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The Banner Saga

Plattform: PC Veröffentlicht: 14.01.2014

24,99€

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Preis Update 14.09.24

Live through an epic role-playing Viking saga where your strategic choices directly affect your personal journey. Make allies as you travel with your caravan across this stunning yet harsh landscape. Carefully choose those who will help fight a new threat that jeopardizes an entire civilization. Every decision you make in travel, conversation and combat has a meaningful effect on the outcome as your story unfolds. Not everyone will survive, but they will be remembered.

Features:

Player choice that drives your own narrative – every decision you make in travel, conversation and combat has a meaningful effect on the outcome as your story unfolds.
Over 25 playable characters from 2 different races, human and varl, the horned giants – embark on your epic journey with a variety of characters from 7 different classes, each with unique abilities and upgrade options to fit your play style.
Strategic combat with consequences - victory or defeat and even the permanent loss of a character depends on which characters you choose to take into battle and what decisions you make afterwards.
The journey is as important as battle – your role in building and managing your caravan as you travel the vast frozen landscape is critical to not only your own survival but the survival of an entire civilization.
An epic Viking saga brought to life in 2D glory – beautifully hand drawn combat sequences and animations, accompanied by an evocative score from Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory, will immerse you into a fantasy realm inspired by Norse mythology.
Multiplayer Combat Enhanced – sharpen your combat skills in the free multiplayer game “Factions”. Compete against other players with many of the character classes you see in The Banner Saga.

Deutsch (6)
Englisch (88)

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1071 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 24.11.21 21:02

+ spannende Story
+ angenehme Musik
+ abwechselungsreiches Reisen
+ nette Events
+ leichte Charakterentwicklung
+ schöne, viel erklärende Karte
- zu wenig Sprachausgabe
- komische Art von rundenbasiertem System

21 Produkte im Account

6 Reviews

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1546 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 29.06.21 20:19

Ich bin durch Zufall über diese Reihe gestolpert und habe mir auf gut Glück alle Teile zusammen gekauft. Keine Sekunde bereut.
Die Grafik ist wundervoll, die Kämpfe sind völlig in Ordnung (und lassen sich durch die Schwierigkeitsgrade gut anpassen), das ganze Setting ist bezaubernd. Der größte Pluspunkt ist natürlich die Story, mit all ihren Wendungen und der Vielzahl an Charakteren, die einem sehr schnell und sehr fest ans Herz wachsen. Vor allem im späteren Verlauf der Geschichte war ich stellenweise wie gelähmt bei manchen Entscheidungen und habe mich verflucht, wenn ich eine Situation im Eifer des Gefechtes falsch eingeschätzt habe.
Die ganze Welt, in die man hier hineingezogen wird, ist es wert erlebt zu werden. Ich kann es jedem, der sich auf fantastische Geschichten einlassen möchte, absolut empfehlen!

167 Produkte im Account

6 Reviews

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537 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 15.05.21 21:59

Ein sehr gutes und knackiges Strategie Spiel. Mit Hand gezeichneten Animationen und Atmosphärischen Schauplätzen. Ich kann nur jedem diese Reihe empfehlen, der die Herausforderung mag.

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1 Reviews

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2048 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 06.04.21 08:41

Ich brauch nicht viel dazu sagen...

Das Spiel hat mich zuerst durch den schönen Zeichenstil überzeugt, obwohl ich rundenbasierte Spiele in der Regel gemieden habe.

Das Gameplay finde ich ist recht einfach gehalten, erfordert aber dennoch ein hohes maß an Taktik.
Man hat ein Slot für ein Item pro Charakter und das reicht mir, weil ich nicht stundenlang damit beschäftigt bin die perfekte Rüstung etc. für meine Helden zu finden.

Die Story beförderte mich von Anfang bis Ende in eine Welt die grausam, düster, kalt und trotzdem wunderschön ist.
Die Entscheidungen die ich zu treffen hatte, hätten nicht zermürbender sein können.

Die Musik passte wunderbar in das ganze Setting ( vor allem das Ende mit dieser Musik hat mir den Rest gegeben ).

Zusammengefasst hat das Spiel mich positiv überrascht und dafür gesorgt, dass ich meine erste Rezension für ein Spiel geschrieben habe und mich sofort in den 2. Teil gestürzt habe.

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701 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 14.03.21 20:38

Sehr gutes, Story getriebenes Taktik-Game. Im Prinzip eine spielbare Graphic Novel die immer wieder von rundenbasierten Kämpfen unterbrochen wird. Dabei sind die Gespräche und Entscheidungen die man treffen muss fast zermürbender als die Taktik-Kämpfe.
Das Kampfsystem ist einfach gehalten und das Spiel nicht zu lang und nicht zu kurz. Ein tolles Erlebnis.

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2 Reviews

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307 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 04.12.20 15:27

Ein super atmosphärisches Spiel

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151 Reviews

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1318 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 22.02.22 00:35

In many ways, The Banner Saga is a very ideal game. That doesn't mean that it's the best game ever, but it does mean that it does everything that you expect a game to do, and it does it well. Visual art, music, writing, gameplay; they're all good-to-great in this game, and are woven together to make an experience that fully draws you in. That it's only the first game of three is quite impressive, because so much is already done so well here.

Let’s start with the visuals. They’re gorgeous. The Banner Saga was released 2014, but you can’t really tell from the quality of the art. Deep, complex backgrounds portray a world on the brink of ruin, but that doesn’t stop it from often being starkingly beautiful. Everything is stylistically consistent, from character design to UI elements and script, and works together with the expansive lore elements to create a highly believable world that is easy to immerse yourself in. Timeless and purposeful – I simply can’t imagine that there will ever be a time that this will ever be considered dated or ugly.

The writing is also an area where the game excels. There are a lot of characters in this game, but they all manage to feel so very alive, having their own opinions and feelings in the myriad of situations the game puts you in. It’s a world where people are just trying to survive, which is reflected in the game’s choices and the struggles the characters have to handle. It’s a game of doubt; did I do the right thing here? Every mistake gnaws at you and can lead to very real consequences, even character deaths. The story in Banner Saga is uncompromising and sometimes harsh, much like the world it takes place in. The fact that it has a Norse-like setting with a clear inspiration from the concept of Ragnarök only serves to drive that point home even harder.

Gameplay-wise, Banner Saga is legitimately brilliant. A consistent feature of typical strategy and RPG combat mechanics is to thin the enemy lines down to lower the damage dealt to one’s characters. This means that focus firing is very often a common solution in order to take enemies out of the fight. Banner Saga flips this concept completely on its head, however. The way that the turn order works, together with how life total is tied to damage, means that if you focus fire an enemy, all other enemies get more turns and thus do more damage. Killing an enemy is therefore not always the best option, which opens up the decision-making. Who attacks next? How close are they? How much damage do they do? Can I weaken them before they attack? Instead of simply using abilities and clicking the Attack button, you end up considering the weight of every action and move you make. It’s a deep system and yet not complicated enough to be confusing. As a tactics game, Banner Saga is an absolute triumph.

With all of that said, I had one problem with this game. I actually played this game twice. The first time was a few years ago and I was not able to finish it that time – as in, I literally couldn’t finish it. The weakness of this game is that there is a right way to play it. The first time I played it, I ended up avoiding conflict by chance. But because you level your characters through battle, I simply wasn’t prepared for the tough boss fight at the end. I literally couldn’t beat it however much I tried. There is no way to peacefully make your way around it or anything, you have to beat the boss. As a result, an aggressive playstyle is always the best way to play this game, in order to get as many levels as you can. Not only that, almost every choice in this game has a correct answer, one that gives you the most resources and has the best outcome. There is a severe lack of choices where both answers are valid and have their own positives and negatives, which I think is a great shame in a game where choices are so prevalent.

The Banner Saga is overall a great game. As I replayed it, I couldn’t help but be impressed, despite some bitterness I had from my first playthrough. There is just so much it does right and so little it does wrong. It’s apparent how much care and craft went into this game. A must-play, in my eyes.

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1168 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 13.02.22 07:21

Simple and fun turn-based combat in an brutal fantasy world

Pros

Persistent sense of urgency as you’re forced to make difficult choices to manage your caravan. Poor choices bring swift loss and tangible regret. Play without reloading for better immersion.
Engaging yet simple turn-based combat. Polished and varied enough to allow for some creative strategies.
Inspiring soundtrack gets you invested in the world. The narrator’s voice was a great fit for the lore of this world. The artwork is gorgeous.

Cons

Using Renown as the only currency to purchase items and progress your characters felt unnecessarily limiting.
Sometimes the description of the choices available to you are not very clear, leading you to say things and take action in a way that doesn’t entirely represent what you intended.
The game manages to create some truly touching moments, proving that a great, emotional narrative doesn’t require a AAA budget.

Conclusion
If you enjoy turn-based combat, meaningful choices, and resource-management, this game is probably a pick for you. The post-apocalyptic fantasy theme worked well for me despite the lack of voice acting. The writing was simple, but good enough to get the narrative moving, while expanding the character’s background and goals. I'm looking forward to playing the sequel.

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1633 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 08.02.22 20:41

If you like turn based strategy games this is game for you. It has very beautiful art, music, epic story, interesting characters and gameplay choices, that affect the events in the whole game and gameplay itself. And you can carry on your gameplay (save file) to next game in series, where what you did in this game will have consequences in the next.

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How to unlock KICKSTARTER bonus character TRYGGVI and fix the game with unofficial patch
You just need to install YaK's SSLTBS1 Fixpack (patch), that unlocks Tryggvi and also fixes A LOT of game bugs, inconsistencies and typos in the game. https://www.nexusmods.com/thebannersaga/mods/1

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14225 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 06.02.22 01:53

one of the best games/series ever.

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1505 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 05.02.22 07:49

Great for those wanting to get into norse/viking fantasy. The great music coupled with the art style definitely give the story a smooth experience to enjoy. The decisions you take in the game can and will affect your crew and group as you progress and encounter events that can make or break completing the next chapter. I can't say much for how the battles would be if either played at easy or hard, but at normal you need to think of strategy on how to fight enemy's formation for a reason. Overall its a good game to enjoy casually or if you want a challenge just amp up the difficulty.

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800 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 26.01.22 05:21

This game is pretty hard. The aesthetic had me thinking it'd be relaxing but the stakes were pretty high throughout. Like Lord of the Rings, except if half the group starved to death on the trip.

Gameplay is a mix of Oregon Trail meets Xcom, in a dying world where time is in short supply. Supplies are also in short supply, so you're probably going to lose some people. Definitely has some replayability and I'm looking forward to failing miserably at the sequel as well.

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653 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 16.01.22 08:34

Play this game if you want to throw yourself in to the unique adventure.

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482 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 15.01.22 16:08

I don't hate this game, but I don't think it's worth buying either. I just have too many issues with it that prevent me from giving it a recommendation.

I have problems with the combat. It's a decent turn-based system, but it has some problems. I couldn't find any easy way to level up my characters. There's a difficulty spike at the end of this game that comes out of nowhere. I read that the only ways around it are to have your characters be at a certain level, or switch the difficulty to easy. I felt like there was no choice for me but to pick the latter. I might be wrong about this. If there's an easy way to level up your characters in this game, let me know, because I couldn't find it.

