The Banner Saga 2 Review

The Banner Saga 2 Review

The Banner Saga 2 is an indie turn based strategy and role playing video game just like its predecessor. the game starts from Chapter 8 and ends as it just reach the climax. The Banner Saga 2 really feels like a main portion of an amazing novel. This game feels and looks identical to the previous game that was released two years ago, but the charm of its presentation that is inspired by Disney-style animation and the polished combat system stand strong, giving the game an air of timelessness. The game presents a impressive mythological adventure and adequately communicate the hardships of all the characters enduring it.

However, it’s not an ideal point to enter this series. The game’s mechanics, strategic management, substantial decision making and turn-based strategy combat are satisfying within the limited context of the sequel, but the chronological events of the first game ‘The Banner Saga’ are associated with this sequel’s mechanical decisions. Various plot developments and different branching commitments, one of which you may have to consider before the game even starts, are made more powerful and practically complex with the awareness of events from The Banner Saga which is the first game in this series.

This sequel allows players to import a finished game save file from the first game, which brings characters who you may/may not have helped survive the nightmares of first game. All these characters from the first game maintain their statistical upgrades, level growth and all other items that you may have collected in that game.

There are various mythological characters in this world like stone tyrants ‘Dredge’, horned giants ‘Varl’, and different factions within them. Aside from the new beast like race, the Horseborn, The Banner Saga 2 does not introduce them as regularly as the first game did. These little things help keep this sequel’s pace moving rather quickly, but although The Banner Saga 2 does have tools to try and help introduce new fans and refresh returning gamers on important narrative moments and events, they are pretty short and really feel insufficient.

See Also: The Banner Saga 2 Walkthrough

Where the first game focused on preparing for the war, the weariness it has on the society, and pitfalls of the leadership, the sequel deals with running away from destruction as refugees, and the dilemma of vainly defending the tribe against making efforts for the greater cause. As a leader of the caravan, you moderately shepard various followers across a continent to what you think and hope will be safety.

Admiringly, The Banner Saga 2’s mechanics that determine whether a character live or die permanently, are approximately straightforward. Directing your followers in the caravan is very simple, but requires diligence: to defend your clan, training enough fighters during the conflict is really important, but having enough clansmen to collect food to keep everyone alive and in good spirits is also very important.

Keeping your clan’s morale high is very important, it will add fuel to your game’s Willpower resource which will be utilized in turn-based tactical battles. You can use points of willpower to upgrade characters beyond the natural range on isometric battlefield, add more points of the damage of character’s attacks, and to buff and activate many unique abilities of characters.

There is no major change in Willpower and other core combat mechanics of this game as compared to the first Banner Saga. Characters in the game have distinct health  and armor, the health of a character is directly associated with the damage they can inflict. Meanwhile, amount of armor a character has, is directly associated with that amount of the damage it can block.

The system is not a complicated one, but there are various strategic variables present in the game to make this process enjoyable. The armor/health numbers along with clear user interface really allow you to make different calculations and meaningful decisions quickly. Diminishing an enemy’s health is always a good move that you want, but if you attempt to attack an opponent whose armor number is much higher than your character’s strength then you will be risking a valuable unit because your attack will be negated.

You can open up your enemies to effective and powerful attacks by chipping away their, but if your opponent has higher health this means they are a hard hitting opponent. Your character on the battlefield cannot regain health that results in combat plots that can twist ferociously such as aggressive tactics.

The Banner Saga 2’s combat mechanics also places great emphasis on character or unit’s positioning. Giant units like Varl in the clan, take up four squares on the battle ground rather than one. They’re not so mobile, and their huge mass can cause blockages in your formation such as blocking melee units from reaching front lines of the battle. But this thing can also be used to your own advantage like keeping opponents from reaching weak units.

Almost all the unique abilities of characters require good consideration in placing to be used effectively. A buff from the Poet class may offer extra Willpower to your allies who witness the death of an enemy, but only if that character is close to see all this himself. The Horseborn race can Mule Kick an enemy back number of squares and result in damaging all the units it passes through, but remember one thing that this can also hurt your nearby allies too. The sequel also present destructible blockades that can offer chances for amazing strategies.

However, in the system where placing and positioning units is very important, there can also be some frustrations that burden the combat, mainly stemming from game’s luxurious visual style. Some elements of stunning battlefield art like a tree branch can sometime conceal a vital part of the map, regardless how you pan your camera. The units in the game also no exception to this fact, they can also hide different elements of a battlefield. As you know angle of perspective in the game cannot be changed or rotated, a group of units bundled together can block your sight of enemy traps that may spawn more enemy units or cause damage if overlooked.

Primary characters in the game have much higher level cap than the first game, and they can learn extra abilities. The difficulty of this sequel feels natural as it grows as the game progress. The challenges makes your every encounter important, which means they can easily be lost as they are won. This is notably the key to enjoyment of the game, because losing an encounter or conflict does not mean that the game is over. Losing may mean that characters are injured, clansmen and morale are lost,  and require days of rest, but losing can activate different events in the story, a story that’ll continue regardless of your decisions and actions.

Similarly, the story events and the decisions made in strategic management layer can have curling effect to different parts of the game, so each event must be cautiously considered in the context. Dumping your food supplies may create extra barricades or save lives for an immediate tactical encounter. A poorly controlled dispute may force you to kill or fight a party member you have invested a meaningful amount of resource upgrading. Do you sacrifice food, lives, political relationships or morale?

The Banner Saga 2’s great balance of system and its capability in intensifying the continues narrative can be appreciated if you are not familiar with the first title in the series. Like the first title in the series, you will be holding your breath as The Banner Saga 2 leaves you totally invested in its world, its dwellers and their struggles, impatiently eager for more.