The Banner Saga 2 Reviews
Builds on an already brilliant indie hit
If you're a fan of Fire Emblem, Oregon Trail or any of the Telltale games, then you'll find something to enjoy on with The Banner Saga 2.
If you enjoy a weighty narrative and a challenging turn-based strategy system, there is no reason not to give this Nordic themed title a chance.
It's clear that the combat is secondary to the story and serves as a feature rather than an integral mechanic
Overall, The Banner Saga 2's story is simply fantastic and is filled with beautiful animation. This game needs to be seen and heard.
It's the decisions that bind the experience; enabling The Banner Saga 2 to transcend its videogame construct. You're left with an experience that feels not only alive, but alive with the complexities of the real world.
More a new episode than a full-blown sequel, but the clever blend of strategic, tactical, and moral decision-making is as compelling as ever.
More a new episode than a full-blown sequel, but the clever blend of strategic, tactical, and moral decision-making is as compelling as ever.
The Banner Saga 2 reaps all the benefits and foibles of strict continuity. It maintains the outstanding presentation and decision-based narrative highs of the first entry, but minor changes to mechanics are unlikely to sway opinion on the unique, but slightly peculiar, combat system.
For every character's death etched in stone, The Banner Saga 2 informed me how fragile life can be. But on the battlefield or in branching, possibly deadly conversations, I want nothing more than to revisit this role-playing game's world and tug at the puppet strings again.
Same great art, same tense tactical battles, same bewildering sense of scope emanating from such delicate pieces. I never knew slow pans across landscape paintings could instill such awe, and yet certain sequences in The Banner Saga 2 support tension that belies the game's humble budget.
One of the complaints levelled at the original was that it was too easy to muddle through without paying attention to how much food or morale the caravan has. That is not the case here, thus people in your caravan will die of starvation, or seek greener pastures elsewhere. While the first game looks at the emerging threat and initial impact of the Dredge, the second one examines the influence that this menace has on society,and whether it's possible to keep a band of humans and Varl together while the world falls apart around them. While new additions such as classes and barricades are nice to have, at six to eight hours long, it is a bit on the short side for the asking price. The physical release of the Banner Saga Trilogy offers greater value for money.
It’s the middle part of a story and at times it certainly feels middling. More polished that the first title yet nowhere near as enthralling or captivating, it feels like it was dragging the story along at times. Fans of the first title will still find plenty to enjoy, and I hope that the final part sees some of the choices pay off.
The Banner Saga 2 builds up on its predecessor and adds a greater variety of environments to an enjoyable tactical RPG with a marvelous visual component. The Banner Saga 2 also gives the impression that it could have gone much farther than what we're seeing here but rather it chose to be more of a layover than a destination, as it seems to open the ground for something greater.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The tiring exposition of the writing and the lack of visual coherence to the storytelling are obvious from the start.
The Banner Saga 2 improves upon the original without reinvention, and it's just as brutal as the first. Like tactical strategy with a side of despair? Dig in.
All this and what I'm saying is if you don't have this game already installed on your PC or Xbox One, you should, especially if you're an Xbox Live Gold subscriber. After the final cutscene faded to black and I saw the game logo, I couldn't help but jump for absolute joy, as The Banner Saga 2 has achieved what many games have tried and failed time and time again to do: Provide true player choice, make them matter, and make you care about every single person in your caravan. I felt like I truly accomplished something great in a video game, a feat, almost, which is a feeling I haven't felt for years.
In Banner Saga 2, the creators manage to keep all the aspects that made me fall in love with the first game while tweaking enough elements to make this title feel even more polished, challenging, and beautiful.
Gorgeous and mournful, The Banner Saga 2 is enriched by a story that meaningfully remembers the choices we've made.