There are other aspects about it that I dislike as well. I don't like how health is tied to your character's strength, or the constant need to chip away at armor before you can deal any real damage. Other tactical games I've played had the latter feature as well, but it wasn't nearly as frustrating in those games.

Outside of combat, the game has this Oregon Trail-esque part of it where you travel from one part of the game world to another. It kind of works, but it also kind of doesn't. It's cool to watch these characters go on a journey through this Norse mythology-based world, but I wish the game would let you freely explore the world.

The game also pauses in certain sections of the story for you to make choices. I like that this game has choices & consequences, but I feel that the game doesn't give enough context as to what each choice actually does. I've found guides online that tell you, but I shouldn't have to look those up.

Also, I had trouble understanding what was going on in the story. I think it would've been better if the characters were fully voice-acted. I've got nothing against reading, but this is the kind of game that I think could've benefited from a great cast of voice-actors. There are some fully-voiced lines in this game, but they don't happen very often.

I think just one of these games is too short for what they offer. I beat the first game in only eight hours. If you don't buy all three games, you really aren't getting the full experience. I gave the second game a try, and I felt that it fixed few, if any of the problems I talk about above. If you don't like the first game, then don't bother with any of the others.

The one part of this game that I have no complaints about is the art style. I really like the hand-drawn style used in this game. It looks pretty, and it gives you some genuinely beautiful backdrops. The character movements and environmental effects were done very well.

People also seem to like the soundtrack of this game, but to me, it's nothing special. It never reaches the heights of soundtracks I've heard in other games.

Overall, just about everything good this game does has a double-edged sword to it. I know a lot of people really like this game, but I don't. To me, everything this game did was done better in other games. If you're looking for a good tactical game, I think you're better off playing XCOM or Divinity: Original Sin. Wildermyth is also a good choice. I can understand why people like this game, but it just isn't for me.

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531 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 06.01.22 07:30

The Banner Saga has beautiful art, good voice acting (what little there is) and a nice sound track, but the actual gameplay part of the game is across-the-board terrible.

The Banner Saga has two components to its gameplay: an Oregon Trail-style choose-your-own-adventure strategy layer and an Final Fantasy Tactics-style tactical layer. Both of them are bad.

The Oregon Trail component has you shepherding your caravans across the land. Every day you consume supplies proportional to the number of people in your caravan. Once you’ve run out of supplies, you start losing people. The number of people in your caravan has no gameplay relevance whatsoever.

Occasionally as you are traveling across the land, you will have a choose-your-own adventure random encounter. You will be presented with some narrative text and given some options to react to the event. Sometimes you will arrive at cities or holy sites and have non-random events. Sometimes these events are plot-related. None of the choices that you make affect the plot. Quite often the description of your choice doesn’t match what you actually end up doing should you choose that option. But none of this matters because the outcomes of your choices are so unpredictable that they are effectively random. The end result is that you don’t feel like you have any agency and very rapidly stop caring about anything that happens.

In fact, having completed the game, I couldn’t tell you what the plot was. The back story is there – it is the post-apocalypse, the gods are all dead, the sun has halted in the sky and it is perpetual snowy day. The stone golems are swarming out of the north and destroying everything in their path. One caravan of nominal tax collectors is moving from west to east. Another caravan of refugees is moving from east to west. They meet in the middle and there is a climactic battle against the stone golems. There is a human prince among the giants. He is angry for some reason. There is a giant among the refugees. He is secretly famous. It is all very pointless.

The other gameplay component is the Final Fantasy Tactics sort of thing. It is terrible for a lot of reasons. The first problem is that it uses the well-known garbage game design idea called “the last hit”, where the only way to level up your hero units is for them to land the killing blow on the enemy. This is a circumstance that is, naturally, tediously unfun to arrange. The Banner Saga also invents an innovative new garbage game design idea: your attack power and hit points are the same stat. Your hero units start every battle able to deal damage to the enemy units, but as the battle progresses and they take more and more damage they become more and more worthless. This might be “realistic”, but realism isn’t fun and the game is the worse for it. None of this matters though; the battles aren’t difficult at all. Over the course of the entire game I only ever lost one battle – against the final boss.

The tactical battle system is also plagued by a lot of UI problems. The game very much feels like it was designed for tablets, but in an awkward sort of way. Selecting a target is difficult when they’re all crammed together in a small area. Deselecting targets is finicky. Canceling out of commands is also finicky.

The tactical mode has the usual move-then-attack setup, but it is missing the very critical feature of undoing a movement command before you decide to attack. You will frequently miss-click and move to the wrong place and there is nothing you can do about it. When you’ve selected the square you are going to move to, the game will highlight the enemies that you’ll be able to attack from that square (which is useful), but the game will never tell you if your special moves will be useful from that position (which is useless). On the other hand, the special moves that your characters have are largely pointless – they’re so limited in their utility that you’ll almost never use them in favor of your hero unit’s regular attacks.

So the end result is that the story is kind of interesting but very random and doesn’t really involved the player and the gamplay isn’t particularly good in any way.

I’m glad I finished the the game, but that’s because it was in my Steam backlog and I played it as a part of a game of the month club, not because the game was any good.

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2317 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 04.01.22 06:08

If you're like me, you're getting to the point where you only want to play games that bring something new to the table and don't just end up as another clone of 18 other games sitting in your library half-finished. I've tried a handful of turn-based tactics over the years, but this one is truly unique. It does a great job of mixing those RPG level-up elements with the cross-roads style no-take-backsies decisions that change your campaign, and some good ol' fashioned addictive gameplay elements that keep you engaged looking at different numbers and combos all the time. On top of those mechanics, it really does contain a rich world with a great story contained in simple yet beautiful through-and-through art design. That includes music! Highly recommend.

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2982 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 29.11.21 15:10

This game is an engaging story and an excellent turn based strategy game. It's like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tell Tale Games had a baby with Viking Mythology.

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34 Reviews

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773 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 22.11.21 11:02

The game is nice, not great, but nice. This is definitely a game you play for the story (which is good), not for the gameplay (which is ok).

Note: I've played this game 3 times. The first two times were not on steam, so my playing time is actually a lot longer.

Stuff I liked:
-turn based combat
-Vikings
-nice lore and atmosphere
-good story
-good characters

stuff i disliked:
-Strength and Life Energy being the same (why?). It really sucks when your high strength characters (i.e. Haakon) gets hit for 8 Strength and is useless from that point on
-Experience and Money being the same (why) It really sucks when you can`t level up your characters because you have to buy food which then gets stolen rigth away.
-the combat system is ok, but i have seen better
-in my first playthrough ... i ran out of food and everyone except the story characters died, and it made no difference
-the game really wants me to play in german. I dont know why. I had to reset the language to english every time I rebootet the game. This was goin n my nerves.

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113 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 20.11.21 11:39

yes

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1003 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 15.11.21 17:47

Really beautiful game. The art is amazing, there is richness in character development and the story is very deep and dramatic. The choices you make throughout the story have a huge impact in later events. I enjoyed the great diversity of characters and their abilities, and how to strategically use them in the battlefield.

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1911 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 14.11.21 08:32

Oregon Trail but with STAKES and a great combat system

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609 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 29.10.21 04:20

This games punishes you for taking out enemy units by letting the other units attack more often. It so frustrating. Also the random travel decisions are basically flip a coin AND........heads they win and tails you lose. HOW IS THIS A MARKETED AS A TACTICS GAME? It should be called the guessing saga.

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163 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 18.10.21 20:16

I like the game stories about Vikings, created on the basis of Scandinavian mythology. A game with wonderful drawing and musical accompaniment.

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15 Reviews

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629 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 05.09.21 20:19

Game theme and art is pretty good, but the game system, AI and overall game loop is... far from perfect.

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1685 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 25.08.21 21:03

Played this through twice, going to start on the 2nd part. Wonderful game - love the story, artwork and music and the gameplay is interesting (worth reading up on the combat tactics though) Thoroughly recommended!

333 Produkte im Account

20 Reviews

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762 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 30.07.21 14:05

I'll be honest; at first, I didn't like the game. The combat mechanics are very unique but it didn't click for me and the story was kind of slow for the first hour or so. After that first hours though, the game got much, much better both in terms of story and combat. I actually began to really like the combat. The worldbuilding of the game is also very detailed. I don't think I need to say much about the hand-drawn art because it is just SO BEAUTIFUL, as you can see in the screenshots. The music is also amazing and harmonious with the atmosphere.

All in all, The Banner Saga is a good game with a good story that have sometimes harsh but never nonsensical choices and consequences (that carry on to the next games) with turn based combat and caravan management/ survival elements.

209 Produkte im Account

5 Reviews

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2171 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 29.07.21 03:07

Plays like a combination of Mass Effect, Fire Emblem, and the Oregon Trail. The Banner Saga is an unforgettable experience and is one of my all-time favorite game series. Great gameplay, great story, and the two blend into eachother seamlessly.

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1669 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 28.07.21 20:50

I loved the whole trilogy.

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1493 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 13.07.21 09:01

When Banner Saga came out, for me it was like a dawn of a new era. Not because it was the one game to rule them all, but because along with other games of 2014 like Transistor it heralded an arrival of true artistic hybrids - games where the dichotomy of narrative and gameplay is no more, and they smoothlessly transition into one another. Of games that combine known mechanics into something different and innovative. Of games not afraid to be stylish without mimicry.
Sure, a new era came. It was mostly an era of talented copycats, game design necromancy and nostalgia abuse.

Turns out, it's just Stoic. They're simply that good.

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1012 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 10.07.21 22:55

I bought the whole trilogy during a sale a while ago, tried it out, played a few hours, but couldn't get comfortable with the combat system. I sucked at it, so I got annoyed and disliked it, eventually I stopped playing. But as turn-based combat games started to grow on me I decided to give this game another chance, and boy am I glad i did that.

The combat system is very simple yet a lot of thinking goes into your moves, since there aren't a lot of stats, but each of them matter almost equally. The combat system is great and challenging. Playing on Normal difficulty, apart from the final fight, I did not lose any fights, however, I almost always lost around 2 people in each fight. Overall, not too hard, not easy either.

The narrative is kind of rough in the first few hours as it gives a very vague introduction into this giant world, but it picks up, and as you meet new people, you get to learn about this land from different people's perspectives, building towards a magnificent world design. I personally loved the story-telling even more than the story itself, as you play as multiple protagonists who are not related to each other, and this makes it possible for a parallel story-telling to actually work. It does a splendid job of showing the cruelty of the world through the lens of different backgrounds.

Finally, the art design and soundtrack. I have no words for them. Just beautiful. Does an amazing job alongside the overall setting to set the pace. The nordic setting of the world is accompanied amazingly by this soundtrack scored by Austin Wintory.

TLDR; just buy this beautiful game for a great adventure... Begin your saga!

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3396 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 10.07.21 18:56

Great game, very fun. Good story and gameplay. Replay value as well.

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613 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 07.07.21 10:05

I absolutely love this game. It is a fantastic turn based tactical strategy game with a fantastic story. It is relatively short (i finished it in 10hours)
However you should remember its part of the trilogy, i haven't played the saga 2 or 3 but im sure it has plenty to offer .
The combat is quite fun and challenging at normal difficulty and you have such a varied cast of characters to choose from and they all have different abilities and attack range .
Your decisions affect not only the morale of your clan and the number of supplies they have, but your choices can also lead to unexpected scenarios like a betrayal or the death of a character... and those moments can hit you harder than you expect :(
and the fucking artwork man lets talk about that
The artwork is really really beautiful as you travel through each land and the characters are all quite interesting.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND TRY IT

126 Produkte im Account

54 Reviews

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843 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 01.07.21 12:18

Stunning graphics, beautiful music, engaging characters, story that keeps you wanting to play more, decisions that really, really matter, different povs, meaningful combat encounters, great combat mechanics. I could go on. Its just brilliant and unique and different.

