The original Mount and Blade and its remake/expansion, Warband, are two of this writer's favorite games ever. They're enormous, expansive, near-unending and can be endlessly expanded through a variety of high-quality mods. One thing those games weren't though, is good looking. They looked dated when first released and today help you remember early '00s gaming like nothing else, despite being released a decade after that.
Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord though, is going to look much better. Not great. Not AAA, not Witcher III beautiful, but much, much prettier. That is, if it ever gets released. It will eventually, but having been in development for more than five years already, many fans often question whether it will see the light of day.
Still, new trailers are always nice and the new Engine 1.4 trailer that shows off Bannerlord's lighting system shows that gamers may one day soon be able to play a Mount and Blade game that doesn't make their eyes bleed.
The new lighting system has rich, dark shadows that combine well with the new day/night cycle. There' varied and soft along the edges, with translucencies coming into play for things like leaves and glass. It makes interiors look super dark when viewing them from outside, and outside look insanely bright from inside. It improves character models and stonework and everything just looks that bit better.
What's extra encouraging about Bannerlord though, is that all of this will be as, if not more, moddable than Warband, which means that the truly beautiful Bannerlord experience fans all imagine, is only a few months of modding away. At least, after the game releases that is. Which it will. Hopefully. At some point.