The Banner Saga

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 833 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 606 out of 833
  2. Mixed: 166 out of 833
  3. Negative: 61 out of 833

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  1. Jamesgary
    Aug 5, 2023
    10
    The banner saga is the game of the rpg also the story write and the music is very good
  2. TastieToasty
    Jul 21, 2023
    8
    Great story.
    amazing artstyle. (each frame is worth as a desktop wallpaper/screenshot)

    2 different groups with different struggles is a great concept.
    gameplay wise it is pretty hard (for me a noob)

    medium is hard for noobs
    and easy is way too easy.

    would have loved to change my own difficulty.

    will play banner saga 2 and 3 in the future.
  3. 34m2121
    Jul 4, 2023
    8
    Senaryo seçimlerimize göre cidden çok farklı noktalara gidebiliyor,çok iyi bir evreni var oyunun
  4. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    7
    Fun game with strong art style. Turn based strategy is engaging and story choices have some appropriate weight to them. Overall story is fairly forgettable but the moment to moment choices and the characters are great. Didn't leave a strong impression.
  5. WilliamTell
    May 27, 2023
    10
    Auburn hair, cerulean eyes and a dazzling smile that says you're mine. I LOVE THIS GAME!
  6. nietzfk
    May 20, 2023
    5
    Please add the Turkish language support made for the game now. That's why I bought three games and I'm waiting.
  7. Versetty2005
    Feb 26, 2023
    9
    I was a little embarrassed by the absolutely stupid losses of the allies during the text episodes. Fights are cool
  8. kylemccoy131
    Jan 26, 2023
    10
    I played the whole trilogy back to back, so this is a review of all the games. There are some nitpicks I have such as the "maim strategy" limiting gameplay variety... but thats about it. Everything else I loved! I found that as the trilogy progressed, there were enough new challenges and moveset updates that it keeps you on your toes. The art style and soundtrack are unique and always aI played the whole trilogy back to back, so this is a review of all the games. There are some nitpicks I have such as the "maim strategy" limiting gameplay variety... but thats about it. Everything else I loved! I found that as the trilogy progressed, there were enough new challenges and moveset updates that it keeps you on your toes. The art style and soundtrack are unique and always a treat to experience.… Expand
  9. TheDJMC
    Nov 21, 2022
    8
    Story Outline:
    The gods (who are implied to be real, tangible deities) have disappeared, causing many to say that they are dead. The sun has stopped moving in the sky resulting in a perpetual daylight. Both Humans and Varl (horned giants) must once again rely on their tenuous collaboration between their people when the huge golem like race known as Dredge return from the north to kill and    Story Outline:
    The gods (who are implied to be real, tangible deities) have disappeared, causing many to say that they are dead. The sun has stopped moving in the sky resulting in a perpetual daylight. Both Humans and Varl (horned giants) must once again rely on their tenuous collaboration between their people when the huge golem like race known as Dredge return from the north to kill and destroy all intelligent life that they see. That is until it is noted that maybe this new Great War that the Dredge are starting isn't of their own choice, but is rather a reaction to something far more unfathomable: the end of the world entirely.

    Pros:
    A mix between FTL: Faster Than Light, any of the recent Telltale games, XCOM, chess and the lore of TES V: Skirym
    Two games in one! The game is split into two halves: scripted & random encounters with decision making and a turn-based combat system that's visually similar to a mix between chess and XCOM. There are also conversations that play out like they do in Telltale's games (e.g. The Walking Dead) which is where most of the character development occurs.
    The combat is good and does enough to keep it a game rather than just a "choose your own adventure" story.
    An engaging story with likable characters and emotional plot twists throughout. It seems to be set up very well for the recently released sequel.
    A constant feeling of urgency is present which greatly emphasises the feeling of importance that every decision that's made carries.
    Thematic music and good sound effects, especially at the touching bittersweet end scene.
    Phenomenal visual design and animation. This could have easily become a movie instead of a game.

    Cons:
    Because of the combat's simplicity, some people could find it repetitive and/or boring (personally I didn't).
    None of the characters are given enough time to properly develop/show their motives and relationships with one another, which leads to many likable characters becoming forgettable. Whether or not any of the characters can be considered memorable I think is in part determined by how quickly the game is played through. I finished my playthrough in roughly 17 hours (two consecutive days) with a few reloads (and toilet breaks XD) in that time and I found that most of the main characters were memorable. However, if you have very little free time then I can see it being much harder to connect properly with the characters.
    There isn't much actual animation which is a shame considering how good it is.
    The "war" mechanic was especially floaty and never gave much of an impression of change or importance aside from changing your numbers around.
    The music and sound effects aren't especially memorable or superbly epic like that of Skyrim (a high bar, I know).
    The first chapter is relatively dull compared to the rest of the game.
    There's an irritating inability to open the options menu during certain brief segments of the game.
    Maybe this should've been a movie instead of a game.

    Conclusion:
    A game definitely worth you're time and money with the potential to replay it multiple times to see what happens. I'm looking forward to playing number two!    … Expand
  10. hileger
    Oct 29, 2022
    5
    Графоманский текст , рисовка класс но тактика говнище ................................................
  11. jfsre
    Sep 15, 2022
    6
    maybe it gets better later on but the start it was very slow and I lost interest in it
  12. HDRip
    Dec 9, 2020
    10
    When asked about the games that have left the strongest impressions over the past 10 years, Banner Saga will definitely take pride of place among them. The scriptwriters of the game did a tremendous job, creating a very interesting world in which people and giants live side by side, fighting with each other and uniting in the face of a common enemy - dredges. But most importantly, theyWhen asked about the games that have left the strongest impressions over the past 10 years, Banner Saga will definitely take pride of place among them. The scriptwriters of the game did a tremendous job, creating a very interesting world in which people and giants live side by side, fighting with each other and uniting in the face of a common enemy - dredges. But most importantly, they have created an incredibly believable atmosphere of the impending inevitable end, from which the whole world runs to the ends of the earth, hoping to find shelter there. An atmosphere of despair and hopelessness, which forces people (and not only people) to reveal their true essences. Moral choices are one of the fundamental gameplay mechanics, but don't think that everything will be easy and simple. Is it worth saving those in trouble or walking by? Or maybe even finish them off and take their belongings? Whatever you choose, it is almost impossible to predict where it will lead, and the result may not be pleasant at all.
    Unfortunately, it was not without a small fly in the ointment. Tactical battles turned out well, but they have difficulty problems. On "normal" difficulty they are too easy, and on "high" difficulty they are incredibly difficult. do not forgive a single mistake. But defeat in the game is another unique mechanic! After losing a battle, you will not return to the save point, but continue on, but you will lose something important. The attacking robbers, if they are not repulsed, I can take all the supplies, leaving your caravan to starve to death. An unsuccessful battle with dredges, which ended in defeat, leads to the fact that one of the key characters has to take on the role of decoy and withdraw some of the enemy troops, giving the rest a chance to leave. The wrong choice, the wrong prioritization, can lead to a real disaster that will almost destroy the caravan. Does this game have the right choices?
    My verdict: This game is a real masterpiece. And I highly recommend it to anyone who loves quality, interesting, unique, story-driven games.    … Expand
  13. Oshiri_Maeda
    Nov 17, 2020
    7
    Seems to be very good and stylish tactics. Too bad I didn't like the core mechanics.
  14. Dustfoxx
    Oct 8, 2020
    8
    Good art. Good gameplay. Great music. Story is a setup for later installments but works well on it's own. I love it.
    Closer to a 9 than a 7
  15. Cree26
    Aug 18, 2020
    6
    I wish I could rate it higher. Its such a beautiful game, with an interesting story line, and great music. Unfortunately there isn't much there in terms of actual game play. It felt like I was just along for the ride, a spectator rather than a character. The mechanics are pretty simple. The battles incidental.
  16. kezzyhko
    Jul 29, 2020
    9
    ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍
  17. touchofheaven
    Jun 2, 2020
    8
    Nice game, visual novel with management elements and turn-based battles. The fights are interesting, not too hard, especially want to note the animations and sounds.
  18. Crimert
    May 16, 2020
    9
    The first game of the epic trilogy! There are RPG elements and also it's a tactical game. If you are into Turn-Based strategy games, then you would really like this game! Your decisions matter in this Viking-inspired game! 9hrs on record.
  19. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    8
    Great story, decisions are fun, combat is alright, but slow and not super deep, but has some fun elements
  20. Kargun
    Nov 29, 2018
    8
    Tiene un arte precioso y el sistema de combate es divertido pero no muy retante. A pesar de las múltiples tomas de decisiones no sientes que tengan un peso real más allá de perder algunos soldados o de conseguir víveres de los que tocan. A pesar de ello los carismáticos personajes te hacen querer jugar a la secuela en cuando te lo acabas. Unas 20 horas de juego.
  21. HarrySatschel
    Nov 1, 2018
    10
    I absolutely love this game. It is a fantastic turn based tactical strategy game with a fantastic story. It is relatively short for my likely when taken on its own. However, when played as a part of the trilogy, the entire experience has plenty to offer.
  22. macibor
    Aug 14, 2018
    8
    My friend recommended me this game saying that it was his favourite game with mixed tactics, rpg and story. Of course I didn't believe him at first, but then I tried it. And it was good! The pace of the game could be a little bit quicker but other than that I liked it. I appreciate the graphical style and design of this game and the gameplay is good enough with variety of different moves per unit.
  23. Spartan91
    Aug 5, 2018
    0
    The game constantly stops on loading screens, making it borderline unplayable. Not much of a surprise considering the developer but still makes this game a complete waste of money.
    This game has the best story of any game I've played in a very long time. Just for that it's definitely worth it and the choices are well implemented. Making you think about every choice and hoping you didn't    The game constantly stops on loading screens, making it borderline unplayable. Not much of a surprise considering the developer but still makes this game a complete waste of money.
    This game has the best story of any game I've played in a very long time. Just for that it's definitely worth it and the choices are well implemented. Making you think about every choice and hoping you didn't do the wrong thing. Of course there is the amazing looking Artwork, which definitely ups the games points.
    Sadly the gameplay is just boring. The tactical combat is about as simple as you can make it and unless you're playing at a high difficulty it's pretty easy. There is very little room for creativity on the side of the player, after a bit every fight is pretty much exactly the same unless it has some gimmick. Think the second South Park game.
    The world map is the most boring thing ever. You just watch your little caravan move and wait for some decision to interrupt the boredom.    … Expand
  24. SuperkenGaming
    Jul 23, 2018
    7
    The Banner Saga
    Really good if you like reading
    The Banner Saga is the first game in a trilogy of turn based role playing tactics game set all in the world of Vikings… Though I feel like there’s an even more prominent genre to throw this game into.. And that a visual novel I was really looking forward to giving this series a shot and play through the trilogy, and while I see why so    The Banner Saga
    Really good if you like reading
    The Banner Saga is the first game in a trilogy of turn based role playing tactics game set all in the world of Vikings…
    Though I feel like there’s an even more prominent genre to throw this game into..
    And that a visual novel
    I was really looking forward to giving this series a shot and play through the trilogy, and while I see why so many people love this series...
    it’s just not very casual friendly and its really tough to get through this 8 hour campaign... not necessarily because the gameplay is hard…
    the gameplay is essentially party managements and turn based tactics.. As you play through the story you’ll get different groups of characters that belong to different classes all with their own special moves, and as you defeat enemies you’re bale to promote them and increase their stats… you’ll also get to know these characters during stops in villages as well as along your journey across the map…
    In game it’s all fairly simple, you take turns moving a certain space of tiles and attacking enemies within range, either weakening their defenses or going straight for their health...
    placement of your characters in battle is important as it is possible to lose party members... all of this is fine.. But eventually about half way through the game I was just over it...
    battles feel too Samey… and the story just wasn’t interesting enough to keep me going.. at first it is… it gave me a dungeons and dragons feel as I’m making choices and watching things unfold before me based on those choices, gaining supplies to feed my fighters, gaining items for my party to wear, watching my crew get annoying with other members and having to decide what to do with them to ensure moral stayed up…
    I felt immersed into the story… and then suddenly I’m with a new group of characters away from the group I was just getting to know and it broke the spell for me.. I stopped caring, I no longer cared about the consequences of my choices or what the interest of the characters in this game are…
    I just couldn’t follow along it was too much for me.. I just wanted to get to the end of this visual novel that felt like it was dragging on forever,
    there is good in the banner saga, I get that people love visual novels, but I just don’t... I want voice acting... if you want me to sit down and read for 10 hours your story better be captivating throughout... and it just wasn’t here for me…
    That being said im sure there are plenty out there that the idea of a visual novel meets turn based tactics rpg excited them…
    and for those people youre in for a great time… the banner saga is good at being just that…
    But its not for me..
    I give the banner Saga
    a 7/10    … Expand
  25. RagingPoet
    Jul 23, 2018
    9
    The Banner Saga got beautyful hand drawn style, great characters, impactful choices, solid tactical combat and intense atmosphere.
    It is not perfect: resource management is weak, numbers of people in caravan do not mean anything, some consequences of the choices are impossible to predict, images in dialogues and cutscenes are mostly static. But all those flaws are unimportant compared to    The Banner Saga got beautyful hand drawn style, great characters, impactful choices, solid tactical combat and intense atmosphere.
    It is not perfect: resource management is weak, numbers of people in caravan do not mean anything, some consequences of the choices are impossible to predict, images in dialogues and cutscenes are mostly static. But all those flaws are unimportant compared to how engaging The Banner Saga is.    … Expand
  26. TheSaltyPilgrim
    Jun 10, 2018
    7
    Story and Writing: 9
    Game Play: 8
    Music: 10
    User Interface: 7
    Optimization: 10
    Graphics: 7
    Replay Value: 6
    Would Recommend: Yes
  27. Icinix
    Jun 3, 2018
    10
    Edit : After replaying it many times and the sequals - this game and it's series are total gems. It gets off at a cracking pace, so you might be a bit lost at first but the tactics are quick to learn difficult to master and incredibly satisfying once you pull off more difficult situations.
    Takes a little while to start putting together who is who and what is happening - so at first you    Edit : After replaying it many times and the sequals - this game and it's series are total gems. It gets off at a cracking pace, so you might be a bit lost at first but the tactics are quick to learn difficult to master and incredibly satisfying once you pull off more difficult situations.
    Takes a little while to start putting together who is who and what is happening - so at first you might not feel much connection with the characters or the story - but after a while a case of the 'one more turn' syndrome kicks in. You'll be watching those supplies and weighing up promotions, supplies and items while juggling the story decisions and their potential impacts.
    Well worth the price - with the only faults being in animation and voiced dialogue (the lack of it).    … Expand
  28. jorgos4567
    May 10, 2018
    9
    Great tactics game with an epic story! The developer chose a very clever way to tell a story that will make you feel like in Lord of the Rings. The art style is beautiful and you will care for all the characters.
  29. auditbadger
    Jul 30, 2017
    8
    I think that this is truly a unique game and I would recommend that if you are a fan of this type of genre then I think you should give this game a try.
  30. Laer
    Mar 14, 2017
    7
    El sol se ha detenido, los dioses han muerto, una nueva guerra contra los dredge se cierne sobre la alianza de Humanos y Varls, todo esto, mientras algo aun peor a todo lo anterior se lleva acabo sin que nosotros sepamos nada.

    Así se presenta la historia de The Banner Saga, donde manejaremos a dos grupos que intentan sobrevivir en mitad de todo este caos. Un sin fin de cosas nos    El sol se ha detenido, los dioses han muerto, una nueva guerra contra los dredge se cierne sobre la alianza de Humanos y Varls, todo esto, mientras algo aun peor a todo lo anterior se lleva acabo sin que nosotros sepamos nada.

    Así se presenta la historia de The Banner Saga, donde manejaremos a dos grupos que intentan sobrevivir en mitad de todo este caos. Un sin fin de cosas nos encontraremos en nuestro viaje hacia tierra segura, nos enzarzaremos en batallas cada cual más dura, toparemos con personas, cada una con sus problemas, virtudes, inquietudes, objetivos...

    La mayoría de las decisiones que tomemos tienen relevancia en nuestro camino, no así tanto en la historia. Algunas se llevaran a personas por delante, con otras podrás hacer pasar hambre a tu caravana, y en rara ocasión podrás disfrutar de una pequeña calma en tan duro viaje.

    Como habréis podido comprobar en el inicio de este análisis, sin duda lo más destacable del juego es su historia, como se lleva acabo, y las decisiones, que aunque no cambien realmente el rumbo de la historia, si que dan los matices necesarios para ver como ocurren pequeños sucesos por estos. Ademas, otra de las cosas que más destaca es su apariencia, y es que esta maravilla junto a la banda sonora, hacen que, simplemente ver a la caravana en movimiento, con tal majestuoso paisaje de fondo al sonido de una canción de narrativa épica, o al sonido de tambores de batalla, sea una experiencia inolvidable.

    La jugabilidad, en el tema de combates, posiblemente sea la peor parte del juego, que no por ello significa que sea mala. Cada personaje pertenece a una clase, cada una ofrece distintas capacidades como resistir, pegar, disparar de lejos... pero creo que falta diferenciar más cada una de estas, y mejorar las habilidades especiales de algunas, ya que en la mayoría de los personajes he acabado utilizando casi siempre el ataque principal por ser más efectivo.

    Otro de los fallos es el doblaje, se agradece que este en Español, pero se nota que en ciertos lugares no esta bien desarrollado pues hay frases que no significan nada, otras mal estructuradas que quitan fuerza a la situación y desde luego ambientación.

    Y por ultimo un pequeño apunte. El propio nombre del juego os lo indica "The Banner SAGA". Efectivamente, esto es el comienzo de algo más grande, esta primera entrega solo siempre, no penseis que aclarara ninguna de las dudas que crea.

    Recomendado para todos aquellos amantes de los juegos por turnos, los amantes de la mitología o la ambientación vikinga, o para aquellos que quieran una historia épica por sus venas.    … Expand
  31. Dagrum
    Jan 21, 2017
    7
    A good SRPG mixed with Oregon Trail, set in Norse fantasy.
    - Looks amazing, but is also it's downfall, there's very little actual animation and instead just a bunch of pictures.
    - The music is alright, it does what it sets out to do but its not anything your going to listen to outside of the game - It's a very story heavy game, but they have the audacity to drop a major cliffhanger at    A good SRPG mixed with Oregon Trail, set in Norse fantasy.
    - Looks amazing, but is also it's downfall, there's very little actual animation and instead just a bunch of pictures.
    - The music is alright, it does what it sets out to do but its not anything your going to listen to outside of the game
    - It's a very story heavy game, but they have the audacity to drop a major cliffhanger at the end

    It's a good game, but the game-play is not better then other SRPG's, and if you're playing for the story your going to need to also play the sequel.    … Expand
  32. NexusTsunami
    Dec 19, 2016
    5
    - Vorwort:
    Die Entwickler haben versucht ein spielbaren Epos zu realisieren - ein interaktives Buch sozusagen. Eine Geschichte über Charaktere die in einer sterbenden Welt um Ihr Wohl und das Überleben Ihrer Sippe kämpfen. Gegen eine dunkle Bedrohung die Ihre eigenen Beweggründe hat und einer Umgebung die selbst minder tödlich ist. In diesem Spiel geht es nicht darum die Welt zu retten    - Vorwort:
    Die Entwickler haben versucht ein spielbaren Epos zu realisieren - ein interaktives Buch sozusagen. Eine Geschichte über Charaktere die in einer sterbenden Welt um Ihr Wohl und das Überleben Ihrer Sippe kämpfen. Gegen eine dunkle Bedrohung die Ihre eigenen Beweggründe hat und einer Umgebung die selbst minder tödlich ist. In diesem Spiel geht es nicht darum die Welt zu retten und die Dunkelheit zu vertreiben, sondern es stellt einen Kampf um das eigenen Überleben dar. Auf dem beschwerlichen Weg müssen viele tiefgreifende moralische Entscheidungen getroffen werden, die sowohl Auswirkungen auf die eigene Gruppe als auch auf deren Umfeld haben. Allgegenwärtig auf dieser Reise ist das Gefühl der Beklemmung, denn es wollen schwierige Kämpfe überstanden und rare Ressourcen effizient genutzt werden.

    Ich denke so ungefähr haben sich die Entwickler ihre fertige Trilogie vorgestellt. Aber schon im ersten Spiel haben Sie sich meiner Meinung nach übernommen.

    - Gameplay:
    In diesem Aspekt liegt meiner Meinung nach das Hauptproblem dieses Spiels.
    Das Kampfsystem will inovativ, schafft es aber nicht die tiefe zu erreichen die es selbst gerne hätte. SRPG typisch bewegt man sich, mit charakterspezifischen Reichweiten, auf einem Spielfeld. Es geht darum den Gegner auszumanövrieren und den Vorteil zu erhalten. Hierfür hat jeder Charakter auf dem Brett (auch die Gegner) zwei Lebenswerte: Rüstung und HP. Wird die Rüstung verringert, so wird beim nächsten Angriff auf die HP mehr Schaden verteilt. Wird der HP Wert verringert, so teilt ein Charakter selbst weniger Schaden auf HP aus. Mit einem dritten und begrenztem Wert können diverse Aktionen (max. Bewegungsreichweite, Schaden auf HP oder Rüstung) verstärkt oder charakterspezifische Spezialattacken eingesetzt werden. Ansich interessant nach einiger Zeit aber repetiv...

    Die Charakterentwicklung findet eigentlich gar nicht so richtig statt. Es gibt pro Char 5 Level die man aufsteigen kann. Nach Lvl Up erhält man zwei Punkte mit denen man diverse Werte steigern kann. Neue Spezialattacken sind Fehlanzeige. Man kann jeden Char mit Gegenständen ausrüsten die man entweder findet oder auf dem Markt kaufen kann.

    Die Reise durch die Welt findet automatisch und in der 2D Seitenperspektive statt. Pro Tag werden Ressourcen verbraten, die wenn aufgebraucht, ein Sterben der eigenen Sippe nach sich zieht.

    Und nun kommt der Knackpunkt der mich am meißten gestört hat. Für ein LvL Up, dem Kauf von Ressourcen oder dem Kauf von Gegenständen wird ein und dieselbe "Währung" benötigt. Diese erhält man durch Kämpfe oder getroffene Entscheidungen. Nur ist diese so rar gesät das es weh tut. Der Grund hierfür ist zwar nachvollziehbar aber zu erzwungen. Die Entwickler wollen, dass man mit seinen Ressourcen haushaltet. Jede Anschaffung will genau überlegt sein. Wäre ja ansich ganz interessant aber das Spiel überhäuft einen so dermaßen mit dem Ungewissen, dass man eigentlich grundsätzlich falsche Entscheidungen treffen muss. So levelt man Charaktere mit den wertvollen Punkten auf, nur damit Sie entweder tot umfallen oder einem Verraten. Puff sind die Punkte für den *****. Ab einem gewissen Punkt ist man nur noch damit beschäftigt, diese Fehlentscheidungen wieder auszugleichen, nur um wieder ein Brett ins Gesicht geschlagen zu bekommen! Das Leben in diesem Spiel ist kein Ponyhof. Dies versuchen die Entwickler auf teilweise nicht nachvollziehbare Weise zu erzwingen.

