The Banner Saga 3 Released, Reviews
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Giants, vikings, and the end of the world. The grand finale of Stoic Studio's The Banner Saga trilogy of narrative RPGs is upon us. If you're interested in knowing how the story ends, you can now buy The Banner Saga 3 on Steam or GOG for $24.99 or your regional equivalent, or grab it for your Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or Nintendo Switch. Here's the launch trailer:
And the announcement press release:
BALTIMORE, MD – July 26th, 2018 – Stoic, an independent game development company, and Versus Evil, one of the leading independent video game publishers, today announced that Banner Saga 3, the third and final installment in the award winning, BAFTA nominated role-playing strategy game, is now available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. This launch brings the trilogy to a climactic, tragic end in epic form where gamers can now experience the complete saga from beginning to end with the complete Banner Saga Trilogy editions available online on July 26th in digital form. The physical PlayStation 4 and Xbox One trilogy editions will also be released on Friday July 27th and the Nintendo Switch physical trilogy edition to be released September 21st.
Banner Saga 3 is the defining end to an emotionally driven series that began in 2014 and has continued to enthrall its legion of fans with a deep and thought provoking story-driven adventure, beautifully-crafted hand painted visuals and challenging, strategic turn-based combat. The game’s soundtrack also concludes Austin Wintory’s work on the award winning franchise with another beautifully orchestrated original score, recorded in the UK earlier this year.
The final journey beyond the wall of darkness will continue to surprise fans as the clever and unique story twists and turns depending on their choices. Fans who have played the previous two Banner Saga installations will also see their choices carried over to Banner Saga 3, while new gamers will be given a set of default options to play with.
"Banner Saga 3 represents the final chapter in our Viking adventure which we have loved sharing with the fans every step of the way. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the fans and backers for helping us create the game we always wanted to make and one that fittingly concludes the trilogy so well”, said John Watson, Technical Director of Stoic.
“The end has come.. and it’s hard to fathom that this award winning series has come to its conclusion.”, said Steve Escalante, founder of Versus Evil. “This trilogy is for those that have been waiting for all three games, now is the time to jump in. We started this adventure with Stoic, nearly five years ago and we couldn’t be more proud of the wonderful partnership we have forged on this amazing series. Congratulations to the Stoic team and their supporters. Together you have all created one of the greatest indie titles of our time.”
There will be three digital versions of the game at launch. The Standard Edition of Banner Saga 3 on PC will cost $24.99 / £18.74 / €24.99 while the Deluxe Edition will be priced at $29.99 / £22.49 /€29.99 and will include the game's official soundtrack composed by Austin Wintory in addition to a digital wallpaper, world map and the 'Gold Wasp' in-game item.
The Banner Saga 3 Legendary Edition is priced at $39.99 / £29.99/ €39.99 and includes everything that comes in the Deluxe Edition as well as the exclusive 'Shadow Walker' Heroic Title, the 'Petrie Clan Ring' exclusive legendary item and digital novel 'Gift of Hadrborg'.
Available from 505 Games – The Banner Saga Trilogy: Bonus Edition - for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 physical retail edition is also available, priced at $39.99 / £29.99 / €39.99 The Bonus Edition includes Banner Sagas 1, 2 and 3 plus a mini art book, poster, best of soundtrack and in-game digital item. It will be available at major game retailers on July 27th .
Banner Saga 3 will be available on the App Store for iPad and iPhone, on Google Play and Amazon for Android devices and on Windows based tablets later in the year.
You can also check out some of the fairly positive early reviews:
PC Gamer 90/100:
Though it refuses to pull its punches throughout—landing a few right at the death—this is a shorter conclusion than you might expect, lacking some of the range of its sprawling predecessor. And it’s true that there’s perhaps not quite enough visible evidence of Arberrang’s deterioration, even with the sound and music team doing their best to amplify the turmoil. But with the world falling apart, it makes perfect sense to zoom in on its people—and their wildly different responses to their extraordinary predicament make for enthralling, wrenching drama. The result is a thrilling and affecting finale that closes the book on a bleak but riveting journey in fine style. It is, in short, the ending the saga deserves.
IGN 8.3/10:
The Banner Saga 3 offers the darkest entry yet in this beautifully animated tactical RPG trilogy. Choices matter and come fast and furious, making this journey a thrilling roller coaster from the opening moments to the ending credits. Combat can be a bit of a chore once you find your footing, and the story ends all too quickly, but The Banner Saga 3 is a rich and powerful experience and a worthy end to a breakout trilogy.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun Scoreless:
Ultimately, though, whether you have a satisfying ending or not is very much down to your choices, and yours alone – which, for a game like this, couldn’t be more fitting. Yes, it runs the risk of being a massive anti-climax if you make a few duff decisions, but even that has a kind of poetic justice to it – it’s just another tragic tale to be woven into your ever-eventful banner.
Overall, I think you will have a good ending – and one worth the pain you’ve had to endure over the course of these collective 40-odd hours. And even if you don’t, at least you’ll never be faced with the question of why Frodo just didn’t use an eagle to plop the ring into Mount Doom and have done with it all.
TechRaptor 9.5/10:
The Banner Saga 3 is a climactic journey full of epic moments and heartbreak. The awesome epic fantasy, the meaningful decisions, and challenging tactical gameplay all had me engrossed for the game’s entirety. It’s exactly what you want at the end of a story, providing a grand resolution and enough answers to some mysteries along the way to be satisfying. It is the cap to what I can now say is one of gaming’s best trilogies.
WCCFTech 8/10:
The Banner Saga 3 wraps up its six-years-in-the-making epic in poignant, gripping style. The game’s tactical battles still have some issues, but their rough edges have been sanded down to the point they no longer detract from the game’s stellar writing. The Banner Saga 3 deserves to be held high as a prime example of both video game storytelling and a crowdfunded project done right.
