The Banner Saga

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Banner Saga
The Banner Saga logo transparent.png
Studio Stoic Studio
Publisher Versus Evil
Senior Developer Alex Thomas
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 February 25, 2013 ( Factions multiplayer)
January 14, 2014 (first chapter of the single player campaign)
platform Microsoft Windows , macOS , Linux , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , iOS , Android , PlayStation Vita
genre Strategy RPG
Subject Norse mythology , vikings
Game mode Single and multiplayer
control mouse
system advantages
preconditions
  • OS : Windows XP SP3, Mac OSX 10.7.5
  • RAM : 2 GB
  • Hard disk : 4 GB free space
medium Download
language German , English , French , Spanish , Polish , Brazilian Portuguese , Russian , Italian
Current version 2.16.41
Age rating
USK released from 12
PEGI recommended for ages 16+

The Banner Saga is a strategy role-playing game released in 2014 bythe US developer Stoic from Austin , set in the world of the Vikings .

action

The Banner Saga is about the Dredge - a warlike race that despises humans, led by Bellower, an almost invincible dredge who leads them to war. A wandering squad of warriors, refugees, and varls (a giant-like race) attempt to fight the dredge and find a weak spot in their leader, Bellower. Many decisions are made on the journey that will affect the fate of the caravan. Meanwhile, darkness begins to encircle the world as a gigantic snake causes earthquakes and fractures across the land.

Course of action

The action of the game takes place in a Viking- inspired world that has been stuck in a constant twilight since the sun disappeared a few weeks ago. The areas are mainly inhabited by humans and giant- like creatures, the Varls. The greatest threat to humans and varls are the dredge, an ancient race that appeared to be extinct many ages ago and has now reappeared to kill everything around it.

The Banner Saga tells an interactive story where many events will or will not happen depending on the player's choice. During the game two characters can be controlled, whose separate narratives ultimately converge.

In the east, Varl Vognir, along with a few other companions, such as his long-time friend Hakon, the retired Varl warrior Ubin and the resourceful human Eirik, is tasked with accompanying Ludin, prince of the human capital Arberrang, to the Varl capital Grofheim in order to to agree an alliance between the two races. In the town of Vedrfell, however, Vognir is killed in a fight with the dredge, making Hakon the leader of the caravan. On the way to their destination, they keep hitting the dredge. In the ruins of the city of Ridgehorn they find an unconscious man next to the dead body of a woman. The man by the name of Eyvind later tries unsuccessfully to persuade Hakon to return to Ridgehorn in order to save his companion, who is apparently still alive. When the group reached Grofheim, the city was on fire and completely overrun by dredge.

On the other side of the area, the hunter Rook and his daughter Alette encounter a dredge near their home in Skogr. They quickly return to their place and their friend, the Varl Iver. The village has already been attacked by a group of dredge. Together with the chief's wife, Oddleif, and other survivors of the attack, they travel to the city of Frostvellr. Since this place is not safe in their eyes either, they move on in search of protection. Ultimately, the group finds refuge in the Varl Fortress Einartoft. On the way there are devastating earthquakes that appear to be triggered by a huge figure from a great distance. Although the Varl von Einartoft deny entry to the people, Iver, who is actually the legendary missing warrior Yngvar, manages to persuade them to enter.

In Einartoft, Rook, Alette and their companions meet the group of Hakon and Prince Ludin, who are also looking for protection in the fortress after the attack on Grofheim. Together they meet with the Varl king Jorundr. It quickly turns out that the situation on site is also desperate, as Einartoft is also under siege by the dredge and their immortal champion bellower. Since the king forbids destroying the only bridge to the fortress, the only thing left for the companions is a fight with the dredge. Iver loses an arm in battle to bellower. When Eyvind tries to distract Bellower in order to save Iver, the gigantic figure appears, which they could previously observe from a great distance. It turns out to be a large snake, causing the dredge to flee in fear.

Meanwhile, Juno, the woman who lay apparently dead next to Eyvind, wakes up in the ruins of Ridgehorn. Opposite her is suddenly the gigantic snake. When the snake fails to kill Juno, she speaks to her and tells her that she should swallow the remains of the world, but that she is very disturbed by the “darkness” that surrounds the world. After the snake disappears, Juno telepathically contacts Eyvind and urges him to leave Einartoft to meet her in the southern town of Sigrholm.

