Banner Saga 2

Roleplaying

Ratings

Age

9+

Roleplaying

Languages

English

Latest Version 1.0.7

Wed May 03 2017

Improve text readability and UI size on small high density screens (iPhone 7, iPhone 6+, etc...). The size is adjustable in device's Settings App.

Fixed missing Russian, Portuguese, and Spanish subtitles during cutscenes in Survival Mode

Eyeless cinematic will now play properly

Fixed some missing/corrupted assets

Added localizations for settings

Banner Saga 2 is the award-winning sequel to the acclaimed indie RPG. Continue your emotional journey across a world on the brink of collapse, making bold leadership decisions and managing resources to keep your Viking clan alive. Experience improved turn-based tactical combat, upgrade your characters' stats, and immerse yourself in a story inspired by Viking mythology with breathtaking 2D animations. Choices from the first game carry over, making your story truly your own.

Dinsun Expert Review

Our Expert Score

94/100

Banner Saga 2 is a staggering achievement in storytelling and tactical depth. It manages to do what few sequels achieve: it heightens the emotional stakes of the original while refining every mechanical system. The hand-drawn 2D visuals remain some of the most beautiful in the industry, evoking a somber, Viking-inspired atmosphere that perfectly matches the 'world is breaking' narrative. The weight of your choices is palpable—decisions made in the first game carry over, and even small leadership choices can lead to the permanent death of beloved characters.

The tactical combat has seen significant improvements, with new units and more interactive environments that demand precise positioning. It’s not just about hitting hard; it’s about managing armor vs. strength and utilizing the unique abilities of your caravan members. The addition of 'Survival Mode' provides a high-stakes challenge for those who have mastered the story. For an indie title to feel this epic in scale and intimate in its character moments is a rare feat. It’s a somber, beautiful journey that is essential for any RPG fan.

Dinsun reviewed on: Sat Feb 24 2024

Features

Hand-Drawn 2D Visuals

Choice-Driven Narrative

Turn-Based Tactical Combat

Viking Mythology Setting

Save File Import Support

Tips & Walkthrough

Combat Strategy

Focus on lowering an enemy's Armor before attacking their Strength. A high-strength enemy with low armor is far less dangerous than a protected one.

Gameplays

Managing the Caravan

Balance your supplies and morale. If morale drops too low, your units will start battles with less willpower, making them significantly less effective.

Screenshot

Q&A

While you can start fresh with pre-set options, the experience is best if you carry over your choices from The Banner Saga.

Ratings & Reviews

Great game, better than the first

Wed Sep 15 2021 Martindesan

The story has some real weight to it. You really feel like the world is ending and you feel even more powerless when your choices end up killing clansmen, and even worst, when one of your decisions permakills one of your hero characters. The battles push you harder and further than the battles in the first game. Some abilities have been added and some like the shieldmaster(or what ever the class is called) have been nerfed but are still viable. The new hero and enemy types add some welcome variety. I loved the training challenges in camp throughout the story. Have not played survival yet but the base game is good enough. Wish the third was on here, and for a lot of people that is a deal breaker, but this game is great as a stand alone. It has a good amount of replay ability. The music is just as good as the first, the artwork is great too.

Very enjoyable game, but you cannot finish the story...

Sun Jan 12 2020 xabierkristof

This is a wonderfully engaging game with a great story, fun gameplay, wonderful music, and beautiful art. I really enjoyed the different ways you can develop your characters, the different strategic requirements of the battles, and most of all, the really engaging story. It isn’t often that you see a game where the decisions really matter and you have so much freedom to find your way through a story. HOWEVER, the studio (Stoic) has not ported Banner Saga 3 to mobile, and appears uninterested in doing so, which means that I’m not able to finish the story I invested so many hours in. I’m very disappointed in the studio. This game, along with its predecessor, are the first video games to get my attention in a long, long time, and its really upsetting that Stoic seems to not realize or not care that there are people who play these games on their mobile devices and are unable to play them otherwise. Hopefully they will come around to porting #3 sooner or later, but until then, I can’t recommend getting invested in this or the first installment. Two stars because it’s such a fantastic game, but ultimately, a real letdown.

