The Banner Saga 2

This well-crafted sequel presents a high-tension, action-packed story that will keep your heart racing from beginning to end. Whether you import decisions from the first game or start fresh with one of the two playable heroes, you're in for hours of fun turn-based combat and nail-bitingly tough decisions that affect your characters in profound ways. The combat system is fairly easy to learn, and optional training sequences provide plenty of opportunity to master skills and gain the renown needed to level up characters. Characters all have useful, interesting combat skills that work well in conjunction with one another, and, even better, they all have distinct personalities. It's easy to get attached to your favorites, which makes the perilous events of the game all the scarier to endure. Along with addressing the notion of good versus evil, the story taps into more complex issues such as racial prejudice, processing the death of a loved one, and the need for different peoples to come together when faced with a common threat. The graphics and music are unbelievably gorgeous. The only flaws in this otherwise fabulous role-playing adventure are the occasionally confusing (possibly buggy) tutorials and the painful cliffhanger ending.