Eyvind asks Rook to take him to Sigrholm. Rook agrees, as Einartoft is already doomed. A short time later, they are overtaken by Ubin and other survivors, who report that the fortress fell just hours after Rook left. When the caravan reaches the unfriendly town of Sigrholm, Juno cannot be found. Despite the opposition from Eyvind, Rook decides that the only hope for the group is to take refuge in the fortified city of Boersgard. However, you will only find one city that is on the brink of collapse, without boats, but with a mercenary army. The so-called Ravens are led by Varl Bolverk, who also has the city under his control. Boersgard is stuck between the sea and the dredge siege. More dredge appear every day, while supplies are running low and riots continue to break out within the stand. Rook and his companions decide to build boats to escape the siege across the sea. Before the boats are completed, the city is in danger of falling. Juno, along with Hakon, Prince Ludin and a Varl army, who escaped from Einartoft at the last moment, come at almost the last moment and save them. After the win, however, Bellower appears with even more dredge. With the help of Rook, Juno creates a magical arrow that is supposed to make the immortal bellower think he is dead and falls into a coma. The player must decide whether Rook or Alette should fire the arrow. The selected character meets and defeats the bellower, which leads to the escape of the remaining dredge. However, the selected figure dies due to bellowers. After a Viking burial at sea, the united caravan of Rook and Hakon leaves Boersgard, along with the Ravens and the new boats, grieving over the death of Rook / Alette.

Game principle and technology

  • A screenshot from the development of the game of the turn-based combat system

  • The dialogue system in the development phase

The Banner Saga

The core of the game is a single player campaign consisting of a turn-based combat system inspired by games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Shining Force . The player can create a group of different characters with different skills.

According to the developers, their goal was to "make a mature game for adults, like Game of Thrones or The Black Company ". The players should be emotionally captivated by building relationships with the game characters and influencing the plot through dialogue options. The game avoids many of the customs of common action-heavy role-playing games, such as the story of a young, lonely hero, picking up objects or reloading a game state after a defeat. Instead, the developers try to tell a story around the player's caravan and encourage them to accept the consequences of their actions, even if they are defeated.

The Banner Saga: Factions

The turn-based multiplayer part of the game was released in advance for free on Steam under the name The Banner Saga: Factions . Factions was playable for crowdfunding supporters from February 18, 2013, and access was granted to the public from February 25. The game allows players to create a team of six fighters and fight against each other. There are 16 different classes in total.

Environment and style

Concept art of the game

The Banner Saga takes place in a fantasy world inspired by Vikings. This scenario was chosen by the developers to avoid the commonly used elves , dwarves and orcs . The visual style is inspired by Eyvind Earle's drawings for the 1959 Disney film Sleeping Beauty . Furthermore, the works of Ralph Bakshi and Don Bluth had an influence on the artistic design of the game. The Banner Saga is largely hand-drawn, including the animations, characters and backgrounds.

Factions uses the city beach as its user interface . By selecting different buildings, different game modes and functionalities can be selected. This form of user guidance is also used in the main game within locations.

Production notes

Logo of the development studio Stoic

  • Alex Thomas

  • Arnie Jorgensen

  • John Watson

Stoic Studio consists of three former BioWare developers. The game developers - Alex Thomas, Arnie Jorgensen and John Watson - left BioWare after working on the MMOG Star Wars: The Old Republic with the goal of making a game for their own enjoyment. The project was financed by the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter . From March 19, 2012, contributions could be made. Just one day later, the goal of 100,000 US dollars was reached. The project raised a total of 723,886 US dollars (606,269.7 euros; 653,195 Swiss francs) from 20,042 supporters.

The free-to-play online multiplayer game The Banner Saga: Factions was released in February 2013. The first of three chapters of The Banner Saga's single player campaign was published in January 2014. The second part of the single player campaign, The Banner Saga 2 , was released in April 2016. The game is distributed digitally for Windows and Mac via Steam and GOG.com (without DRM ). Ports for Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Android and PlayStation Vita followed later. The game was originally supposed to be released in November 2012, but the single-player campaign was finally released in January 2014 after the multiplayer game The Banner Saga: Factions was released in February 2013 .

Stoic's registration for a trade mark in the United States for the name " The Banner Saga " was stopped in January 2014 by King , the developer of the game Candy Crush Saga . The reason given was that the name is too similar to Kings Trade Mark on the word " Saga ". According to Stoic, these clashes could delay other parts of the game. Some time later this dispute was settled.