GG

Mon Aug 07 2017 Die-Fighting

The art style and detail, the animation (wish there was more but I'll take what I can get), the music, the choices, the story, and battle mechanics are just breathtaking/unbelievable/awesome I cannot describe the awe I felt for the waterfall scene, to name one. It's worth it, every penny. I played it like 10 times as Rook and then I'm doing Alette now. The reason I didn't give this game 5 stars is because I DO NOT LIKE the food/morale system. Just because a day passed and there's less food doesn't mean that they should be dropping in morale! If there's no food or an event I get it but just the fact that a day passed? Anyway other that everything else is awesome. Game frequently crashes but whatever just a minor thing that will get fixed hopefully. GG

Time waster

Sat Aug 15 2020 Gordon1707

I **really** loved banner saga 1 - 5*. However I played it about 4 years ago, and clearly some things have changed in BS2, notably around save and load mechanics. First, I get to a battle which is utterly unwinnable. Not “hard” but “impossible”. This is bad enough. (some woman we picked up who then ambushes you in the snow. You have no choice of characters. it assigns 3 rubbish level 1 characters to your party who are always eliminated on turn 1, no turn order, and the tactical situation is impossible. I consider myself pretty good - I have never lost a battle, never had to jump out, and I play on hard mode; but his battle is a joke. 7 times I failed, so I decided to back up and load a previous save. Since you can’t control the saves, the “most recent” was several hours of play time back as I found when I opened the save. Seeing this I decided to abandon this course, and simply accept a defeat and move on.I went to load my “previous” save (the point before the terrible battle) only to find this no longer existed and the latest save was moments after the older one — thus losing me hours of real time and results of several battles. Bottom line : unwinnable battles pretty poor, inability to “save” is a deal breaker. Don’t start this game unless you like to be frustrated. Oh, and final nail : BS 3 won’t come out on iOS so it is a bit like a tv programme you enjoy that has had its last season cancelled on a cliff hanger. Don’t make the investment. If there was a “save” button

An Epic, Stirring, Riveting Triumph

Mon Sep 23 2019 Desdiccato

Do not miss out on this gaming experience, they don’t come along nearly often enough. The story is like a book you can’t put down, the choices incredibly well thought out, rarely black and white with characters drawn so vividly caring about the outcome is all but compulsory. The gameplay is satisfying with balanced mechanics and at first glance simple yet fun turn based combat easy to grasp while masking a much deeper strategic and tactical system underneath allowing clever use of synergies, positioning, unique class abilities and more, giving you plenty to dig into and master. It builds and improves on its predecessor, fine tuning gameplay, adding classes and including additional features like destructible physical barricades and an addition I particularly enjoyed- optional training combat scenarios that teach how new abilities work and can best be utilized while rewarding the ever needed resource termed “renown”. Speaking of which the resource system is simple, but brilliant. Do you spend renown on supplies to keep your people from starving and dying, spend it to level up your heroes or purchasing gear/items. And managing that balance of resource is crucial. I can’t recommend this Saga enough and have pestered, cajoled, pressured friend after friend to get it/play it and not one has been disappointed. Writing a review for a game I enjoy is quite rare; but a game like this- I had too. Don’t think I’ve written a review since divinity2 or witcher3. The only real complaint is wanting more!!! More story more game more everything and luckily I still have the concluding entry of the trilogy to look forward to, banner saga 3. To anyone reading and considering. You are in for a treat. And if you have the option play on iPad over iPhone. The extra screen size is ideal.

Fantastic

Sun Feb 18 2018 Honey badgers to the max

Just as great as the first one. Beautiful art, music, characters, and interesting story. The only problem I have is a couple of the fights are ridiculously hard even on easy mode. The one under the mountain is really difficult and glitches in a couple spots where the characters can’t move. I had to replay that fight at least 10 times. Another hard fight is later on the bridge. I had such a difficult time with it, I had to put the game away for a month before I wanted to try again. And the ending was a little less satisfying than last time. Still great but definitely left me surprised that was where it ended.

Compelling, thrilling, gorgeous

Wed Jul 04 2018 Atlas223

These games have blown me away, particularly with the top-notch world-building. As someone who always loved to pour over maps of Middle-Earth, Westeros, and Malazan the interactive map feature is easily my favorite thing about the game, just continuing to astonish me with how much thought has been put into the creation of the world. Five stars easily, and I wish I could give you more helpful feedback but I just cannot find any flaws in Banner Saga or its sequel. I do no normally follow specific game developers but I have not enjoyed a game this much since The Last of Us. Looking forward to the finale and keep up the great work! Skold!

A Stunning Game that Does Not Disapoint

Wed Dec 06 2017 89cooldude89

While it can be argued that the story in this game can be a little lagging compared to the first (some call it the middle story syndrome) it has a excess of lore and story that show how much the developers and community have put into this game. On the gameplay side it is incredible how the characters work. I have played through two times and found two teams consisting of mostly different characters who have unique stories and abilities to help you in your battles. In the end the second Banner Saga is a real improvement that very few could have predicted how great it’s become.