Manor Lords developer (Slavic Magic) has already informed players ahead of the early access release that the game is not what they think it is.
5 Secrets Manor Lords Won't Tell You
In a post on the Manor Lords Steam page, the developers make it clear that Manor Lords is not a role-playing game like Mount & Blade, and that the player’s ability to walk around the city is purely cosmetic. I’m disappointed that my avatar is nothing more than cosmetic. I was hoping to get married and have kids to appoint as generals, but the focus of the game is on building cities, and that’s okay (tell that to my eternally single gentleman).
Furthermore, the development team behind Manor Lords is not a Total War killer, but it does take inspiration from the famous franchise when it comes to combat. I am fine with this, because I am really not interested in complex hour-long combat sessions while my villagers ask me to build them a tavern and grow more vegetables.
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