And if a game can connect you so much to the characters that you're one step from crying along with them while watching the ending what else do you want?

I would write more but (a) I played this game non-stop and (b) I wanna play part 2. But I shouldn't. But I wanna. Just the intro. Then I'll stop, I swear.

Big thanks to the devs!

Almost forgot: This is a low magic game. Perfect!

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926 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 01.07.21 03:59

Today, I killed a sundr.

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631 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 24.06.21 15:53

This is my 4th playthrough of this game. Played it on the PS4 before this. Great story and gameplay.

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85 Reviews

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1571 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 18.06.21 03:19

Long story short: Amazing story (it truly is amazing.) fantastic script and characters with beautiful art design, and immersive and impressive soundtrack with challenging and exciting tactical turn-based combat.
Real choices and real consequences (not some Mass Effect-like crap)
It has a very deep, involved plot from multiple perspectives and is filled with surprising revelations and heart-wrenching endings.

Begin your Saga now!

146 Produkte im Account

6 Reviews

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65 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 21.05.21 13:40

The Art, and in particular the writing, of this game, are incredibly good. The writer(s) on this project are clearly very talented writers and a cut above the usual game writing, and orders of magnitude better than the average indie game. That being said...

This review is based purely on the combat.

Basically it alternates between team 1 and team 2 and arranges it based on unit speed (presumably.)
but it forces that alternating pattern even when there are less enemies than allies. I had one enemy attack 5 times in a row for free because all of the turns i had were on characters on the other side of the map and i literally couldn't do anything about it.

This is clearly a flawed system. Imagine getting a free move based on how many pieces you have lost in a chess game? And granted, this swings both ways. You can also get several free attacks on enemies. But that requires you to lose characters in the battle, which wounds them, which means you are more likely to continue losing battles.

I understand that this is a design consideration made by the developers, but just because someone decides to make a chocolate cake for a party and ice it in dogshit, doesn't give it free artistic merit just because it's intentional. I'm still being served dogshit.

407 Produkte im Account

10 Reviews

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1183 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 15.05.21 16:32

Gritty story, beautiful art and music, good dialogue, decent combat mechanics.

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7 Reviews

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476 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 15.05.21 06:20

People are saying this game is awesome. I see what they mean.

Let's start with what's good about this game:

For one, the story and characters are very good. If anything will make you want to continue playing, it's the desire to keep the story going. The characters also feel very real, and do a good job of sucking you into the world.

The art and music in this game are phenomenal. A great deal of painstaking work was spent creating the art, and they hired a grammy award winning composer for the music. Money well spent.

The choices you make in the game feel real, and have weight to them. The results also can be random, like life tends to be; sometimes you fight your way through some slag and it turns out there wasn't anything over that hill after all. You'd think this would take away from the experience, but on the contrary it does a great job of pulling you into the game's world, and really making you feel like you're the leader of a rag-tag caravan of desperate villagers.

But there's one thing that makes me simply unable to recommend this game to most people; the combat system.

To call the combat system mediocre would be an understatement; It feels like an afterthought. If the combat were only a minor feature of the game, it wouldn't really be an issue. But combat is the core feature. When you aren't talking to people, or traveling onward in your caravan, you're fighting.

The strength and armor system in the game are actually really cool ideas. So what makes the combat system so lackluster? 2 things: zone of control, and flanking. Neither is a feature in this game.

You'd think that wouldn't mean too much, but it actually completely breaks the combat system in a lot of ways. For example, the advantage to using varl (horny giants) in combat is their massive strength, which is supposed to be counterbalanced by their slow speed. Humans, on the other hand, are weaker, but faster. Now, if you could flank around an enemy to deal more damage, then there would be a good reason to use humans. But you can't. So, to put it bluntly, they're basically useless. I found myself stacking my squad with as many varl as I could fit, and it worked. there simply isn't a good reason to use any heroes except for varl.

Another thing that sucks about this game is the fact that the traveling is really tedious. This is because it basically consists of watching your caravan slowly move from one side of the screen towards the other. Occasionally, an event will occur, and there are gorgeous environments to look at and awesome music to listen to while it happens, but it's basically a glorified cutscene. Actually, things usually happen in cutscenes, but here there really isn't anything to look at once you've taken in a specific scene. There is no fast-forward option or anything for traveling whatsoever. I've found myself just starting the caravan and then walking away to fill my water bottle or something while whatever happens happens. It's really boring.

What I find so infuriating about the combat system is that its core mechanics are actually really good ideas. The strength and armor mechanics, in a less shallow system, would honestly make for a fantastic game. But these cool ideas are completely ruined by an utter lack of depth. That, and apparently in Banner 2 and 3 they don't make any changes to the combat system whatsoever. They had 3 games to get it right, and they just couldn't be bothered apparently.

So should you play this game?

Well, if you really like story, then you might like this game. That said, I love story, and even I couldn't bring myself to finish it. That should say something about just how mediocre the core mechanics of this game really are. 'Nuff said.

42 Produkte im Account

3 Reviews

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776 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 12.05.21 14:42

I love the mechanics, and the story telling is absolutely beautiful!!!!

1368 Produkte im Account

61 Reviews

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515 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 12.05.21 11:39

I really really really tried my hardest to like this and might yet again give this a complete fresh try sometime soon to make sure I really didnt just miss anything.

But as it stands the game has a great world, great soundtrack, great art. But everything else seems to suck.

Gameflow:
you watch your caravan painfuilly slowly waddle their way to the next point of intrest. I get it they are traveling the entire map at times but holy hell staring at that screen for so long is just unecessary. Then bored to death hoping for something to happen every now and then story text pops up about this or that happening which you resolve through making choices. Most often than not they feel like they are predetermided to happen in a certain way no matter the overal logical or likely nature of the decisions you make.

Combat:
Turnbased but slower than any you have ever seen before. Everyone has armor, unless you shred that first or you have abilities that ignore it have fun chugging through evey enemy for what seems like forever. Characters move slowly and the entire flow of the turnbased system used here takes away everything that would really deliver a chaotic battle. It's basically chess, more simplified and worse because your pieces don't instakill they wail at eachother for days.

21 Produkte im Account

1 Reviews

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672 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 12.05.21 05:22

amazing art and music

456 Produkte im Account

73 Reviews

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960 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 11.05.21 18:40

I purchased The Banner Saga 1 simply because it was on sale, when I gave it the first try I was amazed by the beautiful art style and music, however the lack of world introduction and the unfamiliar combat turned me away from the game. It took me years when the saga was completed so I could give it another try, and I'm glad I did because else I would have missed out on one of the most beautiful experience ever.

The Banner Saga will give you a way too brief introduction to its world, you will be greeted by a very slow start with sudden combat, weird dialogues and words that will give you confusion. However, after passing that slow start, you will immerse yourself in a beautiful viking inspired world, with memorable and thoughtful characters, prepare to test your mettle through making the toughest decisions on one of the most amazing journey ever.

To this day, The Banner Saga is one of the few party management, decision making games where your choices can shift the narrative in entirely different ways, such choices and consequences you made will be carried throughout the 3 games of the saga. There are many interesting situations, many events about war, hardship, humanity, love and eventually the end of the world in this well written story. The combat can take some time to get used to, but once it happened I think you can find the strategic oriented combat very satisfying to play.

The Banner Saga is the dream game of some ex-Bioware developers who left and formed Stoic to make it comes true, while I can understand it's not everyone's cup of tea, I'm still strongly recommend everyone to experience this beautiful Saga to its end.

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33 Reviews

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873 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 22.04.21 17:40

I'm not particularly good at strategy games, but I like a good story time and this series was pretty good. Bonus points for having your choices carry over from game to game. Worth at least one play through.

177 Produkte im Account

3 Reviews

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675 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 05.04.21 09:55

A beautiful game well worth the play. Great characters, amazing artwork and in general a well fleshed out and believeable world inspired by nordic culture.

30 Produkte im Account

2 Reviews

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1048 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 02.04.21 21:07

Really wanted to love it.

I bought this title thinking that I would eventually get the entire trilogy (and I wanted to start at the beginning).

Like many, I was initially hooked by the artwork, the premise and the setting — all of which are great. The musical score, deep narrative lore and sprawling visual backgrounds deserve high marks. And I still think the drawn out, massively long caravan banner is sweet.

The combat system is novel and was quite exciting at the beginning. But as things leveled up and got more difficult, I began to realize the only way to win was to manipulate the system itself -- which totally killed any sort of immersion. It just felt gimmicky by the end.

The story — while unevenly paced — did a good job of instilling a sense of despair and growing dread. The characters seemed genuine, with believable motivations. But most player choices either seemed superficial or weighted toward predetermined outcomes. I kind of felt like I was being pulled along by a string, no matter what I decided to do. And moments that should have played out as major story beats just sort of happened matter-of-factly — leaving me wondering if certain events were real turning points or or just stops along the way.

I could sense the developers' intent to create something different with this game, which I applaud. Parts of it really do feel special. But for me, the overall balance was more miss than hit.

112 Produkte im Account

8 Reviews

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433 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 27.03.21 17:37

This one just didn't do it for me. I found it to be very dialogue and lore heavy, but the lore didn't grab me. The combat was okay, but if you're buying this game in 2021, I think you will find better systems out there.

125 Produkte im Account

42 Reviews

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2478 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 18.03.21 06:02

Behold the lush plains of Sweden, it’s beautiful sunrise, snowy tundra’s and overly friendly locals, who will not hesitate to embed a hatchet into your skull if you refuse to relinquish your casket of apricots. Feast your eyes upon the truth, observe the tapestry and acknowledge that Sweden was not always a beloved paradise, once it was a fetid wasteland, ravaged by war. Its plains were salted, it’s inhabitants repelled and gradually the land was engulfed by a tenacious foe, the “Black destroyers”. These “Black destroyers”, as defined by the game, likely insinuate throngs of psychedelic induced Africans, who have been cast into a frenzy after being refused entry into Sweden’s borders. These destroyers, threatened inconceivable calamity upon Sweden, seeking to engulf the country within woe and anguish, that would inevitably eradicate the initial inhabitants. Fortunately, as depicted by archaic manuscripts, an unlikely ally emerged from the northern realms, offering their aid to Sweden. These were the Sami, the native denizens of Finland. United in their efforts, the Swedish and Sami coalition repelled the dark seething horde, however, after a harrowing defeat, the African throng turned to the help of their Shaman’s, who in a sorcerers frenzy, chanted an archaic incantation to blot out the night, causing the sun to remain permanently hoisted atop the sky. Realising that their demise was imminent, the African horde retreated into their ominous, decrepit caves after the war. However, disaster has struck again, for the Black destroyer horde, now appears to have arisen once more, fleeing from an ambiguous, unseen threat. Likely an apparition that has manifested as a result of their insidious magic.

