant moving world that shapes around you, and it’s all done naturally with zero scripting. You can fight for or fight against anyone of your choosing. Create your own Kingdom and rule the world. Be a Merc for Hire. Be a traveling salesman. Be the commander of a massiveOne of the best strategy game on console. Anything you could ever want in a strategy game is in Bannerlord. You have a constant moving world that shapes around you, and it’s all done naturally with zero scripting. You can fight for or fight against anyone of your choosing. Create your own Kingdom and rule the world. Be a Merc for Hire. Be a traveling salesman. Be the commander of a massive army that you grow from the ground up, all by your own control. There are so many features and levels of depth to Bannerlord that I honestly can’t put it all into this tight review.

    I’m just so impressed with what the developers have done with the console version. It feels very similar to the PC version, and it runs and performs SO smooth! There is a 120hz toggle in the option, and the game already runs at a silky 60fps for anyone who doesn’t have the 120hz support. If you have ever liked any strategy game like Total War or Civilization, and you want even more control than those games offer, plus the full scale wars that can take place, you have to get this game. I’m giving it a VERY strong 9.5/10.    … Expand
  5. Replika83
    Oct 27, 2022
    9
    1 of a kind game on PS5. Great game, not perfect, but nearly. Like a lovechild of total war and dynasty warriors. Must buy as a medieval fan.
  6. Molec_man
    Feb 25, 2023
    6
    I wish I could give it a higher score but the things I dislike, I do so strongly.

    After playing this game for a solid 20 hours and trying to love it. I don't. While the graphics have been updated from PS3 to PS4 worthy, the controls and implementation are worse. There is a lot more to micromanage than what was in Warband, but the implementation is HORRID. This game is much worse than    I wish I could give it a higher score but the things I dislike, I do so strongly.

    After playing this game for a solid 20 hours and trying to love it. I don't. While the graphics have been updated from PS3 to PS4 worthy, the controls and implementation are worse. There is a lot more to micromanage than what was in Warband, but the implementation is HORRID. This game is much worse than Warband. In fact, I went back to playing WB for a few hours. Why?

    Controls are terrible. Whoever assigned the buttons lacks creativity. Block could be L2+Triangle, Square, Circle, X depending on direction. Attack could be the same without holding L2. This could help with a lot of camera plus swing direction issues. The 1st person toggle being on thumbstick is a bad idea, too. It should be on a D-pad button.

    The lack of a reliable log function for scrolling info is just plain lazy.

    Horse controls - See above. Polearm and Sword length are too short. You end up hitting the enemy with your horse or whiffing 80%. And target lock is not responsive on the R3. It doesn't click on and off easily and will cause your horse to stop in place.

    Formation Controls - The old system was easier and actually saved your setup. This one is stubborn and you'll need to do it every battle. It makes a Tactics build on the console feel mandatory in my opinion.

    Which bring me to a Tactics build... Why? Why force the player to grind out Tactics in micromanaged battles to even be able play this game moderately well in simulation mode? Simulations should also give Tactics XP. Duh. Or just make simulations depend on units, gear, renown, influence... just not a skill grind.

    Captains/Party Roles - Love the idea, but hate how confusing it is and how very little guidance is given on the choices.

    Graphics - Women look awful unless you make your own and they sound like men with hoarse voices. The graphics are dated.

    Load times - Reloading is slow on a PS5. Even though the graphics are weak. Must be that data is not optimized.

    The Economy - The economy in a single player game should not be this busted. Try running trade goods and the AI beats you there and crushes the purchase price. This is a huge waste of time and ends up losing you a ton of money. Problem is it happens constantly. How do you raise a skill without a working system? Back to Youtube for a outdated hack or someone recommending a Mod - wait, I can't use mods. Workshops are garbage and broken too. The only reliable way to make money is warmongering or farming tournaments. Again, they try to do too much and miss on the whole game.

    Gameplay information. The game does not tell you much about skills, stats, etc. And Youtube creators have had to keep up with limited shared info and patch changes. So there is still a lot of unknown unless you want to scour the internet for clues.

    In conclusion, for an Action/Strategy game it tries to do too much while not doing any one thing well. Its not worth its price tag and they are done updating it. Many PC players play with mods. That's not going to be the case on PS5. What we have is the best it will be.

    Wait for it to come to gamepass. Give it a good run before falling in love with it too early.    … Expand
  7. Akiin
    Jul 25, 2023
    0
    It's boring, nothing special and nothing really outstanding happens - other games will serve you a better experience
  8. SerhatUsername
    Dec 19, 2022
    8
    Recently I played Skyrim and realized Skyrim has certain differences and similarities to Bannerlord; which i can describe Bannerlord well through these. First and biggest difference is: The mentality of devs.

