The Banner Saga Part 1 - The Overworld
Hey folks,
Welcome back to GroovyGengar plays... As promised, I'm going to discuss The Banner Saga in this post. It's a game I've had in my library now for..quite a long time, and I've only just gotten around to playing it.
It's a great game, however, it is not without its flaws, so in this piece I'm going to go over the non-combat aspects of the game, how that plays out and what you can expect from it. I'll end with my opinion on the whole thing, but I'll try to give you the facts first. So without further ado, let's get to it.
For those of you that are not familiar with The Banner Saga, it is a very heavily story driven game, with an emphasis on decision making and turn-based combat. It is set in a Viking/Nordic themed land with some call-outs to Norse mythology, whilst not being entirely accurate.
One of the first things you'll notice about The Banner saga is that the environment and setting is very oppressive and very bleak, and this is portrayed through the story as you try to guide your caravan through the harsh frozen wastelands as you try and protect your people from extinction. You'll make countless friends and also a few enemies but The Banner Saga provides an excellent story experience alongside some gorgeous visuals and a neat little score.
Now, the overworld section of Banner Saga will have you traversing some beautiful landscapes, with some truly impressive backdrops as seen here:
As you lead your little caravan of followers throughout this frozen land escaping an aggressive civilization that is attacking you known as "the Dredge". The overworld for the Banner Saga is where a lot of the game occurs, for example, The Banner Saga has quite a number of tough moral decisions to make throughout your journey. Some of them are your standard "There are two people fighting in camp what do you do?" where the outcome is as simple as losing some morale or maybe a couple of fighters, but some of them can seem more serious and can have more serious consequences. For example, deciding what to do with spoiled food can result in keeping your supplies but losing people further down the road, or you can get rid of your infected supplies and struggle to feed the camp. There's some more positive ones too, such as allowing a member of your caravan to teach other member show to use the bow, this later on can result in a new unit joining your party. That's always a nice touch, and it helps give The Banner Saga that little bit more character and flavour as you experience the story and move your caravan throughout the world.
The main issue that comes with these decisions is that some of them are seemingly impactful, whilst others not so much. Some decisions you will agonise over and you will see very little in terms of repercussions, whereas others can have more catastrophic effects such as losing a character. This can be particularly frustrating when you have spent a lot of resources levelling the character up, and he is a major fighting force on your team. The in-combat segments can be difficult at times, and keeping a well-levelled team is crucial.
Whilst in the over world, you'll find yourself managing a few resources. These include:
The large number is the number of days you have been travelling, the face (which is red in the above picture) is your morale, and the yellow number on the bottom left is your supplies. The amount of units you have is represented by the number next to their name. Oh, and although I won't be covering it in this section, the number in the red banner at the top is your renown, this is the currency of the game, however, it's more applicable to the combat so I'll discuss it there.
Having all these systems within the game, as well as having the decision making can make it seem like there is a lot to do for the player, however, ultimately, a lot of the resources that you have to manage have very little meaning on the progress of the game. The number of units you have under your control is only used in the few times you enter into a "war" scenario. This is essentially a screen that asks if you would like to engage, run, or draw out enemy forces so you can combat them:
You are given the 5 above options, each one will determine roughly how many clansmen and warriors you lose in fight. By charging you are taken to the in-combat sections of the game, formations will let you change your party, and the others are there if you don not want to fight, but you will lose some clansmen and sometimes supplies for doing so.
The problem with this section of The Banner Saga, is that cleverly managing your resources in the over world section seems to have no bearing on how you can perform in "War" scenarios. The morale doesn't seem to trigger any further decision events, nor how well you fight in a "War" scenario, and running out of supplies only serves to sap your clansmen numbers which may result in slightly tougher wars.
The Banner Saga feels like it wants to give the player a consequence for not looking after their group, but doesn't quite follow through. With most events being ultimately solvable with an in-game sequence, there never really feels like there is any impact or consequence to making a bad decision, or not taking part in a "War".