You play as a band of various Nordic fighters, soldiers with chiselled jawlines and each measuring at minimum two metres tall. These Nord’s focus on one sole objective, repelling the African menace from the lands of Sweden. However, they are constantly having to flee and acquire military aid, for every destroyer that is slain, with their head crumbling inwards due to a Warhammer, a dozen more of his brood take his place, with these rabid fiends craving nought more than to gnaw upon your Swedish flesh and sizzle your limbs atop a cauldron. Asides from the conspicuous threat, you are also beset by the subtly of war, intrigue. Many times upon your journey, you encounter bandits roaming around in drives, masquerading as the famed Bugmen’s brewers, who beguile you forth with promises of delectable mead, only to then infiltrate your encampment, slaughtering your thralls and ransacking your supply of apricots and trout.

Another peculiar threat has emerged, one that many initially believed was the mere fiction of a madman’s scrawls upon the prison wall. This threat is the serpent, an immense figure, who details the inevitable calamity of Sweden. Fortunately, said serpent, as depicted in Banner Saga, is a relatively affable figure, who is frequently represented as a famed troubadour, performing puppet shows for starry eyed onlookers, in exchange for rabbits and Swedish children. The predicament and raw fury of the serpent is only revealed if his altruistic request of providing rabbits and children is declined. In the event that he is declined, a calamity will emerge, mountains will quake and splinter in two, your squeaky toys will be thieved and most significantly, no more will the serpent serenade his famed ballads ‘Jingle Floyd’ and ‘Celtic Symphony’. It has even been determined by many a Rivellion scientist, that his rage, although virtual, may stem forth into modern day society, with speculations emerging that the serpent is wholly responsible, for the series of unprecedented earthquakes and the threat of volcanic eruption that is occurring in Iceland today. As such, in acknowledgement of the serpents omnipotent power, I wish to solicit his forgiveness and implore him to not rain down fire and brimstone upon the isle of Iceland. Oh great serpent, do not take to heart the deranged, audacious ramblings of the insolent few, instead gaze upon the many who bend their knees in reverence and offer many a tribute and accolade.

The final, tangible threat revealed to Sweden, is the leader of the Black destroyer horde, an immortal African warlord, who is determined to eradicate the realm of Swedes and Sami, while simultaneously razing every settlement and dismantling any remnant of society that remains. This Warlord has reputedly been frolicking throughout the realm, leading his dark pigmented horde on a militaristic campaign to gradually uproot every castle, town, hamlet and fief that he sights. Many of the prominent characters in Banner Saga, express a mixture of dread and woe, as they ruminate on Bellower’s immortality. They contemplate and subsequently proclaim on how vanquishing such a warlord is remotely possible, as neither arrow nor sword dent his crudely designed armour. Fortunately, significant intel from the warlords medical records is acquired, information that is able to irreversibly alter the course of this brutal conflict. It is revealed through the records that this warlord, who goes by the alias of Sunshine Bellower, suffers from a severe case of schizophrenia and delusions of grandeur. Thus, Sweden’s salvation is revealed. In order to acclaim victory, one must swindle the immortal warlord into believing that he is genuinely dying due to an arrow coated and imbued with the omnipotent power of Duna and potent sleep inducing herbs. The African warlord, despite being immortal believes that he is nearing death and as such falls into a perpetual state of unconsciousness. The destroyer horde, witnessing their schizophrenic warlord being slain, flee in terror, abandoning their antipathy and animosity for safety and respite. Although, in reality the warlord has solely been deceived into unconsciousness, only a few select individuals are aware of the ploy, with the majority remaining oblivious to the genuine plot that has unfolded. The conclusion to this tale, depicts the main antagonist, Sunshine Bellower, being entombed within a box and gifted to a band of ruthless mercenaries, who are hired to dispose the box within a vast lake, effectively disposing of the evidence that the warlord continues to draw breath. Never again, shall the destroyer horde be permitted to rally, they must remain irrevocably divided, ensuring that Sweden will never capitulate to the sombre, unhinged invaders, that threaten frequent incursions upon their lush, bountiful lands.

67 Produkte im Account

39 Reviews

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5502 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 14.03.21 06:46

The very first Banner Saga installment is a perfect game for those who love tactical RPGs. The first time playing, you'll quickly develop a sense of dread in your gut as seemingly innocent decisions lead to permanent losses to your forces, and you slowly have to watch as your resources dwindle away.

The art style is amazing, and the world is interesting and mysterious. The characters are mostly real cool and well-developed, as long as they don't die horribly. The combat system I've heard people complain about, as you take your turn and your opponent then takes theirs, so if you whittle the enemy down too much, their few units will take their turns very quickly compared to your forces. But this can be exploited for some tactical goodness, and I actually kinda liked it. Most of the abilities in the game were useful if you adjusted your strategy to use them properly.

I've played through the first game four times, trying to get the results I wanted moving into the second game. The ending stays brutal every time, and you have to live with that final choice going through the next two installments. It kills me to think about it still.

Highly, highly, highly recommend. The first game in the series is probably the best of the trilogy, and one of my favorite games of all time.

654 Produkte im Account

63 Reviews

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1086 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 05.03.21 01:10

The Banner Saga is a viking journey composed by three games and after I completed the first I feel confident enough to say it's going to be an amazing one. The art design is incredible, the story is deep, with well written dialogues, multiple choices and well developed characters, followed by an epic soundtrack. The turn based combat is maybe too simple, there isn't really much strategy. Outside from battle there is a management system that make things always interesting. You need to take good care of your caravan, find supplies and take decisions that shape the fate of certain characters.

Though it's definitely a great game, there are maybe too many playable characters (some not always connected to the story) and you can't afford to level up each one of them, so if you spent your points equally on them you will find yourself screwed at the end. The final fight is unbalanced and insanely hard even at normal difficulty. If you didn't rank up some of your characters to the max levels you will need to go on easy mode or spend 3 hours trying your luck. I am surprised devs never fixed a problem like this after six years. Since I bought the game with a big discount I can't really complain much, but it's worth noting. I still recommend the game and the series, especially to those who love Norse mythology.

362 Produkte im Account

104 Reviews

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839 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 06.02.21 16:53

I'm so glad i found this gem while browsing the steam page, the art caught my eye and I bought all 3 games at a really good price. Once i started playing I was constantly surprised at how good the game is, besides the amazing art the characters are amazing, the universe is unique, the story is weird, ominous mysterious and always keeps you at the edge of your seat and every action has consequences. I can't quite place it but it reminds me a lot of Dragon Age Origins. I absolutely loved it.

56 Produkte im Account

21 Reviews

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1413 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 23.01.21 07:47

This is a little gem! An interactive compelling story that immmerses the player in a rich and beautiful world. If you are tired of fast action and endless nonsensical slaughtering then Banner Saga is the way to go. Its looks are nostalgic and reminiscent of old games of yore. The music is exceptional and the story is so well crafted. The gameplay is not time critical. What more do you need?

412 Produkte im Account

21 Reviews

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1820 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 27.12.20 12:22

Fun story, epic music, and battles as lovely as the love I got from my dad's belt. I don't know about easy, but on normal the game is challenging if you aim for perfection, and on hard it's safer to just settle for a little less. In addition to doing well tactically, you should want to put some thought into the value of the different attributes you can level up, use your characters as an effective team, and develop some actual strategies - not spoiling more of the fun. I don't usually mind reloading though, since as I said, the music is epic. I can also vouch for the immediate sequel. ;)

378 Produkte im Account

1 Reviews

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1437 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 24.12.20 15:54

I completed this game almost a year ago, and was thinking about playing the sequel soon, and since this game was such a memorable experience, I figured I should finally review it and say some things about it now that it has had ample time to resonate with me.

This game is a combination of rpg and turn-based strategy elements. And while numerous games have done that before, what really stands out to me with The Banner Saga is how fresh the narrative and overall presentation of the game felt. Now, that's not to say that the gameplay was unremarkable, since the gameplay was actually quite enjoyable and the layer of strategy, and the agency that the player has throughout the game in making choices that impact the narrative, are all engaging. Nevertheless, what really enthralled me was the story, world, and presentation.

So the story, in my opinion, was very unique. I've never played a game quite like this, and that made me not want to stop playing until I completed it. I found the characters to be unique and interesting, which makes you want to keep going on to discover who you will meet and who will be added to your party. Not just because they may have an interesting personality and backstory, but also because the fighting skills and strategy that they will add to your party. Furthermore, the story has a variety of twists and turns that kept me engaged throughout. It's just a well told story blending elements of Norse mythology into a fictional world.

The world that the developer has created certainly enhances the story. It feels believable and lived in. The lore is deep and interesting. I found myself wanting to keep playing because I wanted to remain immersed in the world. I felt like I was there, a part of my party, and that the cause that they were fighting for was also my cause. I think that feeling I had was a result of a deep world with excellent lore, and realistic characters inhabiting it. Upon completion I was left wanting more, wanting to travel back to this world, and fortunately I'll get to since there are two more games in the franchise.

Lastly, I'll say some things about the game's presentation. The artwork was incredible and brings the world of The Banner Saga to life in a majestic way. The music is also good. I suppose the presentation is closely connected to the story, but not to be confused with the actual narrative, since it is how the narrative is digested by the player. Or perhaps what I mean by presentation here is the way that the story is told to the player. Anyhow, maybe that seems a bit confusing, but I will say that this aspect of the game I also found incredibly refreshing and unique. It was another element of the game that makes it really stand out and stand ahead of other games for me.

To bring some closure, The Banner Saga was an experience like few others that I've had in gaming. It was a refreshing experience, and made me wish that more developers would take risks and make their games less formulaic. This was definitely one of the best gaming experiences I've had in some time, and I'm going to savor the opportunity to complete the series. If anything I've said here has interested you, then you should definitely try playing this game. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

161 Produkte im Account

4 Reviews

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635 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 22.12.20 23:56

A highly engaging and interesting RPG where the choices you make along the way are paramount.

I found the story and world rich and interesting and I was immediately engaged, and I love the hand drawn art style and atmospheric soundtrack. This is a decision driven game: who survives in your party and consequences to the story later on is effected by what you choose. For me, this is a huge plus and added to my desire to actually replay the game. One thing to know is that much of the game takes the form of watching your caravan move from town to town, as events and issues crop up for you to deal with along the way. I personally enjoyed this mechanic and the constant feeling of being chased really added a sense of urgency to the game.

The combat in this game is fairly straightforward and nothing special, it's essentially what you'd expect out of a turn based game. I imagine that you unlock more abilities and therefore ways to approach battles as the series goes on, but at least in the first game the battle strategy isn't too interesting. Luckily, the story and lore more than made up for the mediocre combat in my view but don't pick up this game if you play RPGs primarily for combat mechanics. Play this game if you want an immediately interesting and engaging story with compelling characters to enjoy.

If there's anything else negative I'd say about this game it's that I'm not sure if the standard price ($25) is justified in the face of its short length, I finished the main story in 8 hours (although there is some replay value to redo your decisions). I think it's likely just about worth its standard price if you'd like this sort of game. However, the game is well worth it when it's on sale - I bought the game for only 5 dollars and it was an absolute steal at that price.

8/10

267 Produkte im Account

69 Reviews

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499 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 10.12.20 10:30

It's good game with compelling story and with not a bad combat system, it can be hard at beggining, but the more you play the better you get. Worth to buy on a sale, because it's kinda expensive for 8 hours of gameplay.

