The Banner Saga Q&A

Rather than go for something a bit meatier with a longer turnaround time, IndieRPGs.com's Craig Stern has opted for a two-question interview with Stoic's Alex Thomas about their newly announced viking-themed strategy/RPG, The Banner Saga.  Question two and its answer:
Second: you mentioned Shining Force and Final Fantasy Tactics (both personal favorites of mine) in your interview with Chris Priestman. I'm curious to know what you're pulling from these games. Since both feature speed-based turn order, I gather your game will as well. Any features off of this list that you don't mind sharing?

I'll be honest, I loved Final Fantasy Tactics as a kid but the game that made me want to be a game developer has always been Shining Force. What really appealed to me was that you had this huge cast of characters who weren't randomly generated and each had a unique look and backstory. I really cared about watching them become more powerful over time and the big sprite animations in combat made you feel like they were real characters instead of just little icons on the screen. What we're aiming for in The Banner Saga is to make each character in your party somebody you care about and root for. I can't say which exactly but one of our characters is even an homage to someone from Shining Force. Final Fantasy Tactics, on the other hand, was a much deeper strategy game. We think we've found a great place between the two that has a strong emphasis on strategy and a lot of room for character advancement. And yes, we will have initiative-based turn order.

As for the list of 12 way to improve turn-based combat, I can't give too much away but I can say we are doing the vast majority of those things.