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. 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

Critic Reviews

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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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