    -Skyrim DOESN'T trying to be everything at first. Skyrim chooses a general concept (Dragonborn), THEN tries to be everything. Skyrim devs are making eveything 7 out of 10 level    Recently I played Skyrim and realized Skyrim has certain differences and similarities to Bannerlord; which i can describe Bannerlord well through these. First and biggest difference is: The mentality of devs.

    -Skyrim DOESN'T trying to be everything at first.
    Skyrim chooses a general concept (Dragonborn), THEN tries to be everything.
    Skyrim devs are making eveything 7 out of 10 level at this point.

    -Bannerlord DOES trying to be everything at first.
    Bannerlord doesn't choose a general concept (you can be a merchant, king, commander etc.) and tries to be everything, but it can't. Because:
    1. There is lots of concepts (simply tries to handle more than Skyrim)
    2. Devs are perfectionists. They are adding much less, but it's always 10/10 addings.

    As if these weren't enough, I have one more bad news: Taleworlds (devs) has 4 times less employee than Bethesda. Combine this fact with the things above- now you understand why this game will took another 2,5 years to be completely finished, and why the updates are coming slowly.

    Last words: The game is still good and immersive. I think it's a must buy. Just play with mods or wait until they finish their job.    … Expand
  9. Alimd
    Oct 26, 2022
    10
    This game was always my favourite , it's a Masterpiece . But the developers mustn't end , the early and mid game is awesome but the late game needs more mechanism. Thanks to taleworlds for such a great game and I hope developers continue.
  10. Enbymarshall
    Dec 12, 2022
    9
    The game is genuinely good on console, much better imo than warband was, purely from a content perspective, bannerlord has way more content and you can dump way more time into bannerlord on console than you ever could with vanilla warband on console

    Of course, if you want the definitive experience you need to get the game on PC as modding will be the long term future of this game (as it    The game is genuinely good on console, much better imo than warband was, purely from a content perspective, bannerlord has way more content and you can dump way more time into bannerlord on console than you ever could with vanilla warband on console

    Of course, if you want the definitive experience you need to get the game on PC as modding will be the long term future of this game (as it was with warband) but there is hundreds of hours worth of content here and all of it is very good    … Expand
  11. rain0wn
    Jun 8, 2023
    10
    Definitely a sandbox game type worth its money. A game of excellent taste with medieval warfare and real-time strategy.
  12. Elexx
    Jul 9, 2023
    10
    Es un juego increíble. Para empezar el precio no es para nada elevado, caso 30 dólares por un juego extremadamente completo y complejo. Refleja a la perfección la idea de crear una vida, historia y aventura en tiempos de espadas y flechas. Los gráficos y texturas son maravillosas, los bots tiene una gran variabilidad estética y los "lords" están diseñados de una manera única. CadaEs un juego increíble. Para empezar el precio no es para nada elevado, caso 30 dólares por un juego extremadamente completo y complejo. Refleja a la perfección la idea de crear una vida, historia y aventura en tiempos de espadas y flechas. Los gráficos y texturas son maravillosas, los bots tiene una gran variabilidad estética y los "lords" están diseñados de una manera única. Cada personaje relevante (que son muchos) posee un comportamiento distinto, esto hace que, dependiendo de la zona en la que decidas desarrollar tu historia, tengas acceso a distintas misiones y experiencias. Lo recomiendo al 100%!!!… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. TheSixthAxis
    Nov 22, 2022
    70
    My return to Calradia wasn’t entirely jubilant, though Mount & Blade 2 Bannerlord is a game I’ll likely stick with, simply due to my love of the original. A wealth of new systems and activities help this sandbox strategy sim feel more alive than ever, though the busywork required to get anywhere can feel like a grind. Overall, existing fans will rejoice while newcomers may look on unimpressed, unsure what all the fuss is about.
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  2. Push Square
    Nov 17, 2022
    80
    Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord combines RPG mechanics with grand strategy and features battles so epic they can be overwhelming at times. It has some rough edges, and the interface can be unwieldy, but at its core lies a roleplaying experience that is virtually unrivalled in scope — especially on console.
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  3. Digitally Downloaded
    Nov 11, 2022
    90
    For everyone else, there is nothing quite like Mount & Blade. This expansive, massive, deeply immersive blend of open world, open-ended RPG and medieval strategy might be the biggest time sink on the PlayStation 5, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. The stories of heroics and failures that you can write for yourself while playing this game are positively Shakesperean, and this is one of those rare times where failure is as entertaining as success, because there’s an excellent, emergent story in that.
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