This sandbox RPG brings a lot of strengths to it's gameplay, the game gives you plenty of options on movement, combat and skills. The skills are lacking in quantity, but they make up for a plethora of uses.
PROS
[h1][i]COMBAT[/i][/h1]
The Bloodline gives you a bunch of weapon types. Longsword, shortsword, daggers, greatswords,
greataxes, axes, spears, flintlocks, rifles, crossbows and arrows to dish out punishment towards
your enemies. But you don't just use weapons.
The game gives you skills that can be used to
launch enemies upwards, send them flying back with a force, or can be used as a projectile that
latches onto them before exploding.
You are also given a grappling hook that while used in exploration to climb mountains, can be
used to reel in opponents and ragdoll them, allowing you to chain skills with it or pull them
into chasms and traps. The game has the usual trifecta of Block, Parry and Dodge, but it
does it in a unique way. It uses the "Shield Bash vs Power Attack" mechanic from Skyrim.
Shove an enemy [Hold the Left mouse button then tap the right mouse during an enemy attack]
and you'll parry the enemy, slow down time and deal double damage. Even more bonus damage
if you land a critical hit.
Even the critical hits require player input, where you must target and hit a gold diamond
on the opponent's body to land it.
YOU CAN EVEN PICK UP SEVERED LIMBS AND DROPPED WEAPONS FROM ENEMIES AND
SWING THEM AROUND AND THROW THEM TO DAMAGE ENEMIES.
Like I said, the game gives you so much options to handle any opposition.
[h1][i]EQUIPMENT[/i][/h1]
Like combat, the game gives you plenty of options for weapons, armour and items. Potionmaking, weaponsmithing and recently, armoursmithing! Allowing you to make your own gear is something
I love in RPGs, Weapons can be bought for a pretty penny with decent stats, or if you have the resources
can make individual pieces of weapons (Grips, Pommels, Blades, Guards). All of these weapon parts
look different and give a variety of bonuses that don't impact the overall weapon that much, allowing you to change the shape of your weapon.
Different weapon types require different blades. For example, a Greatsword requires a Greatblade, a Greataxe requires a Great Axe Head and so on. But the game doesn't just [i][b]GIVE[/b][/i] you the weapon, no no no... You have to make the
weapon too. Depending on your weaponsmithing skill, the minigame could be quick, or very hard.
First, you press an arrow key when it comes up and that's it. but you also have three attempts. Miss one,
you don't gain any progression and the weapon loses one attempt. On harder difficulties, it loses two, or even all attempts outright, and it takes longer to smith. After completing the weapon, you get a huge chunk of weaponsmithing XP. Armoursmithing is a little simpler. You just get the resources needed, select what armour class you want, where on the body if you'd want, change it's colour and vanity type, name it and enchant it, if you have any runes and then finally craft it.
Runes are rocks you get from mining outcrops in Exploration Mode and can't be used until you decode it.
Decoding runes requires you to follow a Rune Combo of sorts. [Red, green, blue, for example.] The minigame gets harder the more runes you successfully click, but the second you have two of the same rune, the result ends up in the runestone breaking due to an overload. You can look at the combo list beside the table during the minigame to see what effect you'll get at the end.
Potionmaking and cooking are also in the game, allowing you to mix reagents and cook meals that give passive bonuses but also restores health, stamina and/or mana. Potionmaking however, takes that to a whole new level with different effects like enhancing your jumps, boosting your speed, increasing resource regeneration. You can also change the prep methods, chopping, heating, cooling and grounding
can change the reagent's properties. So something that will cause Poison will instead cause something positive.
Food mostly deals resource restoration, but is still a viable option for using in battle.
As seen above, the game gives you so much stuff to work with and experiment.
[h1][i]EXPLORATION[/i][/h1]
The game is a half/half of Skyrim, with the overworld exploration of Bannerlord. You mostly spend times in an Exploration Map, where you gather resources, fight enemies, explore the... map (Obviously). But when you get to the map's border, you'll be preventing from moving on, instead getting the option to leave the location and return to the Overworld.
The Overworld is a 1-1.5 to Bannerlord's overworld exploration. You move with the LMB, and as you explore the region, random events will appear, like bandit attacks, goblin ambushes, undead hordes
that will run around minding their own businesses, but some that spawn will immediately hone in on you. But if you remain out of their reach for long, they will vanish. You can see how long they have before they give up and leave the map. (If you see a goblin boar pack, just camp and exit back, you'll never escape them and the bar goes down very slowly.)
Locations have a lot of points of interests that offer XP, events such as enemy raiding locations and lost spirits that can be given a rite to set them free.
[h1][i]QUESTS[/i][/h1]
The game offers a lot of quests. They offer the usual kill/fetch/gather quest, but depending on the city you're in, reward reputation. The higher the reputation, shops will offer discounts. There is a lot to do in cities and the main quest has you doing a lot of them to progress. The main story also is optional, if you wish as there is no time limit!
[h1][i]Final Conclusion[/i][/h1]
Get it. It's a fun game, gives you so much freedom, doesn't even give you a class selection screen,
it just gives you so much to do from the get go. It's on %50 discount RIGHT NOW, GET IT.
