The uniqueness of Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord and why is it worth playing it?!
For starters, I am a big fan of the series Mount & Blade, About 10 years ago, a disk of my first computer got into a disc with The history of the hero, in which, although I died from every nearby gang of robbers and spent more time more than in the wild, but it was something new, incredible and insanely exciting. Then there was a time when no one was chasing the graphics, facial expressions in dialogs or fullness of an open world (although there were no problems with this), We passed the same quests dozens of times, getting much more pleasure than from many modern projects 100 million budgets.
And if we talk about Warband, then I still sometimes go to play, global mods are still updated, which can only give in to scale Skyrim, As I believe, videos, guides, passing and streams for this game are still coming out.
For those of you who are not familiar with the series, I will give a short summary:
Mount & Blade is difficult to designate with some one genre, We can say that it is Action-RPG-Simulation-STRETEGY: There are all elements in it, but it cannot be described only to one of them. The game takes place in fictional world of Calradia, based on medieval Europe and the Middle East. IN Bannerlord the action takes place 210 years before its predecessor, after the fall of a large empire (modeled after falling Roman Empire).
In this fictional world, you can create and pump your character, create a dynasty, gain your army, fight in large -scale battles, waving a sword or ax, Pumping enemy with a spear or trying to hit with an arrow or bolt, well, to conquer cities, castles and villages. You can be a formidable military leader or peaceful merchant, The choice is always yours. The game is built around quests, large and small, this is the main way to advance the story, your character and your clan, as well as fill your pockets. But you can also mercilessly pursue looters and bandits, fight with them and take their prey. You can follow the main storyline or just wander around the fictional medieval world. In short, to get acquainted freely with the history of the historical world as you like – it is the goal of Mount & Blade.
Early access is not as bad as many believe
Let’s start with the elephant in the shop: the game is still far from the end. It is in early access, which means that the developers are still modifying the game (Cap), And this is clearly visible. The game has many mistakes, failures and missing parts, many quests are still in development, and many cities and villages have not yet been modeled. However, it should be said that Taleworlds Provides the game regular updates (about twice a week or several small patches almost daily) And really communicates with the base of the players. The game has an active forum where players and developers interact to improve mechanics and atmosphere. You can hate the concept of early access and release of unfinished games, but it is worth paying tribute to Taleworlds at least an attempt to work with a community over the completion of the game. In addition, the studio really encourages people to create mods, and remember the mod for Warband – Viking Conquest, then he completely became official DLS.
Certainly, graphics may not be the most beautiful or well worked out, but it has never been a priority or the purpose of the game, All her charm lies in mechanics, capabilities and variability. I mean that I like beautiful games, but The developers should not bring themselves and their projects to the limit in order to get a good graphics, while sacrificing the essence of why people play games. The plus to the basic graphics is that the load on the graphic processor is not so large, because the game has a difficult (though still awkward) The physics of the battle, which is modeled for each soldier in battle separately, so in big battles the average graphics even plus.
Peace and history are not spelled out for you, you are not Dovakin
At the same time, https://magic-win-casino.org/ I would like to plunge deeper into the elements that make Bannerlord a unique game. At first glance, he is not so fantastic, not very well written and there is no amazing story in it, but it provides the player is a huge medieval sandbox in which he can create his own story. And this underlies what does Bannerlord (and all Mount & Blade) So unusual. He puts the player in a fictional, but historically functional time and space, allowing you to create everything you want.
Yes, there is a comprehensive story, but in fact it has absolutely nothing to do with the mechanics “Move up the medieval staircase”, in the base of this game. And this mechanic itself is also quite funny, since you can experience the mobility of classes at a time when there was no such thing as the mobility of classes (or at least in the form in which we know her now). We live in a world where you can climb the social/political/economic ladder, in the Middle Ages it was almost impossible. Bannerlord takes modern class mobility and turns it into a fictional medieval world.
In addition, the game makes the player insignificant compared to other events in the world. Yes, you play the game, but You are just a small screw in a medieval machine, which continues to rotate regardless of whether you turn with her or not. The player can be the driving force of the game, but the world exists without a player: wars flashed, castles and cities will be captured, aristocrats and women will be captured and executed. You feel small in a big world where any other NPC can be your end (especially stray bandits at the beginning of the game, this is straight pain).
