Beautiful and moody.
It took me ten years to go through this trilogy, for me it symbols both how impressive and mesmerizing it is but also frustrating to play.
Part 3 offers a few new mechanics but its short running time doesn't let them shine. Waved battles lets your b and c teams see some action. Unique titles let you customize your most used characters with additional abilities. Cool feature but personally I reached the end with most of them unused.
Combat remains unintuitive but it's manageable and leads to a lot close calls. It serves the theme at least.
Characters and dialogue remains the strongest aspect of the game. I chose to play through them with a guide so I could get the most out them and lead the narrative - there are a few characters that close a nice arc in the finale that could have died randomly at ten different occasions. I get that losing characters to bleak events fits the world but if I were to design this series I would intentionally give players clear awareness about the consequences of their choices. Let them write their own stories onto the banner.
Part 3 length and pacing feels like budget issue rather than a choice. Not all characters gets the spotlight but there are a few nice moments woven in between story beats.
I like the world of Banner Saga a lot. I hope stoic would get to revisit it in the future.
It took me ten years to go through this trilogy, for me it symbols both how impressive and mesmerizing it is but also frustrating to play.
Part 3 offers a few new mechanics but its short running time doesn't let them shine. Waved battles lets your b and c teams see some action. Unique titles let you customize your most used characters with additional abilities. Cool feature but personally I reached the end with most of them unused.
Combat remains unintuitive but it's manageable and leads to a lot close calls. It serves the theme at least.
Characters and dialogue remains the strongest aspect of the game. I chose to play through them with a guide so I could get the most out them and lead the narrative - there are a few characters that close a nice arc in the finale that could have died randomly at ten different occasions. I get that losing characters to bleak events fits the world but if I were to design this series I would intentionally give players clear awareness about the consequences of their choices. Let them write their own stories onto the banner.
Part 3 length and pacing feels like budget issue rather than a choice. Not all characters gets the spotlight but there are a few nice moments woven in between story beats.
I like the world of Banner Saga a lot. I hope stoic would get to revisit it in the future.
slayyyyyy but unsatisfying ending
This review contains spoilers
This was beautiful. I got a pretty bittersweet ending - the world saved, but still broken and the fate of those at Arberrang unknown with Rook dead - but despite this very uncertain end for everyone, it's hopeful. The world lives on, and that in itself is INCREDIBLE. The imagery of Iver coming across the banner, worn out but still intact, has so much meaning. Oddlief, Rook, Alette, Ludin, everyone lives on in the tapestry. You spend the whole trilogy reminiscing on dead gods and forgotten heroes, and in the end it's implied that your story - your banner - will be added to that pantheon of legends and serve to inspire and unite those in the generations to come. This is the most reflective of the trilogy. Every choice and conversation comes with the knowledge that it's unlikely anyone will make it out alive. It feels like if you took that one scene before the Battle of Winterfell of everyone sitting around a fire talking and stretched it into a whole game. The tension, the sorrow, the regret, the hope, the rare moments of joy. The combat's the same: slow and heavy, with never enough time or supplies to heal after a gruesome battle. It's The Banner Saga at its most ruthless and hopeless, and whether you get a happy, sad, or somewhere in between ending it has such a masterful grasp of its themes and ideas that it feels perfect any which way. What a trilogy.
Digital (Steam)
More production value and larger scale, the strength of this and the 2nd game area lso very much built off of playing the three in order and transferring your choices over. Play this trilogy.
cool to see the story through but definitely wouldn't have done it if i didn't get to play it for free on game pass
Uma saga que começa e progride de maneira trágica e melancólica, ao fim do mundo, e porque não, ao seu recomeço. Mesmo possuindo falhas, os 3 jogos valem pelo conjunto da obra, sendo 3 jogos de duração média.
really good conclusion to the story but i kind of wish they just made one really long game instead of 3 shorter ones to make it flow together better. this game also crashed like 20 times for me where 1 and 2 never crashed at all, not to mention dead characters appearing in scenes after dying/alive characters seemingly disappearing (although this one only happened once)
My Choices Really Mattered TM
My Choices Really Mattered TM
Es un cierre a la altura de toda la saga y eso es decir mucho. Magnífico como se desenvuelve una trama tan compleja y con tantas posibilidades que asusta. El episodio más oscuro y difícil de la franquicia, no hay un momento para respirar.
This review contains spoilers
A great ending to the series, but by this final part, I could only deal with the identical gameplay loops and lack of enemy variety for so long. Got to the White Tower and ended up giving up.
A real shame, as the series is unique, but perhaps 3 parts was just too long.
