author: Bart Swiatek
Bannerlord is Too Similar to Predecessor? Players Grow Weary
Some of the people playing Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord complain about the game's weariness. In their opinion, the title is not different enough from the previous part, offers too shallow gameplay and puts too much emphasis on grind. The decreasing interest is also visible in the stats collected by SteamCharts.
IN A NUTSHELL:
- After three months from the early access launch some M&B2 fans complain about boredom and grind, as well as insufficient number of changes from the previous part;
- SteamCharts data show that the number of people playing the game has also decreased significantly.
Less than three months after the launch of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord in Steam's Early Access, some players are beginning to feel tired of TaleWorlds' game. A collection of critical statements about the game can be found on Reddit.
Mount & Grind II: Copypastelord?
One of the most common criticism is that there is too much emphasis on grind and the overall shallowness of gameplay mechanics.
"After 81 hours and having to experience the unbalanced multiplayer I called it quits until the game gets finished. I got burned out at around 40 due to the enormous grind and the shallow state of the game but managed to push to 81 with pure will. Will probably leave a bad taste in my mouth even after the finish it," Krisko125 writes.
Some people point out that the game is too similar to the previous installment (Mount & Blade: Warband) and does not offer enough new mechanics.
"They sure developed the engine, and the graphics that came with it. But the game itself is pretty much the same. Honestly i thought i'd see more of a tactical movement scheme in the overworld map. Ambushing, attacking your enemy from a specific direction, all that doesn't seem to have any space in the game.More depth to the economical aspect would be nice too. More industry expansion somehow? Bit of kingdom mercantilism maybe? (economic-political theory that emerged in the early modern age - editorial note)," Coxinh complains.
"I've clocked over 100 hours in Bannerlord and while I don't regret it, after a long time, the game can become dull with its lack of new challenges and activities. Developers have focused on polishing existing mechanics, and unfortunately modders do not yet have the tools and capabilities to create really interesting projects. For this reason, I have put aside the title until its official launch," says one of our associates.
SteamCharts - player interest is waning, but remains quite high
A glance at the stats collected by SteamCharts shows that the popularity of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is actually much lower today than it was a few months ago, although the game still attracts a decent number of players. The activity record in the last 24 hours was 19,084 users. By comparison, 77,878 people played at the peak of last month, while the so-called all-time peak was just over 248,000.
It is worth noting that the game is regularly patched and still has a thriving community. It remains to be hoped that with time the developers will expand their work even further and introduce a number of mechanics, thanks to which it will begin to stand out from the previous part of the series.
