MANOR LORDS is here! With a PC Steam and Gamepass release of April 26, 2024 this is one of (if not the most) hotly anticipated strategy & simulation game of the year. After seven years of development by a largely lone developer, and later picked up by publisher Hooded Horse, let's see how the Early Access release of Manor Lords stacks up!
I don't generally make explicit review videos, thinking back to 16 year old me who would've bought one of the three games he could afford a year on the basis of a youtube video, I don't think its wise. But here is my version of a Manor Lords Gameplay Review - my impressions, thoughts and analysis of how Manor Lords sticks up within the City Builder, Colony Survival, RTS genre. Thanks for watching! #manorlords #gaming #citybuilder #simulation #strategy
FOOTNOTES:
I don't like to give strict review conclusions as discussed above, but if you're curious:
It's a great game.
Early Access - yup. But generally solid, unique & interesting.
As I write this description, late (like, late late) at night before the review embargo lifts...
Context - I'm considering this impressions/ analysis as review-style so i wanted to wait out of respect to Hooded Horse for extending the press-preview version to little old me.
... I vaguely predict Manor Lords will be generally well received. Some will certainly take issue with its lack of balance, and I can't speak to any performance issues, but with that in mind I'd guess it'll settle around a positive review score on steam likely starting with an 8 and ending with a low number. Let see! (24 April - embargo lifts 25 April 2am NZ Time).
CONTENTS
0:00 - MANOR LORDS IN REVIEW
0:25 - What actually is Manor Lords?
1:35 - What Manor Lords is Not.
4:05 - The Gameplay
9:11 - Not a 'perfectly balanced game'
12:36 - My experience with Manor Lords
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Yes, just dont expect Total War :) Expect Medieval Cities Skylines
I would hope no one is going into this game thinking the combat is total war
Is there combat in Skylines? lol The combat in this game i'd class as Total War light. You can have hundreds of units so it would be more comparable to smaller Total War battles but no-one is comparing it to Total War overall. We all know what this game is by now. It's certainly not just a city builder
@@burtreynolds8030 A lot of Total War content creators were projecting their fantasies for a total war game so hard that they got dissapointed when they were reminded that this is in fact a city builder and they got mad... making the dev feel forced to issue a statement
This is more Tropico with a medieval skin and some battles.
@@gorlab9549 El Lordo del Manoré 🌴🌴
"MANOR LORDS is here!" "This game plans to unlock in approximately 1 day and 21 hours."
He is joining in to cash in on the release hype. Releasing early before everyone else does. He talked for 15m, to say a pretty much 1m opinion.
@@eduardoborges506 New to youtube? This is what all content creators do.
I know. That is why half of my clicks are wasted because everyone is copying everyone on what is trending.@@soliitudegaming7275
The way you create workshops in back yards seems to be in keeping with the reality of those times, low tech, high skill manufacturing.
I really hope other games take the dynamic system for building the houses. I would love to see that in a City Skylines or Sim City style game instead of grid zones.
Why would anyone with proper IQ claim this is similar to Total War? It was very obvious from the Demo and gameplay trailers that it clearly wasn't a total war game.
Its not a Total war killer as Total War killed itself.
Total War wasnt killed...*eyes exotropiate* it was murDeRD!
total war was burned at the stake and the witches that did it now wear its skin
CA fell on it's sword after shogun 2 when it comes to historical games, warhammer 1-2 were really good though, 3 not so much.
😂❤
seems like the publisher is desperate to temper peoples expectations, seen a couple of these types of videos lately
The game Developer is wholesale 'BANNING' & 'DELETING' STEAM Customers from the game's Discussion boards … this is NOT a good sign!!!
Not the publisher but the Dev himself. Remember he’s a one man team and Total War content creators started covering this game which has probably caused the guy a shit ton of stress.
@blurgalsklech2929 yeah no hate to the dev at all, he has done some great work, just feel the marketing has not been the best and a lot of people are going to be let down
Yeah no kidding, the play throughs released earlier in the month by content creators were making it seem like this was immediate game of the year and there is a lot more hesitation in the review videos today.
he shouldn't be blamed for content creators overselling
Yeah, I think its going to stay on my wishlist for awhile still.