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31 Reviews

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1274 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 08.12.20 02:08

It's Not a Bad Animated strategy/conquest in a turn based narrative in battle.. GG.

1771 Produkte im Account

42 Reviews

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409 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 07.12.20 19:58

HELP ME I CAN'T STOP PLAYING THE BANNER SAGA: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkx1ZUlXYaqz3DkrzKgUYr-HHkdqNQNgE

8 Produkte im Account

2 Reviews

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793 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 01.12.20 11:35

Story is just as good as game of thrones, if not better.

171 Produkte im Account

25 Reviews

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342 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 21.11.20 21:23

I never get very far in this game because I screw up completely and everyone dies. Every choice has a consequence - sometimes immediately but other times much later on. The music, visuals - all of it is gorgeous. I do want to love this game, but it's like that person in high school I desperately wanted to be friends with but couldn't work up the courage to get to know very well.

Still, I think it's worth playing, I'm just bad at it.

155 Produkte im Account

18 Reviews

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735 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 20.11.20 08:50

Ive played this game already several times. each time you find a new choise, see a new art, notice a new soundtrack.
if you are tired of PEW PEW EXPLOSION MICHAEL BAY DLC PURPLE BLUE SKINS....
try this game... its relaxing yet challenging.

and the atmosphere is 11/10

109 Produkte im Account

110 Reviews

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298 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 12.11.20 21:49

I love the Viking theme. And that's why i excited about this game. I played 5 hours and i enjoyed about fights(for a while),choices and the beautiful art. But i have a big problem about this game. That's why i am making a bad review right now. About the story and the storytelling. And also a little bit of combat system.

There are terribly unnecessary excess of dialogues in this game. It is taking about 5 minutes to read the two side character's arguments. And i really bored and tired reading all of these dialogues. These side missions and the decisions you made, no sense in the main story also. So this is pointless. Why you made me read all of this unnecessary writes if my decisions weren't precious? Why you didn't just make less dialogues in side missions? By doing this, you could make me more focussed on the main story. And i wouldn't bored about reading dialogues. This thing made me lost my interest in story.

The combat system is very weak compared to normal turn-based strategies, the interaction is weak. The sanction of my mistakes in the fights is close to zero, in the first 30-40 minutes of the game you see all the combat system of the game. This thing made me lost my interest in fights.

If you love reading so much meaningless dialogues yes this game for you otherwise just pass it.

113 Produkte im Account

8 Reviews

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179 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 01.11.20 12:45

I have been very disappointed by The Banner Saga.
The pace is very slow, the characters and world failed to interest me and the combats are mostly unexcititng.
I

468 Produkte im Account

12 Reviews

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1248 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 26.10.20 05:25

There is a lot to like here.

But most of the People seem too much aroused by the well written Story,
uncommon and beatiful Art-Style,
the novelty of the Setting
maybe the little twists and tweaks of the standard strategy Experience we come to expect these days-

They forget to make it clear for every new Player:
This Game is 50% un-skippable Cutscenes!
(you basically just watch your Caravan move from left to right) until you get disturbed
by either arbitary Combat encounters or some minor Text-Adventure with multiple Choices.

Contradictory to my believe it is not possible to lose a Unit while fighting.
(Should have told me that before i loaded the first fight couple of times,
'cause i thought i already lost one!)
Even if a Unit goes down in Fight,
they are only injured for a couple of Days and then good to go.

BUT:
If you choose (a somewhat reasonable) but wrong Answer in the Text-Adventure part...
that's when your Character gets killed off-Screen within one or two Sentences!

Lots of questionable Design-Choices like this in this Game.

A Tip for everyone who's annoyed by the lack of a Savegame-feature:
Everytime you open/make a Camp on the Road and go to your Heros-Housing the Game will save.
But you have to load it before you finish the next Encounter otherwise it is gone!

I am still gonna play Part 2, to know where the Story goes.
But i am not looking forward to all the waiting and walking until the fights
(which are also full of uncomfortable Design Choices, like fixed Turn-Positioning for the Units)
and definitly not for the lethal Textadventures....

Don't expect an X-Com with Vikings here...
It's more like a:
Visual-Novel-With-A-Dose-Of-Turn-Based-Viking-Brawls-Between-A-Lot-Of-Padding-Time-For-The-Story-To--
Slowly-Unfold.-<
Which (giving Credit where Credit is due) kept me hooked, despite all the flaws!

In the end i feel like the Story would have been better told in other Mediums like Books
or a TV- / Netflix- Series.

38 Produkte im Account

11 Reviews

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564 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 25.10.20 14:05

Bought all three parts about 80% off - would recommend on a discount. Part I took me ~10 hours to finish the first run, the combat is kinda clunky, the tit-for-tat turn logic is weird for me. Not really into trying to get some more achievements or do another playthrough. Decent but only if bought on a heavy discount imo.

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24 Reviews

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787 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 18.10.20 16:11

If you are reading this, then you must be on the edge of buying it. I'll give you some advice before you pick this up. You will most certainly enjoy it, don't let certain consequences from various choices ruin your fun, it's all part of YOUR story. That being said, you will want to punch yourself in the gut and pat yourself on the back every five minutes. Have fun!

112 Produkte im Account

7 Reviews

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184 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 16.10.20 23:59

This game really makes me wish there was a mixed review button. The visuals and story are fantastic, and the combat sound enough, but the game is really hampered by it's choice system. I understand that choices are supposed to be final and have unexpected results, but in this game one wrong choice will cause you to suddenly lose one of your character, even if the choice seems reasonable. This is not incredibly frustrating, but also leads to limited replayability as many events only have one 'correct' choice, with the others leading to complete disaster or frustration. It feels that in this regard it is trying to emulate games such as Darkest Dungeon, but the concept just doesn't work out, as losing one of ,say, eight characters will be a devastating blow.

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21 Reviews

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2064 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 12.10.20 22:03

I loved the story, the visuals, the music and the gameplay.

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57 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 08.10.20 22:13

It's not the genre of games I normally play but I liked this game

879 Produkte im Account

337 Reviews

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1742 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 22.09.20 08:09

Information / Review English

The Banner Saga is a strategy role-playing game developed by Stoic.

Gameplay / Story

The Banner Saga is about the Dredge - a warlike race that despises humans, led by Bellower, an almost invincible dredge who leads them to war. A wandering squad of warriors, refugees, and varls (a giant-like race) attempt to fight the dredge and find a weak spot in their leader, Bellower. Many decisions are made on the journey that will affect the fate of the caravan. Meanwhile, darkness begins to encircle the world as a gigantic snake causes earthquakes and fractures across the land.
The action of the game takes place in a Viking-inspired world that has been stuck in a constant twilight since the sun disappeared a few weeks ago. The areas are mainly inhabited by humans and giant-like creatures, the Varls. The greatest threat to humans and varls are the dredge, an ancient race that seemed to have been extinct many ages ago and has now reappeared to kill everything around it.

The Banner Saga tells an interactive story where many events will or will not happen depending on the player's choice. During the game two characters can be controlled, whose separate narratives ultimately converge.

In the east, Varl Vognir, along with some other companions, such as his long-time friend Hakon, the retired Varl warrior Ubin and the resourceful human Eirik, is tasked with accompanying Ludin, prince of the human capital Arberrang, to the Varl capital Grofheim in order to to agree an alliance between the two races. In the town of Vedrfell, however, Vognir is killed in a fight with the dredge, making Hakon the leader of the caravan. On the way to their destination, they keep hitting the dredge. In the ruins of the city of Ridgehorn, they find an unconscious man next to the dead body of a woman. The man by the name of Eyvind later tries unsuccessfully to persuade Hakon to return to Ridgehorn in order to save his companion, who is apparently still alive. When the group reached Grofheim, the city was on fire and completely overrun by dredge. This is how your adventure begins ..

Pro

+ lovely graphics in cartoon style
+ interesting old Norse fantasy world
+ good narrative dramaturgy with two perspectives
+ innovative travel & caravan system
+ innovative combat and development system
+ tactically diverse round battles
+ 3 levels of difficulty
+ Achievements and trading cards

Contra

- Getting started is a bit confusing
- no free saving possible
- no diary to look up important things
- no look at skills in hero selection

Conclusion

The Banner Saga takes you into a Norse fantasy world, where battle, drama and consequences play a decisive role. Clear buy recommendation.

Information / Review Deutsch

The Banner Saga ist ein Strategie - Rollenspiel, welches von Stoic entwickelt wurde.

Gameplay / Story

The Banner Saga handelt von den Dredge – einer kriegerischen Rasse, die die Menschen verachtet, angeführt von Bellower, einem fast unbesiegbaren Dredge, der sie in den Krieg führt. Ein umherziehender Trupp aus Kriegern, Flüchtlingen und Varls (eine riesenähnlichen Rasse) versucht, die Dredge zu bekämpfen und eine Schwachstelle bei ihrem Anführer Bellower zu finden. Auf der Reise werden viele Entscheidungen getroffen, die das Schicksal der Karawane beeinflussen. Währenddessen beginnt eine Dunkelheit die Welt zu umschließen, als eine gigantische Schlange Erdbeben und Brüche im gesamten Land verursacht.
Die Handlung des Spiels findet in einer von Wikingern inspirierten Welt statt, welche in einer ständigen Dämmerung feststeckt, seitdem vor einigen Wochen die Sonne verschwand. Die Landstriche sind hauptsächlich von Menschen und riesenähnlichen Kreaturen, den Varls, bewohnt. Die größte Bedrohung für Menschen und Varls sind die Dredge, eine uralte Rasse, die eigentlich schon vor vielen Zeitaltern ausgestorben zu sein schien und jetzt wieder aufgetaucht ist, um alles um sich herum zu töten.

The Banner Saga erzählt eine interaktive Geschichte, bei der viele Ereignisse, je nach Entscheidung des Spielers, geschehen oder nicht geschehen. Während des Spiels können zwei Figuren gesteuert werden, deren getrennte Erzählungen letztendlich zusammenlaufen.

Im Osten ist Varl Vognir zusammen mit einigen anderen Gefährten, wie seinem langjährigen Freund Hakon, dem pensionierten Varl-Krieger Ubin und dem einfallsreichen Menschen Eirik, damit beauftragt, Ludin, Prinz der Menschen-Hauptstadt Arberrang, zur Varl-Hauptstadt Grofheim zu begleiten, um eine Allianz zwischen den beiden Rassen zu vereinbaren. In der Stadt Vedrfell wird Vognir jedoch in einem Kampf mit den Dredge getötet, was Hakon zum Anführer der Karawane macht. Auf dem Weg zum Ziel treffen sie immer wieder auf die Dredge. In den Ruinen der Stadt Ridgehorn finden sie einen bewusstlosen Mann neben dem toten Körper einer Frau. Der Mann mit dem Namen Eyvind versucht später erfolglos, Hakon zur Umkehr nach Ridgehorn zu bewegen, um seine scheinbar noch am Leben befindende Begleiterin zu retten. Als die Gruppe Grofheim erreicht, steht die Stadt in Flammen und ist komplett von Dredge überrannt. So mit beginnt dein Abenteuer...