A real shame, as the series is unique, but perhaps 3 parts was just too long.
i got depression
Gran final para esta increible saga de juegos
El cierre a la saga trae incluso más mejoras jugables pero destaca por su epicidad, giros argumentales y diversos finales que dependen del jugador. Un final muy digno a la saga y viendo los 3 juegos en conjunto ha sido un viaje increible.
cool mechanics, but a trash ending made everything feel worthless afterwards
This review contains spoilers
"Damnation... We'll have to live, there's no way around it now."
despite all the various lacks i felt with regards to its predecessor, banner saga 3 thoughtfully takes what you've been building and implements a whole system around it. iver's caravan heading towards the source of the darkness, all while arberrang, the human capital city, faces destruction both from within and the impending darkness. the accomplishments you've achieved in the form of your caravan, the people you've fought to save, now equate to days left before total destruction. it's a clever give and take: iver's caravan requires days of travel to get to the final objective of the game, if they take too long, you return to the other side of the world to arberrang, and you have to make perhaps costly decisions that give iver's crew more time. if you were too efficient at the game you may never actually return to arberrang, missing out on a bulk of the game's actual content.
the series after all is about embracing failure. the personal failure of eyvind in his grief to allow juno's death, the catalyst for the world to end. what an interesting shape that a game ought to take that to see all the narrative depth of the game, you personally have to fail. very few games can accomplish this on a mechanical level, let alone the whole game, just due to the economy of it all. i think this give and take, as well as a return to form on focusing on the characters, really sends this series off on a high note. all on top of the combat finally paying off on having a huge roster with the waves system, multi-stage battles where you can bring in fresh fighters to fight further waves for rewards.
i do wish there was a deeper epilogue. what a trilogy though! i must note though the amount of bugs and quality of life issues are just, unreal. stoic, please remaster this series, throw in the QoL it desperately needs. cheers.
despite all the various lacks i felt with regards to its predecessor, banner saga 3 thoughtfully takes what you've been building and implements a whole system around it. iver's caravan heading towards the source of the darkness, all while arberrang, the human capital city, faces destruction both from within and the impending darkness. the accomplishments you've achieved in the form of your caravan, the people you've fought to save, now equate to days left before total destruction. it's a clever give and take: iver's caravan requires days of travel to get to the final objective of the game, if they take too long, you return to the other side of the world to arberrang, and you have to make perhaps costly decisions that give iver's crew more time. if you were too efficient at the game you may never actually return to arberrang, missing out on a bulk of the game's actual content.
the series after all is about embracing failure. the personal failure of eyvind in his grief to allow juno's death, the catalyst for the world to end. what an interesting shape that a game ought to take that to see all the narrative depth of the game, you personally have to fail. very few games can accomplish this on a mechanical level, let alone the whole game, just due to the economy of it all. i think this give and take, as well as a return to form on focusing on the characters, really sends this series off on a high note. all on top of the combat finally paying off on having a huge roster with the waves system, multi-stage battles where you can bring in fresh fighters to fight further waves for rewards.
i do wish there was a deeper epilogue. what a trilogy though! i must note though the amount of bugs and quality of life issues are just, unreal. stoic, please remaster this series, throw in the QoL it desperately needs. cheers.
Characters, I remeber them all for years. Good ending for the great trilogy
Enjoyable narrative, engaging gameplay.
This review contains spoilers
Overall, this was a great game that was really effective at closing out an epic story with its limited budget, although it does falter a bit in the last half hour due to those same limitations.
Strengths
Tension Building
This is the last act of the story, and it definitely feels like it. Compared to the first 2 parts, where you're mostly just fumbling in the dark and trying to stay alive, the stakes are finally clear and there's an actual goal to build towards. Better yet, the amount of time you spend on your journey actually matters and can have terrible consequences, much like the time-sensitive storyline of the original Fallout game but handled much better. Although there is kind of a big plot revelation towards the end of the game, I felt that the most impactful part of the game is when it suddenly cuts to black and tells you that Arberrang will fall unless your heroes can make it in time, and starts listing out almost all the choices you've made up until that point and how much time it can buy you. With just some simple numbers and animated text, it was able to arouse feelings of dread and excitement, which is no small feat indeed.
