The "vanilla" game or even with a lot of mods, is still very boring. I've tried a lot of mods, when it doesn't bug, it allows for some extra fun options but it doesn't add depth to the game.
Either the strategy has to be deep, fun, complex and interesting, or it's not.
And if the general strategy and tactics lack depth, then you need a very developed lore with endearing and fun characters, a great main quest where you discover with pleasure colorful npc, with deep or funny dialogues or etc. In short, you need an rpg dimension that makes up for the lack of tactical and strategic depth. It is totally missed or rather non-existent.
To try to make up for the lack of strategic and tactical depth, the repetitive side and the lack of depth of the lore and the non-existence of any romance, there is still the option of offering "branches" on which one could have different options (bandits, trade, warriors, governors, peasants, etc.) But again there is nothing.
Taleworld hides behind the "sandbox" dimension to say "make your story", make the choices you want, parts that are not alike... It's a pipe. They took over the old Mount and Blade Warband version, they improved the graphics, they spent a hell of a time improving the battle system, and that's it, everything else, the main thing, they couldn't develop it. they believed that a "beautiful battle system" was enough to make a game. It was the only thing they achieved at the expense of everything else.
There would simply have been a magnificent main quest with a real story, a very worked lore and funny characters and a real scenario, I would have nothing to complain about. But there is nothing here...
Strangely, I like this game because it is full of potential. I would have seen a kind of medieval GTA with lots of strange, whimsical and dangerous characters. But...