The Banner Saga
Aristillius
Member Posts: 873
in Off-Topic
Hello all, has anyone else tried the banner saga yet? I just started playing. And frankly.. It is amazing. Original take on making a meaningful Rp-game for adults. I think I read that it was made by some guys originally from Bioware? What are you guys' thoughts? Is this the new wine of Crpgs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIH0vS9AG4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIH0vS9AG4&feature=youtube_gdata_player 7
Comments
I was pleasantly surprised actually. This looks really different from most games I've seen. I rarely if ever play a non-Infinity Engine game or Super Smash Bros, but if I was to branch out now that I have much more free time, I'd actually be very interested in checking this out.
The art style is really different. I like the simplicity. I don't really like a lot of the newer games that try too hard with the graphics and end up looking silly.
Will check this one out further! Thanks Aristillus
No problem man, I figured this might hit it off among Bg fans! Especially how it is so story-driven and with meaningful choices. But Im curious, what made you think of the Hulk?
Yeah, I guess the style is one that you either love or you dont. I myself found it very refreshing and immersive - I especially liked the setting, the world seems very well made and interesting.
Often the player reviews in Steam can be worth taking a look at.
I recently finished it and I liked it a lot. The graphic style keeps you interested and the music is awesome.
The world itself is large and is a believable and immersive context for the plot. The main selling point for me was the story and dialogue. It was meaningful - and there were potentially huge implications depending on different decisions. The game is also geared towards no-reload, which means that you really consider each decision very carefully, but that there usually is a way to salvage even a hopeless situation. I also liked the "travel" mechanic, where I got really engrossed in getting enough food for my people: "I dont wanna starve!!!" "I have to save as many people as possible" hehe
The combat is turn based and very tactical, it is interesting and I liked the pacing. The combat, however, is the only (minor) negative I can think of in the game - because it can get slightly repetative once you figure out the important factors for winning a battle (such as exploting turn sequences and when to destroy destroying armor). On the whole though, I still found battle entertaining - especially setting up for massive attacks through several rounds.
In other words, I would highly recommend it.
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 events 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 your decisions in the game that matter 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 not 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.
Er.. I didnt metagame at all when I completed the game, I turned down the difficulty quite early though. And the decisions you make have a huge impact on how well your caravan does it and what heroes you have access to. But I guess the game plays quite a bit differently than many other games, and if you dont get into the mood of the game then maybe it is not such a fulfilling experience.
@Corvino
Have fun
Fair enough, though I didnt encounter any bugs - And luckily we dont have to agree on the quality of the game
It doesn't seem balanced but I'm not sure it's meant to. The best way to powergame it would probably be to fight at every opportunity and gain as much Renown as possible, but tht wouldn't fit with what we know of the characters.
I've had a couple of significant twists already, and it's shaping up to be a good story. The art and music are pretty spot-on too. It's sort of "What if Disney employed a bunch of norse-legend-obsessed nihilists". Good Times.
Yeah, its about the opposite of a free-roaming game. I agree with your descriptions. My point about decisions still stands though.
Glad to hear Im not the only one who enjoys the game
Seems like a pretty attempt at this style of games. If the story is good, the rest should follow. Ironicly I'm doing a run of the Shining Force series right now. Could be a good follow up, although I still have to do the second Tactics Ogre game too which is also in that vein. So many games, so little time. It's good being an hermit lol
But my biggest problem with the game is the rather steep gap between most combat encounters and the difficulty of the final boss.
I've played through twice now. The first time I tried to help as many people as possible, recruit everyone and try out all the character classes. I avoided combat where I could and tried as hard as possible to keep my caravan from starving by spending renown. For 99% of the game I got through combat just fine. There was a particular event where I lost a couple of characters I'd invested quite a bit of renown in levelling up. It was like reading a fairly epic graphic novel.
Then I ran into the final boss and he wiped the floor with me. My party was level 3-4 out of 5 and melee heavy, had missed quite a few high end items, hadn't been able to buy other items because I needed to feed my clansmen. I also didn't realise exactly how overpowered some archer units could be when used right. I had to turn the difficulty from normal to easy for the first time, which made it too easy.
The second playthrough was direct, fairly aggressive and informed by reading a number of combat tactics articles. Some peasants starved so the heroes could have shiny trinkets. My party had been built from day one with the final party in mind, no wasted renown. Everyone was level 5. This time I had 50% melee, 50% ranged. Every archer had Exertion and Armor Break stats maxed out. And the final boss dropped like a stone.
I was a little put out that a game that is normally narrative focused with combat as usually optional put such a stone wall of an end boss in. If the mechanics were a bit more obvious and there was a gradual increase in combat difficulty it would be different, but from Chapter 2 to Chapter 6 you fight very similar encounters with the final boss being a difficulty spike.
If you powergame or metagame it then the final boss isn't too bad, but *this is the kind of game that inspires wonder and discourages those tendencies*.