Best combat in the trilogy
People seem to have mixed feelings about the combat in these games, but I've always found them really addicting since I'm not exactly an expert strategy gamer and am easily engrossed by any combat system that requires even a modicum of brain power. The combat in this third entry is easily the best in the series since by this point most of your characters are at a pretty high rank and you can really unlock their full potential using the new "Title" system that lets you choose a title for your heroes that gives them specific buffs. With your heroes at such a high power level, some of the most powerful and satisfying kills in the trilogy are achieved here (there's even an achievement for dealing 100 Break damage, which I can't even imagine). Of course, the enemies will be tougher as well although thankfully you're never forced into fights that come close to Eyeless in the second game. A new wave-based system is introduced where in most fights you can choose to flee after defeating the first wave of enemies, or continue fighting (with the option to switch out heroes) until a boss enemy arrives that will drop special gear. I myself never tried fighting more than 1 wave since my heroes were getting absolutely battered, but I'm eager to try holding out longer when I do play the trilogy again.
Weaknesses
Stoic faces
Although the visual-novel style conversations work well enough for the most part, they definitely suck out a lot of gravity from some of the more "epic" interactions because all the characters constantly wear a static, unchanging expression on their face. While this works well for the varl characters, it does not for the human characters. There's a very important talk between Iver and Eyvind at the end of the game, and Eyvind should be a complete mess yet he's still wearing the exact same expression while he's making the most difficult choice of his life! I know that this is a result of the limited budget, but it definitely takes away from what is otherwise a great conclusion (at least on paper). Games like Disco Elysium manage to circumvent this by having the camera be far enough from the characters that a lot of the character's expressions can be left to the player's imagination, while in this game the character's faces are front and center.
No Ending Slides
This is more of a personal nitpick, since the developers seemed to intentionally leave the state of the world after the climax up to the player's interpretation (that, or they ran out of time). But I really wished that the ending was longer and more drawn out, especially since we spent 30 hours across 3 games building up to this moment. I don't have exact measurements, but the ending of the game probably lasts little more than 5 minutes and all we get is that the world's been saved and the surviving characters will have to work together to rebuild it again (at least in the ending I got). Seeing as the trilogy begins with scrolling text that tells us about the state of the world, it would have been fitting to close it out with text that changes depending on our choices. It really feels like a missed opportunity, because the game's engine could clearly have supported something along the lines of the ending slides of Fallout or Dragon Age.
Strengths
Tension Building
This is the last act of the story, and it definitely feels like it. Compared to the first 2 parts, where you're mostly just fumbling in the dark and trying to stay alive, the stakes are finally clear and there's an actual goal to build towards. Better yet, the amount of time you spend on your journey actually matters and can have terrible consequences, much like the time-sensitive storyline of the original Fallout game but handled much better. Although there is kind of a big plot revelation towards the end of the game, I felt that the most impactful part of the game is when it suddenly cuts to black and tells you that Arberrang will fall unless your heroes can make it in time, and starts listing out almost all the choices you've made up until that point and how much time it can buy you. With just some simple numbers and animated text, it was able to arouse feelings of dread and excitement, which is no small feat indeed.
Best combat in the trilogy
People seem to have mixed feelings about the combat in these games, but I've always found them really addicting since I'm not exactly an expert strategy gamer and am easily engrossed by any combat system that requires even a modicum of brain power. The combat in this third entry is easily the best in the series since by this point most of your characters are at a pretty high rank and you can really unlock their full potential using the new "Title" system that lets you choose a title for your heroes that gives them specific buffs. With your heroes at such a high power level, some of the most powerful and satisfying kills in the trilogy are achieved here (there's even an achievement for dealing 100 Break damage, which I can't even imagine). Of course, the enemies will be tougher as well although thankfully you're never forced into fights that come close to Eyeless in the second game. A new wave-based system is introduced where in most fights you can choose to flee after defeating the first wave of enemies, or continue fighting (with the option to switch out heroes) until a boss enemy arrives that will drop special gear. I myself never tried fighting more than 1 wave since my heroes were getting absolutely battered, but I'm eager to try holding out longer when I do play the trilogy again.
Weaknesses
Stoic faces
Although the visual-novel style conversations work well enough for the most part, they definitely suck out a lot of gravity from some of the more "epic" interactions because all the characters constantly wear a static, unchanging expression on their face. While this works well for the varl characters, it does not for the human characters. There's a very important talk between Iver and Eyvind at the end of the game, and Eyvind should be a complete mess yet he's still wearing the exact same expression while he's making the most difficult choice of his life! I know that this is a result of the limited budget, but it definitely takes away from what is otherwise a great conclusion (at least on paper). Games like Disco Elysium manage to circumvent this by having the camera be far enough from the characters that a lot of the character's expressions can be left to the player's imagination, while in this game the character's faces are front and center.