    - Charaktere:
    Ähnliches Phänomen bei den Charakteren selbst. Eigentlich wollten die Entwickler denke ich, dass durch den oben beschriebenen Mangel an Ressourcen, eine stärkere Charakterbindung eintritt. Das somit der Tot oder Verrat von Charakteren schwerer wiegt und einem nahe geht. Nur leider waren mir diese Ereignisse sowas von egal. Das Charaktertelling ist nicht wirklich tiefgreifend. Es findet kaum interaktion untereinander statt. Vorgeschichten werden nur angerissen und sind dann nur Standardkost.

    - Welt:
    Keine großen Umschweife wie es an Punkt A aussieht oder warum. Man sieht die Resultate dessen auf der Reise einfach. Die Umgebungen sind zwar schön, teilweise majestätisch gestaltet aber wieder waren mir die Umstände in der Welt egal.

    - Grafik:
    In einem eigenen, wirklich passenden fast Comichaften Stil gehalten. War schön anzusehen.

    - Sound:
    Auch hier wurde, wie in anderen Punkten in diesem Spiel, auf Minimalismus gesetzt. Kaum Musik, selten Sprachausgabe und hauptsächlich Hintergrundgeräusche. Hat mich aber nicht wirklich gestört denn es passte einfach in Ambiente.

    - Schlusswort:
    Die Entwickler haben sich wirklich getraut mal etwas anderes zu versuchen. Die Betonung liegt allerdings auf versucht. Ich werde dennoch den zweiten Teil spielen. Zum Lückenfüller ist es dennoch geeignet.    … Expand
  33. cottandy
    Nov 3, 2016
    10
    An overall great game with brilliant gameplay, storytelling, art, combat mechanics. I found no cons in this game, though I made it through several times. Yes! One time is not enough for this one. Once you start, the game will suck you into it like a quagmire in a good way you know.

    And even though there is the second part "The Banner Saga 2", this game feels complete byitself, so does    An overall great game with brilliant gameplay, storytelling, art, combat mechanics. I found no cons in this game, though I made it through several times. Yes! One time is not enough for this one. Once you start, the game will suck you into it like a quagmire in a good way you know.

    And even though there is the second part "The Banner Saga 2", this game feels complete byitself, so does the story. And still you want to know what will happen afterwards. This great the story is!    … Expand
  34. Derf3L
    Oct 1, 2016
    5
    This game does not have tactical combat: even if the enemies are 100 and your party is 4, you will still get one turn each (one you, one the enemy). The combat solely goes around looking what enemy will move next in the turns and make him weaker, until u have all enemies with 0 health. If u kill enemies first, then is bad for you...

    This is zero tactical, zero logical gameplay. If    This game does not have tactical combat: even if the enemies are 100 and your party is 4, you will still get one turn each (one you, one the enemy). The combat solely goes around looking what enemy will move next in the turns and make him weaker, until u have all enemies with 0 health. If u kill enemies first, then is bad for you...

    This is zero tactical, zero logical gameplay. If you're fine with this, then go ahead and try to enjoy some nice music, "artstyle" and story.    … Expand
  35. Voyou
    Aug 8, 2016
    5
    It's pretty, and it's pleasant for an hour or two, but it's too shallow to keep me interested much longer: tactically poor and repetitive, 100% linear, fake choices ridden, devoid of dialog options, very weak on save/restoration, with a clunky and slow interface that is hard to read and makes it hard to know what you are doing.

    Meh, and I'm being generous.
  36. Gormph
    Jun 21, 2016
    5
    pros: looks great love the art style and the world, the controls work.

    cons: The game gets you into it with little understanding of its combat stats so you ether guessed on the correct stats right off the bat or your going to have a rough time. then every unit has to have a set number of kills to level AND you have to use renown to level buy items, and get supplies, which for my first    pros: looks great love the art style and the world, the controls work.

    cons: The game gets you into it with little understanding of its combat stats so you ether guessed on the correct stats right off the bat or your going to have a rough time. then every unit has to have a set number of kills to level AND you have to use renown to level buy items, and get supplies, which for my first play though meant i got to the end of the game with under leveled people because i had no renown to level them. the combat itself lacks depth once you understand the stats and is uninteresting, the game fakes being challenging but stacking everything in the computers favor ex. you get a turn then the enemy every round but the enemy out numbers you every time, has heavy armor no matter what, can move further, and does heaver damage and you basically just do the same thing in combat the whole game with no options, its as if the story was very important but the combat was an after thought.

    As for the story itself, it just kind of stops no real closure, nothing is broken down, you have very little understanding of what you accomplished and kind of feel like you wasted your time, it feels more like this was the first chapter of a book trying to be its own release and it just comes short.

    all in all its not bad but it could have been great with a little tweaking, its like plain rice, nothing wrong with it on its own but nothing to rave about.    … Expand
  37. Klewer
    Jun 4, 2016
    8
    A really enjoyable experience this game, has a great feel to it and has some lovely visuals. A strong story which you can change slightly with your own choices and input. Combat is solid as a turn based style with unique abilities for your team. Worth a look.
  38. Blanel
    May 13, 2016
    5
    An ok, but frustrating game. The frustration does not come from tactical depth, which is fine, but the resource management as you stave off the constant threat of starvation, which gets old fast.
  39. georgio
    May 8, 2016
    6
    I am huge fan of turn-based tactic games such as UFO or X-COM for many years now. That is why I immediately boarded the hype train behind this game. And I have to say that I was very disappointed. Interestingly enough the game is not that different from X-COM in a way that it features "strategic" layer when you manage your caravan as well as "tactical" layer where you have to go throughI am huge fan of turn-based tactic games such as UFO or X-COM for many years now. That is why I immediately boarded the hype train behind this game. And I have to say that I was very disappointed. Interestingly enough the game is not that different from X-COM in a way that it features "strategic" layer when you manage your caravan as well as "tactical" layer where you have to go through various battles.

    The game tries to evoke a sense of dread, where your group is pushed from place to place barely able to survive. However the game mechanics are very crude and random events seem to be the main story tools for creators of the game. Imagine that after you almost starved once or twice so you invest into keeping your supplies up all the time. Then you face the "spoiled food" event that cuts your food supplies by half. There it is - several consecutive battles of preparing yourself were in vain.

    It seems as if there is a particular way the game developers expect you to play the game but they never lay it down for you. It is just that whenever you go away from "the script" the game punishes you. I don't mind hard games, but this is not the kind of "hard" you want to encounter. You either lucked out never to discover how narrowly you missed a catastrophic event or you are just screwed. No sense of accomplishment, just frustration.

    I believe the game has a potential but the execution is just bad.    … Expand
  40. ElTornado
    May 1, 2016
    9
    I'm not a fan of this kind of games, but I REALLY liked it. Great storytelling, great art, outstanding soundtrack, a little bit repetitive but interesting gameplay. And the best thing is that I have that warm feeling in my hurt when I think about this game.
  41. Morgenstern72
    Apr 28, 2016
    8
    This is a wonderful approach to turn based stratetegy: the mechanics are simple, but it needs learning to grasp them. Tt's mastery is really rewarding. Combined with the second part this game is just awesome: wonderful graphics (if you like the style!), an intriguing story, challenging fights and some real hard decisions to make. Get this game if you like nordic legends and much moreThis is a wonderful approach to turn based stratetegy: the mechanics are simple, but it needs learning to grasp them. Tt's mastery is really rewarding. Combined with the second part this game is just awesome: wonderful graphics (if you like the style!), an intriguing story, challenging fights and some real hard decisions to make. Get this game if you like nordic legends and much more realism and grit than many other settings.… Expand
  42. Vicente_ao
    Apr 13, 2016
    8
    ¿Te gusta la cultura/ambientación nórdica? - compra este juego
    ¿Te gustan los juegos de estrategia por turnos? - compra este juego
    ¿Te gustan los juegos de aventuras de textos? - compra este juego ¿Te gustan las buenas tramas en los juegos? - compra este juego The banner saga es una propuesta fresca y muy bien llevada, ambientado en un mundo de cultura escandinava, con una historia    ¿Te gusta la cultura/ambientación nórdica? - compra este juego
    ¿Te gustan los juegos de estrategia por turnos? - compra este juego
    ¿Te gustan los juegos de aventuras de textos? - compra este juego
    ¿Te gustan las buenas tramas en los juegos? - compra este juego

    The banner saga es una propuesta fresca y muy bien llevada, ambientado en un mundo de cultura escandinava, con una historia potente, donde sus personajes llevan el peso de su historia a sus hombros.
    Gran parte del juego no estarás luchando, si no que estarás viajado y tener que tomar relevantes decisiones, decisiones que pueden traer consigo desastres, como la muerte de personajes, la pérdida de recursos, la baja moral, o por otro lado, conseguir recursos, reclutar gente para el clan, etc.
    El sistema de combate es muy fácil de aprender y es muy entretenido y a la vez te verás en sistuaciones muy dificiles de poder ganar.
    La historia como ya he comentado engancha mucho, quieres seguir jugando, la jugabilidad es muy entretenida, la MÚSICA, wow, punto fuerte del juego, es totalmente épica y bien llevada, el diseño de personajes y ambientes muy bello.
    Como aspecto negativo, se podría haber ahondado más en las historias de los personajes, el juego termina muy brusco (por suerte se sabe que saldrá la parte 2 que unirá me imagino que dará a entender o finalizar la trama) y la traducción, al menos la del español, es risoriamente mala, es como si hubieran usado google traductor para hacer la traducción del juego.

    7.8/10    … Expand
  43. nabbone
    Jan 25, 2016
    9
    A game of incredible beauty! Aesthetically refined, based on iconography Nordic revisited in a modern way. A fascinating story as you will rarely see in games in the majors. Dark nostalgic atmosphere at the same time. Witty dialogue and difficult choices. Game system strategically interesting. I look forward to it the crowfoundin for The Banner Saga 2. From support absolutely!
  44. GolovA
    Jan 4, 2016
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Although i want to i cannot call this game an RPG. I think it can only be described as a QUEST genre! :)

    I was not impressed by the game's tactical combat - it is too simplistic - no one retaliates, there are no covers (even from the ranged attacks), and no one ever misses pretty much. Having said that, the combat is still a joy - it is well animated, dynamic, and simply fun.

    As for the story - boy oh boy was i confused in the beginning. I did not feel like the story drew me in smoothly. However, as i played more, it grew on me. Well written, solid, albeit unpolished. This brings me to my main complain/confusion - so how come the story ends (SPOILER!) like in the middle?! What?! Who was that huge snake? What is the Darkness coming from the North? What happens to the human Prince? Etc. The story really left me hanging - and i would take 2 points right there, because i see a planned "Episode 2" release - don't we love this latest trend in games today? I LOVE IT! Anyway, i am not taking any points off, because The Banner Saga still brings many hours of good play to the table; i also suspect that this is one of those rare genuine cases where the developers had to hurry the release, faced with many constraints.

    Overall, beautiful artwork, colorful characters, pretty elaborate branching story, interesting quest-like mechanic during travel.

    RECOMMEND.    … Expand
  45. Underpants158
    Dec 20, 2015
    8
    For much of this game I wanted to give it a 9. I was hooked in a way that it rare for me. I was in awe of what this game forced me to do but towards the end I took a step back and realized many of it's flaws.

    What is this game?: Imagine Oregon Trail and tactical rpg battles with a backdrop of norse inspired mythology that transpires like a text based adventure. You are the leader of a    For much of this game I wanted to give it a 9. I was hooked in a way that it rare for me. I was in awe of what this game forced me to do but towards the end I took a step back and realized many of it's flaws.

    What is this game?: Imagine Oregon Trail and tactical rpg battles with a backdrop of norse inspired mythology that transpires like a text based adventure. You are the leader of a caravan of men and varl (giants with horns) and you are on the run. You need to manage supplies, leveling up your characters, and like a telltale game you make decisions that can large effects on your caravan and the characters. The decisions are not black and white. Stopping to drink can boost morale but eat up supplies. Helping a stranger can backfire or he/she can become a valuable part of your group.