Ultimately, the out of combat sections of The Banner Saga are what move the story forwards. The game boasts some extraordinary visuals, and a suitable, yet subtle score to match the game.What the game does do well is portray a sense of being outnumbered, of being boxed in and unable to escape. This can lead to some amazing bonding with some of the characters as you care for their well-being, and you do your best to ensure their survival.
Unfortunately, a host of pointless mechanics seem to mar this experience, with most of the resources you are given to look after having little to no impact at all on any sort of outcome. Some of the dialogue options that you can take part in can lead to some frustrating conclusions when you feel the answer you gave should not have had the consequences that it did, but to me, most "moral" dialogue systems tend to have characters act out in ways you wouldn't guess from the sentence you end up picking.
The over world for The Banner Saga is one that is best enjoyed as it happens. It's not worth looking up a guide to get the best results, as the game is definitely better enjoyed by putting your own spin on things and seeing how you survive in those situations. The game excels at putting you in the shoes of the main character and you really feel for him as you make decisions alongside him.
The Banner Saga provides a very satisfactory story experience, and one that should absolutely be enjoyed over the course of an easy weekend, and with this being part one of a three part trilogy, The Banner Saga does a wonderful job of wold-building, setting up characters, and also producing some of the best stylised visuals I have seen for a while. It's a shame it has taken me so long to get around to it!
That's it for part 1! I want to give the sections of the game the love they deserve, and I think I'll use this format going forward where appropriate. I think this time around I was quite lucky that The Banner Saga has quite a few obviously unique elements. Initially I planned to only do two parts to this little series on The Banner Saga, however, I just realised the story and the art kinda deserve their own section as they are the stand-out parts. Also, fear not, I'll be doing a review of the game when I finish it, I just want these "deeper dives" to be available if people want to read into certain aspects of the game, and to also get my opinion on them.
Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you next time.
Groovy.
The Banner Saga is available on all platforms apart from the PS Vita. Sorry about that folks. If you want to pick the game up on Steam, you can find it here.
Welcome back to GroovyGengar plays... As promised, I'm going to discuss The Banner Saga in this post. It's a game I've had in my library now for..quite a long time, and I've only just gotten around to playing it.
It's a great game, however, it is not without its flaws, so in this piece I'm going to go over the non-combat aspects of the game, how that plays out and what you can expect from it. I'll end with my opinion on the whole thing, but I'll try to give you the facts first. So without further ado, let's get to it.
For those of you that are not familiar with The Banner Saga, it is a very heavily story driven game, with an emphasis on decision making and turn-based combat. It is set in a Viking/Nordic themed land with some call-outs to Norse mythology, whilst not being entirely accurate.
One of the first things you'll notice about The Banner saga is that the environment and setting is very oppressive and very bleak, and this is portrayed through the story as you try to guide your caravan through the harsh frozen wastelands as you try and protect your people from extinction. You'll make countless friends and also a few enemies but The Banner Saga provides an excellent story experience alongside some gorgeous visuals and a neat little score.
Now, the overworld section of Banner Saga will have you traversing some beautiful landscapes, with some truly impressive backdrops as seen here:
 |
| Beautiful landscapes to travel through |
As you lead your little caravan of followers throughout this frozen land escaping an aggressive civilization that is attacking you known as "the Dredge". The overworld for the Banner Saga is where a lot of the game occurs, for example, The Banner Saga has quite a number of tough moral decisions to make throughout your journey. Some of them are your standard "There are two people fighting in camp what do you do?" where the outcome is as simple as losing some morale or maybe a couple of fighters, but some of them can seem more serious and can have more serious consequences. For example, deciding what to do with spoiled food can result in keeping your supplies but losing people further down the road, or you can get rid of your infected supplies and struggle to feed the camp. There's some more positive ones too, such as allowing a member of your caravan to teach other member show to use the bow, this later on can result in a new unit joining your party. That's always a nice touch, and it helps give The Banner Saga that little bit more character and flavour as you experience the story and move your caravan throughout the world.
