***The following review contains major spoilers and heavy plot details from The Banner Saga 1. Read at your own risk, but I advise you to check out the review for The Banner Saga 1 (HERE) and play that game first before playing or reading anything on The Banner Saga 2.***
The Banner Saga continues…The beautifully crafted fantasy Nordic world of The Banner Saga is back and this time it is slowly becoming covered in decay as a strange darkness is threatening to destroy and engulf the land whole. The world of The Banner Saga is full of hardships, hard decisions, and dire consequences. There are no happy endings in this chaotic world and when things start to become safe and begin to look positive, death strikes without warning as danger lurks around every corner. This is a dark world where heroes don’t exist; there are no saviors, just people, normal people, who are just trying to survive day by day and are willing to do anything to live.
The Banner Saga 2 is the second part of a three game series, and part 2 follows the events of the first game taking place a few weeks later. If you played The Banner Saga on PC, you will be able to transfer over your saved files and continue the story. All your important decisions that you’ve made carry over, including characters that are still around, died, or parted ways, and of course, the major plot point: whoever got killed between Alette and Rook. But fear not because at the beginning of the game, you can choose to start the game with either character.
Alette’s story is a sad one, having watched her father Rook, lead and command the caravan in The Banner Saga. She struggled to find herself useful. She wanted to prove her worth and deliver the final killing blow to Sundar, an immortal Dredge of legendary status. Rook being Rook put his life before others and was killed in the process. Alette now feels guilty but can’t rest on her laurels because she needs to take control and command the caravan that her father before her did. With no leadership skills or experience she must prove and demand respect and change from the once innocent girl she was to a cold, heartless girl who hasn’t even had time to mourn her father. It’s very interesting to see how her story will play out and to what depths she will go to so she can get the job done.
Alette isn’t the only character, the other half of the tale is about Bolverk, the leader of a mercenary group called the Ravens who come with a fearsome reputation and for good reason. These trained killers are fearless and blood-thirsty. Bolverk is a violent Varl berserker full of rage and anger. He’s the type of person to kill someone for simply smiling at him. His only answer to solving a problem is blood-shed, and if that doesn’t work then he’d try more blood-shed, but luckily he’s accompanied with the more calmer and reasonable Folka, a shield-maiden who is one of the few people able to speak to Bolverk freely and still live to tell the tale.
With the two completely different main characters that are traveling through different parts of the world, it gives players two very different perspectives and two different directions to the game. With Alette, I was more inclined to try to help and save everyone I came across. This put the caravan in danger at times and got many killed, but leaving people to die and fend for themselves wasn’t a natural choice for me playing as Alette. Whereas when Bolverk is faced with the same situation, I don’t even hesitate. I will send the ravens to kill, plunder, and destroy anything that gets in the way of their current mercenary job.
The overall story of The Banner Saga 2 doesn’t match the first game. A lot of time in part two is about setting up the pieces in play for the epic finale episode. It’s a bit of a shame that this doesn’t really continue the foundation of the first game or advance the story further. It plays out much safer and doesn’t have the same powerful impact that TBS1 had. TBS2 is carefully aligning certain characters in place at certain locations for when part 3 comes to wrap up things for what will be the end of the tale.
The basics of the game haven’t all changed that much, it feels and plays just like part 1 with a few tweaks and changes here and there. The world, although dark and twisted, is still gorgeous to look at, and the art style and 2D hand drawn sequences look marvelous, like a painting that came to life thanks to the new enhanced visual effects.
The Banner Saga 2 adds subtle changes, some small but very significant, improving a game that didn’t need much improving in the first place. Most of these changes are to the combat. It has been vastly improved. Tactics and different approaches are now part of the battlefield, and picking the right team is vital for each fight. You’ll want a good mix of different fighters that have their very own pros and cons. The Wanderer class has the skill to dictate when an enemy can attack by sending him at the back of the attack queue. And the new race, the Horseborn, are a group of centaur creatures with their own language and culture. They have the ability to travel long distances in fights, and once they hit their opponent they can quickly run away and retreat to safety.
For the most part, The Banner Saga 2 feels like the same game, which is a good thing, but it’s just unfortunate that the story took kind of a back seat when compared to part 1. There are still great standout moments that will truly shock players and leave them torn and emotional. Character interactions are as important as ever, because it’s the deep characters and relationships between them that made the game what it is today: A world that feels real, full of history and lore that started centuries ago, but then at times you can see it feels padded out just to get characters at certain places ready for the third and final part of the three game saga.
***The Banner Saga 2 Review Update***
The port from PC to consoles is great and it’s what you would expect, the game runs and looks exactly like the PC version, playing without any problem or hiccups. With regards to the controls of the game, Stoic Studio have done a great job optimizing the game to run and play perfectly for consoles. The Banner Saga 2 is very easy to pick up and learn, thanks to frequent but useful instructions and a very good use of tutorials and training camps that will teach you the basics of the game as well as some more novice battle scenarios.
Strategy games that have a poor user interface, that are hard to navigate and bogged down by too many menus aren’t worth your time, thankfully you wont have any problems here. The menus and interface are clean and clear, you can zoom in and out using the triggers on the controller, and it’s easy to use the on-screen cursor with the analog stick to pick or move your units and to simply select any on-screen option you have available to you. Overall, the game is so easy to navigate it doesn’t make a difference if playing on PC or console.
Developer: Stoic Studio
Publisher: Versus Evil
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Release Date: 19th April 2016 (PC), 1st July 2016 (PS4), 5th July 2016 (XBO)