Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord - Everything You Need to Know

Updated:

12 May 2016

The newest game in the Mount and Blade franchise, Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord, was first announced in 2012 and has been in development since. Since then, we've caught a whole bunch of glimpses into the game. Check out this list of some of the most important things you should know if you're looking forward to it. They'll interest, amaze, and shock you!

1) What is the game's backstory?

There's lots more characters to meet and stories to learn.

Although Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord is a sequel to the original two games in the series, it's actually slated to take place 200 years before either of them. The game's backstory is heavily inspired by the fall of the Latin Roman Empire in the real world, with the Calradian Empire in the game undergoing the same conflict the Romans did before the fall of the Roman empire.

Just like how the early European kingdoms were created after the Roman Empire was destroyed, Bannerlord will throw you smack into a period of action, bloodshed, and all-out conflict as various warring tribes invade Calradia seeking to make their fortunes.

2) What are the playable factions?

Make your mark in the world.

Those tribes invading the Empire are all related to the playable factions that gamers got to choose from in the original Mount and Blade and Mount and Blade: Warband. The new (or should we say, old?) factions will have some things in common with their predecessors, but they'll mostly be original and never-before-seen.

The factions in Bannerlord are as follows:
⦁   The Vlandians, a cavalry-focused tribe and the ancestors of the Swadians.
⦁   The Sturgians, a warrior-tribe of axemen and the ancestors of the Nords.
⦁   The Aserai, a desert people and the ancestors of the Sarranids.
⦁   The Khuzaits, a steppe tribe and the ancestors of the Khergits.
⦁   The Battanians, a woodland clan of archers and the ancestors of the Vaegirs.

3) What is the player's goal?

Build a kingdom of your own.

The player's goal changes a lot depending on the faction they choose to join. If you choose to swear loyalty to the Calradic Empire, you will fight under its flag with the goal of helping it survive past this period of decline. Judging by the events of the earlier games in the franchise, it doesn't look like you have much chance of succeeding. But hey, who says you can't rewrite history?

If you choose to join any of the new warring tribes, you'll instead fight to establish them as powerful kingdoms in the wake of the Empire's collapse. Will you change history and conquer all of Calradia at once, replacing the Empire, or will you doom the world to the centuries of war that were seen in the original games? It's all up to you.

4) Why will fans love it?

A pretty blend of old and new.

Bannerlord promises to take the formula of the series: the RPG elements, the large-scale warfare, and the vast, open world, and to revamp it in tons of new ways. The core gameplay remains the same, but some of the mechanics have been modernized and streamlined. More meat is being added to the game's bones.

TaleWorlds Entertainment has reached out to the creators of tons of different mods for Mount and Blade and Warband and will be incorporating features of the most popular ones into the new game.

For example, Diplomacy, a super popular mod adding new political systems into the game, has been adopted by the developers. They plan to implement a large amount of the mod's features into the base game in Bannerlord, showing how hard they're trying to both improve the game and listen to the community; something more game developers should do!

The developers have worked on all sorts of ways to keep fans updated on the game's development, from blogs and YouTube videos to appearances at conventions and trade shows. Say what you will about Bannerlord, but something we can all see is that it's going to be a love letter to fans of the series.

5) What is the gameplay like?

Out for a night on the town.

The focus of Bannerlord is to improve on and evolve the classic Mount and Blade formula while making sure it keeps what makes it unique. No other game series in the world is exactly like Mount and Blade, and it's obvious the developers of the game are super proud of that. They'll be working hard to make Bannerlord worthy of the series name.

As we've seen in the few gameplay videos that have been released, towns and cities are now huger, more diverse, and more heavily populated than they ever were in previous games. They now pulse with life, textured and detailed more than they have ever been before. And it's marvelous.

Here's a small look into some of the new town and city features in the game.

The same update has been given to the vast battlefields you will undoubtedly find yourself fighting over in Bannerlord. Maximum battle size is now super huge, soldiers are now more detailed and individualistic, and the fields, deserts, and forests where you and your soldiers will fight to the death are now filled with vegetation and life.

6) How will enemies act?

Fight your way to victory.

Just like how the plot of the game is also inspired by the period in history following the fall of the Latin Roman Empire, as is its design and visual style. The armor and weaponry of the game world is inspired by historical records from about 600-1200AD, the period leading up to and culminating in the Middle Ages.

TaleWorlds is boosting the intensity of the game's artificial intelligences to awesome new levels. Soldiers will think, breathe, and act out their own personalities on the battlefield. Animations have been redone to look more lifelike and fluid. Your enemies will appear engorged with violence and rage, and good luck dealing with them -- their behavior will be totally unpredictable!