The main issue that comes with these decisions is that some of them are seemingly impactful, whilst others not so much. Some decisions you will agonise over and you will see very little in terms of repercussions, whereas others can have more catastrophic effects such as losing a character. This can be particularly frustrating when you have spent a lot of resources levelling the character up, and he is a major fighting force on your team. The in-combat segments can be difficult at times, and keeping a well-levelled team is crucial.
 |
| Example of decision making throughout the game. |
Whilst in the over world, you'll find yourself managing a few resources. These include:
- Morale
- Days of supplies
- Fighters
- Clansmen
- Varl
 |
| The over world UI. The top represents managed resources. |
The large number is the number of days you have been travelling, the face (which is red in the above picture) is your morale, and the yellow number on the bottom left is your supplies. The amount of units you have is represented by the number next to their name. Oh, and although I won't be covering it in this section, the number in the red banner at the top is your renown, this is the currency of the game, however, it's more applicable to the combat so I'll discuss it there.
Having all these systems within the game, as well as having the decision making can make it seem like there is a lot to do for the player, however, ultimately, a lot of the resources that you have to manage have very little meaning on the progress of the game. The number of units you have under your control is only used in the few times you enter into a "war" scenario. This is essentially a screen that asks if you would like to engage, run, or draw out enemy forces so you can combat them:
 |
| A "War" screen |
You are given the 5 above options, each one will determine roughly how many clansmen and warriors you lose in fight. By charging you are taken to the in-combat sections of the game, formations will let you change your party, and the others are there if you don not want to fight, but you will lose some clansmen and sometimes supplies for doing so.
The problem with this section of The Banner Saga, is that cleverly managing your resources in the over world section seems to have no bearing on how you can perform in "War" scenarios. The morale doesn't seem to trigger any further decision events, nor how well you fight in a "War" scenario, and running out of supplies only serves to sap your clansmen numbers which may result in slightly tougher wars.
The Banner Saga feels like it wants to give the player a consequence for not looking after their group, but doesn't quite follow through. With most events being ultimately solvable with an in-game sequence, there never really feels like there is any impact or consequence to making a bad decision, or not taking part in a "War".
Ultimately, the out of combat sections of The Banner Saga are what move the story forwards. The game boasts some extraordinary visuals, and a suitable, yet subtle score to match the game.What the game does do well is portray a sense of being outnumbered, of being boxed in and unable to escape. This can lead to some amazing bonding with some of the characters as you care for their well-being, and you do your best to ensure their survival.Unfortunately, a host of pointless mechanics seem to mar this experience, with most of the resources you are given to look after having little to no impact at all on any sort of outcome. Some of the dialogue options that you can take part in can lead to some frustrating conclusions when you feel the answer you gave should not have had the consequences that it did, but to me, most "moral" dialogue systems tend to have characters act out in ways you wouldn't guess from the sentence you end up picking.
The over world for The Banner Saga is one that is best enjoyed as it happens. It's not worth looking up a guide to get the best results, as the game is definitely better enjoyed by putting your own spin on things and seeing how you survive in those situations. The game excels at putting you in the shoes of the main character and you really feel for him as you make decisions alongside him.
The Banner Saga provides a very satisfactory story experience, and one that should absolutely be enjoyed over the course of an easy weekend, and with this being part one of a three part trilogy, The Banner Saga does a wonderful job of wold-building, setting up characters, and also producing some of the best stylised visuals I have seen for a while. It's a shame it has taken me so long to get around to it!
That's it for part 1! I want to give the sections of the game the love they deserve, and I think I'll use this format going forward where appropriate. I think this time around I was quite lucky that The Banner Saga has quite a few obviously unique elements. Initially I planned to only do two parts to this little series on The Banner Saga, however, I just realised the story and the art kinda deserve their own section as they are the stand-out parts. Also, fear not, I'll be doing a review of the game when I finish it, I just want these "deeper dives" to be available if people want to read into certain aspects of the game, and to also get my opinion on them.
Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you next time.
Groovy.
The Banner Saga is available on all platforms apart from the PS Vita. Sorry about that folks. If you want to pick the game up on Steam, you can find it here.
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