Banner Saga 2

[Darkpriest]

So, after it hit the shelves (finally!) what are your impressions about it? Did you play the first one?

[Oerwinde]

I'll have to install it. I enjoyed the first one. Backed at the $50 dollar level so I could get the sequels free. Didn't even realize they were working on it until I got the closed beta update a few weeks back.

[Humanoid]

Is the strict alternate-turn combat silliness still in? Dealbreaker for me.

[Vaeliorin]

Yeah, as much as the first was good with the choices and such (and how beautiful the art and animations are), unless they've completely overhauled the combat it's a deal breaker for me. The way health and damage were tied together made melee characters worthless as anything other than punching bags.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

So, after it hit the shelves (finally!)

 

 

Wait whaaaaaaat

 

must... obtain... copy...

[Labadal]

I'd love to give impressions but I haven't gotten my KS key. I backed the first game so that I would get the trilogy. They seem to have forgotten me and they aren't responding to my mail.

[Lychnidos]

I like the game, but again the caravan supplies/morale have almost no effect, you can completely ignore them and suffer no consequences. It's beyond me why they even bother to put them in game.

[Humanoid]

I'd love to give impressions but I haven't gotten my KS key. I backed the first game so that I would get the trilogy. They seem to have forgotten me and they aren't responding to my mail.

 

Try the Humble key resender maybe.

 

 

I forgot to up my pledge during the last stages of their Kickstarter way back when, so I only got the first game. Was disappointed at the time, but now I probably count myself lucky. It looks like they've also reversed their policy on DRM and the new game is Steam-exclusive (the Humble store provides a Steam key and nothing else), so screw that.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Humanoid

[Darkpriest]

I've just completed it and it is really nice and interesting, although the forced alternative turns system is kind of "meh". even abilities that help to modify the sequences in combat are not so hot. it feels like you are getting punished for killing weaker enemies :D

[Serrano]

I like the game, but again the caravan supplies/morale have almost no effect, you can completely ignore them and suffer no consequences. It's beyond me why they even bother to put them in game.

 

I think it's meant to create the illusion of choice and deepen the emotional impact of events as they unfold. In the Walking Dead games for example if you think a character you like may die if you make the wrong decision it makes that moment very in the story very tense and either makes the sense of loss greater when they die or is exhilarating when you save them. Once you figure out that your choices ultimately don't matter though the story can still be very enjoyable but you won't have the same kind of highs and lows. 

[Starwars]

I'm currently playing it and am enjoying it at the moment. Think I'm approaching the end of it.

 

I think it's really a shame though that they have built a game which... is set in a harsh world, where you make harsh decisions and where, story-wise, things seem to go against you a lot of the time, but at the same time the developers seem to be firmly on the path of "we can't make the game too challenging because bad players might not like it then". So you get the whole caravan system which is a marvellous idea in my mind but ultimately it means absolutely nothing because, mechanically speaking, they seem so intent on not challenging the player too much. And I mean, the caravan is kinda the focal point of the whole series, yet it means absolutely nothing in terms of gameplay. Such a shame.

 

I'm one of the people who really like the combat system. It does feel very odd feels-wise that you can a lot of times gain advantage by keeping weaker enemies around on the battlefield. But if you can swallow that (much like one has to swallow the caravan stuff I suppose), then the combat system is pretty interesting in my opinion and manages to feel different than other games. It still feels pretty weak in terms of encounter design though. You're still mainly fighting the Dredge which are... just not very interesting I think. There are also some battles with victory conditions and stuff but... I dunno, it's missing something to really shake it up. I really enjoy the new classes and stuff like that though.

 

I really like the series overall so far, but it's mostly because I really dig the atmosphere (art and especially music are *outstanding*) and the story is kinda interesting. I also like the theme of travelling.

[Serrano]

The problem is that making harsh decisions cost you the campaign is fine for something like xcom which is designed for replayability, but Banner Saga is story driven and like a joke it only works best the first time. If you have to replay the story because you failed too many key moments then it causes a lot of frustration because there is a massive section of the game that bores players as they retread what they've already done. If Banner Saga were unforgiving it would make those moments a lot more tense and exciting but it would probably ruin the game for a lot of people too and not always because they're bad. I mean if the key moments were always sensible option vs. clearly stupid option that would water down the point of giving the player a choice as well. If it's a choice with no clearly best answer then the player is guessing which way the writer decided to go on the situation and their campaign's success depends on a coin toss. I'm not saying that this design philosophy would be bad by the way, there are pros and cons either way but the current philosophy probably works as well as the other.

[Lexx]

Isn't it made by ex-Bioware folks? Explains the amount of fake choices in the game. :>