I’ll just chime in here and admit that when I read the headline, my first thought was, “Wait, was it cancelled?”
So yeah, they didn’t manage to get the word out about Banner Saga 2’s release in a way that penetrated my thick skull. And I own the first one.
Hello to you all. I guest a first post made a week after the last reply in a thread is as good an introduction as any.
I backed the original and really enjoyed it. As an added bonus, it had impecable timing as a great game to play during that newborn-only-sleeps-on-your lap-in-the-middle-of-the-night phase.
The sequel has been on my wishlist ever since it came out and I have every intention of getting it, but not before the third game is released and I can play all three in a row. I fear that none of the emotional impact the first game had would carry over to the sequel after a two-year hiatus, and I don’t want to deal with the same issue between games two and three.
I wonder how many fans of the original skipped the sequel for the same reason.
That’s an interesting take. Is it because the story was always meant to be a trilogy?
What about other games? Do you hold off for fear of a Mass Effect 2 situation in which the ending is a set-up for a sequel?
Beyond the emotional impact, I could’t really remember much of the story or more than a couple of the characters from the first one. That isn’t me saying either were weak in the first one, as much as it is for my old brain to remember much of anything two years later. All I really remember is liking the first one and that the world was coming to an end.
I bought the first one. I loved the idea of the first one, I love the aesthetics of the first one, but there were some ongoing mechanics problems that stopped me from even finishing it. I would have bought BS2, had there been news that they had changed some of the combat mechanics. The last thing I needed, even though I more or less liked the first one, was another one. I’m pretty sure that arc happened to a lot/most people.
Had they done some sort of ‘we listened to the community, and here’s some changes!!!’…I probably would have bought the 2nd one, as it’s pretty close to a game I’d actually love.
When I played the second one it had a recap that was unique to my own choices. I didn’t need it as I’d literally finished the first one and fired up the second one, but it was there.
I don’t think it’s simply because BS2 was the middle part of a trilogy, but rather the result of how much I enjoyed it and what I liked about it. I found it good, but not great. The story and atmosphere hit the right notes, but it was not as successful on a mechanical level. Although I was glad to have played it, I didn’t feel a strong urge to jump back in as soon as possible.
When it comes to books, movies or tv, I don’t usually feel the need for a series to be complete before jumping in. For games, it really depends on where they end up on the “you discover our story / you craft your story” spectrum.
So much of the first game’s impact is built on the dilemmas you are presented with, it’s kind of pointless to play a sequel without remembering what choices you made, why you made them and how you felt about the consequences.
Ha, I was kind of remembering something like that, but since it was a couple months ago, I’d forgotten if I’d really seen that, or was just remembering scenes from the first one.
Maybe you’ll remember this as well, but does it also play something if you didn’t have a save file available? If so, that might have confused me even more. Heck, I think there may have been someone alive still, that had actually died in my playthrough. I was and am completely confused.
I had a save game, so I can’t be sure, but I’m fairly certain I read that there is a “canon” path for those that didn’t play the first game.
Probably why sales were lower? This was a FREE GwG title on RELEASE, if I’m not mistaken.
Unless they count those sales.
That’s also why I never play a TellTale game until the complete season is out. Even a couple months gap causes too much momentum loss.
I wonder why game developers always think they have to increase the budget for their next game, even if the last one was only a minor hit. Banner Saga has stylized graphics. Was it really necessary to spend so much on BS2?
In the movie business the sequel is made significantly cheaper if it’s considered necessary, or delayed until they find out how to do save the money. Example for the latter: The planned 2nd film of the Millenium trilogy.
Probably because the first one was actually underfunded and the developer went into debt or crunched or both to get it done. Yeah, they probably learned a lot about how to make that style of game, and the technology is relatively established, but they’ve also probably learned that it takes a lot more time and people to do right.
The Kickstarter they mentioned is now live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/banner-saga-3
Intersting how they talked so much about how it will cost $2M to make the next game, they sold so very very few copies of BS2, times are tough, blah, blah blah. And then set a $200k target for the Kickstarter.
Definitely this is a marketing KS. You want the goal to be low enough to make and if you can get away with it put in some stretch goals to market additional features. They should have done this for #2. Its presales.
[FYI] I created a thread for the third game yesterday.
I’m really pleased to see they are half way to their goal so soon!
BS1 was not bad but did not live up to the hype and I forgot about it. Also BS1 got really cheap pretty fast, and the price of BS2 hasn’t dropped as much yet.
Nec ro thread.
I nerver played BS1. but I did buy and hve tried BS2.
And I intensely dislike the combat system.
3 things immediately jumped out at me:
The turn order is you move, then they move, single units, and it’s annoying as hell.
There is no zone of control or penalty for moving next to someone.
You click on your guy, then click the attack icon, then (optional) click to empower it, then click the enemy. Too many clicks for something so basic.
I REALLY need to play The Banner Saga 2. 3 will be out this year and I’d love to continue the story.
The Banner Saga 1 was one of my favorite games in recent years. Outstanding aesthetic, fun tactical battles with an unconventional armor/health/initiative system, and a neat tidy and concise game with no bloat. Truly wonderful.
Finally got around to buying this since it’s only $5 on Steam.
Does keeping your followers fed and alive matter at all in BS2 or BS3? IIRC, they had no impact whatsoever on the game in BS1.