And this world is not empty. In the world Calradia eight fractions fight for power: Empire (divided into western, southern and northern parts), Sunny, Battenia, Sturgia, Azerei and Huzaites. But there are also countless mercenaries, bandits and looters wandering around the lands of Calradia. As a player, you can either join one of the factions, swearing allegiance to the ruler, or become an independent force. All fractions have their own way of life, own ways of fighting, their own units and their own culture. It is interesting to travel around the world and see how a different lifestyle has a different way, which also affects architecture and fashion. You can really distinguish between different cultures, their influence on each other, as well as the influence of the world and the environment on these nations.
And the factions are not just invented, they are based on real cultures of history.
Most fractions resemble European or Middle Eastern tribes and culture. Some of them are more obvious, others are a mixture of different cultures. Empire It is similar to the Roman and Byzantine empires, especially with the detachments of legionnaires and cataphracts. Sunny based on the Norman/Western European feudal culture with heavy cavalry. Battania – Celtic people specializing in the partisan war. Aserai formed from pre -Islamic Arab cultures. Huzaites (Kuzaites) – a mixture of Mongol and Turkish steppe warriors specializing in equestrian shooting from onions. Finally, Sturiagia created in the image of pre -Christian Rus’, although it has obvious Scandinavian features, as a hint of Varangian elements of culture.
Historical reliability?
Creating cultures freely formed with real historical examples, the developers defended themselves from “Clovanist warriors”, claiming historical inaccuracy (this is me one of these). Nevertheless, part of the base of the players still plays on a historical basis of factions, especially the Huzaites are a culture of great discussion: they are Turks or they are Mongols?
I like the semi -historical approach that the game uses. Having taken a more condescending approach to history, the developers left themselves more creative freedom, this also simplifies the balancing of units and factions. This is quite obvious if you look at the warriors and the period of time that they must represent at their crossbows or siege machines, which directly indicates an anachronism.
I have a desire to devote a small article to this soon, so it will be possible to figure out more specifically what is wrong with historical reliability, but this cannot in any way affect the quality of the game.
The real power of the cavalry
Except for historically inaccurate units, game The use of cavalry during the war is excellent And I was really struck by the absolute power of the cavalry. The cavalry was widely used throughout history and it is known how victorious it could be, because there is a reason why horseback “Fighters” used from ancient times before Second World War War. What Bannerlord Especially good is in the demonstration of the relics of the cavalry: an attack on the enemy system with the help of about 30 riders definitely seems deadly. The sound of hooves, speed and first contact forced me to truly assess the damage, which could cause a timely cavalry attack. You can easily break through the system of enemy, exhaust his fighting spirit and win in battles.
In all my passages, I always chose the composition of the army with heavy cavalry, in combination with archers and infantry, but to roam with 80 warriors, of which at least 40 cavalrymen seems to be a very expensive occupation. In any case, it should be so, but the game does not really affect this. There is a reason why the cavalry was often considered elite troops and only the highest nobility fought on horses: the horses are not very cheap pleasure, especially in terms of their maintenance. There is no game mechanics that could become a counterweight to the relics of the cavalry on the principle of costs. You pay considerable daytime wages to all your troops, but this does not mean that horseback fighters are much more expensive. It is possible that Calradia is just a world where horses are much cheaper)
The game is constantly changing. Patches are produced almost daily, which allows you to play a slightly different game for two weeks. There are many elements that have not yet been implemented, many quests and locations are not perfect, and the mechanics of caravans and workshops, I hope, will be processed. You can approach this two ways: Either wait for the development of development, or play it now and adapt to new content, What will be added, although The release should be this year (according to the old statements).
In the end, the decision remains with you. I really like the game, and I think that Taleworlds go in the right direction using early access. They listen to the players, make regular updates, work with the community and encourage the creation of mods. If you are interested in a medieval role -playing game with elements of strategy and awkward, but a fascinating combat system, you should choose Bannerlord. The community of this game is very large -scale and will probably exist for many more years (as it was with Warband). Even if you are not particularly fond of such games, you may be worth a try, you can be surprised when you find that you are at full galloping with a spear at the ready, knocking a horseman from the saddle who wanted to knock you out and several hours passed like a couple of minutes.
