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The final chapter of the Norse-inspired journey comes to a close, with the decision-making – as always – up to you, the player. As told in the previous games, a series of events have built up to the current collapse of the world. The sun has stopped revolving, the gods are dead, the ancient stone-armored Dredge have reappeared, and a world-devouring serpent has appeared out of nowhere as the darkness fills the skies. A caravan party uniting men and Varl flee to the capital of Arberrang, while spell weavers who claim to have a solution to the darkness try to prevent the approaching threat. Add in upheaval within, and outside, the walls of the city, and this sets the scene for the climactic third entry in the saga.

As immediate as the first two games were to establish the scene, The Banner Saga 3 manages to further streamline the experience. It achieves this by making the assumption that the player has played the existing two games and once again offers a recap to jog any ailing memories. With both the battle and dialogue being somewhat refined in the second entry, the tutorial has now been reduced to a single option in the main menu of the game with no more handholding in sight. This is a smart move by developer Stoic, rather than attempting to shoehorn it into the main game, reducing the immersive nature of the storyline. As a result, the journey kicks off right away with multiple battles in succession. Once again, you start out selecting Rook or his daughter Alette, and have the option to import your save file, assuming you’ve played the previous games.

What sets the third game apart from the existing two is the conclusiveness of the story. You’re here to decide the world and characters’ fate, and the themes from the beginning of the third chapter continually remind you of the hopeless odds your caravan party and the general remaining populous of the world are up against. The bleak reality of the situation has hit humanity and all other species like never before, and this is very much reflected by the turmoil that unfolds within this entry. Every decision and battle is tied to themes of hopelessness, where characters’ mental and physical strength will be tested.

These worldly pressures are once again delivered via verbal exchanges and tactical combat. The text-based conversations will challenge you, with solutions not always possible and dire outcomes unavoidable. This aligns perfectly with the finality of the third entry, and actively illustrates how the fate of the caravan and the surrounding world has perhaps already been decided. The pacing only adds to this, with the amount of decision-making required making you feel uneasy as you move one step closer towards the end. 

This flow is maintained by tackling one problem after the next in hope it will pay off, and the story is arguably more consumable as it doesn’t feel the need to establish each character again – even to the point of removing certain interactive features. Saying this, it’s still sustained by plenty of engaging conversation during text scenes, cut scenes and battle dialogue. As always, the verbal exchanges can be hostile – don’t expect the story to just fall into place. Standard replies may not always lead to your desired outcome; like the existing games, it can lead to a battle that may have been preventable.

The tactical turn-based battles in the game, like conversations, have much more weight this time around with the clock ticking. For the most part, each one has a greater sense of importance, with the story convincing you that the consequences are higher than ever before. The battles still could be considered the weaker aspect of the game, though. With no real apparent refinement to the tactical fights, if you didn’t necessarily enjoy this aspect of the title in the previous editions, or felt battles lacked depth somewhat despite the second game’s enhancements, don’t expect the core idea to change in your favour. 

While there are more gripping moments and enemies to take down – with a nice sense of reward when you do defeat or out-strategise a tough foe – some fights overstay their welcome due to wave-based objectives (fortunately you can eventually flee), and the A.I. itself can still be a bit too predictable from time to time. At the very least, there are some new enemies posing unique threats in battle and even unexpected allies. Due to the scale of the situation in the final game, additional characters can be called upon in battle – encouraging you to experiment with team chemistry rather than stick with a fixed party.

If it’s all too much, the ability to adjust the difficulty is still present, with the consequences being how quickly characters take to recover after hostile encounters. Again, though, there’s added assistance in the form of items and the usual ways to enhance your party by earning ‘renown’ to promote characters, upgrade abilities and create the ideal team to handle all forms of threats on the battlefield. Compared to the existing outings, however, character development might not feel as rewarding for some due to this game being the finale. If you’ve played the first two games, you should know what to expect. Naturally, your investment in each character in this entry is a do-or-die approach, as fate is in your hands. 

Visually speaking, nothing in The Banner Saga 3 has noticeably changed; for a game based on the world’s demise, it still couldn’t look any more beautiful. The stunning landscapes and hand-drawn characters return. The character animations during dialogue exchanges remain subtle but somehow add so much life to each scene. The cut scenes are wonderfully done, and when voice acting can be heard it only enriches the storytelling. The battle animations are still not quite as gripping or smooth, but this doesn’t detract too much from the package. The soundtrack is also on par with the visual spectacle – with the same atmospheric noises that were featured in the first two games – and Austin Wintory returning for a final full-length score which has been recorded by a live orchestra. Collectively, all of this adds up for a great conclusion to the saga.

Conclusion

From the beginning, this series has very much been about the journey to the destination in both a literal and figurative sense, and now we’ve arrived at the end, it’s clear that this was the strongest point all along. The development of characters and the gradual progression of the story naturally have less emphasis this time around, as this is the end of the saga, but what you do get is multiple endings with fitting outcomes. Now all that’s left is for you to decide whether or not this game and series are for you, much like the many choices present within the games themselves. 

There’s no secret behind what a sequel is meant to do – it’s there to continue and expand upon existing foundations laid by the first entry in a series. The Banner Saga 2 does exactly that. Apart from the tutorials reacquainting you with how the game operates, it doesn’t take long for the proceedings to get underway. 

After a brief recap of the events in the first game, the second entry in The Banner Saga trilogy begins with the option to import a save, or else manually select from either Rook or his daughter Alette – a decision linked to the climax of the first game’s conclusion. Your group is once again comprised of clansmen, humans, Varl (giant-like humans) and, this time around, Horseborn (centaur creatures), who you eventually encounter on your journey. Continuing from where the first game left off, your united caravan party is still on the run from the Dredge – an ancient enemy threat who are out to kill every living being in sight after the sun has stopped revolving. Your only hope now is to head for the supposed safe haven – the city of Arberrang.

