Banner Saga 2

Game key provided for free by developer

Although Banner Saga 2 may not bring much new in the gameplay front, a deeper and darker narrative for the series second entry is still a great game. Small additions flesh out parts of the experience and prepare players for an explosive finale. 

We join our heroes right after the first game with the ability to load in a previous save or completely change the final decision from the first game. I highly recommend importing a previous save file as I feel that will give your journey the most authentic feel. Having just come off the first game the constant tutorials of things I had plenty of experience with, got a bit tiresome in the beginning, though I do understand it's to help players jumping into the series at this entry. The reintroduction to characters with small blurbs about who they are and what their story is helped jog my terrible memory and were nice, though.

It was a bit odd starting off this game with an uplifting feeling. Caravan morale started high and my clansman, a new type of follower, were foraging lots of supplies...but as expected things got tough in the late game. Let's start talking about the new entries with the clansman. In addition to your fighters and Varl from the previous game, clansman are units that can't fight, but instead forage for supplies. This leads to a balance of fighters for battles ahead and clansmen for keeping up supplies to keep the caravan going. A small addition but a nice wrinkle to the formula.

A feature with said clansmen is the ability to turn them into fighters in the training tent. I didn't feel the need to do this more than the time they introduce the mechanic as I prefer a play style where I stock up on supplies and let my heroes fight in wars. The training tent is a much more fulfilling area this time around. Not only can you convert clansmen to fighter but you can also partake in challenges for your heroes which yield rewards. Having the tent be just a place to try out new fighters before, this small addition is a welcome sign for players wanting to test their skill that much more. 

Speaking of fighting, arenas are no longer plain squares or rectangles. The areas are more varied with gaps in terrain and obstacles to protect weaker units. There is also the occasional hazard such as fire that you have to avoid. Along with new terrain comes new objectives for winning. Previously, the goal was to kill all the enemy units and victory would be yours. Things are shaken up this time by having objectives such as clearing snow from a path to escape or killing a certain unit, making the rest flee. This was a welcome addition as it gives you the option to either rush a certain unit with your big guns or focus on fighting as less as possible. 

I felt a stronger connection to the story this time. Where the first game introduced you to the world, this game hits you with a dark and dire story. You learn more about the characters and their motives, as well as learning more about the foes that chase you. At one point in the game your map shows a large blackness showing the destruction that has become of the lands behind you. The darkness always feels closer then it looks. The bombastic soundtrack and eerie noises as you see the world being engulfed on the horizon is a horrifying sight. The terrifying dreams the secondary character, Bolverk experiences during the story hint at a larger role for him and his connections to...well, I'm not going to spoil it.

Banner Saga 2 is an absolute gem of a sequel and second act. The final scenes get you pumped for the finale where all the choices you've made so far will come to a conclusion. I have no doubt Banner Saga 3 will close the story on a strong note...I'm just a bit worried this story won't have a happy ending.

The Banner Saga

Game key provided for free by developer

Never before has a game filled me with so much dread and stress and still become one of the games I've had the funnest time with. The Banner Saga always makes you second guess yourself and ask if you're making the right choice. Something you feel may be best in the short term can come back to bite you and greatly impact your chance of survival. In a beautifully crafted world filled with sweeping vistas, large mountains, and interesting scenarios, you never know what is coming next or how you'll make it through.

From the moment the game begins you see a large caravan treading through a snowy landscape. Some of the first words you hear are "the gods are dead". The sense of uneasiness begins. As you enter your first town you find a coup of sorts taking place. You step in and learn of a larger threat coming from the north, the Dredge, a race of hulking monstrosities with no other mission in life then to destroy everything that stands in their path. As you leave the town you are tasked with escorting the human price to the Varl capital to form an alliance between human and Varl (a giant like race) kind. 

 

The story switches to a couple of heroes to the east. (In the first few chapters you follow two groups but eventually become one large caravan). A father, Rook and his daughter, Alette who are seen hiding from a pack of Dredge. Here you learn more about the turn based combat system. Every single attack in this game feels impactful. Each unit has an armor and stamina meter leading to more strategic battles. Should you break away armor on an enemy you'll be able to do more stamina damage to them. Stamina acts as both your health and how much damage you do. I found it fun in the later game to send my tankier units to the front line and smash away large chucks of stamina while my ranger characters sat in the back lines almost able to wipe out entire armor bars by themselves. 

After battles, you are rewarded with renown. This is used as to both promote your units and improve their stats and used as currency to purchase supplies. Supplies are essential on your trek across the world to escape from the Dredge as your caravan grows. During my time with the game and especially in the later parts I was constantly balancing whether I wanted a chance to keep my caravan well or keep my warriors up to snuff with their opponents. 

My absolute favorite part about this game is the constant need to make choices, even though I never feel like I made the right one. As I type this I still feel like I made the wrong final choice, though both options were impossible to feel 100% great about. Along your journey from town to town there could be four or five small choices that will affect you. These could be a decision of what to do with a troublemaker in the caravan or which path to take at a fork in the road. One example that really sticks out to me was when a cart full of supplies was hanging over a cliff that was being held back by one of my characters and a dredge. Without specifics of what I did, the cart ended up falling to the bottom of the cliff. I decided to leave the cart be as I felt hanging around the situation could be dangerous. After a few minutes had gone by I got word that someone in my caravan had been sending people back to recover the supplies lost from the cart. Had I made that choice at the time who knows what would have happened both then, and later down the road. 

When you make a choice or something outside of your control happens to the caravan your morale stat either declines or improves. After every in game day it decreases, along with some supplies. I found myself just barely scraping by with normal morale and supplies towards the last few towns. Morale effects your will in battle, used to give your characters either more movement or extra attack power. It was more than a meter for me though. After every time I saw "morale declined" when making a choice it made me worry more about the next choice I would have to make and how it was going to affect those that have put their trust in me to lead them away from impending doom. 

One of the best parts about The Banner Saga is that it's just the first part of a trilogy. A game has never stressed me out more but I cannot wait to experience the rest of what this world has to show me. A beautiful world, with characters you care about, and a fantastic combat system lead to a game I could not put down. Those not fans of tactical turn based games should look past that just to experience a gripping narrative filled with impactful choices. I look forward to diving into The Banner Saga 2 right away so that when the finale of the trilogy releases next month I'll be all caught up and see how my choices impact the final story. The Banner Saga is an absolute masterpiece.