To be true, I noticed it when I was ten soldiers,I don't remembered the previous game, I just jumped form 1.6.4 to 1.7.1 last week.
As I said, I jumped two or three versions of the game and a didn't note any big change in the game, but I play with lots of mods and as many of those mods are dead, I feel the game more empty.
You can play Crusader kings if you want a deep game. There are very levels, Crusader kings, Total war, then Bannerlord and other light strategy games. I use some mods who gave some content to the base game, but the essence of this game is running in your horse, trying to hit someone, and making some trade to cool down.
Calardia expanded adds more cities towns and Castels, Calardia at war spawn more factions, rebel ones, like Scum and villainy and some other mods, they give much more life to the map. Sadly most of this mods are stuck in 1.6.4, and I can't play without it.