Originally Posted by
Selastan
This is the thread to recommend games as well, right? Well I recently found one called Mount and Blade: Warband on a Steam Sale, and it impressed me. The graphics are terrible, the AI can be dumb, and sometimes things get a bit repetitive, but for some reason I've sunk almost all of my free time into this game since I bought it. I love it so much...
Basically, you play as a foreigner to a land called Caldria, where several nations claim to be the rightful heirs to an empire that once spread across the whole area. For anyone who has seen the Golden Age arc of Berserk (the original series), its basically the game version of that. You make your own group of mercenaries by hiring villagers or capturing enemies, then train them and pay their upgrade costs to get increasingly diverse and elite troops. Your goal is to become king, conquering each nation and becoming the one true ruler of the land. But you start from the bottom. With the exception of choosing a noble background, you are a nobody. You have to prove your worth to a king to become a sponsored mercenary and fight in his name, and eventually become a vassal. Then the political games kick in. You need to make friends and harness their support to convince the king that you deserve the lands the kingdom conquers in its various wars. Once you have enough support and fiefs, you can finally have a chance of breaking free and founding your own kingdom. Your followers (unique characters with their own personalities and backstories, equipable and levelable in the same way as your MC) can become your own vassals, raising their own armies and fighting for you in your wars. But choosing a non-noble or a female follower to hold a title may get your other vassals pretty pissed. The political side to the game is indeed very medieval, minus the Christianity. Women basically have no rites and only the nobility have power. You want to marry a fine lady with lots of land and renown? Better suck up to her dad, because she ain't getting married unless he makes her. Some rebellious ladies will elope in the name of true love, but by undermining her guardian you make a powerful enemy. And for the ladies out there, don't expect a commoner like you to land Prince Charming unless you prove you are worth more than his noble pride.