I really hope that the developer takes the approach some smaller devs have made, by hiring people based on the mods they create for the game. The game looks fantastic, but I would love to see some depth when it comes to the Influence and Lords treasury. Maybe one more town and building level, but I don't think it should go much further than this, it's called "Manor Lords" not "Castle Lords". Hence on the same not, the game should be playable and fun at a base level and not add too much complexity if the player doesn't want it. Much like how CIV 6 works, the average person shouldn't need to spend more than an hour of two playing to understand the basics enough to get mostly towards the end of the game. I think they got it perfect with the early access version, but it might be missing some depth to make it as complex as it could be if the player wanted it to be. If the dev somehow sees this comment, I have a suggestion, Some new features that should be added are to do with the church, its a central building and make people happy, but considering the time period it should be much more important, maybe a "religion interface" that allows the player to choose the religion and select certain buffs and debuffs. A hard mode could include people not working for a few days in a month due to it being a Sunday. Adding a monastery that makes wine and or candles could also be a great addition to add some more flavor, but not too much complexity. You could have users choose between Catholicism and orthodoxy once they build their church, each would have a unique buff and debuff. For example; Catholics could buy indulgences which give influence, but also the income from upgrading to level 3 burgage does not increase taxes. The Orthodox could have the buff of every March they do not eat food, but also their churches cost more materials and they do not work 7 days of the month. I think there are a lot of interesting ways this mechanic could go and I'm sure other people have some better ideas than I do.
Let's hope it doesn't take 5 years to flesh out the game. Lot's of stuff unfinished in the EA. The single dev thing is worrisome.
What's the music in the first 15 seconds of the video?
Song of Syx is a city builder meets empire, Manor Lords is city builder meets County/Duchy, from the scope of things. Or you can say it's City Builder meets Lords of the Realm 1/2, for me at least.
Or Powermonger if we are comparing this to other grandpa games.
Great video .Thanks. I'm pleased I will be able to play and make money to progress until I can survive by other means. I liked your tone and structure and style . Subscribed 😉
Played the first few hours, I somehow been zooming and using 3rd person to follow people and see what they are doing. Somehow I wish the people would greet me when in 3rd person 😅 also noticed there are different faces when looking at them. Hoping for more great updates for the game. I would say this will be my nothing to do game and relax.
Croping is a year 2 thing if compared to other survival city builders. Usually it's gathering and hunting year 1
I think if modding becomes available this might become really really good
It’s a great upgrade to Ostriv, another very good medevial city builder
Yea, I was just about to buy ostriv then saw this, the battle style in this is my kind, used to like building big armies but not anymore.
Ostriv is not medieval
There's no Calvary you can't fight with your lord and there's not much war at all
Great video as always. I’d like to see more expensive goods attract more, better armed raiders. I agree with the design choice that some goods are just worth more than others, but I also think the choice to specialize in one over another could act as a choice of the “pace” of your game rather than “difficulty.” More money means I’m growing faster, but might mean I’m defending myself more as well. On the flip side, a low income agrarian run plays a bit more as a chill, cozy village builder. How is the performance? I’m on a laptop right now while I move but have been following ML for a while. Do you think I’ll need to wait till I’ve got my desktop set back up to crack this one open? Cheers
"More money means I’m growing faster, but might mean I’m defending myself more as well. On the flip side, a low income agrarian run plays a bit more as a chill, cozy village builder." I love this idea, and if it isn't in the base game at some point, I hope somebody makes a mod for it.
I always wanted a game that was an RTS city builder with RTS combat.... and it hurts my soul that its basically taken until today to get something that truly fits what I always hoped the big RTS studios would deliver. Instead we always get either 99% combat or 99% city builder (or 100% of either). Never a good mix, this game looks like a solid mix. I hope the balance improved since the demo though. I played the old demo version again yesterday and it was.... rough. (Obviously its a way older build so im assuming its vastly improved since that demo from ages ago). It was hard in the demo cuz workers would often just do... other random shit or get bugged out and procrastinate 100% of the time.
Probably the best medieval city builder out there. Although it's still lacking features as its early access. As for the battles, it still needs work, but its on the right path.
It's Banished in 3D really but with a bit more ambience and regions, rival lords etc. It's a cool little game and really shouldn't be compared to Total War, it's a city builder game, NOT a war game
If anyone's traumatically obsessed with purely hardcore Medieval warfare and society content I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's videos series
U kwep saying
basically like the settlers game
That's what I thought too. I loved The Settlers back in the day but grew bored of it once I realised it was more of a "get to the gold first" game than a city builder.
@@raithrover1976 yeah same here ! Some off my favourite games back in the day But they fucked the most recent settlers game. Very sad !
I think a lot of people think it's going to be more war..... But it's really not. Maybe 10% battle
I usually don't like city building type games but I'm so hyped for this
Because it looks gorgeous, the gameplay isn't very good yet.
