The Banner Saga 2
By Neilie Johnson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Rich, violent role-playing tale addresses serious themes.
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The Banner Saga 2
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What’s It About?
THE BANNER SAGA 2 continues where the first Banner Saga left off: following a band of refugees as they flee an enveloping darkness. Players who played the first game can import the decisions they made into the second or start from scratch with one of two familiar heroes. Many characters return, and a host of new ones appear, including a new centaur race called the Horseborn. Tension runs high as you're asked to look after hundreds of men, women, and children, fight enemies in turn-based combat, and make life-or-death decisions.
Is It Any Good?
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.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about bigotry. Why are some people afraid of people who are different from themselves?
Discuss grief. Have you ever lost a family member? How did it make you feel?
Think about what war does to families. What would your family do if your home was destroyed?
Game Details
- Platforms: Mac, Windows
- Pricing structure: Paid (Deluxe Edition also available for $24.99 and bundle that includes the first Banner Saga game available for $39.72.)
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Versus Evil
- Release date: April 19, 2016
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Adventures
- ESRB rating: NR for No Descriptions
- Last updated: August 23, 2016
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