The Banner Saga: Factions Impressions

RTSGuru is offering some hands-on impressions of The Banner Saga: Factions, the recently released free-to-play multiplayer demo/spin-off of The Banner Saga. Here’s a snippet:

While there is only Versus mode for now (and a tournament lasting for several days) and a single map, there is depth to the combat system that makes the game replayable. It looks almost deceptively easy, but the Stoic team has laced this experience with enough challenge for even experienced players to enjoy.

There are still a couple of issues, beginning with the occasional bug and the balance issues that often come right after launch with games like this. Tactics and balance are huge, so you need to give people a chance to play and unravel the knots laid out before them, as well as keep an eye on leveling speed and difficulty. This being Stoic’s first release as a team (though an experienced team at that), there’s a lot of general polish, for what began as a side project. There was a member of the team in the chat answering player questions, helping everyone get oriented, and otherwise talking about future plans and tweaks to come while I was playing. It’s clear there is good support here and hope it continues. Things we’d like to see in the future include new ranks/promotions and more customization options, as well as an AI mode.

Thanks, RPGWatch.