Banner Saga 2: The Battle for Survival Rages On

You have survived a massive battle and made it out with a few refugees, you are tired and hurting from the battle but you must push on. The threat of death ever in the back of your mind and the coming apocalypse will soon be here. You and your caravan make it as far as you can until you just have to set up camp and take a breather. This is our review for Banner Saga 2.

Banner Saga 2 is the second installment in the series from Developer Stoic Studio and Publisher Versus Evil. The game begins right where the last one left off where you had just survived a massive final battle against enemy forces. This game gives you a quick summary of what happened in the last game if you haven’t finished it and based on things that happened at the end of Banner Saga 1 you will have to choose a couple of things to start with, like do you choose Rook or his daughter? I won’t go too much into choices as to spoil it for the rest of you. Your caravan must make a dangerous journey from one end of the world to the other in an attempt to make it someplace where you will be safe from the coming apocalypse.

Once again, the game employs the traditional strategic grid type battle system. You will get to make the decisions on which pieces to move, and where to move them. This happens in a turn-based mode like older style role-playing games would do. You have the choice to move your Varl, Human, and new race the Horseborn, around the map and into position to attack the Dredge. Use of axes, swords, and bows with arrows. Use your skills and tactics to conquer the Dredge and move forward in your mission to make it to somewhere safe for your people and you.

In a game like this, you need to have good graphics, and Banner Saga 2 continues the tradition of stellar 2d graphics from the first game. The animations for each of the characters and the attacks in battle continue to astonish with the type of game it is. Every piece of artwork continues to be hand drawn and are improved upon only by the special effects used for them.

The feel of the game can be a little much for most players, it has a grim feeling of death and destruction looming over you as you make game-changing decisions to progress the storyline. You don’t know what your choices will inevitably lead to but it is fun to make the choices nonetheless. The way they incorporated the Viking inspired feel into this game helps the decisions a lot as well. The way they think and feel as things are happening. The feel of defeat in every decision. All of this on the journey to find Aberrang, the last safe haven from the “Darkness”. Every single being in your world is trying to save themselves as everyone moves forward. If you didn’t play the first game that is completely fine, however, some of the story may be lost on you even with the details provided for you in Banner Saga 2. You may still want to go back and play the first one to fully feel the immersion of the story and the characters in this game.

Note: Our copy was reviewed on Nintendo Switch with a code provided by PR.

Summary
Overall Banner Saga 2 is a game full of despair, heartache, and utter loss, and that’s some of the best parts. There is always some hope as you push forward. You will become intertwined in a huge story based on Viking-type characters and lore and spend hours doing it.
Good
  • Hand Drawn 2D Graphics
  • Immersive Story
  • Deep Characters
  • Player Choices
Bad
  • Story Dark for younger players
  • Map is deep but sometimes confusing
9
Amazing
Written by
Long time game enthusiast and writer. I have beta tested a lot of Mmorpg's since I was thirteen including Star Wars Galaxies, Lord of the Rings Online, and Star Wars The Old Republic. Currently attending The Art Institute of Pittsburgh for a degree in Game Art and Technology.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Lost Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.