Ilatar proclaims peace, and asks who he’s talking to
Eventually, Yasmin meets with Sanion, a lord of the house Mestricaros. She’s asked to train a band of his troops—leading them into small skirmishes to gain experience. Such missions can be more lucrative than those undertaken for a merchant, but have a greater impact on the sandbox. The danger is in drawing the ire of a rival lord. With a bolstered retinue, Yasmin tracks down more bandits to test her borrowed recruits. A few battles later, they’ve gained experience—though two were killed in the process. The outcome of the quest depends on how many troops survive. Just a few casualties, and the lord should be pretty pleased. But too many deaths could sour your relationship.
Yasmin returns to Sanion’s castle, but he’s not there. Lords are always on the move, leading their own armies on campaigns across their territory. It’s possible to find the last known location of the lord through the quest menu, or by talking to the NPCs in their castle, but sometimes you just have to hunt them down. As Yasmin scouts the hills near Sanion’s territory, she encounters a man called Ilatar. He proclaims peace, and asks who he’s talking to.
Yasmin answers truthfully, and Ilatar reveals he’s from a clan in Khuzait. When you start a Bannerlord campaign, one of the other world powers will be openly hostile to you. The Khuzait—a nation of skilled horse archers—are Yasmin’s enemies, and Ilatar prepares to attack. She’s outnumbered; he’s commanding 66 men to her 18. The battle is quick, and Yasmin is captured.
dismounted
That’s how it goes in Mount & Blade. The simulation is always moving, and indifferent to your actions. Why Ilatar was in the Southern Realms doesn’t matter—it led to a chance encounter that left Yasmin imprisoned, and her army destroyed. It can be frustrating to run into such a powerful opponent so early, but gives the world a sense of unpredictability and danger. No two sessions are the same, and Bannerlord aims to heighten that variety.
This is where the demo ends, but, had it not, Yasmin’s journey wouldn’t have been over. Prisoners will escape after a time, and, even when you’re stripped of soldiers and resources, the relationships you build remain intact.
It’s clear that Bannerlord isn’t revolutionizing Mount & Blade. This is a major progression of the series, focused primarily on tweaks and improvements. “We have been working on almost all aspects of the game,” says Yavuz. “There are many other new features that we couldn’t show in the demo, such as the political and diplomatic system, better town management, a new and revamped character development, a crafting system, to name a few.” Add to that multiplayer improvements and better mod support, and it’s a significant overhaul of a familiar experience.
It explains why Bannerlord has been so long in the making. “We are trying to make the best game we possibly can,” says Ali Erkin, TaleWorlds’ managing director, “and this unfortunately has meant going back to the design board in certain cases, rethinking certain features, or rewriting a piece of code that doesn’t perform as well as it should.” By way of an example, Erkin reveals that the character development system has been reworked three times from scratch. “When all is done and we see a system working really well, we feel that it was worth the extra time and effort,” Erkin continues. “While we missed our 2016 target, we are confident we’ll be able to get the game out in some form this year.”
I hope so. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord probably won’t be the most polished game released this year, but, all being well, it will be a deep, varied sandbox game that welcomes new players and satisfies existing fans. TaleWorlds has made one of PC gaming’s most endearing cult favorites, and the studio seems set to improve on it in almost every way. If this extra development time pays off, Bannerlord could well prove to be one of the year’s best RPGs.