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Two-hour Test -- The Banner Saga

I am often late to the party when it comes to playing video games. Besides the obvious price cut by the time that I gain interest, it’s nice being able to take your time and set a pace while playing through the game. Once all the hype and coverage dies down and the prices start to drop to the sub-basement over at Valve headquarters, that’s when I make my move. I found The Banner Saga for sale on GamersGate.com for $10, and $12.50 for the soundtrack. (Just FYI, here’s one of my pro-tips: if the game offers a bundled soundtrack, go ahead and get it. It’s probably fantastic, hence the reason it’s sold together with the game. Rarely have I been disappointed.) In this case, I’m almost one year behind The Banner Saga’s initial push, but here’s the thing, nobody was really talking about it last year. Obviously review sites gave it a number between 1-10, but this game didn’t resonant through the gaming community, at least from what I could tell. And this is a game that deserves conversation. I’m hoping to spark a discussion in our little corner of the internet, at the very least.

The Banner Saga is gorgeous. It features beautiful, hand-painted scenes that remind me of cartoons from the 80’s and 90’s (in particular The World of David the Gnome). Set in the creator’s own version of the harsh Nordic north, the background is an integral part of the game, just as much as the characters we meet living inside. Spooky undertones highlight the presence of a looming threat, and all this setting is backed up by an epic symphonic soundtrack which is heavy on the horns and percussion.

Unfortunately, there's a human in the way of the awesome characters, the varls.

As the game begins, we meet a group of varls, immortal giants (with badass, Loki-like horns protruding from their heads) that live separately from, yet peacefully, with the humans. Most varls live north in their capital, but there are a few cities where varls and humans interact. Combat is introduced early in the game, which is good, because it takes lots of practice to get the hang of it. As the tutorial displayed hints, I found myself taking notes just to keep track of how to play just as much as I was taking notes for this review. I’m enjoying the combat so far (this is a two hour test, after all), and it’s a fun and interesting mechanic as you use each of the classes available to you. Each turn, your character gets a movement and an action, such as, move up 3 squares, special attack a dude in the face. However, unlike most turn-based RPG’s, each character alternates turns instead of each team taking turns. This is true even if the teams are uneven numbers. It’s unique and interesting, and really, really enjoyable.

Grid-based combat in a tavern, best game ever!

Story events happens, and I don’t want to spoil anything, and you find yourself in control of the characters as they caravan to their goal destination far across the map. Everyone is trying to outrun the dreaded enemy, the Dredge. The Dredge are really interesting, and a great villain for the setting. They look like a combination between golems and ancient robots, and make a stark contradiction to the natural, beautiful world they’re invading. They’re also powerful and tricky to defeat in combat. As your group is evading the Dredge along their journey, the camp mechanic is introduced where you can choose when to camp, how long to rest (to heal injured and improve morale), and upgrade your fighters and items. There’s a supply resource that must be diligently watched, otherwise characters will begin to starve and fight less effectively, and eventually die due to starvation which decreases morale even further. I feel that in my two hours with the game, I was just introduced to this concept and I haven’t had the time to see the long term effects of my decisions. TBS also presents itself as a game where the events early on that you control will dictate events as the game progresses forward. We’ve seen games that are successful with this mechanic (Choice of Robots), and games where the decisions seem trivial and aren’t actually affecting future events (Mass Effect series). For instance, around the one hour mark a major character died. I wasn’t sure if it was due to something I had controlled, or if it was a scripted story event. That’s a really interesting feature, rarely are you unsure of how much input and authority you have over a game. I’m willing to stick around the find out what the outcomes will be.

The caravan marches onward.

The Banner Saga has introduced itself as an epic and unique story set in a fantastical world. The characters are strongly written and it’s easy to become invested in their lives. That might be a good thing, because it turns out that this is only the first episode of a series of games. I’m not sure how many TBS will be released, but they’ve certainly set themselves up on a strong foundation to work from. One of my favorite aspects is the world map. It’s very interactive and you can select certain items (and by certain I mean territories, mountain ranges, cities, rivers, forests, and more) and receive history and stories about that particular place. It really helps to build the game world, and because it’s optional, you’re able to invest as much or as little as you’d like. I really, truly, highly recommend the game if only because it’s so special and unlike most of the games available. Thankfully, a year after release it’s easy to wait for the price to be right.

UPDATE: As I booted up Steam earlier, it seems that The Banner Saga will be a part of the SteamOS sale. Add it to your wishlist if you’re interested in checking it out for a reasonable price.

Dreaded Dredge dragging a dead deer.

#the banner saga #two hour test #turn based games