The Banner Saga

from Elemental Forums

Anyone else playing this?

I find it has a rather incredible atmosphere to it. You play as groups of humans / frost giants fleeing the end of the world. Part of the game is controlling your caravans as they travel in fairly linear paths across the vast snowy mountains. You make choices in pop-up events and cutscenes that affect how many of your guys survive, and if they get to eat tomorrow, and many other things. Sometimes you lead your closest men and women into tactical battles that have a surprising amount of depth and seems very finely tuned. The two parts are also fairly well linked together. They've managed to capture the doom and gloom of the whole scenario along with the ancient revenge-and-honor motives of the ancient Norse legendary sagas.

At 24 Euro I think it might be priced a bit high, I don't see myself playing it for more than 10-15 hours. The linearity obviously limits replayability quite a lot, even though the decisions you make does have impact the story overall flows in a general direction.

Edit: I should add that they intend to make two more games in this series if the first one is successful, with choices and characters carrying over from one to the next.

62,063 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

I played the multiplayer version that was available for free for a while on Steam - it just had the tactical battle parts. It was fun for a while - kind of chess like. I'd pick this up maybe once it goes on sale at some point. Does this release also still include the MP portion?

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Planning on getting it, probably will wait for a sale, as I've not got time to play it now anyway.  I'm not huge into Norse settings, but the game looks extremely well done, and I'm a sucker for tactical strategy titles.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Ekko_Tek, reply 1

I played the multiplayer version that was available for free for a while on Steam - it just had the tactical battle parts. It was fun for a while - kind of chess like. I'd pick this up maybe once it goes on sale at some point. Does this release also still include the MP portion?

No, but the MP version is still free on Steam. Although the Single Player has more classes and stuff.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

I'll go check it out.  Sounds like something I'd like.  Thanks for the tip.

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I've seen friend playing it, probably I'll get it, eventually, but definitely not now - my backlog is long enough already. :)

Plus, as Heavenfall said, I think price is a bit too high for ten hours game. I wonder if it is bEAware effect. :)

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Watched TotalBiscuits WTF is about it. Looks decent. Would get it for a euro sometime in the future.

 

I think they charge that much simply because they CAN. Their game is unique and the niche who likes that they've probably assumed are ready to pay the price.

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

If this one proves successful I wouldn't be surprised to see some packs or heavy discounts in the future as they continue the sagas. I personally don't see any point to playing it today (RIGHT NOW!) instead of in a year or two - the experience will be the same. But this is definitely a game that ought to be played.

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

I don't agree. The game is extremely railroaded and poorly balanced. It is a weaker, boring version of Expedition: Conquistador. 

It is fun first few hours until the novelty wears off, then you figure out how bad and empty this game is. It tries to play as some kind of survival game forcing you to make decisions between food, morale, renown and troops but if for instance you run out of food and people start dying in big numbers nothing really happens.... I even tried to get all my people to 0 and game continues and acts like you still have people. 

So badly balanced... I won all fights and made decent decisions (which btw, results of those decisions are completely random, you cannot make an informed decision on any of them) judging by the results and still near the end of the game I ran out of supply and renown. Then then game does not give you new way to get renown but offers you to buy supplies with renown it didn't offer you (?!?!?!?), and completely ignores that your people are dying in big numbers and that you travel around with 0 supplies for days. It still offers you events where people either steal your supply (which you have 0) or you get to choose to use up some of your non-existing supply to get other benefits (which of course you do). 

As I said, completely railroaded, 0 freedom game, even bad at illusion of choice. About half way where it kills again some of your characters that you invested shit load of renown to level in some completely random stupid event you completely stop caring and these later event that completely destroys the suspension of disbelief. 

If I was you, I would not touch this game with a ten foot pole. As some other people said, the glowing reviews this game got clearly shows the reviewers only played the game for 2-3 hours and didn't get over the novelty part..

The only real result of decision in the game that matters is the end of the game, where it punishes you by your troops not being able to kill the last boss due to lack of properly leveled troops and enough soldiers that survived the trip. So basically it does not let you even finish the game and you need to start over now with knowledge of what random choice results in what outcome and metagame the game to have fun... no thanks. I didn't even get to the end, I read this last part from others poor fools who didn't quit in time like me.