The Banner Saga 3

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 44 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 44
  3. Negative: 7 out of 44

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  1. Lvl8Landlord
    Jul 29, 2018
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I love The Banner Saga; and that’s why I’m disappointed with the third part of the trilogy.

    This will be more of a criticism than a review because I’ll be listing all the things that I disliked so everything that doesn't get mentioned is something I liked or thought was fine. I’m looking at this game as part of a trilogy, not as a standalone release.

    The combat gets more gimmicky and boring the higher you rank your characters. Why even focus on tactics? Just chop away some armor and let your criticals, exploits or even critical exploits do the rest; voila. I remember getting acquainted with archers and the passive puncture ability in part 1 and loved it. It made archers so much more interesting, especially with Bird of prey. But now why bother with them? Every character can get puncture now, simply put three points into it and equip an item to enhance the change for the exploit further. The higher the rank the less exciting it gets, you’re just raising the chance something will happen. It’s more gambling than strategy, just percentages and chance game play. It’s almost the opposite of Banner Saga 1 where, especially on Hard, equipping items had to be thought out to create the synergy needed to win. And while I’m on the subject of items; in 3 they are all lame. Not one item, be it bought, found or won in battle was interesting, again, mostly percentage for this, percentage for that.
    Combat ends up feeling cheap and somewhat dumb and that’s such a weird experience in a game series which started out being all about quality and detail in a very authentic way.

    Banner Saga 2 had some shocking reveals story wise, the kind of which were basically exempt in 3. Most of it we knew already, the extra lore was very minimal. No real surprises, very blend. The follow up from siding with Rugga is pretty much non existent; it takes 3 short events and you're right at how the story would play out anyway. If you’re not going to give a storyline the proper attention then just don't bother with it. The possible deaths of Rook/Alette felt very unnecessary and forced, it didn’t do those characters justice at all. It feels rushed and somewhat amateuristic.

    And then there is the final ‘battle’, which was short and not in any way hard. Bolverk didn’t have any new abilities despite being resurrected by green giant serpent spit (I personally don't have any experience with that but it seems like something that would have somewhat of an effect on you). He’s basically just another Varl that gets to hits twice. If you ever played survival mode this battle will feel trivial. It takes a few minutes and then boom; that's the end of Bolverk, one of the most prominent characters of the series.
    The ending is so abrupt and empty in general. Not even some simple cutscenes of how our hero’s lived on after the game. So many loose ends, so many characters that don’t get mentioned in any way. Alette and Ludin romance? Vognir’s death? Etc. How is it possible they would end a story driven game without a proper story ending? It’s Mass Effect 3 all over again. The half the earth ending is just weird, it implies that the serpent somehow deserves to get his way while we know it’s an entity created out of jealousy and spite.

    When I first heard about the kickstarter campaign (which ended up totaling over 400k) I got excited; more funds must mean more detail, more story, more everything. But it even sounds like they used the same voice actor for Iver in 3 as they did for Bolverk in 2?

