The announcement has caught us somehow off-guard but we celebrate it nevertheless. The Viking Saga from Stoic is arriving to PC and MAC in less than a month!
Gather around the fire, fellow companions of this caravan, and hear the news. The indie developer Stoic has confirmed that Banner Saga 2 is arriving to our computers on April 19th. The highly-awaited sequel got postponed last year and Stoic promised to deliver it during the first quarter of 2016. Even if they are not particularly keeping that oath, the final release of this Viking story is looking so interesting that we may forgive them that.
If you are interested in purchasing it you may consider a Steam pre-order since the game is already available and it comes with a 10% off the regular price. The studio has confirmed that they are not going for further launcher day discounts.
While we wait for this long month to pass, we have compiled here a brief list of the key features you can expect to find in the next chapter of the journey. Enjoy!
Banner Saga 2: What’s New?
The original Banner Saga title (2014) surprised critics and gamers alike with its abridged yet captivating story and its gameplay, that mixture between “manage your caravan” mechanics and turn-based combats. The folks at Stoic managed pretty well that hybrid between strategy and RPG back then. When confronted with creating the first sequel (the Saga will be a trilogy, as stated since the very beginning), they wanted to keep loyal to the spirit that saw that first 2D hand-drawn world. But they were also aware of the privations that accompanied that first title and wanted to improve.
Players wanted more. They wanted more variety of fighting encounters, different win conditions, even more RPG elements during the caravan sequences, more cinematic cuts and sequences, more characters. And this is, simply speaking, what you can expect to see in Banner Saga 2.
The game will take over the course of events that shaped the end of the original title. All the major decisions that you took back then will still pervade and have consequences in the new story. It will bring a brand new race to keep Humans and Varl company, the Horseborn, new monsters and clans and expanded cinematics to ensure we get the most of those dazzling landscapes.
They are also implementing new talents for specialization on characters and the possibility of hitting higher levels, granting special attacks as we level up. On top of that, combats are improved with greater enemy variety, more scenarios and different battle win conditions. The storytelling elements of the game will also work here.
All of this will come immersed in the evocative tunes of Austin Wintory, who is the proud creator of the unforgettable Journey soundtrack.
If you have a weakness for strong narrative driven games, this one should be under your radar. The folks are Stoic are promising an epic ride that will take us to new interactive levels. We are still one month away from trying it our – but it’s looking pretty promising already.
