The Banner Saga

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 128 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 85 out of 128
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 128
  3. Negative: 11 out of 128

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. GreenMachineG
    Jan 17, 2016
    7
    The Banner Saga has an amazing art style that reminded me of a classic disney-esque or 80's cartoon type style. The game is drawn beautifully. Dialogue is well done, and having choices is always a plus. XCOM-style strategy/tile turn-based combat is one of my favorite types of combat so that being in this game was a blast. The only knock on the combat is it didn't feature much in the way ofThe Banner Saga has an amazing art style that reminded me of a classic disney-esque or 80's cartoon type style. The game is drawn beautifully. Dialogue is well done, and having choices is always a plus. XCOM-style strategy/tile turn-based combat is one of my favorite types of combat so that being in this game was a blast. The only knock on the combat is it didn't feature much in the way of obstacles like XCOM, it was always just an open square where you had to just place your guys in the right places and hope you didn't get surrounded. This also made retreat almost useless, so really all you could do is line them up and smash each other until you won or lost. Great story though, and a truly solid game overall. I would recommend The Banner Saga to anyone interested in Norse mythology/history, or to anyone who is a fan of turn-based RPGs or strategy type games.

    7.8/10    … Expand
  2. 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
  3. zimmer600
    Aug 18, 2017
    6
    A game worthy of being called a work of art, thanks to the talent of artists who created this masterpiece in graphic terms. And let our way is not long - impressions about the visual part remain unforgettable. But the gameplay and presentation of the story is weak.
  4. aspentitan
    Aug 6, 2021
    7
    Let me start off by saying this is a decent game and one I'd actually recommend to purchase however it has some issues that distract from its full enjoyment. The first issue is that the game and its lore try to overachieve to the point it's confusing and distracting on a first playthrough. Part of my recommendation to purchase this game is because it has a ton of characters and each isLet me start off by saying this is a decent game and one I'd actually recommend to purchase however it has some issues that distract from its full enjoyment. The first issue is that the game and its lore try to overachieve to the point it's confusing and distracting on a first playthrough. Part of my recommendation to purchase this game is because it has a ton of characters and each is embedded within the games lore, but the way it is presented, by switching from different character perspectives is overwhelming to understand within an initial playthrough. I stopped halfway through my first playthrough to redo the game with the same choices so I could re-read and enjoy the story more and understand the characters better but there are just too many names and waypoint lore and in the end it just became blah, blah, blah. I lost interest repeating and rereading. It would have been wise to include an insert which would allow an overview of the game setting so you could understand the setting and characters much better while playing the game. The second issue goes hand in hand with some presentational choices. Reading text is wayyyyyy outdated and with this much dialog voicing should have supplemented the text you had to read. It was present in some cutscenes so really felt like the game was experiencing a software bug by way of audio dropping for the rest of the gameplay. The third issue I had was camera. It really needed to be able to rotate for a cleaner view of enemy and friendly stats. I made many mistakes of interpreting the battlefield because various animations, especially Varl (Giants in the game) hid or confused some areas of the in game map. This issue wasn't a huge mess but did impact my games enjoyment. Now that I've expanded upon these issues I'd like to say the rest of the game is extremely impressive. The amount of characters you can play and their unique skill sets are pretty amazing. For a small turn based game the game can get very tactical and rewarding. Despite not enjoying going thru games more than once I was very tempted to try the game again. Instead, you can import your characters into the next entry so that's where I'm heading and maybe someday I will replay the entire trilogy again with what I remember of it. One thing I would like to point out in my review is that most reviews were going gaga about the story and not going on much about the gameplay. I would say the gameplay is the strong point of this game but it will take the full trilogy playthrough to get enough action in to satisfy you. My first playthrough of this first saga really only felt like an introduction to the game before it was already over. The story left me really wanting to go back and learn what just happened better though so maybe that's what everyone is getting at. Overall a decent game I am a fan of the fire emblem games and although different this game has enough going for it to earn my interest in it's purchase and stand behind it. One other thing this is not a rts game as some reviews state it is a turn based strategy game. As you travel along the game requires choice/input to branch your story. If that's rts then I guess it helps explain why Candy Crush sued lol.… Expand
  5. DinoBeam
    Jun 27, 2020
    6
    really fun and unique combat, perfect art style, but oh god is it wayy wayy wayy too stressy, way too depressing
  6. hello_world
    Aug 4, 2019
    7
    The game has a distinctive art style and is by far the strongest part about the game. The combat system is simple, but has a lot of depth to it. You might be able to win the first few battles with much thought, but strategy becomes imperative very quickly, which is good for this style of game.

    The UI for ps4 is a little clunky though. You decide on the actions you want to take with the    The game has a distinctive art style and is by far the strongest part about the game. The combat system is simple, but has a lot of depth to it. You might be able to win the first few battles with much thought, but strategy becomes imperative very quickly, which is good for this style of game.

    The UI for ps4 is a little clunky though. You decide on the actions you want to take with the left analogue stick and pressing x, but this is an awkward system. There were times where I accidentally chose an action that I did not intend. I don't see why they couldn't use simple button prompts or the d-pad for choosing an action within a list of actions. Moving your units during the pre-battle placement is also more cumbersome than it should.

    There is also only one currency in the game that determines how much food and items you can buy and to upgrade your characters. However, this resource is quite scarce. This would be good to make the world seem harsh and the journey a struggle, but there is a lot of meaningful consequences for letting your people starve. They could make the punishment more harsh or create a more substantial benefit for keeping your people well fed to make this choice more compelling.    … Expand
  7. SKonung
    Nov 11, 2019
    6
    Не зацепило. Возможно, зайдёт любителям соответствующей мифологии.

Awards & Rankings

74
#74 Best PS4 Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Mar 7, 2016
    80
    Newly fashioned turn-by-turn combat elements, meaningful narrative choices and glorious bears make this Scandi strategy title an exciting breath of fresh air. [March 2016, p.94]
  2. The Digital Fix
    Feb 26, 2016
    80
    The Banner Saga can be unforgiving at times but it is worth all the effort.
    Read full review
  3. CGMagazine
    Feb 8, 2016
    80
    The Banner Saga's strong narrative, exquisite visual design and distinctive thematic approach to RPGs coupled with its insistence on making every decision and conversation have an impact on player experience make it a must-buy for Strategy-RPG fans.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »