The Banner Saga

I couldn't get into this for the life of me, despite having great fondness for Norse mythology/stories. Also note that [b]given there are two more games in the series to purchase if you want to complete the trilogy, you definitely need to be heavily invested in this game and its battle system to enjoy it.[/b] I wasn't able to get there by a long shot, and am bouncing off this series at the outset. On the strong side, the art is terrific, and it feels like a bit of time went into the battle system. Unfortunately, there isn't enough story for me to enjoy trudging through those same ([b]plodding, ridiculously slow[/b]) battles and uselessly story-bisecting choices, which make no mistake, are quite numerous. As much as I wanted to let suspension of disbelief carry this game, the overly difficult and frequent battles [b]always[/b] kicked me back out relentlessly. That made the amazing graphics and what there is of a story all but moot. Battles are seriously way over-the-top difficult, too, so if that's your "thing", this is your game trilogy! The "decisions matter" portion never kicked in for me, that I could tell. None of the decisions I made (or was coerced into making, more more accurately) felt as though they carried any real weight, and in fact most of the choices felt contrived and needlessly encumbered my enjoyment of the story, slowing it down even further. What story there was, I mean, it's thin. I see a lot of reviewers saying the ending "broke their heart", but so far all I know is I don't particularly care for [b]any[/b] of the characters in the first few hours of the game, which isn't a great beginning. If I never identify with anyone in the game, it's really tough to enjoy it, or care about [b]getting[/b] to that ending. (To that end, an easier play mode would really be nice for those of us who don't care about the battle system, or want to skip it entirely, as neat as it may be. I just don't really care, it's too hard for me the way its written, and that's [b]intensely[/b] frustrating, as you can imagine.) In the end, this game is too difficult to warrant pushing through the sluggish, cumbersome battles. The overly-difficult and poorly-explained system left me bitterly discouraged, and sad it took me far too long to realize I wouldn't like this to refund. [b]Banner Saga "plays" more like work than a game to me: for some that's a plus, for me it's certainly not.[/b]

Şahane, Türkçesi de gelirse tadından yenmez.

Игра полностью пройдена на Steam Deck Сохранение из части в часть передаем через облачко по компу (так быстрее и 0 нервов) Данная игра - уникальное сочетание повествования и добротного погружения, где ты будешь действительно грустить по каждому потерянному персонажу. Несмотря на некоторые костыли в сюжете и местами разочарующим финале, эту историю желательно не пропустить мимо.

The Banner Saga is the first part of a three-part story. I have completed the game twice in 16 hours; most players I expect will take more like 10 hours a run. The story is linear for the most part, following two caravans throughout the Norse-inspired world, but the characters who experience that story are very much not linear. Characters can die in their first appearance, or they can play a major part right through to the finale of the third game. This is very well-handled and impressive. The writing is good, the characters are distinct and interesting, and the themes are solid. The game covers responsibility, morality, and loss. It constantly presents you with tough choices to which there is no correct answer; no matter what you choose, you'll have regrets and make enemies, and you'll lose characters too. Gameplay consists of two parts: caravan management, and combat. Caravan management is simple enough. You have to purchase supplies, which you can buy in some areas, with morale, generally increased by resting - thus consuming supplies. Random text-based events add complications to this simple formula. It's not particularly deep, but it's simple and effective. Combat has a familiar square-grid and 'move-and-action' action economy, however the rest is more unique. Each character has a strength - which is both their health and their attack damage - and armour value; wounded characters are much less threatening than fresh ones. There's abilities that mix things up, but this is the basic formula. Then there's the initiative system, where the sides alternate turns, moving through characters in order; if you're outnumbered 2:1, your characters will get twice as many turns each as your enemies. This creates an interesting incentive to maim but not kill enemies wherever possible, to 'clog' the enemy's turn order with ineffective wounded characters. It takes some getting used to, but is fun and rewarding at times. Overall, I'd highly recommend this game as an excellent story experience with gameplay that is certainly novel, and often quite good.

Beautiful Game. A 10/10 for me. Loved every second of it. The art and music are amazing. The story is very engaging. Characters are well written. The world is full of lore. The combat is fun and engaging. Just an amazing game.

Interest game, little exposition and it is easy to lose named characters while the battle management is good. The main flaw, how f@**!!! long it takes for some of the cut scenes and movement in battles. I would be tempted to replay but I feel like I've sat here for several hours just waiting for the cut scenes to play of a static screen and a long train of men marching...