Soundtrack

Track list
  1. We Will Not Be Forgotten - 0:45
  2. How Did It Come to This? - 2:47
  3. No Tree Grows to the Sky - 2:41 (Text: Austin Wintory , Translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson , Vocals: Johann Sigurdarson & Peter Hollens )
  4. Only the Sun Has Stopped - 1:20 (lyrics: Austin Wintory, translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, vocals: Johann Sigurdarson)
  5. Cut With a Keen-Edged Sword - 3:31
  6. Huddled in the Shadows - 3:02
  7. There Is No Bad Weather - 0:58 (Text: Austin Wintory, Translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, Vocals: Johann Sigurdarson)
  8. Teach Us Luck - 0:32 (lyrics: Austin Wintory, translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, vocals: Johann Sigurdarson)
  9. No Life Goes Forever Unbroken - 2:49 (Text: Austin Wintory, Translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, Vocals: Johann Sigurdarson)
  10. Little Did They Sleep - 2:10
  11. An Unblinking Eye - 1:05 (text: Austin Wintory, translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, vocals: Peter Hollens)
  12. Thunder Before Lightning - 2:49
  13. Embers in the Wind - 1: 2
  14. A Long Walk Stills Our Hearts - 1:20 (Text: Austin Wintory, Translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson)
  15. The Egg Cracks - 2:02 (lyrics: Austin Wintory, translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, vocals: Malukah )
  16. Three Days to Cross - 2:03
  17. Walls No Man Has Seen - 1:55
  18. Strewn Across a Bridge - 6:03
  19. Weary the Weight of the Sun - 1:49
  20. An Uncertain Path - 2:09 (text: Austin Wintory, translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, vocals: Johann Sigurdarson & Peter Hollens)
  21. Into Dust - 2:43
  22. On the Hides of Wild Beasts - 1:22 (text: Austin Wintory, translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, vocals: Peter Hollens & Malukah)
  23. From the Table to the Ax - 1:15
  24. A Sunken City - 1:42
  25. Our Heels Bleed From the Bites of Wolves - 1:59
  26. Long Past That Last Sigh - 2:45
  27. Of Our Bones, the Hills - 10:18
  28. We Are All Guests Upon the Land - 2:21 (Text: Austin Wintory, Translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, Vocals: Johann Sigurdarson, Peter Hollens & Malukah)
  29. Onward - 3:11 (Text: Malukah, translation: Davíð Þór Jónsson, vocals: Malukah)

The fully orchestrated score was composed by Austin Wintory . The musicians Malukah , Peter Hollens , Johann Sigurdarson and Taylor Davis are also represented in the soundtrack. The Dallas Wind Symphony Orchestra served as the ensemble . Jerry F. Junkin acted as conductor .

successor

With The Banner Saga 2 the second part was announced in December 2014, which is a direct continuation of the first part. The game was finally released on April 19, 2016 by Stoic for Windows and Mac.

The Tabletop - Board game The Banner Saga: warbands was announced in August 2015 and later financed by a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. It was published in September 2016.

On January 24, 2017, Stoic started a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter for The Banner Saga 3 , as it did for the first part . The last part of the Banner Saga trilogy was published on July 26, 2018.

reception

reviews
publication Rating
iOS PS4 Windows Xbox One
4players 86% 80% 86% 80%
Edge 8/10
Eurogamer 8/10
GamesRadar 4.5 / 5
GameSpot 7/10
GameStar 83%
IGN 8.6 / 10 9/10
TouchArcade 5/5
Meta-ratings
GameRankings 90% 80% 80.57% 75.1%
Metacritic 92 79 80 76

The PC version of The Banner Saga has a Metacritic rating of 80 (based on 74 reviews). The iOS version got a 92 (based on nine reviews).

IGN's Leif Johnson particularly praised the graphic design of the game, the soundtrack and the varied story with meaningful decisions. Johnson also emphasized the combat system, despite the relatively high degree of difficulty. Nevertheless, he noted that some important elements of the game mechanics were not sufficiently explained. Stace Harman from Eurogamer also praised the graphic design and the combat system, but criticized the lack of variety. Heiko Klinge from GameStar described The Banner Saga as an “atmospheric masterpiece”, which would be even more popular with better cut scenes.