2 hours boys and girls the wait nearly over
when I saw the armies and how they are not the main gameplay thing. and is based on the housing. my thought wandered to games like Zeus master of the the Olympus, Caser 3, Pharao and other game in that group. going to say this there is balanced games, there is unbalanced games and then there is. mine 1 iron ore (level 2 tech), smelt it to 1 bar (level 2 tech again), turn that bar into a crafted product 1-3 bars per product (level 3-4 tech) sell for 10-15 gold. Iron ore sells for 6 gold, bars for 8 you can make in one industry whit 1 worker 10 Iron Products a year. or you can just chop wood and plant it whit 2 workers. they cut down the tree in a circle in 2 years time it takes 1 year to grow a full tree and the planter can plant 2 trees for every 1 tree the Lumberjack fells. each tree sells for 10 gold each. they can process 100 trees a year. lumberjacks makes 1000 gold a year whit 2 worker a tier 1 tech by the way. meanwhile the blacksmith chain gives 100-150 gold over a year and requires at least 5 workers. This is supper bad balanced. now if the tree cutters made 100 gold a year then it would be more in line but not when they make 1000 gold if not more. I played game unoptimised but when Im actively fighting against the game thats a problem in how the best strategy is so previse. Like was it wow when I whent on my warrior whit Letherworker and skinning (better choice would be blacksmith). it should be duable I thought... it was not (warrior needs stamina and strengh on its gear) black smith have lots of option for stamina strength gear. Letherworker... yee forget about it at best you have Stamina Agility but dont count on them as they are rare.
This game gives me Banished vibes for some reason
I loved it, but I'm just demolished by the baron everytime
Given I and many others spent £80 to not play Cities Skylines 2, I think this launch will be much better received.
No because it makes nothing extraordinary special or good and there were features praised as unique from the gaming media (i can only say that for germany) that weren't simply unique. the home grow at a example: ostriv does have that feature too. Or the detailed animation of the building phase of a building. And it started ea in march 2020. Dont take me wrong. it is a very good medival city builder and i played already 9 hours with very good elaborated features. i really love it. Even it will take 5-7 years to get a full release and the dev earned my 30€ more than countless other devs for his dedication and love for his Dream. I simply dont't shared the hype^^ Edit: i dont mention the graphics because i simply dont care about graphics in that genre.
"A Total War killer" no, but Creative Assembly is. We're never gonna get a new Medieval.
It looks like a fancier looking version of farthest frontier
I think Manor Lords is most like Banished. I'd even call it a spiritual successor.
Great game with a great price tag.
the dev has a history of abandoning his projects before he finishes them, beware..
15 minute video that could have easily been cut down to just a few...
Currently no it’s not worth the hype. But it has become a monster due to the gaming community being so fed up with the current gaming practice’s. I’d say don’t believe the hype but it is refreshing let’s wait for its expansion
Played it all day yesterday and, to be honest, I wasn't impressed. But it's not at 1.0 yet.
Yeah the developer is paying streamer to hype down the early access
A labor management game with a little bit of fighting. Small populations that are just interchangeable cogs. There's not a lot of actual society sim. Labor management with a little bit of fighting. Cool enough for some but not for me.
Is this game so expensive,maybe because people make this game hype and developers,take risk to high up price
I feel like they released too much, too early. I would of bought the game when it released but so many content creators played it so early I feel like I saw everything and lost the excitement and wonder of playing something new 😕
WHO has been "HYPING"the game up, I've never seen anything of the sort.
remember, it launches IN EARLY ACCESS, you have been warned
It's a neat game. but far to slow for me. I'll be playing this, but I'll be cheating a lot. lol
Great review Jumbo! Subscribed! I just released my own review on the game on my channel from the prospective of someone whose never played this type of genre! Feel free to check it out!
yes. been waiting since this was at "fake game" status.
I don't buy Early Access games anymore. Been burned too many times at this point.
Only 50% very sad. Rip Manor Lords 😔
50% what? I agree over hyped game
No. It will take multiple years for enough content to be enjoyable
They need to fix logistics and lots of bugs
After cities sylines 2 i believe all these launches lately are all bogus and bad games
The answer is no, nowhere near.
NOOOOOOOO.. ITS NOT WORTH
The game Developer is wholesale 'BANNING' & 'DELETING' STEAM Customers from the game's Discussion boards … this is NOT a good sign … Buyer Beware!
Why… is it not worth it?
@@blurgalsklech2929 2 weeks later but here’s why: The game has virtually non of the UI that is standard for the genre, riddled with bugs, most of the mechanics are flawed, bugged, or purposefully bad, lack of spreadsheets and data that most city builders have, combat is mediocre, it would seem that about 80% of the content is missing (maybe it will get added, but who knows with EA games). Overall it’s a very shallow city builder with bad mechanics that looks very pretty.
NOPE, not worth the hope
WARNING the game Developer is wholesale 'BANNING' & 'DELETING' STEAM Customers from the game's Discussion boards … this is NOT a good sign - BUYER BEWARE!
Bot
>bot spamming sure bro
played it........... overhyped massively .................even for EA its overpriced ...found it boring............. refunded!!!
Dumbest incomplete game in history. Refunded after 1 hour. The ultimate demo of all demos! smh
Glad I watched, definitely not interested, can’t deal with micromanaging farms