Like the first game, every decision you make has an impact on the outcome of your journey, which is again broken up into multiple chapters. This is an RPG incorporating text and battle decision-making. Your actions in conversation and combat can have dire effects if you don’t do your best to calculate the lives at stake; alternatively, certain actions can also lead to better than expected outcomes. The text-based scenarios are akin to the first game, and the main characters will engage in various emotionally-charged exchanges, with the onus on you to make the decisions. You can basically put yourself, your party members and the caravan at risk, or once again take a more rational approach to ensure negative outcomes are minimal.

These conversations can also impact how your journey unfolds, with certain battles able to be avoided altogether and pathways or outcomes alternating as a result. Sometimes, sacrifices are unable to be prevented, and this is where a certain level of ambiguity comes into play. Characters you encounter, befriend and battle throughout your journey can again offer mixed reactions in the form of betrayal, deceit and perhaps unforeseen alliances. 

The similarities between the first and second games naturally don’t stop there – often you’ll find your attention being pulled away from the immediate concerns of the caravan to go and investigate an isolated village in the distance, or deal with the never-ending inter-party bickering. If you were entertained by the exchanges in the first game, the drama in the second game should be equally as captivating. What’s most satisfying is the continuity of the narrative and how it manages to end a side tale, while also expanding upon story arcs in preparation for the events to come. The focus in this outing is generally on the situation at hand rather than having to worry about contextualising the universe. That’s not to suggest characters aren’t developed or that detail is lacking, though, as important plot points and characters still get the required amount of attention. The world map also makes a return – helping to flesh out lore on the side and plot the journey ahead. 

The battles, like the text-based aspects, adopt the same format as the existing game. Fortunately, there’s a bit more variety on offer this time, with the mission objective not always being to simply kill everything in sight. There’s a mix of basic requirements like protecting an ally, and there’s even active storytelling in battles from time to time to add a greater amount of context. Battles still play out on a tile-based grid – similar to games like Final Fantasy Tactics – with each unit taking up a different amount of space. 

The strategy in combat is also similar to the first game, although with a variety of new classes and races like the Horseborn (who can attack and relocate at the end of the turn) alongside the Vale and humans – allowing for close, long range and reaching attacks – you have a range of moves that can counter opposition powers. The enemy has also been given several new classes, removing a certain level of predictability from each battle, although A.I. behaviour still falls short with some questionable moves at times. There are now more enemies to take on, however.

The commands are still rather basic, with each unit able to move, attack, defend and use special abilities. When making an offensive move, the options are still the same, allowing you to attack the enemy’s strength or break their armour. Attacking armour again makes enemies susceptible to more damage in the future. Each time a kill occurs you gain ‘renown’ – which is used later on to improve characters by levelling them up, increasing individual stats and unlocking new abilities. Generally, there’s a lot of options on offer when it comes to building up a party of characters. Your playstyle could, alternatively, be less direct, recruiting characters with the ability to support allies by buffing them (the poet) or relying on the element of surprise with the landsman, and using promotion to further improve chances. 

Introduced early on in the sequel are obstacles, requiring you to occasionally rethink your strategies depending on how the battlefield is laid out. In the worst case scenario, you can always plow through an obstacle if required. If you’re struggling to reach your target zone, ‘willpower’ makes a return as a limited resource – enabling heroes to boost actions and movement – with the exertion stat also needed to be taken into account. The special abilities are again varied with some that assist fellow party members, allowing them to deal damage on multiple adjacent tiles. Pilage mode means you can increase your attacks on sole enemies remaining. If battles do become too much, you can always change the difficulty on the fly. Unfortunately, the control system on the Switch is unchanged from the first game making menus clunky to navigate – especially in battle.

Managing the caravan is still the same juggling act that it was in the original game. Supplies dig into your renown but are vital in order to keep party morale high and prevent famine. If you fail to put enough points into this area you’ll lose followers, and go into battle with lower-than-normal spirits which ultimately lessens your chances of more successful outcomes. You can also acquire items from the marketplace to increase the chances of heroes having more positive outcomes in battle. Camping allows rest and now offers a way to hone your battle skills in the training tent with various challenge scenarios – this can earn you renown when you fulfil a number of battle objectives such as killing an enemy with a certain attack. You can also convert clansmen into fighters, making this area of the game feel slightly more significant than before, and benefitting the caravan.

When you’re not fighting your way out of a tight spot in conversation or battle, you’ll no doubt be soaking up the stunning and varied environments. Compared to the harsher landscape featured in the original game, there are a lot more colourful scenes on display in the sequel – with the magnificent hand-drawn artwork and characters still present. The cutscenes are just as stunning, with the graphics ripped straight out of a Disney cartoon; it’s just a pity the voice acting is limited to just a few lines and the occasional grunt in battle. 

The look of battles and animations are noticeably unchanged, but are at the very least consistent with the visual style of the original game. The soundtrack once again works in harmony with the journey of the caravan party. Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory has done another tremendous job capturing the trauma of the game world with an emotionally-driven collection of piece, and the sound effects bring the most basic elements of the universe to life.

Conclusion

The Banner Saga 2 expands on the series’ existing foundations with more of the same. There’s no drastic overhaul to the text-based elements or battle segments, and similar systems are in place when it comes to managing your caravan party, fighting enemies, and talking your way out of a tight spot. If you’ve played the original, you’ll know exactly what to expect. Subtle refinements make this a sequel that truly lives up to the standards of the first entry, however, paving the way for the final chapter.