    Pros:
    -You feel the weight of your decisions. Characters you don't expect to be able to die can die. I found myself wondering about the choices I made and how they led to the death of one of my favorite characters.
    -And the game does a good job at discouraging you from simply reloading after anything negative happens. There are no manual saves only auto-saves and if you want to reload the game forces you to replay the battle before your decision.

    So/sos:
    -The combat system has revolves around strength and armor. Strength is not only attack damage but also health. Armor is what you imagine armor to be and you can either do strength damage or armor damage. The unique tactical aspects come from deciding whether to whittle down armor so the the enemy can go down easier or attack for strength damage so his attacks hurt you less. At least in theory this true. Practically it is almost always preferable to do armor breaking damage and then strength damage.
    -Every character has a special ability however only a handful are actually useful.
    -Renown (your currency) is accrued through battle and good decisions. You can use it to either buy food for the caravan or level up a character. However if that character that you leveled up dies you don't get a reimbursement of renown. This could be viewed negatively or simply as keeping up with games feel of attrition.

    Cons:
    -No negative effects to letting your caravan starve.
    -Bland writing that feels anachronistic even though it's not an historical time.
    -Ending falls emotionally flat. Catharsis please!

    Overall:
    -I am psyched for the next installment in the trilogy. I have faith that this may be the mass effect 1 to the next games mass effect 2. Elements are here for a great success and I am excited to see if they improve.    … Expand
  46. hko2006
    Dec 6, 2015
    8
    The good
    The turn based battle is like chess with armor and HP.
    Unlike 99% of games, units with less HP do less damage ie HP is their attack value Dilemmas are good, give good immersion. Like in one dilemma, you are asked to wait someone to come but same as your character, you don't know when they will come if they will come at all. The bad Mostly 2 types of battles, either thugs or    The good
    The turn based battle is like chess with armor and HP.
    Unlike 99% of games, units with less HP do less damage ie HP is their attack value
    Dilemmas are good, give good immersion. Like in one dilemma, you are asked to wait someone to come but same as your character, you don't know when they will come if they will come at all.
    The bad
    Mostly 2 types of battles, either thugs or dredge (stone people), and only one fight vs varl (giants). I'm ok with the lack of fight with varl though.
    Caravan, while being one them of the game (protect your kin), it does not impact much on the game. I even tried resting even without food will actually boost your morale, while a dozen people are dying each day you rest.
    EDIT: Bad morale causes worse events to happen so staving/not resting does have impact.
    More on The Caravan: Let them starve thread
    TIPS:
    Specialize armor breakers to 3/4 armor break
    The flow is armor breakers break dredge's armor, then high HP weaken their HP and damage by attacking. As long as you keep dredge's HP lower than your armor, you are fine.    … Expand
  47. Purgatory1
    Nov 28, 2015
    5
    Overall good story with nice comic style graphics and good atmospheric music.

    Unfortunately that's pretty much it regarding the positive aspects of the game. My overall gameplay experience was pretty mediocre mostly because of the turn based combat system. I usually like turn based systems a lot e.g. the system XCOM uses is a very positive example. If your party in Banner Saga has 5    Overall good story with nice comic style graphics and good atmospheric music.

    Unfortunately that's pretty much it regarding the positive aspects of the game. My overall gameplay experience was pretty mediocre mostly because of the turn based combat system. I usually like turn based systems a lot e.g. the system XCOM uses is a very positive example.
    If your party in Banner Saga has 5 members and you fight a party of 2 enemies then the enemy characters get twice as many moves than your characters. And once you've killed all enemies but one it completely changes so all your characters get to move before the remaining enemy does. Which imo is illogical and annoying.
    The leveling system is pretty strange as well since you have only one resource in the game which has to be used for everything including your level progression and items. I didn't like special abilities of the characters either because too many of them are just useless during combat.

    I don't have a problem with linear story telling but Banner Saga tries to give you an impression of having an influence on the story progression while your choices actually don't have any or very little impact (with ONE exception near the end of the game). Furthermore most of the times the dialog system gives you a bad choice, another bad choice and a very bad choice - all leading to (you might have already guessed) a (or even the same) bad result.    … Expand
  48. erezike
    Sep 16, 2015
    4
    The games has its strengths and weaknesses, it's a mixed bag.

    For starters the game drives you to finish it, due to its established story. The story itself is medicore, in both storytelling and soul, The writers forgot the key in roleplaying and storytelling, show not tell. Many parts in the game they tell you how you feel, showing the player a clear sign of developer who are afraid to    The games has its strengths and weaknesses, it's a mixed bag.

    For starters the game drives you to finish it, due to its established story. The story itself is medicore, in both storytelling and soul,
    The writers forgot the key in roleplaying and storytelling, show not tell. Many parts in the game they tell you how you feel, showing the player a clear sign of developer who are afraid to let go.
    The consequences for your choices are arbitrary with little information before to help indicate what can bring a better outcome, you are basically rolling dice, rather than thinking.
    Because the game is linear, they tried to bask the illusion of choice with foolish consequences. The only real choice you have in the game is to play or quit. The characters, locations and enemies have little to tell them apart, this is mostly due to the method of story telling, the game also suffers from too many heroes.

    Game play mechanics -
    I am not a big fan of turn base combat, I find it inferior to squad shooters and great strategy game like myth the fallen lords and mount and blade, in comparison to heroes and king bounty, it stands it ground. However recent games such as divinity original sin greatly surpass it in depth and balance.
    The game fails to encourage you to use 6 squad members, at many times using 3 or 4 is preferable.

    In summary, the game pushes you to play to end, and play around with it its consequences. But once you finish it there is a good chance you will have a sour taste in your mouth .    … Expand
  49. PrimeHydra
    Sep 1, 2015
    10
    Amazing game with a unique style, beautiful visuals, deep tactics, and actual role-playing. It's Battlechess meets The Oregon Trail. That's right--the spirit of the classic Apple IIe title lives on in Banner Saga. But instead of running into enemies and watching helplessly as they make off with your loot, you--as the leader of a caravan of soldiers and civilians--will have severalAmazing game with a unique style, beautiful visuals, deep tactics, and actual role-playing. It's Battlechess meets The Oregon Trail. That's right--the spirit of the classic Apple IIe title lives on in Banner Saga. But instead of running into enemies and watching helplessly as they make off with your loot, you--as the leader of a caravan of soldiers and civilians--will have several non-obvious, interesting choices. Do you run into the woods to try and lose the enemy, or do you make a stand immediately? If you escape to the woods, do you set the forest on fire as they come at you, or do you create a diversion? (I've omitted many others--each choice typically has at least four or five options). Your every decision has an impact on not only the story but your band's well-being. Keep morale high, and you'll get bonuses in combat; let it drop too low and you'll face penalties.

    Making life-and-death decisions as you wend away across the continent is just the frosting, though. At the heart of the game is tactical chess-like combat that's is easy to learn, hard to master. You can't just "micro" and focus fire like in an RTS, or run at everything and chop it up like Diablo. You've got to think, and that's what makes victory so rewarding. Units have two stats--Armor and Strength. Depleting Armor makes Strength easier to knock down, and Strength--in an interesting tactical twist--is both the HP AND the offensive ability of a unit. In this way, it's smarter to disable stronger enemies rather than pig-piling an already-incapacitated threat. Mastering the wide range of special abilities is critical to success, as well. Each unit only has one special ability, but they vary so widely and combine so intriguingly that it's more than enough. Some abilities require carefully lining up opponents, others encourage keeping your allies close to form a shield wall, others taunt an enemy into attacking a highly-shielded unit, and so on.

    While it's very difficult, it's never outright punishing. In other words, no kill screens (that I've seen). You're better or worse off for having won or lost a battle, but you never have to play the annoying sub-game of loading an earlier save. Losing a fight brings disappointment more in the form of having let your contingent down, and suffering heavier losses. But you can always rest and face another day. You'll still get the bonus for each kill you managed to make in your last stand before allies managed to drag you to safety. As a gamer in the "hardcore" camp, this never felt cheap to me--because the combat is hard enough without having to restart the game because I made a mistake.

    If you're at all a fan of role-playing, tactical combat--or The Oregon Trail--don't miss this. Best title I've played in a while.    … Expand
  50. I3ordo
    Jul 28, 2015
    4
    After the new XCOM game,, turn based games carved a place in my mind that is why i gave a shot at this

    this is new IP from a New studio and i dont think i am having fun because of the interface and the core mechanics...i dont think i can handle this game anymore. I am trying my self at normal difficulty but the real difficulty is from the UI. The interface most of the time, does    After the new XCOM game,, turn based games carved a place in my mind that is why i gave a shot at this

    this is new IP from a New studio and i dont think i am having fun because of the interface and the core mechanics...i dont think i can handle this game anymore.

    I am trying my self at normal difficulty but the real difficulty is from the UI.

    The interface most of the time, does not clearly convey what action you about to make, and you can not reverse the actions even before the turn is complete...

    The story is supposed to procedural, but sometimes it decides things on your behalf of you.
    In other words, if there is an event going on somewhere, it decides that you go there...and that is how it provides some plot twists...

    It is very hard to get used to the nature of this game but i dont think it s enjoyable enough to adapt.

    What i like most is the HP and ATK stats are being same thing. You should not be able to damage some creature critically if you are on the last drip of your HP.    … Expand
  51. HectorofTroy
    Jul 11, 2015
    4
    I couldn't understand the reason of all the hype about this game. The story seems to be very railroaded and arbitrary at times. Contrarily to what most of the reviews say, there are no real decisions to be made. Feeding the caravan is useless, completely pointless. Combat is fine, but it will start to feel repetitive pretty quick.

    All in a all, The Banner Saga is not too bad, nor is it    I couldn't understand the reason of all the hype about this game. The story seems to be very railroaded and arbitrary at times. Contrarily to what most of the reviews say, there are no real decisions to be made. Feeding the caravan is useless, completely pointless. Combat is fine, but it will start to feel repetitive pretty quick.

    All in a all, The Banner Saga is not too bad, nor is it a good game. I played the game only once, got bored and never really felt like going back to it..    … Expand
  52. Malon
    Jun 16, 2015
    10
    Amazing art and Graphics and gameplay good enough to take you through the book level of good story.Choices actually do something.A hero can die and stay alive until the rest of the game depending on your choice.All playable characters interact with you and you care about them.
  53. thegreatbelow
    Jun 9, 2015
    9
    What more can be said? Awesome art direction and music. I really enjoyed the characters, unique landscape and mature story. Simplistic yet challenging.
  54. Tsewe
    Mar 20, 2015
    9
    The Banner Saga is a unique kind of game and is really worth your time if you like dark viking settings.
    Pros:
    - dramatic atmosphere (especially the sounds, the few voice acting, the music and the art) - engaging story, characters and choices - reasonable playtime (between 10 and 15 hours) - unique and interesting "caravan playing" (which you do not really play) - difficulty is    The Banner Saga is a unique kind of game and is really worth your time if you like dark viking settings.
    Pros:
    - dramatic atmosphere (especially the sounds, the few voice acting, the music and the art)
    - engaging story, characters and choices
    - reasonable playtime (between 10 and 15 hours)
    - unique and interesting "caravan playing" (which you do not really play)
    - difficulty is challenging but not abusive
    - no obvious and really annoying bugs as far as I've played
    Cons
    - the combat system: while it is quite enjoyable, the lack of an option to rotate the camera can be really annoying
    - unable to create a banner of your own caravan, which is a bit disappointing since it's the whole point of the title; it would have been nice to be able to select some patterns as long as you progress ingame, and would finish with your own customized caravan banner    … Expand
  55. Mesket
    Feb 5, 2015
    3
    First time I saw the game I thought it was going to be awesome... it was for about 20 minutes. Then you realize the battles are absolutely all the same. You only need 1 strategy to fight every battle. The system, which at first seemed to be fresh and simple, its just simple. Its not developed enough. It gets boring VERY fast. After 6 hours of playing you don't want to enter anotherFirst time I saw the game I thought it was going to be awesome... it was for about 20 minutes. Then you realize the battles are absolutely all the same. You only need 1 strategy to fight every battle. The system, which at first seemed to be fresh and simple, its just simple. Its not developed enough. It gets boring VERY fast. After 6 hours of playing you don't want to enter another battle... no terrain, underwhelming skills, poor AI and only 1 mechanic to use in the entire game which is to balance armor/strenght on mobs to kill them the fastest (cause you are also outnumbered and everyone has better stats).