No Ending Slides
This is more of a personal nitpick, since the developers seemed to intentionally leave the state of the world after the climax up to the player's interpretation (that, or they ran out of time). But I really wished that the ending was longer and more drawn out, especially since we spent 30 hours across 3 games building up to this moment. I don't have exact measurements, but the ending of the game probably lasts little more than 5 minutes and all we get is that the world's been saved and the surviving characters will have to work together to rebuild it again (at least in the ending I got). Seeing as the trilogy begins with scrolling text that tells us about the state of the world, it would have been fitting to close it out with text that changes depending on our choices. It really feels like a missed opportunity, because the game's engine could clearly have supported something along the lines of the ending slides of Fallout or Dragon Age.
gameplay at it's peak, with more phases in battles and new heroes. part with final countdown is tensional and climaxing
but most of endings doesn't feel satisfying neither for the game nor trilogy, even the most happiest one. got a feeling that devs chose some endings as a canon and extended them, but lefted others over the board.
but most of endings doesn't feel satisfying neither for the game nor trilogy, even the most happiest one. got a feeling that devs chose some endings as a canon and extended them, but lefted others over the board.
A somewhat rushed ending, but still a good ending
A messy end to the saga, but a decent conclusion.
A return to the slower pacing and minesweeper-like choices of the first game, it really improves as the game goes along, but still… kind of disappointing. And yes, most of the problems of the previous games are still here. Combat is the same, and the new additions are basically worthless to none.
Writing at times felt off, like for example Hakon and Fasolt getting mad for taking orders from Oddleif, because she's human. Kinda weird since the past games they only took orders from you, a human. I also noticed an inconsistency with the Horsebornes talking like humans during the fights, even though they don't speak the tongue. It was pretty funny, though.
Pretty good end to the story, nonetheless. Glad it didn't leave anything left to uncover, pretty much every question gets answered satisfyingly. I do wonder how this would've been if I didn't make the choices I made on the previous games, though. I can't imagine it been as good if I didn't keep some of the more interesting characters, but maybe it would be. Guess I won't know until I replay it ¯\.(ツ)./¯
★★★ – Good ✅
A return to the slower pacing and minesweeper-like choices of the first game, it really improves as the game goes along, but still… kind of disappointing. And yes, most of the problems of the previous games are still here. Combat is the same, and the new additions are basically worthless to none.
Writing at times felt off, like for example Hakon and Fasolt getting mad for taking orders from Oddleif, because she's human. Kinda weird since the past games they only took orders from you, a human. I also noticed an inconsistency with the Horsebornes talking like humans during the fights, even though they don't speak the tongue. It was pretty funny, though.
Pretty good end to the story, nonetheless. Glad it didn't leave anything left to uncover, pretty much every question gets answered satisfyingly. I do wonder how this would've been if I didn't make the choices I made on the previous games, though. I can't imagine it been as good if I didn't keep some of the more interesting characters, but maybe it would be. Guess I won't know until I replay it ¯\.(ツ)./¯
★★★ – Good ✅
Whew what a saga this was. I'm glad I played this series if only for the really satisfying narrative. This truly feels like a fully fleshed out fantasy novel story and world set to a game, and I really loved that aspect. The world and its history, magic, and peoples were so well developed, and I loved the characters I got to know. The ending too was very satisfying, revealing the final puzzle pieces as to what happen to set things in motion while also tying everything up nicely (depending on your choices).
That being said, it's unfortunate that now the series' novelty has worn off, I'm not so impressed with the gameplay anymore. So many of the issues that have existed since the first game are still lingering here! You're telling me in the 4 years since the release of the first game, the developers didn't have time to iron out some of the UI and gameplay issues and bugs? It's pretty baffling, not to mention what was added to the combat in particular wasn't all the noteworthy either. There are more new classes which is always welcome, but the only other major addition are waves. Yea, now some battles have additional waves you can choose to partake in for additional goodies. Interesting idea, but it didn't really mesh with the game as a whole. It felt too gamey for an otherwise very story-driven title where combat was more about giving you challenges to drive the atmosphere of strife and difficulty for the player. If this is what they spent their time on instead of fixing longstanding issues, it was a major misfire.
Another weird quirk is how they implemented the traveling mechanics this time. One of the two parties is traveling as normal, so nothing off there. The other though, stays in one city the whole time, so how do you get the Oregon Trail-style traveling and decision making from previous games into their storyline? You have them slowly travel through the city to get to objectives. This just kind of seemed odd, though I can't complain too much as there were still interesting moments that came out of this. It's just super weird to go slowly through a single area, not to mention later on when you're revisiting some of these same places, you don't have to travel slowly to get there anymore. So why did I have to in the first place?
