The Banner Saga Reviews
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Some more reviews for Stoic's newly released strategy/RPG crossbreed The Banner Saga have sprung up across the web, so it's time for another one of our usual round-ups.
The Verge doesn't score it:
The most striking thing about The Banner Saga is the way it looks the beautiful, hand drawn art looks ripped straight out of a classic cartoon, with animations that turn it into a truly wonderful spectacle. But there's much more to the game than just a pretty face. The streamlined combat is deeply satisfying, while the many decisions involved really make you feel invested in the outcome. You'll often feel bad as you play, wishing you had chosen a different path with a bit less bloodshed, but you'll never feel bored.
PCWorld gives it a 3.5/5:
Parts of The Banner Saga the art direction, the audio, the naturalistic dialogue are breathtaking. But the actual game in The Banner Saga doesn't live up to the promise of its epic setting. Not yet, anyway. Let's hope the next installment is more Homer and less Fievel Goes West.
PixelVolt gives it an 8.5/10:
The Banner Saga is an incredibly beautiful game, with hand drawn animations and backdrops adding magic to every location. The parallax scrolling, used brilliantly in the travel sequences, creates an illusion of 3D and makes the game's art even more special. Coupled with a powerful soundtrack, (created by Austin Wintory, who composed the music for Journey) The Banner Saga transports players to a wonderful world of Vikings and monsters. Where else would you want to be?
The Guardian gives it a 4/5:
However, the consequences to actions on the field feel less keen than they do off. If one of your troops falls in battle, they resuscitate as soon as it's finished, requiring only a few days "off" to recuperate to full health again. You cannot lose the key players in the drama on the battlefield, even if a few can be lost quite easily by making the wrong decisions elsewhere. This is, nevertheless, a game with a strong sense of place and the ambiance elevates it beyond the immediate competition. The illustrated 2D art is expressive, while Wintory's score is nothing short of extraordinary evocative, unusual and rousing. The designer Sid Meier famously said that a game is a series of interesting choices. It's a maxim fully embraced by The Banner Saga, which stitches those choices into its very fabric to form a tapestry that is wholly your own.
GameGrin gives it a 9/10:
Despite certain issues like a lack of real customisation beyond increasing the few stats of each character and adorning them with the odd item here and there, and spelling mistakes, The Banner Saga works really, really well. Combat won't be to everyone's tastes, but with XCOM: Enemy Unknown and the Fire Emblem series flying the flag for modern turn-based combat, a wider audience is now open to The Banner Saga, and I can fully recommend it. Hopefully, if The Banner Saga is a success (and I can see no reason why it wouldn't be), then the team at Stoic can fine-tune their magnificent accomplishment come the planned second and third instalments. With a Walking Dead style effort to remember decisions made and survivors from this episode planned, I foretell The Banner Saga will be a new big name in RPGs in coming years. A great accomplishment.
And Forbes gives it an 8.0/10:
As an audio-visual experience, The Banner Saga is hard to beat. Tough choices and an elegant combat system help make the game fun and engaging right up to the end. With a few tweaks to the resource management system and some real soul-searching on enemy variety, Stoic could have a really terrific game on their hands. They're not there yet, but they're on the right track.