    I played the game in hard and the AI is poor. NPC uses skills in the wrong moment and even hit themselves.

    I grant them 3 points for the art but that's about it. It's a very VERY boring game that gets old within few hours and has none re-playability.    … Expand
  56. itamarbudin
    Jan 2, 2015
    4
    This is by far one of the most punishing, depressing, boring games i ever played.

    Where to start, the game itself is quite beautiful on the eye but you will spend most of you time just watching the caravan walking on and on and on (I never found the "skip" button) The story is "good" but it has an overall depressing narrative to it. I might be missing smoothing here has I am not    This is by far one of the most punishing, depressing, boring games i ever played.

    Where to start, the game itself is quite beautiful on the eye but you will spend most of you time just watching the caravan walking on and on and on (I never found the "skip" button)

    The story is "good" but it has an overall depressing narrative to it. I might be missing smoothing here has I am not familiar with Viking lore

    Combat will occur 10% of times (the other 90% is “Wanted” in conversation and watching the caravan walk) and when it does, this game will punish you over and over again and it doesn't allow you setup you forces on the plane and there is a disturbing tendency for your characters to miss or die unexpectedly before they even had one turn to play.

    It like the developers wrote a piece a code that will always have the player in a disadvantage.
    Combined with the depressing narrative, you will find yourself depressed as well and wounding why the #$@#$@#$ you spent time and money on this game.

    I usually don't write reviews but man, this game really made me angry

    I really recommend the developer to understand that the most basic rule of a game is to have fun and unfortunately this isn't a fun game    … Expand
  57. Gummiente
    Nov 25, 2014
    9
    Banner Saga offers you an interesting story full of tough choices in a setting far away from commonplace fantasy. Combat is a delightful change from other turn-based systems and upgrading your characters is very satisfying. The visuals are breathtaking beautiful. The only downsides are the scarce voice acting and the arguably rushed ending.
  58. Tubey
    Nov 15, 2014
    8
    There is so much to admire about this title - the art style, the turn based strategy which has a fairly unique strength & health dynamic, great characters, decent story, decent (if unfortunately largely irrelevant) resource management... but there's a glaring fault here; the game itself is just too damn short!

    It reminds me a high-end, turn based strategy version of the fantastic tower    There is so much to admire about this title - the art style, the turn based strategy which has a fairly unique strength & health dynamic, great characters, decent story, decent (if unfortunately largely irrelevant) resource management... but there's a glaring fault here; the game itself is just too damn short!

    It reminds me a high-end, turn based strategy version of the fantastic tower defence RPG Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten, and that's not a bad thing, but it ends on a cliffhanger a mere 8 hours or so into the game, and for that points have to be marked off.

    But technically it's very good. I grabbed this in a sale for £6 and it's great value at that price range.    … Expand
  59. Lanky14
    Oct 15, 2014
    9
    Good story. Interesting combat. Great art. Fairly short. There isn't that much more to say about this game. It entertained me fully and at the end I wanted more. This is definitely worth a pass.
  60. Vel
    Sep 25, 2014
    4
    I feel almost bad giving this game a negative review, this game has so much potential, but unfortunately it's pretty much wasted by the horrible ending.
    The pros:
    - The graphics are very pretty, and do convey the sense of being in another world. - The music and the few voice-overs are very good. - The general story and setting, up until the end, is captivating and unique enough when    I feel almost bad giving this game a negative review, this game has so much potential, but unfortunately it's pretty much wasted by the horrible ending.
    The pros:
    - The graphics are very pretty, and do convey the sense of being in another world.
    - The music and the few voice-overs are very good.
    - The general story and setting, up until the end, is captivating and unique enough when stacked up against other games.

    The cons:
    - The game is on rails. Serious rails. And it feels like it. It actually provides you with a map you can click on, so you can learn about the different regions and cities of the world, but then won't let you plot a course to visit any of them.
    - The combat is actually pretty boring once you realize that every round of turn based combat, the turns go back and forth between you and the enemy. You just killed 3 enemies so it's now 5 on 3? Well, that just means some of the enemy units will go twice. It really sucks any aspect of strategy right out of the game.
    - The ENDING! Wow. I don't want to spoil it, but the game builds up so much about the setting, the history of the world, the different characters....and then it just ends. SO much could have been done, but wasn't. What a gyp.

    Overall, I just can't recommend it, even on sale. It's like reading a really great novel, getting towards the first of many climaxes in the novel, and then it just stops. No resolution. No explanation. Just some ending credits.    … Expand
  61. ratapwnz
    Sep 21, 2014
    10
    Probably the best game of last 10 years. Great story, great tactic, original combat system. However young gamers and casuals may have some problems using brain during this game.
  62. boogaloobob
    Sep 21, 2014
    9
    Owning over 200 games in all genres I don't get to play through a lot of them, if at all.
    When I gave this a try it took me about an hour to get into it and it didn't let go of me untill the end credits.
    Wonderfully original, beautifully realised and truely inspired!! There are a few things that could be fixed in, I hope, a sequel. I don't know what the use is of keeping your fighters    Owning over 200 games in all genres I don't get to play through a lot of them, if at all.
    When I gave this a try it took me about an hour to get into it and it didn't let go of me untill the end credits.
    Wonderfully original, beautifully realised and truely inspired!! There are a few things that could be fixed in, I hope, a sequel. I don't know what the use is of keeping your fighters and caravan alive cause I finished with just my heroes and I didn't see any consequences for that. Only early on I needed them for a few army fights.    … Expand
  63. stuntpuickle
    Sep 13, 2014
    0
    Banner Saga is what happens when stupid programmers get creative.

    Lurking beneath the stylized cell shaded graphics in the game lies the most punitive battle system ever devised. Each enemy will get two sometimes three turns for each of yours, not to mention that they mostly have equal or better stats than your characters. Add to this the so-called creative stat system in which your    Banner Saga is what happens when stupid programmers get creative.

    Lurking beneath the stylized cell shaded graphics in the game lies the most punitive battle system ever devised. Each enemy will get two sometimes three turns for each of yours, not to mention that they mostly have equal or better stats than your characters. Add to this the so-called creative stat system in which your strength constitutes both health and damage, resulting in increasingly useless team members as a round progresses, and you get a tedious slog with little depth masquerading as a challenge.

    Like eating glass, Banner Saga might be aptly described as "difficult" or "hard," but never as "challenging."    … Expand
  64. PeleTheS
    Sep 10, 2014
    9
    honestly this is one of the best stories I've had the pleasure of interacting with
    game play might need a little more balancing but the story is beautiful
    its one of those games you are going to remember
  65. blackbird1
    Sep 6, 2014
    0
    to much to read....... great fights but this reading...... has this game failed to me
    pls make somehting like that with voice acting or less story...
  66. Shootthemup
    Sep 3, 2014
    8
    Nice kind of a successor to old text adventure games. Really a great indie game, with awesome art and nice storytelling. You need a few hours to get used to the concept, that every decision u make will impact your main story and u cant go back. Combat is a bit lame but doable with its quirks and glitches. If u want to play a nice story driven adventure/rpg indie game, this one is for you.
  67. dude12311
    Aug 25, 2014
    9
    Signed up specifically to write a review for this game. This is a kickstarter game and is a very good game, one of the best I have played in recent years. The story is great and the combat is fun. There can be many things added to this game to make it even better, but the game was great and I am not sure how it is rated under an 8 from anyone that is objective in their reviews. LookingSigned up specifically to write a review for this game. This is a kickstarter game and is a very good game, one of the best I have played in recent years. The story is great and the combat is fun. There can be many things added to this game to make it even better, but the game was great and I am not sure how it is rated under an 8 from anyone that is objective in their reviews. Looking forward to banner saga 2!… Expand
  68. DeusXCom
    Aug 25, 2014
    7
    Not really a Viking X-Com I was hoping for, but definitely interesting and unique piece well worth playing. The start is a bit slow, game is doing quite a poor job in immersing you right away in it's story, throwing tons of viking names at you, not really knowing who you are or what's going on, but you slowly get a grip, learn the game mechanics, and by the time the story switches from theNot really a Viking X-Com I was hoping for, but definitely interesting and unique piece well worth playing. The start is a bit slow, game is doing quite a poor job in immersing you right away in it's story, throwing tons of viking names at you, not really knowing who you are or what's going on, but you slowly get a grip, learn the game mechanics, and by the time the story switches from the viking bunch to the eastern storyline with the dad and daughter, things get much better. Challenging turn-based tactical battles, beautiful visuals and amazing music. Very unique flavor is gathered in the sections of the game where your caravan is traveling the beautiful northern lands, visiting old god stones, where you have to make important decisions, quite a memorable adventure there. Despite it's slow start, quite short length overall and some of the budget shortcomings such as no voice-overs, I was pretty happy with The Banner Saga in the end. 7/10… Expand
  69. Malaine
    Aug 24, 2014
    10
    The Banner Saga is one of those games that will stick with you for a lifetime. The setting of the game, combined with unique turn based combat is simply amazing. Growing up and playing games like FF tactics, Tactics Ogre: let us cling together, and advanced wars I can safely say this game is a MUST buy if you like any of the games I listed. This games shines the most on the hardestThe Banner Saga is one of those games that will stick with you for a lifetime. The setting of the game, combined with unique turn based combat is simply amazing. Growing up and playing games like FF tactics, Tactics Ogre: let us cling together, and advanced wars I can safely say this game is a MUST buy if you like any of the games I listed. This games shines the most on the hardest difficulties, the decisions you make WILL impact the rest of your play through. The combat is very challenging even when you find your favorite group of members to use one wrong move can and will cost you the fight. Decision making is extremely important, it can cost certain characters their lives and this means you may have spent a lot of time upgrading them only to see them fall permanently. With all of the mainstream games out there that aren't delivering The Banner Saga shines its brightest. I have played many games and paid the 59.99 only to put 8-12 hours in but I have over 80 in the banner saga! There are always different ways to play though the game. If you are on the fence at all about this game do yourself a favor and buy it, I guarantee you won't be disappointed, the developers are engaged in what the community has to say and between their team of 3 members they take active feedback and actually care about what their fans want!… Expand
  70. Gromloks
    Jul 21, 2014
    9
    The Banner Saga entführt euch in eine wunderbare Mythenwelt, die sich sehr an nordischen Sagen orientiert. Ihr bestimmt das Schicksal einer Karawane, führt Schlachten mit euren Hedlen im Rundenmodus und versucht zu erreichen, dass möglichst viele eurer Begleiter überleben. Das Spiel stellt euch vor manch schwierige Entscheidung, und deren Konsequenzen sind nicht immer sofort absehbar. SoThe Banner Saga entführt euch in eine wunderbare Mythenwelt, die sich sehr an nordischen Sagen orientiert. Ihr bestimmt das Schicksal einer Karawane, führt Schlachten mit euren Hedlen im Rundenmodus und versucht zu erreichen, dass möglichst viele eurer Begleiter überleben. Das Spiel stellt euch vor manch schwierige Entscheidung, und deren Konsequenzen sind nicht immer sofort absehbar. So können von euch gut gemeinte Entscheidungen doch zu einer anderen Katastrophe führen. Diese Entscheidungen, die das Spiel so prägen, machen es auch nach mehrmaligem Durchspielen nicht langweilig. Die Grafik ist comichaft, aber zugleich sehr ernst gestalten und erleichtet einem das Versinken in diese traumhafte Fantasywelt.… Expand
  71. dorian5523
    Jul 18, 2014
    3
    The initial impression given by this game is that it is 'old school' and mysterious. It is beautiful. I distinctly achieved that excited feeling in my belly as the game began. I just knew that this game had been done right, and that I was about to experience one of the greatest moments in gaming history. The feeling persisted until about the third hour of game play, unfortunately. At thatThe initial impression given by this game is that it is 'old school' and mysterious. It is beautiful. I distinctly achieved that excited feeling in my belly as the game began. I just knew that this game had been done right, and that I was about to experience one of the greatest moments in gaming history. The feeling persisted until about the third hour of game play, unfortunately. At that point I was waiting, no begging, for new elements to emerge. Then I realized that the game had reached its pentacle and I had experienced everything that the game had to offer.