That's basically the end of most of my complaints however. When you really get into the meat of the story, Banner Saga 3 does plenty to make this a worthwhile finale. It's really just these nitpicks that keep it from being great. The penultimate chapter in particular is so cleverly structured, I loved that part a lot. Even if some decisions for Iver's party were a bit nonsensical and overly unpredictable to the point where I felt I was being penalized randomly and not because of a mistake I made.
To start to wrap things up on a more positive not though, the presentation thankfully remains a highlight. Not as many animated cutscenes this time, but the artstyle remains excellent, we get some more haunting voice acting in bits, the music from Austin Wintory is exceptional, and once again this world just absolutely comes alive. It's impressive what this team was able to do with this saga, even if they unfortunately left a few too many gaps along the way.
Overall, if you're a narrative-focused gamer, or one where a narrative focus falls into your taste, this series is well worth your time. Otherwise, the gameplay flaws may have a large impact on your enjoyment.
That being said, it's unfortunate that now the series' novelty has worn off, I'm not so impressed with the gameplay anymore. So many of the issues that have existed since the first game are still lingering here! You're telling me in the 4 years since the release of the first game, the developers didn't have time to iron out some of the UI and gameplay issues and bugs? It's pretty baffling, not to mention what was added to the combat in particular wasn't all the noteworthy either. There are more new classes which is always welcome, but the only other major addition are waves. Yea, now some battles have additional waves you can choose to partake in for additional goodies. Interesting idea, but it didn't really mesh with the game as a whole. It felt too gamey for an otherwise very story-driven title where combat was more about giving you challenges to drive the atmosphere of strife and difficulty for the player. If this is what they spent their time on instead of fixing longstanding issues, it was a major misfire.
Another weird quirk is how they implemented the traveling mechanics this time. One of the two parties is traveling as normal, so nothing off there. The other though, stays in one city the whole time, so how do you get the Oregon Trail-style traveling and decision making from previous games into their storyline? You have them slowly travel through the city to get to objectives. This just kind of seemed odd, though I can't complain too much as there were still interesting moments that came out of this. It's just super weird to go slowly through a single area, not to mention later on when you're revisiting some of these same places, you don't have to travel slowly to get there anymore. So why did I have to in the first place?
That's basically the end of most of my complaints however. When you really get into the meat of the story, Banner Saga 3 does plenty to make this a worthwhile finale. It's really just these nitpicks that keep it from being great. The penultimate chapter in particular is so cleverly structured, I loved that part a lot. Even if some decisions for Iver's party were a bit nonsensical and overly unpredictable to the point where I felt I was being penalized randomly and not because of a mistake I made.
To start to wrap things up on a more positive not though, the presentation thankfully remains a highlight. Not as many animated cutscenes this time, but the artstyle remains excellent, we get some more haunting voice acting in bits, the music from Austin Wintory is exceptional, and once again this world just absolutely comes alive. It's impressive what this team was able to do with this saga, even if they unfortunately left a few too many gaps along the way.
Overall, if you're a narrative-focused gamer, or one where a narrative focus falls into your taste, this series is well worth your time. Otherwise, the gameplay flaws may have a large impact on your enjoyment.
The world is really ending 😢
Um bom fim para uma ótima trilogia!
Banner Saga 3 gives a good end to the trilogy but lacks some of the more interesting new features and combat encounters of the second game or the world building and character moments of the past games and rushes through what could have been more interesting or character defining situations. Characters get good endings to their arcs or moments (assuming you kept them alive in all games) but everything tends to be very simple for the finale. New wave combat mode where you can swap in characters is a good feature. Great artwork and music. The combat itself stills has problems, it's been a really strange part of the entire series that, due to the way turn order is handled, you don't want to kill enemies just wound them all to the point where they are mostly harmless. The third game giving you more reason to take talents that do things like give you crit chance or frequently giving items or new heroic titles to assign that might increase things like your crit chance can end up causing problems when you kill things you don't want to kill.
I would say it is the worst of the three but still a fine ending if you have been enjoying the series so far. I'm pretty sure it was easily the shortest entry in the series as well, with me even having to skip a few scenes and a fight because of how quickly I got the second party to the end of their section.
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1023756174427009024
https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1023431815967563778
I would say it is the worst of the three but still a fine ending if you have been enjoying the series so far. I'm pretty sure it was easily the shortest entry in the series as well, with me even having to skip a few scenes and a fight because of how quickly I got the second party to the end of their section.
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1023756174427009024
https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1023431815967563778
The score begins to really hit it's stride, Abberang produces some of the hardest choices in the series, wraps up the world building in very tangible and well thought out ways.
El final de la trilogía. Poco más que comentar, aunque aquí se nota que algunas elecciones que hiciste hace mucho afectaban muuuucho más de lo esperado y genera una sensación tramposa.