It took several years for Mount& Blade II: Bannerlord to finally enter early. Voor de Kroon, recently released on Steam, may need some more time.
In fairness, it is best not to mention that the game developer has none such ambitions as TaleWorlds. Yes, a developer, because Voor De Kroon is that firm of one man. Also, only 60 units will join fights at the same time (theoretically, this limit can be increased to 1200, but without a very powerful PC, it is better not to try it.
The project takes players to the era of Frisian-Dutch wars of the threetiesth century. The gameplay formula is very similar to what fans of the Mount & Blade series have known in many years. The player manages the settlements and the large armies in battle, but also fights either by foot or by horseback.
In addition to this game, you can take control of the selected unit directly. In this situation, the game switches from third person to first person. This game is powered by Unreal Engine technology and can contain dark and dirty images.
Voor de Kroon hasn’t received a lot of publicity. The few Steam users who have tried the game seem satisfied, but they have concerns. The developer deliberately presented the game with gray tones, but admitted he may’ve overdone it a little and Voor de Kroon will have some colour in the future.
There were also first updates with minor fixes and innovations (including an extreme mode with permadeath mechanics). In addition, the game definitely needs some polishing, as it isn’t all too obvious now that this is a Steam Early Access game. The game may also use some improvements in optimization.
The developer doesn’t have any plans to add a multiplayer mode. Voor De Kroon is due for a late departure in around one year.