    The rest of my short experience with this game was a litany of letdowns.

    "Puh-lease don't be another fight!" I found myself saying quite often. The main enemy, these Dredge, are interesting at first, and at second, but ten redundant fights down the line and one begins to ache for an auto-resolve feature.

    Beyond being mind-numbingly similar, once you get the hang of it every fight is ridiculously easy. The game touts the necessary use of items and tactics but I was never challenged by anything that a few shield bangers and warhawks couldn't put down with ease.

    Another deflating feature is the game's map. The map is awesome. One can click on the numerous and varied locations and read all about the game history. As you do so, excitement rises as you wonder which of the many paths you will take... and then you realize that the map has no function other than flavor. And it loads slow.

    The final disappointment to mention, which sadly goes hand in hand with the redundancy of combat, occurs when your band reaches places of "interest". Arriving in villages or cities is at first arousing, and then you realize that the most common options - to "rest", "heroes", "market", or "leave" - are similarly devoid of excitement. My goodness, there is even an option to "train" which gives you a chance to "try out new tactics" in a mock combat. I had a good laugh at this invitation to engage in another boring battle. Really?

    In summary, you'll get as much enjoyment out of this game by watching online trailers and youtube reviews as you will by playing. And save money as well.    … Expand
  72. RustyJames
    Jul 6, 2014
    1
    Really? I mean really? The video game community is getting insane more and more, praising such a bad game. They write the "game of the year" reviews, scores 10/10 in the Internet, advice it at the every meeting... etc.

    But i hope there is 10% of gamers, which have a good taste and still could determine what is the masterpiece, and what is the average game, which is overrated so much.    Really? I mean really? The video game community is getting insane more and more, praising such a bad game. They write the "game of the year" reviews, scores 10/10 in the Internet, advice it at the every meeting... etc.

    But i hope there is 10% of gamers, which have a good taste and still could determine what is the masterpiece, and what is the average game, which is overrated so much.

    Pros and cons? The art work is good, but not great, and together with pretty well sound they make a fake good impression, which throws sand in your eyes.
    Extremely bad story, which is full of nonsense, cliches, stupid and not interesting characters. The tons of dialogues are so long, bad and silly, that you don't have any emotional connection to the characters. The story "selections" are fake, despite of the developer's statements. Cut scenes are the worst part of game along with copy-paste battles, which doesn't make any sense to enjoy it. Gameplay looks like casual RPG, with no fresh or even good ideas, just upgrade a couple of skills, add some items to your heroes and look after the "caravan", which is useless.

    Don't buy this game, it's so overrated and overpriced, that makes some strange feelings about the whole game industry, which produces for example a better story in shooters, like the last Wolfenstein (seriously!), than in "indie game of mankind" - Banner Saga. I hope more people to have a better art taste and don't just look to some "game experts" silly opinions.    … Expand
  73. thedarklite123
    Jul 4, 2014
    3
    Nice art and music I guess,the rest of the game is dull and boring.Poor game-play , story and options. Do not waste your money on this overhyped garbage!
  74. rodericrinehart
    Jun 28, 2014
    8
    Good, but not great. Beautiful graphics, forgettable story, decent tactics. SCORE 81/100.

    It's no Fire Emblem Awakening, Final Fantasy Tactics, XCOM, or Advance Wars in terms of tactical depth. There just isn't the tactical depth of those games and there isn't enough variety of units to play with or against. There is no marriages or dynasties or unit interaction. It has a gritty and    Good, but not great. Beautiful graphics, forgettable story, decent tactics. SCORE 81/100.

    It's no Fire Emblem Awakening, Final Fantasy Tactics, XCOM, or Advance Wars in terms of tactical depth. There just isn't the tactical depth of those games and there isn't enough variety of units to play with or against. There is no marriages or dynasties or unit interaction.

    It has a gritty and dire story, but ultimately forgettable. It just didn't grip me. It needed spoken dialogue (it only has it occasionally as narration) much more often.

    It certainly isn't worth full price but probably is on sale if you like turn-based strategy. I love supporting Kickstarter games (I think 12 total, all have been worthy games and I don't regret a single one), and the fact it isn't as good as the big four turn-based strategy games ever (imo), isn't the worst thing in the world.    … Expand
  75. JonAM
    Jun 21, 2014
    10
    This is a clever mixing of tactic RPG, fantastic novel of the kind of "choose your own adventure" and an extremely simple resource management system. It is set in a world with ingredients of nordic mythology where there are 3 races: humans, varls (some kind of "giants" with horns) and dredges (creatures with mechanical appearance).

    The main development team was composed of 3 people and    This is a clever mixing of tactic RPG, fantastic novel of the kind of "choose your own adventure" and an extremely simple resource management system. It is set in a world with ingredients of nordic mythology where there are 3 races: humans, varls (some kind of "giants" with horns) and dredges (creatures with mechanical appearance).

    The main development team was composed of 3 people and the game got ahead thanks to a kickstarter campaing. The lack of resources can be appreciated in many aspects, although most of the time it is graciously disguised. The game experience is like reading a book where you'll be asked many times what decision to take. Some of these decisions are resolved automatically with more text, but others will take you to a tactic combat scene.

    If you are able to get over the impression that you have bought a game 8 years old (dialogues have no voice acting and they just show you a beautiful image of a character that blinks from time to time), you'll enjoy a great story worthy of being compared to Game of Thrones for its depth and quality of characters.

    The soundtrack has been composed by Austin Wintory, "Journey", I don't need to say more :-)    … Expand
  76. Dejakritz
    Jun 20, 2014
    4
    The Banner Saga is an excellent, well-narrated cartoon with pretty animations and an interesting plot in a "Choose your own adventure" format. Unfortunately, I am writing a review for something that is supposed to be a game. The Banner Saga is not a game. It is as simple as that.
  77. mariadog
    May 26, 2014
    10
    This is a great game; reminded me of many of the tactics games that I used to love on play station and pc. If you like these types of games, this one is as good as any. The artwork graphics is amazing and the storyline is solid
  78. artnat
    May 26, 2014
    8
    Banner Saga - where Heroes of Might and Magic meet Oregon Trail and the Walking Dead.

    The Walking Dead - the story - we follow a story of a couple of characters which interact with the people they meet - both in the caravan they lead and in places of interest they visit through their journey. Many of the dialog options allow us to act towards people in different ways - sometimes to be    Banner Saga - where Heroes of Might and Magic meet Oregon Trail and the Walking Dead.

    The Walking Dead - the story - we follow a story of a couple of characters which interact with the people they meet - both in the caravan they lead and in places of interest they visit through their journey. Many of the dialog options allow us to act towards people in different ways - sometimes to be mean, sometimes to be happy. This has some bearing on the story (although this does not create such strong an illusion of choice as in TWD). Other than that you may want to read walls of text in map section as that is the only thing the map is good for although to be honest - I would much prefer an alphabetical list of lands beside the map as it is really hard to find our about things. And I do not care very much about flavor text (not after the infinite amounts of audiologs in most modern shooters since f.e.a.r)

    Oregon Trail - the caravan we lead is like the wagons in Oregon trail - you have to constantly make choices during random events, you have to manage supplies and gold (here known as Renown through which which you can either upgrade your characters that you will use during fights, buy items or supplies). Each of your actions has an impact on the morale as on the number of people in your caravan.

    HOMM - the tactical part remind me of two last installments of HOMM - the square board to be precise and ability to use unit special moves. Other than that it's mixed with some Magic: The Gathering - your character has two numbers - armor - which weakens damage other unit might do to your unit and strength - representing both hit points and strength (the damage you inflict). This results in some weird gameplay where you have to balance either attacking armor to do damage in future and making actual damage to the HP which in turn make the enemies weaker. It's not easy task even on the lowest difficulty.

    All of this is given in a vector graphics 2D form which, astonishingly, suffer from low FPS (modern computers still have problem with vector graphics). Overall the graphic style reminds me of old Corel Draw cliparts - which is a good nostalgia building thing I guess. Other than that I like the soundtrack which comprises of some good nordic-style tunes. What the games lack, however, is voice acting - it is non-existent - there ware a few words in the intro and that's it. All the dialogs are mute which is a real shame.

    Ii is certainly not a 10/10 game - it is not that kind of game. I would say it is a strong 8.    … Expand
  79. HenryDane
    May 24, 2014
    5
    Really fun game but BE WARNED! There is no saving during battle or in between battle phases and crashes can happen directly after a fight when you win, making you replay the entire thing over. This happened to me on the final boss (who is a real pain and a half, not to mention thoroughly plain as far as final battles go) and I would have happily given this game a 10 but the crashes areReally fun game but BE WARNED! There is no saving during battle or in between battle phases and crashes can happen directly after a fight when you win, making you replay the entire thing over. This happened to me on the final boss (who is a real pain and a half, not to mention thoroughly plain as far as final battles go) and I would have happily given this game a 10 but the crashes are INEXCUSABLE, especially right after a fight that takes easily 30-45 min a TRY!!!… Expand
  80. Digitalkid
    Apr 21, 2014
    5
    Guess all those high scores are because BS looks awesome for an indy game, but what a torture it just was!.. Dialogs in a bottom of a screen, when you see perfectly painted character fullscreen and a smallest line showing who's talking now, and it's some other guy. And your sight jumping from picture to one small line of text and then to another, thying to fix whole picture. HOW can youGuess all those high scores are because BS looks awesome for an indy game, but what a torture it just was!.. Dialogs in a bottom of a screen, when you see perfectly painted character fullscreen and a smallest line showing who's talking now, and it's some other guy. And your sight jumping from picture to one small line of text and then to another, thying to fix whole picture. HOW can you hit armour without damaging one who'd wearing it? Was it platformer-like view, of a 2d top-down map view? For 15 minutes i've just seen tons of text jumping on me from all sides of the screen. Seems like game designer just hates people, while still work of artists and animators is awesome. Sure I'll give it one more try, just need to heal my eyes a bit.… Expand
  81. MigRib
    Apr 16, 2014
    3
    This is not a role playing game. There is no role playing involved in it. People should realise that the fact that there are characters with helmets and swords doesn't make a role playing game out of it. It's a tactical combat game. As such, the visuals are good, I like the aesthetical concept. The story could be interesting enough if explored in a role playing game (as it is supposed toThis is not a role playing game. There is no role playing involved in it. People should realise that the fact that there are characters with helmets and swords doesn't make a role playing game out of it. It's a tactical combat game. As such, the visuals are good, I like the aesthetical concept. The story could be interesting enough if explored in a role playing game (as it is supposed to be). In the context of a tactical game, I don't care about this narrative. The lack of voice acting is not compensated by the sound score.… Expand
  82. iseeall
    Apr 8, 2014
    6
    This game has an interesting TBS mechanics, but at the same time has major faults and ends up a mediocre broken game at best.