Pro

+ liebevolle Grafik in Zeichentrickstil
+ interessante altnordische Fantasywelt
+ gute erzählerische Dramaturgie mit zwei Perspektiven
+ innovatives Reise- & Karawanen-System
+ innovatives Kampf- und Entwicklungssystem
+ taktisch vielfältige Rundengefechte
+ 3 Schwierigkeitsgrade
+ Errungenschaften und Trading Cards

Kontra

- Einstieg ist etwas verwirrend
- kein freies speichern möglich
- kein Tagebuch um wichtige Dinge nachzulesen
- kein Blick auf Fähigkeiten in Heldenauswahl

Fazit

The Banner Saga entführt dich in eine altnordische Fantasywelt, wo Kampf, Drama und Konsequenzen eine entscheidende Rolle spielen. Klare Kaufempfehlung.

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3 Reviews

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11179 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 30.08.20 02:25

I have kept an eye on this game for quite some time before finally buying it this year when it was on sale. with almost 200 hours played, I feel absolutely comfortable with submitting a review about this masterpiece. To begin with, The Banner Saga manages to present a simple but still compelling turn-based battle system in which the outcome will depend on skill alone most of the time, with just the right use of RNG. As if it were not enough, Stoic presents us with storytelling being brought to the next level, making it feel like the point of view characters are telling you an old tale in an old mead hall as you face immersion in a nordic scenario whose atmosphere is comparable to Beowulf' (the poem).

Contrary to Beowulf, however, under no circunstances should you, player, fool yourself believing that you are a great hero, because, well, you are not. In fact, this game's combat is so deadly with the 'strength as HP' feature, even the most powerful hero/creature in the game may be reduced to ashes if your strategy is flawed. This is certainly turn-based combat being brought to a new level, and I look forward to seeing this feature in other indie games in the future.

Another important aspect of the game is that your decisions may really have an impact on how problematic or not the sequence of events are going to be for you. Many aspects of the game are bound to your choices, and some of them impeccably portray a post-apocaliptic scenario - you will have to make decisions you do not like, and you will feel bad for it.

Last, but not least, I would definitely like to thank Stoic for this unique experience. The Banner Saga has much potential to bring new sequels after the trilogy, and should developers dare, they could even bring this entire system to a new universe, contemplating other cultures as well (in truth, I truly expect them to).

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15 Reviews

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1254 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 05.08.20 00:42

The tactics-type gameplay is solid and I really enjoyed the many different skills and characters available and having to think about turn-based gameplay in a different way than I'm used to in order to progress. With that being said I found the story to be garbage, the actual 'character' part of the characters uninteresting, and the big story draw of 'your choices matter' to be far more of a discouragement from playing than something worth hanging on to. I don't like having characters I invest resources into die because I made a choice I could not have forseen causing their deaths. Characters will die OFF SCREEN for plot reasons regardless of choices you make, which doesn't make me think 'oh no my beloved character is dead', it makes me think 'great, I wasted three hours leveling up a character whose skills I found fun, and now I don't get have fun and my time was wasted'. If you are a story-first type of person maybe that sounds like your cup of tea, but I like to have fun, and every time I wasn't in a battle I wasn't having fun.

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41 Reviews

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1311 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 28.07.20 15:04

A well put together turned-based strategy game with RPG/Management elements. You led your caravan on an epic journey away from the evil that is plaguing your land.
- Your decisions on supplies, items and lvling all affect how events play out on your escape. So not only does combat help mold the narrative but so does the management of the caravan and its people.
- The art style was as beautiful as it was unique and the music and ambient sounds really helped elevate the overall experience.
- Combat was simply to learn yet had some depth to it to keep it interesting.
- The events where your MCs conversation choices impacted on positive or negative outcomes sometimes were frustrating since there was no indication on where the results would led the story until after they happened.
- Also a minor gripe but sometimes events would make your ability to gauge your supply requirements on the next leg of your journey difficult and you could run low even through no fault of your own.
- Compelling story with enough choices that it could branch out differently for multiple play-throughs

Overall, beautiful visuals and audio, compelling story, and multi-faceted gameplay that makes a good game. 8/10

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10 Reviews

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919 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 28.07.20 14:50

The Banner Saga's first part in the trilogy is a breath of fresh air for those who enjoy choose-your-own adventures. Alluring lore, incredible music (as to be expected from Austin Wintory), harsh decisions and unforgiving combat all coalesce to form this incredible slog for survival. I don't need to tell you how gorgeous the art is, either. Just look at the screenshots.

Don't come into this game expecting easy decisions you can predict, nor an overabundance of random consequences you can never see coming. The balance here is just right. I defy anyone interested in playing adventure/narrative games to play this first instalment and not wish to binge the rest of the series. It's a great game, and worth your time.

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3 Reviews

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731 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 23.07.20 21:28

ENGLISH
This game has the most beautiful art I´ve seen in a long time. The scenery of your travels through the dredge-torn villages and cities, and the harmony of the music makes this an amazing experience. There was so much care put into this world and the details of the characters are stunning, with some jaw dropping moments that stick in your head for a long time. I would´ve prefered more animated or still cutscenes. I thought the gameplay was too simplistic for my liking, basic resource management with your supplies and all around good combat system, but I thought there could be more than a flat, clear battleground that this has. The story was really good, the dialogue was fantastic and the book-like descriptions were great. The scale of it was something I didn´t expect but was surprised at how much risk everything was. Though I feel the first part with Ubin and Hakon didn´t feel entirely necessary in the grand scheme of things, it felt more like a tutorial.
Overall I´d recommend this game to everyone who enjoys a really good story with beautiful art with gameplay being secondary to that.

ESPAÑOL
Este juego es uno de los mas hermosos que vi en mucho tiempo. El paisaje de tus viajes por los pueblos y ciudades destruidos por los Dredge, y la harmonia de la musica hace esto una experiencia increible. Hubo mucho cariño puesto en este mundo y los detalles de los personajes son asombrosos, con momentos que te dejan sorprendido y queden en tu mente por mucho tiempo. Hubiera preferido mas escenas animadas. Pense que el gameplay era muy simple personalmente, manejo de recurso basico, y dentro de todo buen sistema de combate. Aunque podria haber mas que un terreno vacio y plano de batalla que hay actualmente. La historia era realmente muy bueno, el dialogo era fantastico y las descripciones al estilo libro eran geniales. La magnitud de la historia era algo que no me espere, pero fui sorprendido a que tanto estaba en peligro todo. Aunque pense que la primera parte con Ubi y Hakon no se sentia completamente necesario dentro de todo, se sentia mas como un tutorial.
En general recomendaria este juego a cualquiera que disfruta de una muy buena historia con arte increible y jugabilidad siendo secundario a eso.

24 Produkte im Account

2 Reviews

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108 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 20.07.20 02:41

This is easily one of my favorite tactical rpg's of all time. It has an amazing story line that tests you and all of the choices you make throughout the entirety of the game. I feel challenged by the combat of the game especially in number 3. The art style has a simplistic beauty to it and the characters feel real. I am a bit disappointed that the stoic edition with all of its extra content still doesn't have the extra character Trygvi that you got when supporting the kickstarter... Even the Playstation 4 version added him in with a couple of exclusive items, so I don't see why they couldn't have pitched him in for the pc version especially in a bundle like this. Oh well, still an amazing game :)

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1 Reviews

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858 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 17.07.20 15:59

This is a must-play for fans of good story-telling, roleplaying and strategy games.

I do have some nitpicks here and there: once or twice the dialogue is kinda iffy, there's a lot of re-used animations and models for the characters and the combat UI could use some improvements to make decision-making faster. Same thing for the heroes menu, by the end of the game I was overwhelmed by all the heroes, stats, habilities and items. The latter of course could just be me.
BUT, this is still one of the best RPGs I've ever played. It uses a somewhat cliche, Tolkien-esque foundation that we've seen before and fills it with a personal flavor through it's audio-visual aesthetics and character development. The roleplaying element here is very strong, there's lots of decisions to be made which can have a very lasting impact on the story. It's worth noting that, contrary to most RPGs, it's not an open world and because of that - and good writing - it has really good pacing. I was shedding tears by the end of the story, which was about 14 hours long for me.

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2 Reviews

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491 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 17.07.20 01:29

Closest PC rendition of a fire emblem type game that I've seen thus far, and the art style and story line have been thoroughly enjoyable thus far.

110 Produkte im Account

3 Reviews

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1853 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 04.07.20 00:39

I rarely give reviews, but this game certainly deserves one.

Basically, it is a nice cartoonish looking game where you follow the two main caravans led by charismatic protagonists in a time of great troubles. You will be constantly prompted to choose dialogues and actions which - by the way - actually affect your gameplay. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that every character's death on my watch is a direct result of the choices that I have made.

The main storyline is pretty well written and might even make you care for (or even hate) certain characters. Another huge aspect of this game is combat. Combat is turn-based with some simple but yet interesting mechanics that will not stale over time. All in all, it is obvious that developers have put great care into this game.

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13 Reviews

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1611 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 29.06.20 04:32

Overview: Welcome to the End

Banner Saga is a turn-based RPG by developers who were part of Bioware before branching off to make their own studio now known as Stoic. It features heavy storytelling that changes based on your decisions, and provides different options that change your gameplay style, even in later installments for the same game franchise. Some decisions you make in this first game will change what characters may appear and be playable as in the second and third games. The game focuses on building a level of emotional support between characters that makes you seriously consider on who to sacrifice, which succeeds most of the time.

(+) Pros
• Turn-based combat is simple but has depth
• Great visual art style
• Decisions actually matter in this game and the later games
• The unknown factor of not knowing how certain situations will play out makes managing your caravan and party a great source of excitement and dread

(-) Cons
• The story is a little weak, given the lack of uncertainty of where the first game ends
• The game can be a bit difficult and it's hard to know when to prepare for certain encounters
• No manual saving, making it hard to reload a save in case you wanted to try for a different outcome in certain scenarios.

General Gameplay: To Arms!

The game primarily focuses on turn-based combat. You control a small party of warriors who each bring their own individual skillsets and equipment. Some members are archers, while others may be swordsman, or even spellcasters. You win by killing all the enemy combatants on the field by whittling down their armor or health. Armor negates damage, so for tough enemies, you may have to focus a few party members to strip away their armor before you can land a killing blow.

On top of this, you're also managing a caravan that is outrunning a cataclysmic army that threatens to destroy the world. You'll have to make decisions for your caravan, such as how to deal with drunk citizens, sabotage, raiders, and more. Depending how you handle each of those situations, it can raise or lower your caravans morale. You also have to make sure you find enough supplies to keep your caravan moving, otherwise people can abandon your cause.

The game tries to make the player encounter difficult choices and live with the consequences. There isn't always a 'right' answer to pick. You're eventually going to get someone killed based off information you have. The question is, can you survive long enough before the world ends? The only issue I have had with the game is how little information it provides the player on upcoming encounters. Sometimes you're given time to prepare and explore your options. Other times, you have to make a gut decision, which can lead to consequences you might have wanted to avoid. It can be frustrating to deal with this, especially on a first playthrough, but I'd argue that this is overall a benefit because it really places the player in the heart of the chaos.

Story & World: To Stare Into the Abyss...

The game is heavily inspired by Viking legends and features humans, Varle (horned large people) and the Dredge. The Dredge were long thought to be extinct, but their sudden return and attack against both human and Varle places these races in a fight for survival.

Without getting into spoilers, the story is decent. While a 'world-ending' catastrophe might seem cliché, the story does make an effort expound on the lore of the world and races, giving insight as to what is happening. The biggest problem I personally have with the story is the lack of what I like to call 'endgame promises'.

