Banner of the Maid Reviews
It's clear that the developers of Banner of the Maid have a lot of love for the historical French period they've adapted in this game. Unfortunately, the gorgeous character art and intricate story is hampered by a rough localization and awkward gameplay systems. The intriguing characters are hard to follow thanks to awkwardly translated dialogue, while the upgrade and faction mechanics of the game only serve to bloat the experience. Banner of the Maid has plenty of solid ideas, but only a few of them truly shine through.
Banner of the Maid is a genre-defying tactical RPG that challenges players to discover the one way the game will allow them to win battles - and bitterly punishes those that attempt other strategies. With a strong focus on visual novel-style storytelling, the game creates a unique alternate universe version of the French Revolution as a setting for a detailed story with rich characters. Not entirely welcoming for newcomers, Banner of the Maid is an interesting alternative for genre fans.
Although the narrative was lacking and required some knowledge of the French Revolution in order for players to be fully immersed in the game, Banner of the Maid presented such a thoughtful strategy RPG that I looked forward to every single battle.
Banner of the Maid is a highly unique entry in the shoulder-to-shoulder "thin red line" of turn-based JRPGs available for Nintendo Switch. Its alternate take on the French Revolution provides a wonderful backdrop for some of the best strategic gameplay I've experienced since Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. Vive la France!
Banner of the Maid is an excellent strategy RPG that is hindered slightly by its sexualization of women.
If you can get past the stiff localization, Banner of the Maid is a great tactical RPG with an inspired concept.
Though there are some flaws in terms of story and UI, Banner of the Maid is an attractive strategy game with solid gameplay.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Banner of the Maid is rough around the edges but past the pacing and localisation issues, players will find an engaging and unique narrative, along with easy to pick up gameplay that offers plenty of room to tailor the challenge.
Although the initial impact generates a bit of awkwardness, Banner of the Maid has a very impressive success in what it proposes to do. The French Revolution serves as a backdrop for a great story around its protagonist and the elements of SRPG are very fun and interesting throughout the journey, making it a game that needs to be on everyone's radar.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
If only that localisation didn't put a dampener on everything by making a full half of the game, and, critically, the context that gives the action purpose, so irritating to sit through.
A good tactical game makes you feel dumb when loosing, Banner of the Maid makes you feel cheated, as it's less about forming a plan, and more about retrying missions to discover which exact "route" to follow. Add to this a heavy lack of balance, some annoying friendly AI, and a needlessly long length, and this makes this Chinese-born SRPG hard to recommend. Its flawless pixel art style, and sexy anime look are really the only things of any worth here.
In this alternate reality version of the French Revolution, a group of women seem to hold magical abilities within themselves. Can they change fate?
Banner of the Maid is a well done SRPG. The battles are crisp and hard, but once you have successfully completed the mission, you are even more proud of your performance. It is also pleasant that no fantasy setting or completely exaggerated story elements were chosen. The title reflects the French Revolution in its main features. One gets to know authentic characters like Napoleon Bonaparte, Marie-Antoinette or Maximillien de Robespierre.
Review in German | Read full review
Banner of the Maid deserves credit for its pleasant visual style, interesting characters and thoughtful gameplay. The unique setting also wins some points with me as I don’t believe I’ve played a game set during the French Revolution since L’Empereur on the NES. That being said, pacing and difficulty spikes will turn off some gamers and I really do wish the localization had been better as well. There is a solid story with some interesting characters to be had here, and tactics fans such as myself should find plenty to like here, but a few of those rough edges probably could have been smoothed out.
Banner of the Maid deserves a recommendation as one of the best tactical RPGs and independent games on the Nintendo Switch. If you are a fan of SRPGs and are looking for a new experience that lives up to the influences of the genre, this is a title that deserves an opportunity. Here we hope for a sequel to expand and realize even more of the potential of the franchise
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
I would be lying if I said I didn’t expect a wildly different game than the one that I played in Banner of the Maid simply because of its screenshots. They do not do the game justice. They’re chock full of cleavages and while that’s certainly a way to garner a large portion of the public’s interests for obvious reasons, and they don’t do enough to show that there’s much more to the game than mere fanservice. This is a competently put together strategy RPG that happens to feature a lot of that, to ultimately its detriment. On the other hand, if you can look past that, you’ll find that Banner of the Maid not only plays that part really well but is also an amusing twist on history.
After all is said, and despite my nitpicks, I was still able to greatly enjoy my time. Banner of the Maid demands brain function and I loved that. It gave me a sense of accomplishment. Word of advice though, pay attention as it’ll alleviate a lot of unneeded rage.
Despite some qualms here and there, I overall enjoyed my time with Banner of the Maid. It’s not exactly the best in its genre, but it manages to carve out its own niche. Its a rather unexplored time period in video games. Most RPGs and SRPGs tend to just go for a medieval fantasy setting, or sci-fi setting, so something like this manages to stand out. It’s $17 on Steam, which is a very fair price for this. I could recommend this if you’re wanting a SRPG and can forgive a rough localization.
This one is a bit of a weird one for me. I would have never imagined that an anime-styled tactics game set in the French Revolution would ever be released, let alone work as a decent game in its own right. To my surprise, Banner of the Maid is a decent game, but not without its fair share of issues, be it its underwhelming user interface and occasionally limiting gameplay.
Banner of the Maid is a decent tactical RPG that is as easy to follow as it is approachable. Hardcore fans of the genre might miss some of the more in-depth systems offered by other titles, but I believe there is enough here to satisfy any player, no matter their skill level.