The Banner Saga is a throwback to a time when it felt like Kickstarter would change game development. A time when developers would come to us, like a cursed genie in a Blumhouse movie, and promise scandalous things we’d barely dared dream of.
I’m extremely glad Banner Saga exists. I’d probably have backed it just to get the interactive map – a sprawl of glowing mountains and detailed descriptions which feels like the natural extension of the fantasy worlds every child with an imagination draws. But the game itself is lovely: snippets of sharp, tactical fighting surrounded by a warm blanket of Norse storytelling, stirring music and plodding animations of people walking through striking mountainscapes. I like how stern it is – mistakes feel costly, and you have to think deeply about every decision. The character classes, too, are a pleasure to slowly uncover. For a game with 12-foot horned giants, it’s surprisingly effective at making me want to use other units. Why would I pick someone the size of a shipping container when I can select a fighter who can attack diagonally? The way the skills all chain together is a delight – perhaps more so because there’s a sense that you’ve uncovered something mystical and hidden, thanks to the slightly opaque systems.