    First, the tutorial battles push too much info on the player, leaving you confused. I had to re-start the game 3 times until finally I understood how combat works. Second, there are multiple problems with game controls. There is no "undo" command, so if you do    This game has an interesting TBS mechanics, but at the same time has major faults and ends up a mediocre broken game at best.

    First, the tutorial battles push too much info on the player, leaving you confused. I had to re-start the game 3 times until finally I understood how combat works.

    Second, there are multiple problems with game controls. There is no "undo" command, so if you do something wrong because you didn't know the rules (e.g. nowhere it's said that "tempest" attack also damages allies), there is no obvious way to replay or reload. The field is scrolled in tablet-style (dragging) and not by pushing the cursor to the edge of the screen. The whole battlefield get cluttered already in the second battle because the units are drawn using fixed-angle isometric 2.5D and overlap. The option to hide banners doesn't really help it. Mouse-over just doesn't exist here, and it would be much easier to play if there were handy tooltips like in Rome Total War 2, for example. But well, obviously the game was designed for tablets. So all hardcore gamers (like myself) have got a clumsy port from iPad or something. Not really fair for the asked $20+ price.

    The third major issue of the game is that the texts were written without any regard to the fact that there will also be non-native speakers (like myself) playing this game. In the first city I found myself failing to understand many of those low-frequency adjectives scattered around almost every phrase. Maybe the writer wanted to show off, but the result is that the text is hard to read (I suppose, even to native-speakers), it looks unnecessarily complex. Combine that with the pile of fantasy-themed names most of which you will see for the first time, and you have an mess of crap which you hardly have desire to dig thru. Even the voice-overs were done with such heavy accent (is it Swedish accent?) that I had to strain myself to understand what they were saying. Btw I'm not that bad in English. I read Fallout 2 texts easily as well as Baldur's Gate's texts, and watch piles of US movies in English without any problems. The runic font used on the map is hard to read, too.

    The forth issue is with graphics. The drawings of the characters in the cutscenes look strikingly worse that the smooth backgrounds.

    On the plus side, the music and sounds are excellent, as well as backgrounds. What this game needs is an overhaul of the controls with more regard to desktop users. Also, someone should go thru all those piles of text you have there, make shorter sentences and replace low-frequency words with normal, high-frequency synonyms. At its current state, the game isn't worth the money and is no fun to play.    … Expand
  83. riley794
    Mar 26, 2014
    6
    This game proves once again that just like with movies tragedies are overrated. Don't get me wrong it is a fun little game but merely having a tragic story does mean a game deserves high marks.

    Pros: Great plot, dynamic story that changes based on your decisions, 4 + decisions to every situation, simple but fun strategic combat system, simple character skill tree and item equipment    This game proves once again that just like with movies tragedies are overrated. Don't get me wrong it is a fun little game but merely having a tragic story does mean a game deserves high marks.

    Pros: Great plot, dynamic story that changes based on your decisions, 4 + decisions to every situation, simple but fun strategic combat system, simple character skill tree and item equipment options, tense moments as you are forced to decide between upgrading your characters or buying food to feed your people.

    Cons: To be continued ending (this is getting old), imagine getting a great 10 chapter book but then having it taken away after the first chapter ends, depressing game (if you like getting punched in the stomach or getting kicked in the groin repeatedly then put this in the Pros section).

    $5    … Expand
  84. naus
    Mar 24, 2014
    9
    A charming and thoughtful little game. Emphasis on story, and decision-making although I found the combat quite enjoyable too. Not quite like anything I have played before, and a definite recommend.
  85. The_Magnificent
    Mar 24, 2014
    3
    Oh dear oh dear ..... this game is like a surprising egg without the surprise! If you are having trouble falling asleep, this game might be for you. Looking at the same boring (but cool, at first) arts the whole time, no character or story development at all. Bored the crap out of me and i tried hard to like this game.

    You must have very low standards to give this game a high score.
  86. Seriousmite
    Mar 19, 2014
    6
    Due to several design flaws, what could have been one of the greatest strategy rpg's of all time is instead not quite playable. The graphics and sound are both amazing. The vikings theme mixed with beautiful, classic Disney animation styled characters and unique, stylized backdrops make for an incredible experience...at least at first. Unfortunately after a few hours several criticalDue to several design flaws, what could have been one of the greatest strategy rpg's of all time is instead not quite playable. The graphics and sound are both amazing. The vikings theme mixed with beautiful, classic Disney animation styled characters and unique, stylized backdrops make for an incredible experience...at least at first. Unfortunately after a few hours several critical design flaws start to become apparent.

    The core of the battle system is solid, centering around a unique strength versus armor mechanic which in itself is very fun. The problems I have with the game, however, all concern things that happen outside the battles.

    There is lack of real customability, not just in the development of your characters, but also in having any ability to choose which characters to use at any given time. The story shuffles back and forth between character groups and at certain points the game sticks you with a new group . Outside of battle I never feel like I have any real control.

    You never seem to get to really build a customized party of your choice and often when you've found a nice solid character that you like, you'll be presented with a series of dialog options after a battle and upon choosing the wrong one, the game will seemingly arbitrarily kill the character off. This is extremely frustrating, not just because the choices presented give you no real sense of what the results will be (you often feel like you're rolling dice to see who dies), but even more infuriatingly, the game is built on a secretive auto-save system that makes going back and retrying your choices almost impossible.

    When you reach certain invisible points the game will secretly save and then delete all your saves going back several hours. There's no choosing when to save and there's no saving mid battle. The only way to tell when the game has saved is to bring up the load menu and check the time of the last save. The designers clearly want the player to keep playing and then live with their choices and failures. This style of play may work for some, but I'm something of a perfectionist and it just frustrates me.

    Another problem I have is with the way characters level up. Characters are rewarded with renown points after each kill and once a character has enough kills, they'll be ready for promotion. The problem is you have to spend renown points to complete the level up process and I find I only ever have enough points to level up one out of every four or so characters who are ready for a promotion. These points are also used to purchase supplies and equipment, but given how little there are for leveling up, using them for this purpose always seems foolish. Adding to this frustration is that often I'll spend almost all my points from one battle to level up a character only to have that character randomly die 15 minutes later when I choose the wrong dialog options. Also, points toward promotion are only awarded for kills making offensive characters far easier to level up than defensive ones.

    So despite such a solid battle system and beautiful artwork, I find this game more frustrating than fun.    … Expand
  87. paranoid77
    Mar 17, 2014
    7
    If you are familiar with these type of games; you will learn the gameplay in 30 mins, you will like it as you play for 2 hours, but you will be disappointed after 8 - 10 hours of play because the game will over.It is too short but there is a dillema that if this game will be longer this time it will be boring(repeated playing).
    General; Graphics 9, Gameplay 8, AI 7, Stickness 5. If you    If you are familiar with these type of games; you will learn the gameplay in 30 mins, you will like it as you play for 2 hours, but you will be disappointed after 8 - 10 hours of play because the game will over.It is too short but there is a dillema that if this game will be longer this time it will be boring(repeated playing).
    General; Graphics 9, Gameplay 8, AI 7, Stickness 5. If you like to spend 10 hour of fun then buy this one, if not,be sure you wont miss anything.    … Expand
  88. nocturnal001
    Mar 17, 2014
    3
    A game shouldn't take longer to download than to complete. Right off the bat that is the biggest problem here. I don't expect every game to be Skyrim in terms of length,but for $50 I expect some decent playtime.

    By the time I started really getting into the game it was over. Aside from that major flaw there are other things that I was generally disappointed by. The actual play is fine    A game shouldn't take longer to download than to complete. Right off the bat that is the biggest problem here. I don't expect every game to be Skyrim in terms of length,but for $50 I expect some decent playtime.

    By the time I started really getting into the game it was over. Aside from that major flaw there are other things that I was generally disappointed by. The actual play is fine and I enjoyed the seemingly important decisions but the variety of characters is pathetic. Basically you have archers, small guy with sword, and big guys with swords who either are better at using a shield or hammering enemies. Towards the end of the game you get a single magic user. That's it. Anyone that has played a good tactical RPG just has to be disappointed by that. Look at shining force or final fantasy tactics. A huge variance between character classes with benefits and costs to each.

    On to the enemies, surely a game set in Norse mythology would be rich in bad guys? Nope. Instead we get black robot guy with high armor, bigger black robot guy with high armor, and black robot archer. Again, that's it? Every battle consisted of "ok hit them a few times to lower their armor, then attack".

    I really wanted to like this game and I think if it had been 5x longer with an evolution of fighters and enemies I would have loved it. It's almost like we got a long demo and not a full game. I rarely feel ripped off from a game purchase but this fits the boot for me. I'll pass on whatever game they make next.    … Expand
  89. mikerolf1
    Mar 13, 2014
    6
    On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give this game a 6. Would be 8 or 9 if not for all the bugs.

    Pros: Unique visual style, cool animations. Tactical combat is fun and challenging. Compelling story with interesting characters. Price is reasonable. Cons: Very short; you can finish in a few hours. Lots of minor but annoying bugs. One almost game-breaking bug in the final boss fight. The game    On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give this game a 6. Would be 8 or 9 if not for all the bugs.

    Pros: Unique visual style, cool animations. Tactical combat is fun and challenging. Compelling story with interesting characters. Price is reasonable.

    Cons: Very short; you can finish in a few hours. Lots of minor but annoying bugs. One almost game-breaking bug in the final boss fight. The game has been patched many times since release; some bugs have been fixed, but many have not been fixed. That means this is unfinished software, so if you buy it you are paying for the privilege of being a Beta tester.

    Nevertheless, the game is good fun, so I am recommending it... barely. Just be aware of both the Pros and the Cons. Make an informed choice.    … Expand
  90. beene
    Mar 13, 2014
    5
    The artwork of the game is not only unique but lovely. The problem with the game is the actual game play itself, as far as that is concerned it falls on its face pretty hard. Plane, lackluster and quite honestly just bad is how I would describe the game play of this turn based RPG. There is so little to it and managing your units along with your travels almost seem like an afterthoughtThe artwork of the game is not only unique but lovely. The problem with the game is the actual game play itself, as far as that is concerned it falls on its face pretty hard. Plane, lackluster and quite honestly just bad is how I would describe the game play of this turn based RPG. There is so little to it and managing your units along with your travels almost seem like an afterthought to the artwork, there are also multiple problems with the food and currency system that make it seem not well thought out. The story also ends rather abruptly too. So to recap, the art is good the rest is bad.… Expand
  91. LeonidasRex
    Mar 9, 2014
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I wanted to like this game. I should have liked this game. But it wasn't much fun.

    I like indies. I like vikings. I like turn-based tactical games. I like deep worlds. I like the art style. All the pieces were right, but they didn't come together into an enjoyable game experience.

    The story violated most of the basic rules of narrative structure. It jumped back and forth between two groups of characters without any sense of how they were connected. I didn't know which characters I was supposed to identify with or care about. Nobody had a character arc. Nobody was on a hero's journey. One character unavoidably lost an arm, while another died at the end. I didn't care. There's a villain to fight at the end, but we never saw much of him or learned much about him. The plot is full of loose threads and unexplained ****

    The devs spent a lot of time on the world map, which was full of elaborate history and descriptions. But the map was slow to load, and it had no impact whatsoever on the gameplay. The game runs on rails. The few times you get an illusion of choice on where to go, the map isn't available to help you decide.

    The Oregon-Trail aspect of the game is a trap for the unwary. You must choose between spending limited points on better stats for your fighters and food for your mass of followers. Metacritic reviewers report that feeding your followers has no impact on the game's outcome. You can apparently let your followers starve and finish the game just fine.

