I think Bannerlord looks pretty decent atm. Combat isn't anything special compared to Warband. But I didn't think it would be. Their combat system is what got most of us here, I would say.
And tbf, we don't know how well Melee's combat will work in the end. All I can say is that it looks better animation-wise and that I appreciate that they put some thought behind it.
As for their focus: Mount&Blade was always targeted at singleplayer people first. The mp mode just happened to work pretty well, especially with many players.
For that reason I think many people will still get Bannerlord and most won't even hear about Melee Battlegrounds, unless the donkeys up their PR game rigorously.