This is for all Banner Saga games. Yes you ABSOLUTELY should play all 3. Banner Sage stands unique among games I've played. It's hard to describe: a narrative "choices matter" adventure game with TBS battle elements completely undersells it. Banner Sage is a legend you get to write. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking story of loss, hope, and... well, the rest is up to you. When I first played it I really had no idea what I was in for, and I still can't exactly describe it, but it was beautiful to the point of tears. The game does an INCREDIBLE job of immersing you in the world. Every backdrop, every interaction with a person feels real and it feels like you're participating. What is a simple supply meter in other games here is your lifeblood, and that number went DOWN because you made a choice you are now questioning. The people fighting next to you on the battlefield are not units, but your friends that you've toasted with, argued with, and care for deeply. I'm honestly not sure where choices diverge except with immediate consequences. I would suggest you do not look up decision trees - don't treat this like a game, treat it like composing your hero's ballad of triumph, or perhaps tragedy. History and legend play a key role here - in fact that's the entire purpose of the banner mentioned in said saga - and you're literally weaving it as you move. As for the battles, they can get tough (I played "Normal"), but are doable. Don't go in expecting the traditional X-Com progression of weak to overpowered. The battles take place as story elements and can have incredible consequences. Like all things in Banner Saga, they are an additive part to the whole, and their stakes makes everything more intense. I find the skills and such balanced and every battle ultimately achievable. You'll get the hang of it eventually but there's a moderate curve to understanding how to fight in this game than in others. As for the presentation, the videos 100% display what it is. The whole game looks like that, a "Dragon's Lair" type smooth animation. I, personally, love it. And while it may not be your particular cup of tea, in honestly it's not usually mine, it works perfectly here. A game as unique as The Banner Saga needed a unique aesthetic and after playing it, I'm not sure the sharper lines of more traditional contemporary animation would have worked. The novel style sets you up mentally for the novel nature of the game. It does slow down a bit during the second and (part of the) third games. In those, the world becomes more complex and it feels like it might have been dragged out a little bit too long - the give/take momentum of the first gives way a bit to largely give. Maybe a better way to put it is that external conflicts turn into internal conflicts, resulting in a slower burn. But that's a minor gripe, and might actually be a positive for you. And for what it's worth, I truly believe the experience of deceleration is in large part because of just how phenomenal the opening chapter was. Listen, I'm biased. The Banner Saga hit me, and hit me HARD. I don't expect it to impact everyone the way it did me, but if you let yourself go on the ride, even just a little, you're going to find something real special. It's a gorgeous, compelling, challenging, heart-wrenching story which is ultimately yours to tell. There are not many experiences like this, and you owe it to yourself to try.