An endgame promise is a little teaser or hint as to what the audience should expect by the end of the journey. A quick example of this would be how in Lord of the Rings, we're told that there is a magical ring of power that will bring the end of the world unless that ring is destroy before it falls into the hands of the enemy. We're not told immediately how the heroes of that story will accomplish this goal and we expect there to be trouble along the way. But as an audience member, we understand the stakes, we can sympathize with the characters, and we understand what and why they're trying to accomplish what they want. Unfortunately, this is the problem with the Banner Saga.

The story doesn't really provide hints as to an 'endgame promise'. The developers have a three-game structure to tell the story, and when you finish this first game, you'll need to continue with the other games to conclude that tale. This isn't a problem, but the issue is that the story is left so open-ended that as a player, you're not entirely sure how our heroes in the story will survive. Even if they survive, you're not sure how they will stop the Dredge from ending the world. While the stakes are clearly laid out, and after playing the other games, you're able to see how the story has been setting up certain events to answer these questions, because this isn't clear to the player is a detriment. We don't know what to expect because we haven't been shown what to expect.

Still, it's not a bad story and the characters are likable. You'll grow attached to them which helps making certain decisions difficult. It just would've been a stronger story had there been an indication where the story intended to go, given we're spending so much time inside of it. Also, there's a lot of reading. I'm fine with the amount required for this game but that can be a bit of a deterrence for some folks who prefer cutscenes over dialogue text.

Sounds, Visuals & Performance: A Swan Song

Music is great, but is more atmospheric. It helps set the tone, while not being distracting. The sound design is well thought out.

Visually, this game is a treat. The visual style is a bit more old-school animation, which reminds me of old 80's cartoons, albeit with more blood. The game has a few animation sequences and the character designs are incredibly well-thought out. Everyone is unique, identifiable, and most importantly memorable, which is especially hard to do.

I haven't experienced any performance issues as well, which is great. Given this game has been out for a few years now, the developers have had plenty of time to iron out any bugs.

Conclusion: A Dirge Not To Be Forgotten

The first Banner Saga is a phenomenal game. It has really simple controls for what is a well-designed turn-based tactics game. There's depth to your choices and consequences feel tough and unforgiving at times. You do feel as if you are leading a group of survivors on their journey to escape the apocalypse. The only weak parts to the game would have to be the story's lack of resolution or goals, but given that there are well-thought out characters for you to learn from and a wide variety of in-game lore to explore, this really isn't a hindrance to enjoying the game.

It's a great game and a really good experience. If you're looking for something simple but emotionally engaging, this is a really good choice.

PC Specs for this review

The computer specs that I used for this review are listed below:
- CPU: i5-6600k CPU @ 3.50GHz
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, 8GB
- RAM: 16.0 GB

Final Score: [8.75] out of 10

Zitat:

Follow our curator page, Alexander's Club Curations if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.

241 Produkte im Account

77 Reviews

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747 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 22.04.20 21:40

With its rich lore and story and interesting characters and great soundtrack The Banner Saga Trilogy is a must play.

If you are thinking about getting into the trilogy just be patient for the first couple of hours into the first game, it starts out slow but gets fast quickly.
At the beginning its gameplay gets boring fast but later when you have more characters with distinct abilities that you get to see its supposed strategical side and really start to have fun.
Story wise just like its gameplay it isn't that interesting at the beginning but as the story unfolds it capitaves you, you get attached to characters, care and want the best for them.

93 Produkte im Account

26 Reviews

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1303 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 21.04.20 18:30

The game could be summed up as have two mechanics: Dialog trees and combat.

The dialog trees are full of choices. And nearly every choice seems to make the situation within the story more grim.

My first time playing the game, I made choices as I saw fit at the time...and eventually the story felt bleak beyond repair and the game felt unplayable. I came to not enjoy it and uninstalled the game for the time being, figuring I'd try it again someday.

And try it again I did, over this past week. And this time I finished it. I took what I'd learned from the first attempt and made the game slightly smoother sailing. Still, though, I find the game far too strict -- not to mention that I never could enjoy the story and its ever-deteriorating situation.

It was the combat that saw me through the game, if only barely. It's Fire Emblem-style (or Shining Force style, if that's more your era), although deaths in-combat aren't permanent, with the exceptions of deaths dictated by the story. There are also deaths brought on by dialog tree choices, which are also generally permanent (again, unless the story dictates otherwise).

I did combat on normal, and I wasn't good at it. Nearly every encounter would end with injuries, and injuries are recovered from by resting in towns or while making camp. This uses up resources which are already very sparse in the game, although you usually have extra characters in your party, so you can bring in some substitutes until your backlog of injuries demands that some resting be done en masse.

The final encounter, however, was just too frustrating on normal. Clearly I hadn't tailored my characters the way the game intended (or hadn't sufficiently leveled up enough alternate characters to find the right combination)...and after getting my butt handed to me several times, I switched the difficulty to easy -- then the final encounter was a cakewalk. And that's annoying: Easy was too easy, normal was too difficult. That's the mark of a poorly-tuned game.

I could see this game being easier on a 3rd play-through, were I to do one. I've learned more about what the game expects me to do, and I could probably set myself up for an easier time, all the way through the end of the game.

But what kind of game design is that? When going into the game blind makes for a bad experience, and it takes repeated play-throughs to reach a point where the game is enjoyable? That's not what I want from a game. Of course, one can also research optimal strategy -- but I almost never do this, as I get no joy from a game where I've been told 'how to play.' I play to discover these things for myself. But it needs to be things the player can discover for themselves and confirm will be successful, over the course of a first play-through of a game. Because this game doesn't reveal the consequences of earlier choices until various (potentially-catastrophic) moments in the game, I was unable to confirm that my approaches would be useful. I could only guess, and later discover that my actions had led to a state that I felt hopeless to recover from. In my first play-through, I met that point well before the end of the game. In my second play-through, I didn't reach that point until the final encounter, as I mentioned above.

Not to mention that I don't think it wise for a game designer to assume I'll play through their game more than once. They need to make that first play-through count. But this game didn't do that, in my opinion, and that's why I can't recommend it. You may feel differently if you feel you have a higher tolerance for the things I described which I don't personally enjoy. Your call.

366 Produkte im Account

48 Reviews

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452 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 16.04.20 21:53

Amazing art, story, lore, characters and pretty entertaining combat. I recommend it, really got me hooked.

122 Produkte im Account

60 Reviews

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64 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 14.04.20 14:29

I was into this game for its XCOM-like battle, but it's merely avarage. The interface is frustrating, and the turn based system is a real WTF (like, the order of each soldier is not based on intuition points, but random, I guess, and it's a one-of-your-soldier/one-enemy-soldier style). Also, as you slay enemies, and their number gets less and less, they're moving more frequently due to this awful system?!

Beside this, there is an adventure style view, where some story telling happens, but honestly, it was uninteresting.

The only upside is the graphics and music, the whole art style, but it's just simply not enough without an interestgin story and a decent combat phase.

145 Produkte im Account

40 Reviews

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1019 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 29.03.20 11:35

I know this is an older game. and probably no one will ever read this because most people who wanted to play this series probably already own the game. but on the off chance someone does want to play this series of games and finds this, maybe it can help a little.

I had been looking at getting into this game for a number of years but never picked it up for some reason. saw the trilogy was on sale during the thanksgiving sale on steam or whatever and for all 3 games it was 20 dollars i think so i took up on the offer. Didnt get around to playing it until january though. but im glad i did.

Its an amazing piece of work. Im a fan of turn based combat type games as well as roguelike games. But this game not only has those aspects it has an amazing interactive story in which choices you make not only in dialogue but in random events can completely change how your story turns out.

And i do like games with a good story and when i get to change how a games story line turns out with my own decisions, just makes it a whole lot better. Im assuming the other two games after this one follow the same guidelines but since i havent gotten around to playing the other two games yet i cant say for sure. can only speak for what ive played so far in the first game.

But id definitely recomend if anyone is still considering buying this game to do what i did and wait until the trilogy bundle goes on sale again and get all 3 games. Its well worth it. The only thing suprisingly that i didnt have a whole lot of fun with was the combat in the game. Which is weird because i really like the kind of combat systems that this game has. just felt a bit janky to me personally compared to other games with combat systems of similar type that ive played previously. And i guess i had a bit of a hard time fully understanding this games combat mechanics in particular.

But, i was more inclined to play the game for the story elements any way, so even though i personally didnt enjoy the combat all to much i was very happy with the story. kept me hooked the whole time and i cant wait to install the next games and play them too. easily a solid 9 out of 10 game for me. If this kind of style of game appeals to you, its definitely well worth picking it up at some point. you wont regret it.

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2292 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 25.03.20 14:33

Played this as a recommendation from a good friend. I was impressed with the story - captivating and interesting. The battle mechanics are a tad simplistic yet engaging. Would recommend.

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571 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 17.02.20 01:43

Although The Banner Saga has come into the foreground in recent years as a innovative and artistically captivating game series, the first installment in the trilogy has a few things keeping me from being able to recommend it to all players.
We'll start off with the good though, as The Banner Saga isn't a BAD game, merely an average one. For starters, everything you've heard about the art style, setting, and music are true. The game is beautiful for both the visual and auditory senses, and the soundtrack is haunting and somber, while the landscapes you pass by really do capture the scope and scale of the world you are playing in. Hero upkeep is fairly streamlined, letting you easily pick and choose either your favorite or most useful fighters for whatever situation they may find themselves in, while the interactions and conversations between characters are meaningful and helps cement the player within the world.
Now we look to the bad.
Combat is just awful. The game attempts to utilize a turn-based grid-style combat system, both for deployment of troops, as well as movement and actions. The problem is, either I am too stupid to understand the fine mechanics of the game, or the god-tier strategy (at least on normal difficulty or lower) is simply to pack your roster with Varl and stampede through the enemy. The AI isn't totally stupid, and will quickly pick off your archers or support characters, and you really cant do anything about it. The game attempts to employ an armor vs strength system to give your heroes a fighting chance, but more often than not it ends up being a fruitless endeavor. At around 8 hours in, I am in no way saying I am an expert at the game, but if you want you can also max out your character's level and stats with a few training sessions, which are free of consequences, in order to let you plow through the enemy. However, that is really the only glaring problem with the game and could be attributed to the limitations of the studio and developers being an indie corporation and not a AAA game developer.
In conclusion, The Banner Saga is not a bad game. Its lovely, atmospheric, and has some incredible stories and characters within it. Unfortunately like many games, such as Greedfall or Vampyr for instance, combat happens often enough that it just lessens the experience overall.

Final Rating 3.5/5

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148 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 05.02.20 17:15

In my ongoing and likely futile effort to write a Steam review for every game in my library (#88 out of 555)... it's time for Banner Saga.

I really don't have much to say here. Banner Saga is a pretty solid tactical strategy game with survival mechanics, but it's also presented as an RPG -- and as an RPG it's just not very good. It suffers from the same basic problem as Fire Emblem, but to a greater extent: because (almost?) every character can die, no one character is very important or memorable. In theory, I can understand becoming attached to game pieces without personality, due to their performance in-game, but in practice... yeah, it just doesn't do much for me.

Note: also played on Sony Playstation 4.