Web links

Commons : The Banner Saga  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Minor TBS update. In: Steam . Valve Corporation , April 12, 2013, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c Jeff Mattas: The Banner Saga 'in the vein of Game of Thrones;' Kickstarter launching soon. In: Shacknews. GameFly, March 6, 2012, accessed February 27, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Interview with Stoic on Banner Saga. In: Live Pixel. August 23, 2012, archived from the original on August 25, 2012 ; accessed on May 9, 2016 .
  4. ^ Nathan Grayson: Banner Saga Out Now For Backers, Everyone Next Week. In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Rock Paper Shotgun Ltd., February 20, 2013, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Allistair Pinsof: review: The Banner Saga Factions. In: Destructoid. ModernMethod LLC, September 19, 2012, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  6. ↑ a b Tom Curtis: When ex-BioWare devs make their own strategy RPG. In: Gamasutra . UBM Tech , March 19, 2012, accessed February 2, 2014 .
  7. ↑ Jeff Matta: The Banner Saga reaches Kickstarter funding goal in under two days. In: Shacknews. GameFly, March 21, 2012, accessed February 19, 2014 .
  8. ↑ a b c The Banner Saga by Stoic. Kickstarter , accessed February 19, 2014 .
  9. ↑ a b Banner Saga 2 Launch. In: Steam . Valve Corporation , April 19, 2016, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Luke Karmali: The Banner Saga Sequel Blocked by Trademark Claims. In: IGN . Ziff Davis , January 23, 2014, accessed February 19, 2014 .
  11. ↑ The Banner Saga by Austin Wintory. Bandcamp , January 14, 2014, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Britton Peele: How The Banner Saga's soundtrack found roots with the Dallas Wind Symphony. (No longer available online.) In: The Dallas Morning News . AH Belo, March 12, 2014, archived from the original on May 10, 2016 ; accessed on May 9, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / popcultureblog.dallasnews.com
  13. ↑ Cassidee Moser: The Banner Saga 2 Announced. In: IGN . Ziff Davis , December 5, 2014, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Emily Gera: The Banner Saga Goes The Way Of The Board Game. In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Rock Paper Shotgun Ltd., August 2, 2015, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Kenny Sims: Banner Saga: Warbands Now Available! So MERCS! In: megacongames.com. Megacon Games, September 22, 2016, accessed on July 31, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Banner Saga 3 by Stoic. Kickstarter , accessed January 25, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Benjamin Jakobs: Kickstarter campaign for The Banner Saga 3 started. $ 200,000 target. In: Eurogamer . Gamer Network, January 24, 2017, accessed January 25, 2017 .
  18. ↑ Dominic Tarason: The Banner Saga 3 ushers an end to the world July 26th. In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Gamer Network, July 4, 2018, accessed July 31, 2018 .
  19. ↑ a b The Banner Saga for PC Reviews. In: Metacritic . CBS Interactive , accessed July 25, 2016 .
  20. ↑ The Banner Saga for PlayStation 4 Reviews. In: Metacritic . CBS Interactive , accessed May 9, 2016 .
  21. ↑ The Banner Saga for Xbox One Reviews. In: Metacritic . CBS Interactive , accessed May 9, 2016 .
  22. ↑ a b The Banner Saga for iPhone / iPad Reviews. In: Metacritic . CBS Interactive , accessed May 9, 2016 .
  23. ↑ The Banner Saga for PC. In: GameRankings . CBS Interactive , accessed May 9, 2016 .
  24. ↑ The Banner Saga for PlayStation 4. In: GameRankings . CBS Interactive , accessed May 9, 2016 .
  25. ↑ The Banner Saga for Xbox One. In: GameRankings . CBS Interactive , accessed May 9, 2016 .
  26. ↑ The Banner Saga for iOS (iPhone / iPad). In: GameRankings . CBS Interactive , accessed May 9, 2016 .
  27. ↑ Ryan Taljonick: The Banner Saga review. In: GamesRadar. Future plc , January 14, 2014, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  28. ↑ a b Heiko Klinge: The Banner Saga Test (PC) - Death comes as a surprise. In: GameStar . Webedia Gaming GmbH, January 16, 2014, accessed on May 9, 2016 .
  29. ^ A b Leif Johnson: The Banner Saga Review. In: IGN . Ziff Davis , January 14, 2014, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  30. ↑ Kevin VanOrd: The Banner Saga Review. In: GameSpot . CBS Corporation , January 14, 2014, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  31. ↑ a b The Banner Saga review. In: Eurogamer . Gamer Network, January 14, 2014, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  32. ↑ a b Jörg Luibl: Test: The Banner Saga. In: 4Players . Computec Media Group , January 12, 2016, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  33. ↑ Juan Garcia: The Banner Saga Análisis. In: IGN Spain . Ziff Davis , January 12, 2016, accessed May 9, 2016 (Spanish).
  34. ↑ Andrew Fretz: 'Banner Saga' Review - Story Driven Awesomeness. In: TouchArcade. TouchArcade.com, LLC., October 7, 2014, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  35. ↑ Jörg Luibl: Test: The Banner Saga. In: 4Players . Computec Media Group , October 6, 2014, accessed May 9, 2016 .
  36. ↑ Jörg Luibl: Test: The Banner Saga. In: 4Players . Computec Media Group , January 14, 2014, accessed July 25, 2016 .