Recent reviews by gero

POV: You joined a tourney, lost the final, and executed the winner out of spite.

Bannerlord is what happens when you mix medieval politics, large-scale battles, and pure sandbox chaos, and then let the player loose with absolutely no adult supervision.

Want to become king of an empire? Go for it. Want to run around solo, fistfighting looters in your underwear? Also viable.

The combat? Chef’s kiss. Charging into 300 guys with your elite cavalry squad while your archers light up the sky behind you is one of the most satisfying feelings in any game, period. Sieges? A complete mess. A beautiful mess.

But oh man, this game is janky as hell.

- The AI has the brainpower of a wet cabbage half the time.

- Diplomacy is straight-up black magic.

- Your companions will somehow find a way to get captured even while sitting in a city doing nothing.

Modding fixes a lot... and breaks even more.

Still. You lose 5 hours of your life without even noticing.
One second you're trading furs in the desert, the next you're executing nobles and marrying into power.

If you're into massive battles, sandbox strategy, and watching your kingdom collapse because you accidentally voted in your worst enemy as marshal, this game is for you.

Pros:

- Huge battles with real tactics (although i lowkey dont understand how half the tactics work so i just tell my army to
charge in lol)

- Deep (and often hilarious) sandbox freedom

- Great modding community

- Becoming a literal warlord with a sword named after your horse

Cons:

- Still buggy after all this time

- Diplomacy and politics feel half-finished

- Weird AI decisions constantly

- Can be a grind without mods/QOL changes

Gameplay : 8/10
Polish : 6/10

The game is really good when it works. The mechanics are crisp, matches are fast, and there's nothing more satisfying than learning tech and beating the keeper. Switching between goalie and striker mid-game feels super fluid, and pulling off saves at the last second is just as good as scoring. 5v5 ranked was a great move, more teamplay, more chaos, and a bigger pitch.

BUT.

This game is also held together by duct tape and prayers.

- I’ve had friends crash multiple times mid game in ranked. (somehow at the same time, an equal amount of players crash
on the other team too lol.

- The ball will randomly teleport

- Desync makes it feel like you’re playing a different game than everyone else sometimes.

- When u cancel queue for a game, it puts u into it anyway.

Cosmetics are cool but ngl, asking full price and putting in a battle pass on top is a little scummy when the netcode is barely holding up. Game feels early access but priced like a finished product.

If you’ve got a squad/enough friends, the game is worth the full price no matter what, still worth it and i dont doubt all the issues will be fixed soon anyway.

9/10 gameplay, 4/10 polish.

been out for 2 days and already played 21hrs 💀

lol aim :)

accidentally played this 9hrs straight.

really good