Bannerlord is not dead

[Sonmi]

If you're anything like me, the silence since October on the progress of Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord got you worried as to the status of the very much anticipated title, 4 months without news led to you expecting the worse: a cancellation.

Well, fear not, the April edition of PC Gamer's main story is all on Bannerlord, and apparently, it's stated to be released this year under one form or another. (They said the same thing last year, but heh, cut them some slack) Here's a scan of the story if anyone is interested:

http://imgur.com/a/ijdZg

Days of butter hoarding and endless feasting are still ahead of us, friends.

 

[Saelune]

I did ask my brother who is more likely to know than I "Wasnt Bannerlord supposed to be out by now?" but I dont feel worried it will be canceled. Paradox is still pumping out DLC for CK2. They dont seem the company to just give up on something.

 

[Sonmi]

I did ask my brother who is more likely to know than I "Wasnt Bannerlord supposed to be out by now?" but I dont feel worried it will be canceled. Paradox is still pumping out DLC for CK2. They dont seem the company to just give up on something.

Paradox is only the publisher, Tale Worlds, who don't have the same record as Paradox as far as regular releases go, are the ones making the game.

Still, I'll also throw in support for Paradox, despite their business model making me fork thrice the amount I'd pay for a game, I can't hate them for supporting and adding content to the games I cherish.

 

[The Madman]

I've never been in doubt as to whether the game would get a release or not, what I've always been nervous about has been the state of said release. As much as I love the Mount & Blade games, and I really really do, they're not exactly the most polished of games and I have to imagine that this new and likely far more complicated entry into the series is only likely to be more difficult to polish before release. Paradox as the publisher don't exactly have a great record for game releases either so that's no help.

So here's to hoping it wont be a buggy mess on release, or that if it is that the underlying mechanics are still as compelling as the previous games and that as a result I wont care abut the bugs.

 

[meiam]

Delay aren't always bad, it just depend on the reason for the delay. If it lead to cleaner game with less annoying stuff (go to arena as an expert bowman, get a 2 handed sword) then I'll take all the delay. But if there just focusing on graphic then that's just wasted time, sure the first one looked like ass, but w/e it was fun and better graphics just means less units on screen at one.

 

[BoogieManFL]

Delays are better than delivering an unfinished product, so I'm all for it if the end results in a superior experience.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

No news is good news. And since the original releases had little-to-no fanfare involved, I'm not really surprised we've heard little from the devs. Concentrate efforts/funds on development, let the game speak for itself. Marketing is such overpriced bullshit anyway.

 

[Terminal Blue]

Paradox is only the publisher.

There's also two Paradoxes. Paradox Interactive is the publishing arm. Paradox Development Studio makes games like CK2 and Stellaris. The former makes the business decisions.

But actually, Taleworlds went the self-publishing route a few years back. They're actually a pretty big studio (bigger than PDS). It does go some way towards explaining the dip in marketing though.

 

[The Madman]

All the screenshots from the article you linked are now available on PCGamer's website and they look pretty damn promising.

Spoiler: For those that don't want to visit the site, a couple of the screenshots

Quite the jump from how the original looked back on release, and even moreso than the pre-release version from way back in yonder days when it was just a tech demo for the combat system. Mind you it's stuff like the new siege mechanics that interest me most, but even so it's nice to see Mount & Blade not looking nearly as terrible as it once did.

Mods can improve a lot with the previous M&B games, but even so the engine is without doubt showing its age and creaking under the weight. Definitely time for an overhaul, which is exactly what I hope this game will be.