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As the first chapters of the decision-heavy game made abundantly clear, things can, will, and must go wrong at every possible turn. This, combined with the supplies problem, creates a dissonance between the wonderful storyline and strategic gameplay / decision making.People who like to play and replay character-centric titles to arrange the ‘perfect’ storyline may be pushed beyond the brink of sanity by The Banner Saga 2. When you are presented with options, it always makes sense to go with the most reckless, combat hungry ones, even if this is not in line with character. The fact that renown is largely gained through battle also ruins the game. I didn't play this way since it would be immersion breaking, but once I discovered that I could, it kind of sullied my efforts to try to keep everyone alive. Your heroes that you take to combat are not affected.īecause of these two factors, and the fact that renown is both used for upgrading your heroes and buying supplies, the most strategic way to play is to just let everyone starve and upgrade your heroes. Your clansmen & warriors starve or leave, but no negative events pop up that I know of. Similarly, the supply does not actually matter. It's just a number that you feel is important because it makes sense that it would. The number of clansmen & warriors alive that you have alive does not matter all that much. However, this system is plagued by certain issues: Throughout the game, you are managing Supplies for your clansmen & warriors, which you can buy for renown as well as through some events. However, these issues are very small, since most of the combat has some pretty good UI letting you know what's going on, and most combat scenarios are not symmetrical, but instead have strong deployment positions you can come up with.įinally, perhaps the worst part of the game, and what stopped The Banner Saga from being an absolute masterpiece in my book, is the resource management aspect. For example, when I want to use Rook's ability to make every in-range ally attack an enemy, I cannot see which archers are in range of who! Also, when deploying in a symmetrical map, you cannot see the enemy's initiative order which adds some rng to deployment in those scenarios. The only couple problems that I have had with combat come largely from a lack of polish in very small areas. Each character has different priorities, and which enemy to focus down, let alone kill or leave alive, is not immediately obvious. You have allies that deal a shit ton of armor damage, those that deal more damage the more armor an enemy has lost, those that return armor damage upon being hit, those that displace enemies, those that deal adjacent damage, those that deal random armor + strength damage and can bypass armor, those that set traps, etc. You have allies that have a high strength, so that they can whittle down dangerous enemies from the get go. Games like these prevent combat from devolving into "high HP, tank, and spacing!" Combined with a diverse set of skills, and how your HP is also your damage (but not armor damage, which is called armor break and does not change except with the use of willpower), The Banner Saga was able to create a unique and engaging combat system. Also, I love it when games have HP damage negation mechanics, and the way armor works in this game allowed for some pretty neat choices. Sometimes, it made more sense to leave them alive, and other times, to kill them quickly, which was very enjoyable for me. What abilities does this enemy have? What is his armor break value? Is he blocking the movement of another scary enemy? etc. It wasn't such a clean cut option as "leave them at 1 HP" but rather a bunch of considerations weighed in. The combat was a blast! A lot of people seem to have complained about having to leave enemies on the brink of death, but I really enjoyed this tactical aspect. As it is, this is not really a game to min max, but rather, a game to immerse yourself in. Choices really do seem to matter in this game too, which is an absolute blast! I was a bit bummed when I lost characters due to my choices, since the consequences are not so obvious all the time, but the realism more than made up for it. Games that manage to show a world, rather than exhausting me with explanation after explanation have a special place in my heart. I absolutely loved the world, evoked so well through some of the best artwork I have seen and an intricate lore you get to taste in every interaction, dialogue, choice, and landmark. The resource management aspect is alright, but largely relies on the illusion of urgency, which was a let down for me. The combat gameplay is well-thought and suffers from only a few problems. The Banner Saga is extremely compelling, as it has a well-crafted world, diverse and "alive" characters, and some pretty interesting choices.