I’ve spent the day playing a very early beta build of The Banner Saga, an upcoming indie turn-based strategy game. Obviously plenty of the game wasn’t working, but I can tell you about the bits that were.
In terms of presentation and design, it’s a very simple game. So simple that you should consider it more a tabletop or board game experience than what you’d expect from a video game. There are no terrain modifiers, no sweeping views of expansive battlefields, just a flat, open board where two teams of warriors go at it.
Like Battle Chess, then. Only with Vikings (here’s how it works).
https://lastchance.cc/see-the-banner-sagas-tactical-combat-in-action-5948302%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The second, and this is the real star of this game, is that it’s simply beautiful. Trailers don’t do it justice when you see it running at 1920x, where every little hair, detail and animation stands out. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised, given the game’s BioWare pedigree and early shots it’s always looked good, but I wasn’t ready for it to look so good at such a size.
https://lastchance.cc/bioware-trio-leave-to-make-a-strategy-rpg-thing-5886418%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
If you want to try it out for yourself, the developers have opened up a beta you can sign up for
