The Banner Saga Series:
Time to Beat: 8 Hours
In June of 2018, Awkward
Mixture reviewed The
Banner Saga 2. In the review, I argued that
the spectacular success of the first episode of The Banner Saga
was squandered by a mediocre middle. The value, or lack, of the
second game would be proved by the conclusion. Of course, I am
writing this article, because I have finished The Banner Saga 3,
and must admit my disappointment. This article will be as spoiler
free as possible, hopefully only divulging secrets from The Banner
Saga 1 and 2, but
it's possible some mysteries from The Banner Saga 3 will be
exposed.
There is no need to rehash the combat
system for The Banner Saga 3. Stoic Gaming wisely chose to
retain their twice used mechanics with only minor additions. Instead
of repeating the information here, readers interested in a quick
review can find one in this article about The
Banner Saga 2. Yet, in the third rendition,
battle has been altered. One difference isn't a result of any change
to the system, but because this is the third Banner Saga. The first
Banner Saga included a level cap, but the level of a hero carried over
into 2, and 3. After three games the player's party will contain a
number of heroes maxed at every Stat. Players will want to begin
spending points on Talents instead (if they didn't already start in
The Banner Saga 2). Each stat, has two corresponding talents,
and each talent has only three levels. The player can only activate
one of the two talents for each stat. And, the player must max the
character's stat before they are allowed to put points into the
talent. For example, the stat Strength, includes the two talents of
Robust and Artery Strike. A character with points in Robust has a
chance to resist suffering Strength damage when attacked. Artery
strike increases the change of inflicting a critical hit on an enemy
when attacking.
A completely unique addition to The
Banner Saga 3 are Heroic Titles. When a hero reaches level 11
they can adopt a heroic title, with the first rank free. There are
fourteen titles, and each offer powerful bonuses. While the first
rank has no cost, the player must spend Renown for each additional
rank, independent of character levels. Each Heroic Title has five
ranks, and they can all be purchased immediately at level 11. There
is one limitation. Each Heroic Title can only be assigned to one
character. Only one hero can be The Mountain (for example)! While
heroic titles are a fascinating addition, there was a minor issue.
One or two contain complicated effects, and it was difficult to know
how the bonuses would interact with the normal hero abilities.
Max level heroes and heroic titles
altered battle, but the best addition to combat though was a simple
change. In The Banner Saga 3, the developers deployed a
clarification about wave battles. If a battle is more than a single
round of foes, if the first battle is followed immediately by a
further wave of enemies, the player can choose to Fight or Flee in
between battles. There are bonuses to overcoming a series of waves;
renown, bonus items, and time. Waves existed The Banner Saga
series prior to this conclusion, but in a less elucidated form. This
clarification isn't the big addition. The best addition to combat,
is The Banner Saga 3 allows the player to alter their
deployment between wave battles. Weakened heroes can be withdrawn,
while healthy character's can reinforce the remaining warriors. This
change allows the player to overcome an otherwise overwhelming enemy.
While battle is one of the core
mechanics of The Banner Saga series, a question remains: What
is the outcome of battle? Losing the normal, wave-like battles won't
end the game in defeat. Is it ever possible to lose a battle and see
the screen flash “Game Over”? One imagines that there must be
one or two critical battles, where defeat would doom any hope of
future victory, but it's impossible to know without losing them on
purpose (a task I have not undertaken). Losing battles deprives the
player of resources, such as members of the caravan, and renown
(which is spent on food and character levels). Even if battle
doesn't normally effect the plot as it might seem, The Banner Saga
3 retains the straightforward and enjoyable mechanic it debuted
in the original, with a few more bells and whistles.
The remainder of any discussion about
The Banner Saga 3, is either entirely about the story, or
tangentially connected to the story, as to require mentioning broad
aspects of the plot. The second half of this article will try to
only touch on the second, and hopefully retain a shroud of secrecy.
The first issue is one which The Banner Saga 3 carried over
from the second game. The problem is the issue of perspective.
Stoic chose to relate the events of The Banner Saga series
through the eyes of a few characters. Every bit of information is
communicated in this manner. The player is always represented by a
character, and they (both the player and the character), can only
learn what they hear or see. But to communicate a plot which becomes
increasingly intricate and unwieldy (as the series approaches its
conclusion), the developers needed to keep expanding the number of
perspectives. They had to make more and more characters, main
characters, perspective characters. This dilutes the power of the
narrative, and confuses the player.
In The Banner Saga, the player
learned about the world from the main characters, Rook and his
daughter Alette They were the perspective characters for five of
the game's seven chapters. Over each game the main perspective of
Rook and Palette became diluted, as they were used less and less. In
my complete series, Rook/Palette was the point of view for 10 of the
22 chapters. The next most important character offered their
perspective for 5 chapters. The other 7 chapters were split across 4
heroes. These numbers don't even tell the whole story, because
sometimes chapters are shared between multiple perspectives with
minor characters. In The Banner Saga 3, seven chapters use
three characters to tell the story. This disjointed tale could be
used to communicate the necessary information to understand the
world. Instead, the developers use it to offer hints, but then
artificially deprive player of the answers to they seek. Character's
who know the truth, refuse to speak their knowledge when the player
controls them. They refuse to divulge the answer to the mystery.
The mystery: the cause of dredge
invasion. The Banner Saga, and The Banner Saga 2,
barely hinted at the answer. But The Banner Saga 3 must
answer it conclusively. One hint offered in The Banner Saga 2
and confirmed in TBS 3 was about the truth of the
dredge. Just as Battlestar Galactica chose to humanize the Cylons,
The Banner Saga series chose simplify the dredge. They aren't
monsters. Essentially, they are just humans made of stone. Like
Battlestar Galactica, what seems like a twist and a simplification,
creates more problems than it solves, opening up new avenues of
confusion, which can't be solved in the limited amount of time
contained in The Banner Saga 3. Further details to be spoiled
in the next two articles.
Before concluding this article, there
is a final issue which is mostly spoiler free. It is the transition
from The Banner Saga 2 to The Banner Saga 3. No one
doubts the significant difficulty developing a game which allows the
player to make choices. It needs to offer the player decisions which
feel meaningful, but don't alter the flow of the plot. The Banner
Saga opens with the claim, “The story in The Banner Saga
changes based on the choices you make.” Anyone playing the game
must realize they can only effect a minimal impact on the course of
the game. The biggest effect the player has in The Banner Saga
is deciding who lives or dies. Not where they go, or what events
occur. Yet, it was still disappointing to witness the immediate
reversal of my two final choices in The Banner Saga 2. Spoilers
ahead for the end of 2 and the beginning of 3.
At the end of The Banner Saga 2,
I sided with the villainous and treacherous Rugga because it was the
only way to preserve my party. The king refused us entrance into the
capital city of Aberrang, and my party fought him at the gates. We
vanquished him. When I say we fought him, I mean he came out,
personally, and was defeated in combat. But at the beginning of The
Banner Saga 3, he is ok, inside his fortress, and abruptly changes
his mind, allowing us to enter peacefully, because suddenly there is
plenty of space inside the city walls. I also intentionally lost the
battle against Bolverk when controlling Iver. It seemed the correct
choice, because Iver was assisting Juno who was clearly hiding the
truth, and possibly responsible for the catastrophe befalling the
world. But of course the developers weren't happy with this result.
In a cut scene, they insured that Iver was fine, Bolverk temporarily
defeated, and Juno victorious.
Next week, spoilers for The Banner
Saga 3, with details about the defense of Abberrang, the Shadow,
and the answer to the mystery of the cause of the Catastrophe.
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