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1061 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 03.02.20 01:44

Well worth the journey. The Banner Saga feels like it belongs in the Norse mythological canon, and that is no small compliment. From it’s epic story, the complex and weighty decision making, as well as it’s simple but effective tactical battle system, this game elevates the medium, providing a unique experience for both story lovers and fans of tactical RPGs.

Story time: “Stay awhile, and listen!”

The game holds no qualms about throwing you into the middle of a world-scale cataclysm right at the beginning, introducing you to multiple complex characters almost immediately. I had as much difficulty remembering characters and their associations at the beginning as I did when reading the A Song of Fire and Ice book series, and the comparisons don’t end there. The tale weaves a tapestry of morally gray choices against a backdrop of a world-ending scenario that, itself, becomes more intricate and deserving of your attention as the story unfolds.

The different motives of each character, the elaborate history of the world and it’s people, and the choices you make as the player, combine to make this an emotionally compelling journey (at least for me). You have to live with your decisions – there is no quick-save option – making every choice feel sufficiently weighty. Balancing the needs of your caravan of refugees with the moral character of your leader often leads to difficult choices whose consequences are often difficult to discern. This is to the game’s credit, maturely reflecting the imperfectness of human experience.

The haunting, melodious soundtrack and the faux-old-school Disney aesthetic give the game a ‘classic’ feel, which fits suitably in this high-quality package.

Battle system: Simple but effective

The battle system is very simple, but even as someone who enjoys more sophisticated systems I found it enjoyable/engaging. It does a lot with it’s simple systems – each character has a unique ability, and finding the most effective convergence of tactics requires diligence.

Some have complained about the difficulty of the game: it’s not unfair – I finished it on Normal, having to repeat only a few encounters to win. The harder difficulty setting is sure to be a real test of skill, however (PRO TIP: level all of your characters evenly – don’t rely on 1 or 2 fully leveled units).

The End…?

The final acts really compelled me to continue the journey with The Banner Saga 2. If you haven’t gotten that far, know this: the story gets pretty radical, and an old enemy may not be as simple and evil as you may have presumed…

Pros & Cons

PROS
+ Amazing story and writing
+ Simple but interesting battle system
+ Weighty decision making
+ Great art and sound

CONS
- Some battle mechanics and narrative consequences are not always very clear

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1399 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 13.01.20 05:27

Made me have a premature orgasm when I played this many years ago as a wee lad.

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857 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 08.01.20 21:23

Looks, sounds and plays fantastic.

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659 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 03.01.20 20:34

Good Story, but shitty save system. The game also lets you run in a dead end at the endfight, if you have not not leveled the right character or if you leveled equally.
In every good RPG it is recommend to level your party equally, in TBS you have to focus on a few characters or you're fucked. If you loose one of those leveled chars, you're likely to be fucked.
If you like these mechanics, buy it in a sale, else stay away and watch a Let's play to enjoy the story :)

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1256 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 28.12.19 22:04

This is one of those games that is frustratingly almost perfect, but the part that isn't perfect ruins the entire rest of it and renders it just about unplayable.

Namely, the combat. The combat system is a complete disaster. Apparently the turn based combat ruleset was modeled on chess? Except you don't get to select which piece moves each turn. So it's like turn based tabletop tactical games without a proper initiative/turn order system. Effectively what this means is that the fewer enemies there are, the more frequent activations they get. I.e. the faster they move. Which in turn means practically every fight comes RIGHT down to the wire, with your forces taking massive damage from a single weak enemy moving four or five times faster than it should, before you're able to finally put it down.

This may be fine in a multiplayer skirmish game where there isn't any character permanence or any campaign system that tracks your units' status, but in a campaign, it amounts to being game breaking. What it means is that you are hanging on by the skin of your teeth during every single fight, even fights where you outmatch the enemy or perform perfectly. And then having to clean up the mess and recover from your entire warband being near death after the savage mauling they received at the hands of a single enemy grunt activating five times a turn while your five warriors activate once each. It is a rubberbanding mechanic presumably intended to make multiplayer skirmish matches not be so lopsided after one player has gained the upper hand. In other words, it rewards losing and punishes winning such that matches are artificially made to be closer than they should be.

I've been told by moderators and other fans of the game this comes from the standalone multiplayer game the story-driven campaign game is built upon. I've also been told various highly gamey and counterintuitive, not to mention obnoxious, tips for circumventing this disastrously dysfunctional combat system, but I have no intention of doing so. The tips amount to basically playing XCom-style health tetris (for capturing aliens alive) with every single enemy in every single combat for the entirety of the game, or the so called maim-not-kill strategy. If the developers couldn't be bothered to play a tabletop tactical game or two before designing a tabletop-style tactical ruleset, I likewise can't be bothered to sit through amateur hour at game design school while they figure things out. And because awards continue to be shoveled at them from reviewers who don't actually play their games and see none of these fundamental flaws, they likely never will.

As with many near-perfect games ruined by a few instances of deep ignorance of game design, it's a genuine shame this game's superb visuals and music and worldbuilding go to waste because they never managed to connect with a competent game designer.

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2429 Std. insgesamt

Verfasst: 11.11.19 02:30

You have died of dysentery.
~The Oregon Trail

In a way, video game development is akin to cooking. The times when people operated with the basic flowers are long behind us and nowadays we're free to take those basics and do whatever we want with them to achieve something new and interesting. Well, as long as there's no big publisher to put a knife to our throats and say “Make us another Call of Duty, will ya, me lad?” Did you ever think about how people invented croissant? I mean, there should have been that one certain crazy guy who thought “No-no-no! I'm not going to bake this floor in the usual boring way! I'll do some weird s**t with it first, because I have way too much free time on my hands and I'm just stir crazy!” Now, jokes aside, sometimes we just need to experiment with what we already have to achieve something interesting and cool. And that's exactly what guys from Stoic Studio did.

Now, what's The Banner Saga? Those of you who are old enough, sure remember that certain weird game that was everywhere since 70s and until the end of 90s. I'm talking, of course, about The Oregon Trail. Created by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971, the game, original version of which was completely text-based, quickly became some sort of disease. What was made with a single goal - to teach children about the harsh realities of 19th-century pioneer life on the Oregon Trail, quickly became something that you were able to find installed on pretty much every personal computer out there. And it was just... mind-blowing. I mean, the entire thing was about you watching the pioneers traveling in a wagon and suffering from all sorts of misfortunes (“Jill has a broken arm.”). Why should people care about it, while they can participate in an epic journey to Stygian Abyss in Ultima IV, fight evil Mangar the Dark in The Bard's Tale, exploring the space on Cobra Mark III spaceship with Commander Jameson in Elite, or becoming a military pilot in F-15 Strike Eagle? Because it was freakin' addictive, that's why. The Oregon Trail was one of those things that are hard to explain. During your first time you didn't even know what you're doing. But you kept doing it. Just because it was so freakin' fun...

Now, the guys from Stoic Studio (who live in Texas, more than 1,000 miles from Minnesota, where the very first version of The Oregon Trail was made) took all that, replaced real-time hunting with turn-based battles and added an RPG element. That's how The Banner Saga was born. Sure, Stoic Studio are not the first ones to try using The Oregon Trail as an inspiration. For example, many of you probably remember a game called Organ Trail. Which was a pretty fun parody (go check it out in Steam if you didn't play it yet). But Banner Saga? It takes things seriously. Maybe a bit too seriously, since during your first playthrough it may be a bit too hard to remember all the names (the same thing you've probably experienced in Prince of Quin, which was not a complicated game at all, but man, those names...). There'll be a story, there'll be tons of dialogues (obviously, your choices matter), you'll level up your characters, you'll try to save rations and keep your guys in a good mood, etc, etc, etc. All to survive long enough to move through the land and fight the bad guy in the end. In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker style. Sounds weird. And it kinda is. All in a good way, though. And awesome handmade animation only adds to that feeling. Thanks to those charming 2D visuals, The Banner Saga is one of those games that you'll probably recognize right away. Unlike many other games nowadays, this one has its own unique face. And it's awesome.

But OK, OK, you've got it. The game is kind of cool and kind of fresh. Now what's about downsides? Well, to be honest, there aren't that many. Sure, the characters and their names may be a bit too hard to remember (unfortunately, not all of them are even interesting enough to care). And sure, the outcome of your actions is not always clear (which isn't a bad thing at all in a long run, since it adds a lot to the atmosphere). Also, the balance feels like this game may use a bit more polish. But all in all, the only seriously bad thing I can find here is the fact that the game is a bit too basic. I mean, aside from difficulty selection, there's pretty much no settings here. You can't change the animation speed (yep, no way to skip animation, which means that, no matter how cool it is, it'll start getting on your nerves after some time) and even the most basic things like resolution selection are not there. That's right, folks, you can't change the resolution in this game. Hope you kept your old monitors. Because man, you'll suffer on your expensive 8k TVs...

But aside from that, Banner Saga is really hard not to love. The idea of The Oregon Trail-inspired turn-based RPG was absolutely brilliant, while charming 2D visuals and surprisingly deep soundtrack turn this game into quite the experience. So yeah, I totally do recommend this game. Especially for those who feel tired of the same exact experience over and over again. You want something different? Check this game out. Because not only Banner Saga is different. Thanks to its deep atmosphere, it may actually consume you entirely. At least for about ten hours. Because unfortunately, this game isn't too long.

- ePrison

- Online-Magazine

Rating auf Steam Keine Nutzerrezensionen

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Release:14.01.2014 Genre: Strategie-Rollenspiel Entwickler: Stoic Vertrieb: Versus Evil Engine:keine Infos Kopierschutz:keine Infos Franchise:keine Infos

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The Banner Saga

Sammlung

Über das Spiel

Systemanforderungen

Steam Nutzer-Reviews

Simple and fun turn-based combat in an brutal fantasy world

How to unlock KICKSTARTER bonus character TRYGGVI and fix the game with unofficial patch

Really wanted to love it.

Information / Review English

Gameplay / Story

Pro

Contra

Conclusion

Information / Review Deutsch

Gameplay / Story

Pro

Kontra

Fazit

Overview: Welcome to the End

General Gameplay: To Arms!

Story & World: To Stare Into the Abyss...

Sounds, Visuals & Performance: A Swan Song

Conclusion: A Dirge Not To Be Forgotten

PC Specs for this review

Final Score: [8.75] out of 10

Story time: “Stay awhile, and listen!”

Battle system: Simple but effective

The End…?

Pros & Cons

You have died of dysentery.
~The Oregon Trail

The Banner Saga

Sammlung

Über das Spiel

Systemanforderungen

Steam Nutzer-Reviews

Simple and fun turn-based combat in an brutal fantasy world

How to unlock KICKSTARTER bonus character TRYGGVI and fix the game with unofficial patch

Really wanted to love it.

Information / Review English

Gameplay / Story

Pro

Contra

Conclusion

Information / Review Deutsch

Gameplay / Story

Pro

Kontra

Fazit

Overview: Welcome to the End

General Gameplay: To Arms!

Story & World: To Stare Into the Abyss...

Sounds, Visuals & Performance: A Swan Song

Conclusion: A Dirge Not To Be Forgotten

PC Specs for this review

Final Score: [8.75] out of 10

Story time: “Stay awhile, and listen!”

Battle system: Simple but effective

The End…?

Pros & Cons

You have died of dysentery. ~The Oregon Trail

You have died of dysentery.
~The Oregon Trail