Strategy games are ALWAYS a bit hit and miss with most people and they need to be a game you're IN THE MOOD for them. The isometric RPG has always been about since the year dot (well, it fees that way anyway) and the one that sticks out for console gamers more than most over the past couple of decades is Square Enix's Final Fantasy Tactics. The Banner Saga strays off the pixelated path a little by having everything hand drawn and this results in a very distinguished visual style.
To be a little more showing of my age, it kind of reminds me of the He-Man and Brave Starr cartoon series (Filmation studio creations, just to show what I'm talking about) and the intro is lovely to watch. It mixes animated cut scenes with some actual gameplay footage. The graphics on the main game engine are also very well put together and they are a little smoother than the non interactive elements. It is so nice to play a game like this in a colourful environment, which is an immediate difference to other games of this type, which are more drab than beige.
The whole story is based around the city of Strand and has a rich Viking styled mythology wrapped around it. There are two splintered groups at the start of the game, with Rook's character story being the more prominent, as he tries to build his daughter's abilities up to help her take care of herself, but scared to put her in harm's way. The other faction involve some BIG vikings, such as the reckless, but strong Hakon. The story itself is very well put together, but then you would expect that from three developers who originally came from the RPG behemoth, Bioware.
You can tell this was where they came from, as the interaction on the story side has huge elements of those Mass Effect and Dragon Age games, with the multiple choice options in conversations you have with other characters, as well as these choices having an impact later on in the story. This results in a tale that you get more engrossed in because you begin to care about the characters more, mainly because your choices have purpose, rather than just piddling through it willy nilly.
Now, this is all well and good getting engrossed in a storyline enriched in folklore and good storytelling, but this is also where I find my biggest gripe with The Banner Saga. The flow of the game just doesn't seem to work as well as I would have hoped for. There are too many stops and starts and not enough consistency, which annoys me. With Mass Effect there was a nice balance between action and intricate storytelling, but here this doesn't always feel like that is the case. Some times it does get it right, but there are times where it is heavy on combat, like when you're travelling from one town to the next, as well as making loads of piddly decisions that actually DON'T make any difference to the game, like a drunken lout who constantly gets mullered every 5 minutes.
This isn't to take away from the main game however, which is a very solid and bloody hard strategy game. Everything is key and the tutorial really does help, so get through that a few times before embarking on your journey. You need to balance everything from armour hits to using archers further back in the game map and so on. The bigger guys deal more damage, but you also have to be aware of where you are on these maps, as you can take energy off of your own team if you are too close.
It is a nice game to play and there is no denying how beautiful it looks. Personally though, the stop/start feel to the game grates on my gaming nerves, as I can't help but feel that a little more care on this would have made it essential. it feels like something I could happily sit and play, don't get me wrong, but there is no major WOW factor for me, which is a shame considering how jaw droppingly gorgeous this game is.
If you are a strategist fanatic, I wouldn't kick this out of bed, but if you would just rather point and go shooty shooty then I can't say you'll get into it. It does the job well and could have been so much more in my eyes, but it falls just that little bit short of gaming greatness.
