Banner Saga review

Characters

Among these clan members is a collection of characters with their own compelling personalities and stories. Characters like Eyvind, Mender’s determined apprentice, or Oddlief, the fearless widower archer, play a significant role in the story. However, the roster looks slightly inflated due to the sketches of one-dimensional warriors, most of which I could only remember from the color of their beards.

I also wish the game had a better way to present its rich lore and depth of choice. I poured into The Banner Saga’s lovingly detailed and informative world map. However, I would have liked to have seen the same effort put into describing the characters’ backstories and relationships. Their short individual biographies weren’t enough to remind me who they were. Meanwhile, there is no chart that plots your decisions by showing you how you have reached your current situation. This is a shame, as your choices have a lot of influence on the progression of your personal saga.

Battles

The battles in The Banner Saga get the best qualities from strategy games. Like any strong voice in the genre, the combat scenarios are designed to encourage a thoughtful approach. In fact, the 24 playable characters are fun to experiment with. Helpful hints ensure that each skill can serve its maximized purpose in combat scenarios. In a genre that often favors hardcore, the combat mechanics in The Banner Saga they are finely tuned to appeal to a wide range of players.

The game uses a grid-based battlefield to stage the fighting between your unit of six warriors and the strength of the opponent. Each unit, including the enemy, has Strength and Armor stats. Strength serves as the character’s health and attack power. This can be used to drain an opponent’s Strength once their Armor points are below the attacker’s Strength.

Therefore, achieving victory is a tricky game to compare your characters’ stats to those of your enemies. It is vital to anticipate the best approach to setting deadly blows later in the skirmish. It’s a great high risk / high reward system. Additionally, the flexible willpower stat can strengthen attacks and movement. Additionally, the thoughtful use of each character’s special ability plays a huge role in determining the winner.