The Banner Saga Reviews
It makes one or two minor stumbles along the way, but The Banner Saga continues to stand tall two years after its original release. Empowered a truly jaw-dropping art direction and the masterful audio work of composer Austin Wintory, Stoic's plans to expand the franchise are certainly justifiable.
As an audio-visual experience, The Banner Saga is hard to beat. Tough choices and an elegant combat system help make the game fun and engaging right up to the end. With a few tweaks to the resource management system and some real soul-searching on enemy variety, Stoic could have a really terrific game on their hands. They're not there yet, but they're on the right track.
Stoic's tactical RPG The Banner Saga makes its way to consoles, and still manages to deliver a fantastic, captivating story alongside a fun and challenging battle system.
The Banner Saga will find its fans in gamers who love ploughing through fantasy novels, and in those who just love a good strategy RPG.
The designer Sid Meier famously said that a game is a series of interesting choices. It's a maxim fully embraced by The Banner Saga, which stitches those choices into its very fabric to form a tapestry that is wholly your own.
The hand-drawn visuals, interesting combat, and epic story mean The Banner Saga is crafted from flawless pieces - even if the final product is a little rough.
Hardship and displacement in a Nordic-inspired world make for a splendid, and splendid looking, RPG.
Get used to the clumsy controls and The Banner Saga is a great role-playing ride right the way through to its conclusion. Meaningful player choice and engaging storytelling are broken up perfectly by bouts of enjoyable strategic combat, which creates a wonderfully paced experience that's very hard to put down. This is a banner that we want to see soaring well into the future.
The renown mechanic was a huge misstep and the Dredge become a bit dull after 15 hours of slaughtering them, but Stoic has still managed to weave a compelling tapestry of epic conflicts with emotionally engaging characters. When I found myself with a dagger in my back courtesy of characters I trusted, I was enraged. When I saw my warriors survive against the impossible odds, I was elated. It's a rollercoaster of agonising decisions and hard-won battles, and as filled with sadness as it is, I was just as sad to step off the ride.
The Banner Saga has flaws, but that does not stop it from being a worthwhile epic that gets so much right that its issues with railroading and combat variety are minor obstacles in the path of this dark, compelling giant of an RPG.
If you are a patient person that likes this type of lore and gameplay style, The Banner Saga delivers on what it set out to accomplish.
If you happen to love Norse mythology or epic fantasy stories full of consequence and deft storytelling, then look no further than The Banner Saga. This is a beautifully crafted game that uses its intriguing cast, gripping tale and absolutely stunning artwork and soundtrack to transport you to a world filled with plenty of danger and surprises. The turn-based strategic battles might not be equally as thrilling to everyone who plays this, and the interface in this part of the game can be a bit clunky at times, but this doesn't detract too much from the collective offering.
The Banner Saga is an excellent game, driven by a wonderful score and a moving story. It's a perfect fit for the Switch too, and the port itself is handled well.
If it were titled The Banner Saga: Chapter 1, then there'd be no argument worth mentioning in relation to its length or aspirational goals, and at this stage I can only assume that there is a new Banner Saga game, or Chapter 2, in the works. If there isn't then the choice of buying and playing this great game would become as futile as the ones made within the game itself -- namely, a lot of people will get hurt.
The Banner Saga's strong narrative, exquisite visual design and distinctive thematic approach to RPGs coupled with its insistence on making every decision and conversation have an impact on player experience make it a must-buy for Strategy-RPG fans.
[D]espite all its strengths, it somehow falls slightly short in simply being fun to play. Due to the bleak landscapes, the depressing situations your characters find themselves in and the challenging tactical combat, this is a game for those who will find the challenge rewarding rather than those looking for lighter entertainment.
The Banner Saga can be unforgiving at times but it is worth all the effort.
It has been a few years in the making, but the Xbox version of 'The Banner Saga' is a wonderful experience. I sincerely hope that Stoic releases the sequel on this platform as well, because they have a good thing going here and the more people who experience it, the better.
The game runs about 4-5 hours long depending on which difficulty you play and how long you take to make choices. Overall, if you are into tactical RPGs and like the whole viking aesthetic, you should enjoy this game quite a bit.
If you read my preview of the game late last year, there were a few things that didn't click with me about The Banner Saga. Yet playing through the full game, I wasn't noticing those issues as much. They're still there, but I was able to look past them. You can see the BioWare design influences heavily, and it's nice to see the focus shift to the overall story of the world and grand conflict, rather than individual personal stories. It creates a vast story that will change every time you play it, and your choices are surely going to play a part in the next two installments. But, yes, if the story and art style doesn't interest you, then the combat will absolutely draw you in.