Banner Saga 2 (XBONE)
Following on from the first release at the beginning of the
year, Stoic and Versus Evil bring a second instalment of the Banner Saga series.
Banner Saga 2 carries on the story of Rook and his daughter Allette after the
battle of the Bellower.
In a rich and beautifully illustrated Viking world it is
hard not to feel a bit swept away as our hero and heroine must take on yet
another challenge. Banner Saga 2 provides a rich story experience much like its
predecessor, with strategy and asset management at its core.
Where Banner Saga left us mourning the loss of one of our
beloved characters, the sequel pulls us back in and proffers up what may be the
most difficult choice for its established fans. But already I’m bordering on
spoilers, so I’ll digress.
Whatever you choose at the beginning of the game, you will
be given a strong and well established story from the first game. As will be
familiar to many already, turn based battles with dialogue options in silent cut-scenes
are used to tell the story behind the war that rages.
As before you will have to manage many factors all at once: supplies,
morale, allocation of Hero promotions, warriors for battle vs hunter/gatherers
of supplies, time spent making forward progress vs time spent resting for your
men’s morale, and much more.
There is a lot to learn upfront in tutorial for those new to
the game, but with a bit of practice the controls become second nature. The
difficulty and success of the game is then left in the hands of well-made
strategic choices both in battle and out.
The difficulty curve is gradual- as you become more
accustomed to the game and how to play, Banner Saga 2 will push the difficulty
upwards to challenge you and make you think. But never does this difficulty
become too excessive or unplayable.
Tutorials are clear and concise, mostly offered upfront. The
world around you is shown on a map and each location is shown relevant to your
position in the world. Information is given on each town and no clear path is
given to you, which leaves you with a sense of choice as to where you might
decide is the best path to take- be it by water or by land. Inevitably this
leaves the game an opening too in throwing curve balls in your direction, blocking
routes that once seemed ideal and challenging you to take a less relaxing
route.
The nature of the game does not necessarily leave you with a
feeling of great replayability, however some choices made along the way could
be altered which would change the outcome. A more experienced player may also
find great delight in playing through the game purely to improve their own strategies,
but this is likely to be only the diehard fans of the series.
Banner Saga 2 is currently available with XBox Games with
Gold for the month of July. If you played Banner Saga and loved it, this is the
perfect continuation to the story and will provide you with more hours of the
same compelling and challenging gameplay. If you are yet to jump into the
Banner Saga series (as I was) you will be left at no loss by picking up Banner
Saga 2. Recaps ae offered to bring you up to speed on what has already taken
place before setting you off on your adventure into this wild and picturesque world.