Banner Saga

The Banner Saga was the second thing I ever backed on Kickstarter after Double Fine Adventure introduced me to the platform and, as a fan of both tactical RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics and Eyvind Earle's art, the game felt like a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, that view has been soured by my further interactions with the developers. On release day for the sequel, we backers who pledged $50+ (and, thus, were promised all three episodes) and preferred DRM-free games were informed that they had no plans for a DRM-free release of episode 2 and that all obligations on their part beyond SOME form of key for episodes 2 and 3 were limited to the first episode. Worse, while saying that, they also said "We sadly saw increases in piracy once we had a DRM-free for Banner Saga 1. Can't speak for the global game market nor other game developers but it's what we saw first hand over 2 years ago. " 10 days later, after having their game cracked on release day and experiencing a relatively dismal first week of sales on Steam, TBS2 has showed up in GOG's upcoming list without acknowledgement or explanation and, despite my spoon-feeding them examples of ways they can say "no comment" diplomatically, they continue to act like politicians or robots in the backer-only comments while dismissively blaming us for being dissatisfied, for thinking their mention of DRM-free and piracy in the same sentence meant anything, and for and expecting anything more than the most conservative legalese interpretation of their Kickstarter promises our dissatisfaction. I think I'll go re-play my copy of Final Fantasy Tactics instead. Instead of having emotional baggage, that's nostalgic and it's also a complete game. If I didn't have a strict policy of taking the moral high ground and excommunicating DRM-only games, I'd consider pirating the copy of TBS2 I'm supposed to have already paid for out of spite.

Oh, how I was falling in love with this game even before its release. And then, when it finally was available, I plunged right into it, ignoring any shortcomings (e.g. the turn-system) like any lover does. And then, without warning, the game cheated on me so hard I had to break up. One of two choices you have to make fairly early in the story will inevitably lead to the death of one lead character much later. Without any warning sign, without any guessable connection between those two events and without -anything- you can do later to fend it off. This character was not only one of my favorites, but also the one I invested most of my skill points (which are pooled for all characters) in. The game is uninstalled now and will stay that way.

The banner saga is a brave, beautiful and original game that sends you into a rich and epic world of fantasy and mythology. Some have complained about its simplicity, but I find that in this case less is more. With still pictures full of life, a fascinating soundtrack and a great story that keeps you wondering if this will ever have a happy end. The banner saga borrows from Nordic myths, but instead of turning the old stories into number crunching and munchkin RPGing, they have twisted them into an original world that you feel compelled to explore.

Linux support was promised but was removed later.

Generally, it is not an adventure and it is not a RPG, although it's trying to combine both. Unfortunately it fails in both aspects. 70% of game you spend during turn-based fights, which are bad when you compare them with any turn based a RPG or games like UFO, Jagged Alliance. There is a major error in fight system which force you not to kill enemy, but hurt them till they have minimal HP. An RPG system is nearly non-existing. 20% of game you are watching animation where you are moving from place to another place on map, which are predefined. Therefore, there is not any exploration. Story is forgettable. 10% of game are dialogues between your party members. They are really short and usually lacking more details. Sometimes dialogues are illogical, and after first option when you ask for more information the game does not allow you to select an option which was previously available. Also there are at least 2 situations when the game artificially kills a party member without any previous warning or does not give you a choice how to prevent it.