I finally got to play 1.5 and I was disappointed; mainly from some false impressions I got on this thread.
I came into siege thinking I could spam with a 2 hander and get easy kills, that archers no longer could hit you, and that cav would no longer be the wrecking machines that they were.
Sadly, that wasn't the case. I feel the one handers already learned how to deal with 2 handers, so eventually I had to start blocking again. After playing the 'broken' version of this game, I did find it really weird trying to fight despite all my Warband experience. The animations seemed a lot different. So I did a lot worse than I used to, but I sorta felt that was my fault and not the games, so I didn't RQ after a few rounds like I usually do.
Archers still hurt. I am so glad we got that little shield for two handers. Eventually, because it was siege and we were fighting Khuzaitis, I went shielder and felt more comfortable with those animations. The spear definitely feels better, and made a great support weapon (since there is no friendly fire), and did seem to stop cav a little better.
Cav still seems OP, and especially stupid in siege. They still run fearlessly through the enemy infantry on the streets, ramps and walls of the castle. At least they are stoppable now, if you are ready for them with a spear, but a two handed axe to their heads doesn't affect them at all. I personally think the access to and from the castle for cav should only be through the main gate. Sallying out makes sense, but sallying in doesn't.
So, despite this patch not making me the 2 hand hero I always wanted to be, and, in fact, lowered my KD, I'm gonna say its definitely playable again. Siege isn't my favourite since I have to sacrifice so many lives when attacking at the start, but once they get a battle mode I'll be very happy- oh, and make castles less cav friendly- that's pretty much my only justifiable complaint about siege.