Gone are the times of the easy blocking and the abuse of glitchy AI that was just everywhere in previous Mount and Blade games. To survive against the forces that oppose them, players will need to as creative as they can be.

Enemies will mix up how they fight, and you'll need to mix yourself up to respond to them. Enemy soldiers will be robotic no more, but spirits of danger instead.

7) What is the world like?

Explore, expand, and conquer.

Since the game takes place in the land of Calradia just like its predecessors, despite depicting a form of the continent 200 years younger, it can be expected that the map will look roughly the same as it always has.

There might be minor differences, though, and like what happened between the original game and Warband, the developers may choose to switch up the locations of some factions in order to better balance the gameplay.

Maybe the map boundaries will even be expanded, so we can see further into the homelands of the various warring tribes that will be taking the spotlight in Bannerlord. There's tons of lore and backstory left untapped in the series, and so it'd be super if we could see into that more.

This would mean we will see further into the ocean plains from which the Nords descend, the sun-baked desert lands of the Sarranids, and the cold, winter forests of the Vaegir homelands. Regardless of where the map takes us, any new areas to explore will surely brim with intensity.

8) What are the weapons like?

Time to try out some new toys.

Like we previously reported, all of the armor and weaponry that will be at your disposal in Bannerlord is inspired from medieval European weaponry from 600-1200AD.

Not to mention, we can assume that each faction's weaponry will be inspired by the real-life culture it takes inspiration from, just like in previous Mount and Blade games. History buffs are sure to love this franchise.

The nomadic Khuzaits, for example, like the Khergits in previous games, are obviously inspired from the wandering Mongol hordes in real history. We can assume that their weaponry and armor will be derived from the Mongols, with light but effective armor and bows meant for use on horseback.

The Mount and Blade series has always tried its hardest to blend historical inspirations with new ideas and fun, action-packed gameplay. Weaponry in Bannerlord will be realistic, but easy and fun to use.

Blocking, countering, and attacking is going to be quicker and more responsive thanks to the game's ultra-modernized engine. We can also expect a much larger amount of weapons and armor in the game, considering how much Bannerlord has expanded the game world in every other facet.

9) What else do we still not know?

What secrets are Bannerlord keeping from us?

Even though we've known of the game's development for so long, there's still a lot about it that is still shrouded in mystery. The development team has made sure to feed us just enough juicy information about Bannerlord to keep us interested, but not enough so that we completely understand everything.

Because of that, fans of the series and news-savvy gamers are hungry for more. We're all dying to learn more about the expanded game world, the new factions, the vastly improved graphics, and the redone gameplay.

Specifically, the fan community has desired to learn more about the game's multiplayer modes. While the original Mount and Blade featured no multiplayer component, Mount and Blade: Warband's multiplayer mode fostered a huge community and is still popular to this day, 7 years after its release.

The developers have been especially hush-hush in regard to telling players about what the multiplayer in Bannerlord will be like. One of the few facts we've learned so far tell us that the team is aiming to build a game strong enough to handle 400 players in a single multiplayer battle. Now that would be a sight to see!

In addition to making the multiplayer bigger than ever, the developers have pledged to promise full mod support for the game. It's obvious to us all that they are trying to build a community that will stand the test of time, and to make Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord an amazing experience that'll go down in gaming history.

10) When's the game coming out?

Prepare for the next step in the Mount and Blade saga.

Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord has been in development since 2012 and TaleWorlds Entertainment has been keeping the community updated on their progress every step of the way. New features are being added to the game all the time, new innovations made and creative ideas explored.

Fans can keep up to date on the game on TaleWorld's official website, and from any announcements they make to the public. At the moment, they have announced they are aiming for a release date of Autumn 2016. Thankfully, we've not much longer to wait!

If all goes well, we'll all be playing Bannerlord before year's end. We'll be conquering kingdoms, fighting bandits, and laying sieges to medieval cities in no time. It's time to return to the fantasy world of Mount and Blade, and to make it our own. Are you ready, gamers?

Conclusion

Alright readers of Gamers Decide, what did you all think about our list of all the things you need to know about Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord? As huge fans of the series, we've been waiting on Bannerlord to come out for what seems like centuries, and have been following its development every step of the way.

The game is coming slowly, but surely. But with patience -- and the help of this list -- you can prepare for when it finally releases and amazes us all! In the meantime, go ahead and let us know what you thought of our list. Is there any juicy tidbit of news about the game that we missed out on? Did we forget to include something especially cool? Make sure you let us know.