A fun tactics game with a beautiful art style if you can handle the depressing (but good!) story.
I played this game as soon as I got it on sale a little while after it was released, as it received rave reviews for its story and art style. I have to say that it delivered on both counts and was a decent tactics game as well. It is a dreary game only because the story is a downer and it plays like The Oregon Trail or a Survival game where you are playing a war of attrition in the harsh setting, but that doesn't mean it's bad—quite the contrary, it's a game that should be played to experience a unique story that deviates from the standard "rag-tag of heroes that save the world from evil" kind of story that you always play in this genre.
The Positives
-The art style is fantastic. I know that many games have combined art style and gameplay over the years (some great ones include Bastion and Limbo from years ago and then more recent ones like Hollow Knight and Cuphead), but this felt like one of the first I'd ever played where you were playing a cartoon. And for that I'll appreciate how much it pushed the industry along with its contemporaries in that regard. Yes, there were artsy games with creative things to say and do in gaming like Braid and beautiful games like Bioshock, but this merged animation and gameplay in a way where it really felt like your childhood of watching Saturday Morning Cartoons come alive.
-The story makes you care. Yes, it's care in a sympathy kind of way, but it does make you care. These characters are in dire straits, and it seems like Murphy's Law where things go wrong all the time, but it does bring you into the world and help you feel immersed in and committed to the world and story.
-Tactics do matter. You do need to think a little—this is not a hack-and-slash game nor is it a tactics game where you can become overpowered per se (like other games where leveling up can make it a cake walk); the gameplay is surprisingly balanced given that the world seems to be against you outside of battles. It gets difficult at parts, but it feels relatively fair compared to the tough decisions that you have to make outside of combat. And, as what was mentioned by the game summary and other reviewers, your decisions affect the game.
-You want to watch what happens next. When everything comes together, from animation to story to gameplay to characters, you want to keep playing. For that, it's a great experience.
The Negatives
-It's not for the depressed—at least, I'd not recommend it. It does require that you be able to handle the story. Sometimes, stories like this help people when they are down; other times, it makes it worse. Be careful; you should probably play cheerier games if you're looking for a pick-me-up.
-It's probably not for gamers on the extremes—it's difficult enough to not be easy, but too easy for hardcore players. I am really nitpicking here because I don't have too many weaknesses, so some people want games to be more or less difficult (though they can always create their own rules to play by for greater difficulty).
-It's probably not the best tactics-gameplay-wise that I've ever played, but it's not bad at all. I will take a beautiful game that's great in so many respects where the gameplay is good enough vs. a great game that does everything else wrong.
-Interestingly, after the first one game out and I beat it, I then heard that it was part of a trilogy. I liked this game and liked the experience and didn't feel an urgent need to play the sequel(s) (note: I played it before BS2 was even announced). It might be like Star Wars where it's great alone or great as a trilogy or more like The Matrix where the sequels are not even close to the original; I don't know because I haven't gone back to the series yet.
As you can see, I really enjoyed the game and so can't think of too many negatives. The best part about it was watching the animations and feeling like I could control the cartoons of my childhood. Just thinking about it makes me want to go play the many other games with the same approach because of how amazing it is. It is thanks to games like this that we now have the Cupheads of the world that provide amazing video-games-meet-art experiences that affect our lives in profound ways.
Roger Ebert famously argued that video games couldn't be art because of things like the fact that the fundamental objective of a "game" is to "win". Obviously, he is wrong in that there are plenty of video games where there is no "win" objective and you walk through the game like walking through a museum or art gallery—Dear Esther, Layers of Fear, Tacoma, and The Beginner's Guide being examples of playing a game to experience it and not to "win" per se. While Banner Saga is actually not one of these examples since there is gameplay, I argue that this is a prime example of why his definition is flawed: a game can combine art and interactive gameplay and storytelling, which does more to immerse you in the world that the creator is trying to connect you to than a drawing, a painting, a book, a piece of music, or a film can with its ability to engage your senses as well as your decision-making and motor functions. In that sense, this is a great part of that journey of games pushing the boundaries of what it can do for, with, and to its audience. As such, I highly recommend it.