If you like Supergiant's games, you'll definitely like this. I got this game sometime after playing the demo for The Pale Beyond, but only played it long after playing Pyre, which I greatly enjoyed. Onto the meat of the review. [b]LEGEND: love (╋), like (+), neutral (~), dislike (-), abhor (—)[/b] [b]╋ MUSIC[/b]; Downbeat acoustic soundtrack with vocals. My favorite track is "There Is No Bad Weather". [b]╋ VISUALS[/b]; 2D Graphics look amazing. The use of colors, parallax, linear motions, and reuse of similar sprites, is as beautiful as it is impressive. [b]╋ STORY[/b]; Themes of trade-off, limited agency, thanatology, perspective, normalcy bias, loss aversion. [b]╋ UI/UX[/b]; Spacebar, Enter, and Numpad Enter, all forward text. Many indie text-based games focused on story-decisions neglect to do this, which is hugely important for comfort and usability. [b]╋ UI/UX[/b]; I appreciate the quality and consistency of texts descriptive of character abilities and such. They are frontloaded with "how" followed by "what", very succinct. [b]╋ COMBAT[/b]; One thing Banner Saga has, which I love, is low numeric values. Into the Breach also has this. [b]+ STORY/VISUALS[/b]; On the map, you can read descriptions about places and roads. It doesn't get much use, and it's not necessary, but it's really awesome that the option is there. It makes the world feel more alive. [b]+ ECONOMY[/b]; Resting spends Supplies which you find, are gifted, or buy with Renown. "Renown" is the exchange currency you get by defeating enemies in combat. This was never an issue, and in fact, I found it a fun, interesting, smooth and "unproblematic" piece of design. [b]∽ COMBAT[/b]; I saw a reviewer claim the "last boss is broken after 10 years" and proceed not to qualify how. I had zero issues with the last boss, and everything proceeded smoothly. I saw another claim it was "obnoxiously difficult", this was false, at least for my playthrough. It seems that the game's design might have balancing/consistency issues. [b]∽ COMBAT[/b]; Your health is also your damage. I've sometimes wondered what it might be to have a system like that, but I always concluded it's a bad idea to deal less damage the less health you have. It's an extremizing mechanic. It's way harder, I dare say impossible, to pull of a "clutch" win when you're at low health. It works just fine here, it's not a problem. [b]∽ TIME[/b]; I was ready to play for 100hs, but my playthrough was around 15-16 hours. [b]∽ STORY[/b]; I had expected that characters could die in combat, but this is false. They can only die in story decisions, or else, when a combat encouter is explicitly relevant for a high-stakes situation. When a character loses in combat, they become injured, and need to rest for a few days. [b]- UI/UX[/b]; The game autosaves (quick slot) after every decision, and after every place (ordinary slot). I take two problems here: (1) this does nothing against save scumming, and (2) you have zero control over when to save. So, the player loses control over saving, and it does not even prevent savescumming. The saving system is actively detrimental. [b]- STORY[/b]; The introduction into the world of Banner Saga is a little confusing. Characters are introduced without their names, and without you even seeing them for a while, since it's only narration. It's unclear if the narrator is someone, or not really anyone. After you begin playing as Ubin, this mostly subsides, but it could have been better. [b]- STORY[/b]; I was expecting more swaps of perspective throughout. Instead, you play a little as Ubin, then a little as Hakon, and most of the game is centered on Rook. This would've been a neutral point, but the game literally opens by telling you that perspective-taking will be a huge deal; you are setup to be disappointed. [b]- UI/UX[/b]; The map takes too long to load. I would have used it more if it wasn't for this. [b]- UI/UX[/b]; GUI is inconvenient when it comes to accessing/leaving Combat Training, as well as (un)equipping the gear of characters, and especially when you wanna do that to someone who is currently apt for a level-up. [b]- UI/UX[/b]; Some of the stats are unexplained. I didn't know what "REST" is, or what "CRIT CHANCE" meant, and now that I've finished the game, still do not know. [b]- STORY[/b]; At least in this first game, I disliked how the approach to and use of divinity. As soon as you begin, you are told "the gods are dead" [sic]. It isn't clear what significance this has in the world, or those who live in it. There are "godstones", monuments to the gods. Throughout, you uncover a little more about the significance, but it's very little indeed. The only person who seems to care is Ubin, who is terrifically old, and even then, doesn't seem to care much. Characters mostly are ambivalent, or plainly oppositional. This theme is underexplored and underutilized. It feels more of a mundane reflection of the time period this was written, and less anything substantial for the world and story. I loved visiting the godstones, they are clearly meant to be of great, great significance, and that should be reflected more generally. The end of the game almost seems to foreshadow that this will become more relevant. I'm hoping this is improved in the future games I have not yet played. [b]- STORY/GAMEPLAY[/b]; Yrsa died in my playthrough. I don't care that this happened, as I was not invested in her, but the way it happened was awfully contrived: [spoiler] she suggests an attack which uses fire on a forest. If you do this, by the end, she vanishes, is presumed dead, and Ludin blames you for her disappearance[/spoiler]. Gunnulf is a character who I had to go out of my way to ensure he lived. If he dies, it's like nobody gives a ♥♥♥♥. Your character is more worried about the "treasure now at the bottom of the valley". Regardless, the decision sequence in which he may die is totally out of nowhere. You're traveling, and what should've been an ordinary decision about the caravan or whatever, is instead HIGHLY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!! His death is so contrived, there is only one way to save him, you are practically forced to savescum and brute-forcedly exclude decisions. [b]— UI/UX[/b]; In case you accidentally skip something you did not mean to, there is no text log for you to view past messages. [b]— UI/UX[/b]; The character screen GUI is majorly whack. It is designed as if it were a mobile game UI. There is a Hint button you must press to get explanations for things on the screen, but instead of the descriptive tooltips being shown during mouseover, EVERYTHING is shown at once, which is horrifically bad for anyone trying to absorb new information. Not everything is explained either, mostly just the stats. [b]— COMBAT[/b]; By far, my biggest issue is that you can't undo movement actions. When Acting as a character, the first thing you do is Move, during which there are three steps in time: (1) before selecting a tile, (2) after selecting but before confirming, and (3) after confirming. If you're in step 2, or in step 3, you can't return to step 1. in many other strategy games, such as [b]Into the Breach[/b] and the iconic [b]Advance Wars[/b], you can, yes, do this, but not here. In the negative sense of the word, this is [b]archaic[/b]; providing neither enhancement, joy, nor challenge to the game. Additionally, contrast this with the fact this same 1-2-3 step process applies to Attacking, which you do after Movement, EXCEPT here, you can return to step 1 during step 2. You can't do that from step 3, but that is expected for attacks. At one point in my playthrough, I thought about why Banner Saga isn't much spoken about, and concluded that just as in movies, games like this — 2D, animated, story-heavy, all around artistic skill — are affected by the technologist-photorealist slop culture we've been having since the 2000s CGI boom. The games and studios that are, such as Supergiant themselves, are exceptions to this.