The best game of Oregon Trail you'll ever play... aka The Banner Saga

 

I finished my first play through of The Banner Saga late last night.  The more I think about how I want to approach this post the more I just want to talk about the story.  Not because it's good (it is) but because it's most of what you'll take away from the experience.  This isn't one of those art piece "interactive stories" that have been popping up much more often in recent years.  It's a strategy game.  It's also not just a strategy game because the story is dynamic based on the decisions you make... making it something more along the lines of a choose your own adventure story.  The setting of the game is a journey.  The destination changes from time to time, but it's basically Oregon Trail.  You start at one end with an army, some "clansmen" and supplies and head out to where you've got to be enjoying one strange adventure after another on the way.

The reason I am having trouble putting my thoughts on paper about The Banner Saga is because I feel like this game COULD have been more enjoyable if the developers had a bigger budget.  Once you get through the first half hour of the game you've seen all the animations you'll see.  The people you chat with will have a twitchy eye or tap on their shields, but they are just a looping 5 second animation on the screen as you read all the dialogue yourself.  I make this complaint only out of love.  The voice acting that IS in the game is stellar.  The combination of the 70s retro cartoon graphics and the voice actors they used really is something special.  The only problem is you don't hear them much outside of the first half hour of this 10 hour play through.  I also have to back peddle even MORE because I believe the story is so good it stands up on its own without NEEDING voice actors or animations.  In fact, I'd probably skip most of the dialogue if it was being spoken instead of displayed in text.

Basically, I loved the little cut scene in the beginning and I wanted a lot more of that.

The combat is fun and mostly straight forward but it did take me a little time to figure out exactly what's going on.  You move your fighters around on what amounts to a chess board and take turns trying to whittle down each others armor and strength.  Each fighter has its own special ability and passive ability along with their own distribution of stats.  It's boiled down to the most basic and it really does feel good to have a plan come together.

The traveling and all the little side stories throughout your journey are what really take this game to the next level.  Do you trust the guys who just so happen to be going in your direction and invite them to come along?  Or, do you kill them where they stand because you can't be too cautious?  Maybe you just keep going about your business and see what happens?  In the end, this game does moral decision making right.  This isn't the Bioshock style of "Press A to snap this little girl's neck or Press B to save her."  Sometimes it's the difference between glancing or saying nothing that changes everything.  The story is so well woven that I honestly couldn't tell you why I ended up where I did.  All I know is it makes me want to start all over again and see what else is out there.

With that being said... let's go over some quick pros and cons and wrap this up:

Pros:

• Story.  
• Art Style
• Easy to pick up yet difficult to master turn based combat
• Moral decision making done right
• No "Quick save" making every decision count

Cons:

• Animations and voice acting taper off too early
• Holy WTF loose ends when I finished my play through without any hint to there being a way to find out.
•  Only one profile can be played.  You can either resume or restart (sorry PC sharers)
• No "Quick save" making every decision count

Conclusion:

If you enjoyed Oregon Trail or you like turn based "chess like" strategy games... OR you just love a good, well written story you need to get on steam right now and pick yourself up a copy of The Banner Saga.  It's an amazing experience that you should not miss.