    This game's main strength is the turn-based tactics system, which is distinctive but not very deep. The combat is not tied to any underlying reality. It's not simulating anything. For example, you can attack someone's health, which reduces their ability to do damage and brings them closer to death. Or you can attack their armor, which means that subsequent attacks can do more damage to their health. I couldn't imagine how a warrior could swing a sword one way to break armor, then a different way to damage health. I got no immersion from the combat system. It was just a logic puzzle to be solved. And the final battle is stupidly difficult on normal. I didn't bother finishing it.

    The art is truly beautiful. Kudos to the artist. I didn't mind the many walking scenes that were designed to emphasize the smallness of the characters against the vastness of the wilderness. When the world began to literally fall apart, I felt the loss of beauty. If you don't slow down to enjoy the art, you're missing the best part of the game.    … Expand
  92. melekeddine
    Mar 8, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The banner saga is not a bad game.i enjoyed playing the game although i was never been able to finish it because of the last battle i tried many times yet all there was is failure.
    The good : the game soundtrack and the artwork were amazing,the fights were actually pretty good and i was impressed by all strategies you could make .
    Now the bad :the story started pretty slow and most of the time i was reading texts and choosing random answers.The game says that you can choose your destiny but all i saw was answers that lead to the same result********spoiler:for example onef betrayal left me in frustration and rage*******.the game difficulty was pretty good until i reached the end of the game where i was left helpless against the enemy(and why the **** must alette join the fight???)

    IN the end the game is pretty good but as you progress through the game you just start hating the game!!!    … Expand
  93. thor311
    Mar 7, 2014
    1
    the only reason this game is not getting a 0 is because of the art. that aside. WHAT A RIP OFF! in the first part of the game you show the player this big map with all this info on it. but you don't go to any of it! WTF! also the game ends right after it just starts to get going. what the **** where is the rest of the game! you cheap sons of **** don't show off a sick world if you can'tthe only reason this game is not getting a 0 is because of the art. that aside. WHAT A RIP OFF! in the first part of the game you show the player this big map with all this info on it. but you don't go to any of it! WTF! also the game ends right after it just starts to get going. what the **** where is the rest of the game! you cheap sons of **** don't show off a sick world if you can't go to any of it! its just a big cock tease! no random events= no replay = waste of money!… Expand
  94. At_Twenty_Paces
    Mar 5, 2014
    9
    This is quite simply the most beautiful game I have ever played... Visually sublime and hauntingly scored. Now about 40% of the way through the story, the biggest problem I have with the game is the fact that it will end! A 9/10 because nothing is perfect.
  95. Turambar
    Mar 1, 2014
    9
    This is a great game, and a real breath of fresh air for the RPG genre, which arguably has been pretty stagnant for a while now. The Banner Saga boasts well crafted and fun gameplay to go along with an engaging story filled with a large cast of interesting characters, but the real jewel for me is the setting itself, and the way it's presented. The artwork, as most reviewers have pointedThis is a great game, and a real breath of fresh air for the RPG genre, which arguably has been pretty stagnant for a while now. The Banner Saga boasts well crafted and fun gameplay to go along with an engaging story filled with a large cast of interesting characters, but the real jewel for me is the setting itself, and the way it's presented. The artwork, as most reviewers have pointed out, is just outstanding, and it really enhances the aesthetic of an already unique and deep world.

    Gameplay: The gameplay could I guess be divided into three broad areas: the combat system, the caravan system, and the character advancement system, which sort of straddles the border between the other two systems.

    The combat system is rather simple, but very elegant in its design. It's the sort of system whose simplicity makes it easy to learn, but I feel like the more discerning gamers will note that there is a level of subtle tactics, which is not so easy to master, which can really enhance your effectiveness. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the combat is excellent, but it more than serves its purpose, and it kept me entertained.

    The caravan system is arguably the more essential part of the game. Throughout the game, the player is responsible for looking after a caravan of his clansmen. You're constantly making decisions, whether they be in the form of random events that pop up along the road and demand your attention, or in the form of making decisions regarding whether to spend your renown on supplies to keep your people alive, or equipment and level ups for your characters to make combat easier. There's a keen feeling of desperation, survival, and leadership, and I think it's a real key to what makes the game so cool.

    Finally, there's the character advancement system, which to me is one of the most vital parts of any rpg. Sadly, I think The Banner Saga is just a little bit lacking in this area. Your ability to advance your characters is constantly being hamstrung by the supply demands of your caravan. Yes, this does contribute to the survival aspect of the game, and I understand why the devs decided to design it this way, but it is a frustrating tradeoff for someone who really enjoys building and customizing his party. Still, the character advancement is much better than what you would find in many rpgs, so I was able to get over my quibbles.

    Story/Setting: This is where the game really starts to shine. I've played a pretty decent number of video games, especially of the fantasy rpg variety, but I was really caught off guard by the feel of this world. Early on in the game, you get access to the world map, and it is riddled with clickable landmarks (cities, mountain ranges, regions... all sorts of stuff, really) which each have neat little tidbits of lore. After spending just a little while reading the lore, I could tell that this was a really deep and well crafted setting, very unlike your typical Forgotten Realms esque high fantasy world. You really feel like you've been transported to a pre-Christian world of nordic mythic, and you get caught up in some pretty fascinating events of pretty epic proportion. A lot of the characters are also pretty neat, though you don't really get to know any of them extremely well, as you're too busy managing things.

    As I understand it, this is just the first chapter of a planned trilogy, and I'm very eagerly awaiting a chance to see what happens next.

    Presentation: While the story and setting certainly stand out from the crowd, I think that the look and feel of the game is truly one of a kind. The character art is beautiful. The cinematic backdrops that your caravan travels through are breathtaking. The music rules. I've really never experienced anything like it. Watching your caravan wearily journey through this lovingly created world is just awesome. It's hard to describe. You've got to try it for yourself.

    Conclusion: What a wonderful game. In the midst of all the gaudy, big budget, mass produced AAA titles, it would be easy to convince yourself that the future of gaming is bleak, but games like this renew my confidence in the industry. I'm so excited to see the next batch of kickstarter games, and of course the other two games in this trilogy. If you're as eager to see the progress of video games as a medium of storytelling as I am, and if you're the sort of person who can appreciate subtlety and art, you should try this game.    … Expand
  96. omnirusted
    Feb 28, 2014
    2
    Deciding whether or not to buy this game? Take my advice:

    Don't. See, saved you a lot of time, didn't I? Like certain characters, so you level them a lot? Rest assured, the game is going to take them away in the storyline in arbitrary ways you had little to no control over and absolutely no warning about. Enjoy turn based strategy? I hope you also enjoy the main villain of the    Deciding whether or not to buy this game? Take my advice:

    Don't.

    See, saved you a lot of time, didn't I?

    Like certain characters, so you level them a lot? Rest assured, the game is going to take them away in the storyline in arbitrary ways you had little to no control over and absolutely no warning about.

    Enjoy turn based strategy? I hope you also enjoy the main villain of the game always being way more powerful than you and killing one of your men with every shot, while regenerating way more than you can damage in a single turn.

    Enjoy troop and supply management? Don't worry, the same resource you use to buy supplies for your troops is also the resource you use to upgrade your main fighters, so either you have a good fighting group or your people are always starving!

    Appreciate a well thought out storyline, setting, and characters? Don't worry, the game is only about 4 hours long (most of which is spent waiting for the next uncontrollable event to happen), after which you're more than welcome to buy the dozens of DLC's they're sure to come out with soon!    … Expand
  97. Boobaloo
    Feb 26, 2014
    10
    Not much to be said after all the reviews posted here.
    All I can say is that this is a unique game, with a fantastic setting and Lore, where you feel the helplesseness of a catastrophe that has descended on the land
    Few games can capture the despair the way this one does.
    10/10 for this unique game, the only slight is it´s lengh.
  98. Kolox
    Feb 24, 2014
    5
    While the setting and overall idea is ingenious, I felt the story of the game didn't do it justice as it felt shallow and rushed. Perhaps I simply had too great of expectations from the story, as it ended up feeling like a storyline from older Final Fantasy games - big evil comes, engulfs the world, got to find someone who can stop it and there is a lot of sacrifice on the way.

    The    While the setting and overall idea is ingenious, I felt the story of the game didn't do it justice as it felt shallow and rushed. Perhaps I simply had too great of expectations from the story, as it ended up feeling like a storyline from older Final Fantasy games - big evil comes, engulfs the world, got to find someone who can stop it and there is a lot of sacrifice on the way.

    The gameplay was most problematic at first - at the beginning, I liked both difficulty and variety of character skills..until the variety died out, and each anoher battle felt exactly the same. The experience-per-kill system later on forced me to only use characters that I have leveled up, instead of using interesting combinations.

    But my biggest issue is with the savegame system. A player can only save if he stops for a camp - it was probably done so people wouldn't save during battles and before making decisions, but people have lives and they sometimes can't finish a battle because they need to go somewhere or are simply tired - so a 20 minute fight has to be suddenly started over because I can't save. And those battles are long because the animations take a bit of time.

    All in all, I have a rather mixed feelings about the game - its not a game I would recommend to anyone, but at the same time, I'm far from calling it 'bad'.    … Expand
  99. OneVoice
    Feb 22, 2014
    9
    If your in the mood to really play a game, you'll probably have mediocre to upper-mediocre feelings about this game. If your in the mood to sink into a story in the form of a game, then it is hard to get much better than The Banner Saga.
    For me, the essence of this game is the story, once it pulls you in, it keeps you right at the heart of it. I felt a sense of pressure with every    If your in the mood to really play a game, you'll probably have mediocre to upper-mediocre feelings about this game. If your in the mood to sink into a story in the form of a game, then it is hard to get much better than The Banner Saga.
    For me, the essence of this game is the story, once it pulls you in, it keeps you right at the heart of it. I felt a sense of pressure with every decision I had to make, and really felt like my decisions had gravity in the plot's progression. It almost felt like I was creating my own story. I can't think of any game I've ever played where I put so much consideration into every choice, internally weighing the pros and cons of various options. This is the highlight of the game for me. It's like an epic choose-your-own adventure role play story that happens to be interspersed with a strategy game-play experience.

    That being said, the other aspects of the game were not as spectacular, though still solidly good. The turn-based grid-style strategy battles were fun, though not amazing. I never really wanted to play this game for more than an hour or two at one sitting because of the repetitive nature of the battles. The character developed in a gaming sense was not particularly well developed either, but this only slightly detracted from my actual enjoyment of the game. By the time the ending credits were rolling, I was right there, living in this mythological fantasy nordic world, and I am eager to sink right back into that realm once the second part of the trilogy is released.

    This is a game that, though it shares a lot of game-play elements that are relatively common, the overall experience of the game is unlike anything else out there. It's the kind of game that should be played by anyone who loves and appreciates the art of the video game. And for anyone who loves reading a good fantasy novel.    … Expand
  100. No_Cookies_Here
    Feb 21, 2014
    0
    The graphics are cool, but did not keep the promise for a good game. I gave up to play after 20minutes being bored. I never knew who i am etc, worst game ever. Begins with butchering some people, then a dialogue about helping and then the next fight. Who am I ? Who do I fight ? Would help for immersiveness. I ask me how it can get so good reviews, I am really astonished.
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Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Best PC Game of 2014
35
#35 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
51
#51 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 74 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 74
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 74
  3. Negative: 0 out of 74
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    May 11, 2014
    85
    Banner Saga is a fine - but towards the end a bit repetitive - turn-based viking adventure. [Feb 2014]
  2. games(TM)
    Mar 12, 2014
    80
    It's an outstanding start for a trilogy, and one that we can't wait to see to its end. [Issue#145, p.116]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Mar 9, 2014
    80
    A fantastic combination of fantasy storytelling and RPG tactics. One hell of a debut from Stoic. [Apr 2014, p.62]
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