    Banner Saga 2 was a step up from it's already great predecessor; this third and final installment is a step down from both 1 and 2, and it's a shame.    … Expand
  2. Kai82
    Oct 31, 2021
    7
    A satisfying conclusion to the saga but some bugs, cuts in gameplay and a bit of technical issues prevent a higher rating for me. Details see below. In short I am satisfied and a bit disappointed at the same time. This is the final game in the trilogy and as fan of both prequels. I was hyped for the conclusion. The story is starting shortly after the conclusion of the sequel. The survivorsA satisfying conclusion to the saga but some bugs, cuts in gameplay and a bit of technical issues prevent a higher rating for me. Details see below. In short I am satisfied and a bit disappointed at the same time. This is the final game in the trilogy and as fan of both prequels. I was hyped for the conclusion. The story is starting shortly after the conclusion of the sequel. The survivors are currently in Aberrang the capital, residence of the king and mages. Internal struggles and conflicts had lead to a standoff between different groups while the land is slowly but surly overflow by a dome of darkness that transforms all lifeforms inside into strange beings that attack others. The Dredge have meanwhile reached the outsides of the city too and starting attacks. A separated smaller group of heroes tries to undo the darkness by going to the place were all has begun. A strong set up. Sadly here came my first disappointment and an immense one. I could not fully import my save file from Banner Saga 2 which was also created by importing from Banner Saga 1. I had done such a good playthrough with much resources, artifacts, many survivors and not many hero causalities. My save-file lead instead to a strange case. I had a full rooster in one part and barley enough characters to succeed in the other part. This includes a character being present in both groups far away from each other. In hindsight I should have started a new playthrough without importing. The story itself is great. There are hard decisions, intense moments and decisions from the past can haunt you. Depending on your decisions and progress you will get multiple endings. Gameplay: It is a mixture of a strategic RPG and survival management. The mixture of this made a challenging gameplay with lot of hard decision. Also the art style, soundtrack and graphics are unique and enhance the immersion. Firstly the strategic RPG parts. It is turn based but not with a speed attribute. You are in control of up to 6 characters per battle. Each side has alternating turns no mater the numbers except one is down to the last man standing. Example you have 6 characters so after 12 turns it is your same characters turn again. When the enemy has 8 it will be 16 before the same characters turn. Be careful! This is dangerous when you have spared the most powerful enemies until the end. You have an armor and health rating. Health is also attack power and this is an interesting concept. Lets say attack power 9 against armor 7 with 10 health. This is 9-7 = 2 damage and with this health is 10-2= 8. The possible damage output is lowered from 10 to 8 for the damaged character. It gives depth and some tactical options. There is more to it with abilities, items, obstacles etc. The survival / travel elements are tuned down. You are barley traveling compared to both prequels. There are random and scripted events where you have to made decisions. Your decisions mostly have consequences and you can gain or lose heroes, food, moral and people too. It is a cruel situation and as leader you have to make harsh decisions or let others pay the price. You are the leader of the Clan of survivors and must care for them. In the prequel you had to value buying food versus promoting units as both cost the same resources called “Renown”. You get this for defeating enemies and certain decisions. Here there is no need to make decisions. Also no training battles that improved the sequel. This weakens the experience a bit. There are some new additions with titles that give additional benefits, new classes and items etc. It is a good game but weaker than both prequels for me. Then there are some technical problems. I cant remember complaining about loading times in a game review especially on PS4. Here the loading times are long enough that I could not ignore it. Often I thought the game crashed because it took so long. Also but this can be because of the save file characters were present in events while they were not in my party. Like in the prequel the graphics look even better than before. It looks hand drawn and the world is beautiful. I truly like the art work for the characters, cities and items. The soundtrack is also weaker than both prequels but still good. Overall this hits more than it misses. A good conclusion but also weaker in some regards. I give a 7/10 here and still defend this game against harsher criticism as it is still good.… Expand
  3. 34m2121
    Jul 4, 2023
    7
    Yine birebir aynı oyun olsada oyun sıkmıyor senaryo oynama isteğinizi arttırıyor, bu evrene yakışır bir son.

Awards & Rankings

68
#68 Best PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. Gamers Heroes
    Aug 23, 2018
    80
    The Banner Saga 3 puts a cap on a great trilogy with a fantastic ending.
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  2. PlaySense
    Aug 10, 2018
    75
    The third part of The Banner Saga feels more like a third chapter as opposed to an entirely new game. Nevertheless, the game is atmospheric, captivating and overall a lot of fun to play. Fans will enjoy themselves with this final part of The Banner Saga trilogy. Innovative features are lacking however, which is something you should be aware of if you've enjoyed previous iterations.
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  3. Jeuxvideo.com
    Aug 4, 2018
    80
    The Banner Saga 3 brings this amazing series to a close. As we had expected, Stoic Games delivers an epic ending: there’s so much mastery in each element of the game you couldn’t ask for a better way to say goodbye to the Saga.
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