Bannerlord illustrates many of the problems with sequels that promise too much and deliver too little. With the game indeed being in EA, it's nevertheless been almost a decade since the last iteration, and with so little to show for that time spent in this new outing it's difficult to find much to recommend here.

For the sake of fairness, the graphics are a noticeable upgrade. Soldiers on the field are detailed and gritty, though you'll see the same repetitious 'dumb-face' abound from person to person (Elder Scrolls games suffer this same issue). The combat has largely remained unchanged, but continues to satisfy and requires some measure of skill to pull off the various parries/blocks and slip-attacks. Siege and town-assaults are still crowd pleasers, and a few quality of life changes that allow you to fast travel to quest givers is a welcome addition.

Aside from this, unfortunately, not much else can be said in defense of the game. Quests are completely devoid of any substance - the major three being a caravan escort mission, an order to clear out a bandit's nest, and a bodyguard assignment that requires you to talk to some poor schmuck whose hiding out in the boonies because he's on a hit list. Dialogue is, frankly, abysmal - and choices, when you're even given them, are hollow and seldom change actual unit disposition towards you and only seems to really affect what sort of units/goods you can purchase from a particular faction. Economic functionality and general game mechanics are sometimes just outright bizarre (i.e. hoarding horses to increase inventory, but having an ungodly host of horses neither increases your speed nor increases your food consumption). Party members assigned to some task will just wander off aimlessly until you re-recruit them at some tavern in the corner of the map - bandit parties of 7-8 men, once engaged, will address your band of 120+ cavalry as if you're some penniless bumpkin that's about to get his arse whipped. The list goes on.

It's sad to say, but in its current state the game isn't even on par with Warband (sans mods). With mods, Warband is leaps and bounds ahead of this, and while many people will point to the tenuous 'Early Access' tagline - given the amount of time it was in development and the speed at which progress is being made, it doesn't appear that the game will likely ever deliver on its earliest promises.