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The Banner Saga 2 review
by Arturas

Recommended to those who played The Banner Saga. It would be extremely silly to miss the first part in this case.

This one gave me a weird feeling. I owned both parts of the game for a while, before playing them. Essentially I've started, somewhere around the launch of The Banner Saga 3. I loved the first part, but also found it lacking, not entirely in a way when something important is missing, but rather wishing for a little bit more cosmetics. A bit more voiceovers, a bit more cinematic, a bit more combat, a bit more guidance and so on. So the purpose of this review is simple, to acknowledge that The Banner Saga 2 has got it all.

I didn't know that most of my wishes have already come to life while reviewing the first game, so it was really cool to play the second part :D. The Banner Saga 2 — although feels exactly the same as the first one (mechanically), have those small nuances that propels game into some sort of a clear niche. First of all, they added more battlefields, destructible objects, more races with their unique approach toward combat and more interesting battles (think time attack, survive, pursue, etc.). The trainer camp allows XP grind, but most importantly it shows various combos of skills and characters, thus adding even more sense to the expanded roster of warriors. 

Story-wise, I still feel somewhat lost (even though I've read a lot of lore in the game, I simply feel overwhelmed), but I really love how the whole concept changed. Just a few lines of text here and there, just a few minor sidequests and it starts to feel like a proper roleplaying game. The Banner Saga 2 really has this clean sense of a game master telling you this weird story of a ragtag band traveling with a caravan. Now the game is fluent and fluid, not to mention animated cutscenes adding emphasis on most important moments in the story.

Also, the overall length of the game improved, but not to the point when it ceases to be a small RPG experience for a weekend or so. However, just the release of the second part improves replayability ratio for the first part, cause players can import save games. Even though I'm not looking to do it, The Banner Saga 2 feels much more replayable in comparison with the first part, not only due to more dramatic events within story, but also due to the fact, that there's still not enough encounters to playtest all the sexy team builds and skill combos.

The Banner Saga 2 is everything I wanted after playing the first one and by delivering that, guys at Stoic really shot my expectations for the third one to the clouds. I'm really expecting it to be bigger, better and ready to break into the ranks of so-called triple-I games. 
Just bought my copy, can't wait for the next train ride to sink my teeth into it :D
«Sit back and relax»
«OST on repeat»
Kaimynas
After playing the first part I'm still torn if I want to play the next one. It was good, but somewhat was missing. Combat was hard, but for a wrong reason, there was not too much tactical depth for my taste.
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Arturas
In situations like this, it's really simple. Wishlist it everywhere and buy it when goes for like 3 EUR'o :D
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Kaimynas
I can't :( I know there is a shiny retail copy with all 3 games in one beatifull collection and if I want to play it I need to have it. Help me! :D
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1 comment

Other reviews11

Translated by
Microsoft from Deutsch
The Story is profound and has interesting Twists and turns. Characters have deep and stay in the Role. Graphic fits and underlines the beautifully painted Atmosphere. And the many great Decisions. Tactical Component: A big Plus is the Initiative-split. So it is quite useful to let weakened monsters stand so that the stronger Monster does not get the Initiative prematurely. Different Tactics that can be used. There is not only one that always leads to Success. Sometimes Characters cannot be used in Fights, so the new Hero must be tactically fielded with their Abilities. This makes for interesting Variety. In Addition, the Hero must be used in some Battles fix. For example, because they need to be rescued or lead a Squad. This makes for exciting Variety again. Various Raids loosen up the Enemy kill. Game Balance and Principle are very good and make you Want more. I played through the Banner saga 2 in Heavy play. It wasn't until the End that the Food ran out. A Game Can no longer be better balanced. The Voltage remains until the End. Disadvantages Some Hero Skills Are difficult to use effectively. But Are all Meaningful. Itemm Skills are inadequately explained. The Battle scenarios cannot be saved. Which leads to Frustration moments in the Case Of a Volatility error. Especially at the Beginnings, where strength splurge Has to be shredded despite high Hero armor, the Life points would only have to shred down, a small Intermediate save would not have damaged the player'S Life. Thus, the Player is forced to accept any errors and Losses. In the case of quite tricky Battle games, there can already be several Newcomers and Time Wasted, because the Player has to play all The moves again and again until the Error. During Training, there is difficult to set up a Battle on the Difficulty, which probably makes it impossible to save the Sagittarius you needed. Only on the Difficulty Of Normal could the Battle Card be solved. Conclusion. A Bead For Generefans. Plays down like Butter and is worth every Penny.
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Translated by
Microsoft from Italian
Absolutely spectacular the game mechanics are the same as the first chapter so absolutely appreciated, the fantastic spelling the music is excellent, the beautiful story. We await the final chapter !!
Translated by
Microsoft from French
Very good T-RPG. For once the decisions of the 1st one a rel impact on the continuation. Balanced battles and story taking. The replay value is also present. Not much to blame this series. We are just impatient to know the bet!
Translated by
Microsoft from Spain
It maintains the level of the first game and adds tactical elements that make the combat more complex and interesting. The translation has improved and the story is still incredible. Obligatory purchase Thank you for the wonderful review, we are very happy that you enjoyed the game.
Translated by
Microsoft from French
Very good game, immersive, intelligent, narrative, beautiful ... Bravo all the team for this work. Just, the translation into French seems to have been done on google translate, so that some sentences or descriptions do not really make sense. Thank you very much for your feedback and comments. We will check the French translation on your recommendation!
Translated by
Microsoft from Deutsch
Great story, fantastic music, interesting characters! I like it even better than the first part! I hope to see you soon! edit: finally works again! Hello - (Please forgive this Google translation.) You can change the font size in the settings of your phone. If that does not work, email us at [email protected]
Translated by
Microsoft from Deutsch
I must say, I would have expected more, as a continuation of such a successful first part. I have now 8 hours of play time behind me, where I spent about 2 hours of it to repeat fights and dialogues, as the game abstrzt again and again and you can not influence the saving. In many animations (text is unfolded) jerky on the iPad Air, is probably outdated the model, well. Apart from that, it's just as "good" as the first part, nothing more. So more of an add-on, an extension of the story, nothing else. If I had known that in advance, then I would have just played part 1 again, since it's been a long time ago. Hello and thank you for taking the time to post your feedback here. If you have a crash issue, please contact our team at [email protected] so we can help. Thank you very much.
I love the first game and glad to say the second part is even better. New characters and abilities are impressive, the plot twist is awesome (I wasn’t so involved into the story when I played the original game) and boss battles are challenging.

However, the game seemed a little bit easy comparing to the first one. I think, that happened  because Banner Saga was my first turn-based strategy, and now I have more experience at this genre. And I noticed the game was too short - like a filler part, it was over too quickly.

Anyway, The Banner Saga 2 is a highly recommended game - go for it, it’s really worth its money (and it’s not very expensive). I’m looking forward to the third, final part ♥️
«Blew my mind»
«Just one more turn»
An excellent sequel. I had just two complaints about it: the time it took to develop, and the final battle, which was underwhelming and frustrating at the same time: BS combat engine is just not build for one-on-one fights.