Well, it IS a prettier version of the game. Much of it is the same - You control yourself and your army in much the same way.
A few highligts which is different from the previous games
Improved AI - already now on the map I can see lords seemingly do good stuff.
Much larger battles. Some reports say 1000 people in battles, some say higher numbers.
Clan management. There are clans now, and you are the leader of one of them.
Battle formations - I havent seen them myself yet, but they are there.
Crafting (Not in game yet, though, other than the screen for it).
new perks and levelling systems
Games in taverns
Sieges play out somewhat differenty now / I have not seen this myself though
Catapults and such are part of sieges as well
This is just off the top of my head and from what I¨ve read or seen myself. If you enjoyed the previous games, I am pretty certain you will enjoy this. If you didnt enjoy the previous games, the gameplay loop isnt changed and unlikely to sway your opinion.
Also - when you have a number on one of your skills, it means you have to SELECT a perk on that skill - That one took me quite some time to figure out.
I’m a huge fan but I’m skipping this for the time being. Warband was only worth it for the multiplayer as the singleplayer required years of modding to be enjoyable for me (Prophecy of Pendor is amazing, it does almost everything right, particularly gameplay balance and graphics).
I also feel like the quests have got a bit of a face lift, and I like the interface that makes it super easy to find people in town, collect quests etc. So far I like what I see. I have about 250 hours in Warband, so I have been really looking forward to this.
I picked it up and played about 20 minutes so far. That 20 minutes has consisted of me getting my ass kicked over and over again in the tutorial. I beat the first trainer with sword and shield, but I cannot block to save my life with a two handed sword. In the original I relied in bows and lances mostly so I have never been very good at the melee combat.
I’m feeling the same. The part that gets me is the timing between choosing the direction of your desired block/attack (step 1) and the holding down of the mouse button (step 2). I wish there was an option to hold the button down first and then move the mouse to the desired angle and your character would adjust accordingly.
After completing all of the tutorial but the damn two handed sword I ventured forth into the world and so far I like. Looks like a lot of systems to explore. Each town has different important people that you can recruit troops and occasionally get quests from. Your reputation with them determines what troops are available. On the trade screen it has an indication of if the price is good or bad, and shows prices from recent cities you visited. All good stuff so far.
Does it have a city / town screen like the diplomacy mod had? IE: you didn’t have to physically find the trader or tavern, you could just teleport there.
Yes, it does. Though it seems advantageous to walk around the town as townsfolk will tell you good trading deals. Could be a bit tedious but good for traders, I guess. The trading system is supposed to be more dynamic, which might mean the deals change as time goes on.
