What's going on with Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord?

It has been a long time since I've done a regular post related to gaming, but it's about time I do.

I've already done a post about Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord some time ago, but the game is still yet to be released. I've been playing and streaming Warband lately and it completely fell out of my mind to check up on my probably most anticipated game, which is Bannerlord.

If you look on the official Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord website, which is here, you'll notice that the developers haven't published a feature list yet. Though there have been lots of details shown about the potential/existing features Bannerlords will have.

The new engine looks really great in my opinion. The graphics are far more realistic and the setting is amazing in general. But it might be just me since I'm a little bit overhyped when it comes to medieval sandbox games. If you haven't seen what the game looks like yet, you can check out this video.

So after reading up the latest blogs made by the developer team, here's a few points that were pretty interesting to me in terms of feature overhaul.

Firstly, unlike in Warband, there will be castles attached to villages. Players will have the ability to construct them, but it will cost money and take time. I'm not a 100% certain on how this will actually play out in-game, but it sounds interesting nonetheless (all change is good).

Then there's the option to conduct some illegal business ordeals. You can even do some shady stuff while being a king, but it might cost you reputation if you are caught red handed. You can be evil and burn everything in Warband as well, though even more mischievous add-ons in Bannerlord certainly won't hurt.

Also, there's a new 'currency' in Bannerlord called influence, which directly affects your political relations with lords in the same faction as you are (not sure about lords from other factions, but would only seem logical). As the developers stated, these influence points generate some sort of responsibility - keep your liege pleased and he will be favorable in return (gain more land for example).

Sieges have me really hyped as well. The sieges are much much more realistic than what we have in Warband right now, which is literally a ladder or a siege tower on top of a castle wall and massacre. Sieges in Bannerlord will be much more detailed, including extra siege equipment and will require some tactical thinking.

But what I'd really like to see is a more in depth political side of the game. I would like to be able to have a wider variety of choices when it comes to politics. Simply adding the ability to bribe or extort other lords would make a huge difference. It's something Warband really lacks in my opinion, but for such an old game, it fills it's purpose.

Another feature that would blow my mind if it were to be implemented in the future is having children. I might have mentioned this in an old post about Bannerlord, but this has still been on my mind. You can get married in Warband, but that's really it. It doesn't really sway the lady's family towards you, but you just have a wife for the sole purpose of having one (unless I've been using my wife wrong for the whole time). Being able to have children which inherit your fiefs as well as renown would actually make a lot of sense. Imagine having your son all grown up and pillaging the villages of enemies?

That's all I have to say for now, but I'll keep checking the latest news about the game. The development of this game is taking a really long time, which is why I expect it to be a really successful piece (hopefully). But for the time being, I'll be playing Warband and keeping my fingers crossed that the game will be accessible soon - at least an early access version.

Thanks for reading!

@cheaky