There is still plenty of work to do, to make this game amazing. Right now, it's brilliant, and I've had a lot of fun with it, but it does feel a little bit lacking, due to the fact that it's still in early access.
Is It Fun?
Yes! Absolutely!
I've had a blast playing it, and have enjoyed carving small villages out of nothing, to watch it then expand into larger ones. Now, I have to say, I've lost a few of them due to being raided, and not having the troops to defend myself from such events.
The sadness I felt the first time I watched fire tear through my village, and undo all of my - or should I say, my villagers - hard work.
In saying that though, it's part of the game, and I can't complain too much about it, since it's my own fault for concentrating on other aspects of my town.
My Experience With Bugs
I haven't really experienced any performance issues, or bugs, but I have heard that there seem to be a few reported by other players.
One thing I came across was when loading the game; it seemed to freeze and refused to move whatsoever, I decided not to be impatient and went down to make a cup of tea while I waited.
When I got back it was still on the loading screen, so I tabbed out and closed it down.
I went into the Xbox App and verified/ repaired the game, and after a bit of loading I re-launched it and was able to get back into my game then, so no big deal.
Other than that, the game has been running smoothly and has been in a great state of play.
Things I Don't Like
I noticed that while playing Conquest against the enemy AI, the other lord seems to just eat territory up before I've had a chance to get fully established, and I'm not really sure how or why they're able to move so fast.
That's something that I think needs to be worked on, and also, it would be nice to see a second or third lord added in, to make it a bit more expanded.
I've gone and had a snoop at the enemy lord's territory, too, and noticed that no buildings or township shows up for him. I'm assuming this is due to the early stages of the game, and it's something I'd like to see changed.
I remember playing Stronghold back in the day, and you were able to look at what the enemy players were doing, so it would be good to see that in this one.
Speaking of enemy lords, I also noticed that I can't see bandit camps, which would be something cool to be added. I'd like it if these bands of raiders would actually show up on the map, and come from somewhere.
Other than those few things I don't really have anything negative to say. After a few hours of playing, and once each building is built there doesn't seem to be a whole lot left to do other than backing out and starting a new game.
That could change though with the inclusion of more lords, a larger map, and ramping difficulty levels as you level up and create larger towns.
Is It Worth Buying?
Yes, and No.
If you're expecting to go into a game that is complete, or in a near-complete fashion, then maybe watch some videos and think about dropping money on this.
But, if you like the idea of supporting new developers, and helping them get this over the line by dropping some money on it now, it's well worth it. The attention to detail is great, and it's easy to see that the team are passionate about this game, and wants to make it the best it possibly can be.