The Glade 4.0

Pulling this out into its own thread now that it's a month out from release (Jan. 14th).

The Banner Saga is a turn-based tactics game with both multiplayer and a singleplayer campaign that adds roleplaying elements as you guide your tribe of Vikings through the perils of the apocalypse. It was a Kickstarter project about a year and a half ago, and the tactics combat they've devised is pretty solid, strategically, and very fun. It's also a singularly pretty game, using a gorgeous hand-painted 2d art style that animates well and looks absolutely nothing like anything else on the market.

Anyways, it's up for pre-order on Steam, now, for 20% off plus a few pre-order bonuses.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Tuesday, yay!

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Ok...that looks pretty cool.

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Raell Kromwell

8.6 from IGN

A friend of mine gifted me this yesterday for my birthday. Guess I'll have to check it out.

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The Dude abides.

Worse things could happen. I'm in Chapter 3 so far, and enjoying Normal difficulty. I've had some experience with the multiplayer-only release (The Banner Saga: Factions) about a year ago, and Normal has left me anywhere from scraping through fights battered but with no injuries to taking some injuries on half my guys, depending on the choices I made leading into the battle.

I could probably play on Hard, but it would definitely be a bleaker and more desperate experience with permanent casualties.

If you're new to the fighting system entirely, I'll recommend either starting on Normal and understanding that you'll climb the learning curve over the first two chapters or so, or starting on Easy and switching to Normal sometime in Chapter 3.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Wait, this isn't about The Hulk?

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I wasn't going to say anything...

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I'm having a very tough time not having guys get knocked down. The size of the varl makes it difficult to keep a formation. It invariably leads to one or two guys taking a huge beating because the rest of the unit can't be brought to bear and (at least where I am) there is no way to heal or rez.

What also sucks is that killing enemies effectively gives the remaining units a haste spell until you reach Pillage. I got some dredge down to two units and a smaller one was able to chase down one of my wounded units (who had a clear distance advantage) and kill him before others could take the dredge down. The more I think on it, the more I consider this to be game-breaking.

I'm also rather frustrated with how just about every action I take outside of battle results in huge losses. I get that actions, especially risks, have consequences, but throw me a freakin bone once in a while.

I'll keep playing. But I'm not enjoying this like I had hoped.

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The Dude abides.

The common tactic, here, is to maim instead of kill until the bulk of the enemy forces is heavily injured. By leaving opponents with several points fewer strength than your weakest current armor, you've taken away their ability to threaten your own units' strength with that activation. At that point, don't go for the killing blow, because it's much better to have them take an armour break against one of your units than give the fresh, unwounded enemy unit another activation in his place. The exception to watch out for, of course, is if the enemy has a dangerous special attack that doesn't rely on strength and the willpower to use it. Likewise, if you're in a close battle, sacrificing a wounded unit can help give you an activation advantage with the ones in better shape.

The formation thing is tough. I don't really bother with more than 2 varl in my party. Trying to keep them in close quarters to each other just means they're tripping over each other with their slow movement. Fortunately, varl are generally tough enough that you can let them spread out some and run in pairs or so. I find using range and aggo items is often more useful than formation to protect more weakly armoured or otherwise squishy units.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I think I just finished chapter 3 where Hakon finds that human at the top of the tower. So I guess I'm not terribly far in? In any case, I was already starting to move toward bleeding enemies and finishing them off later. But still you gotta agree that's a retarded mechanic.

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The Dude abides.

I actually found it kind of clever. It rewards something other than simply focus fire to minimize incoming damage.

The alternating turns mechanic actually does also make comebacks more possible, rather than simply promoting early leads snowballing predictably to victory as a slight activation advantage becomes impossible to overcome. While being limited to armor breaking is a painful handicap, getting no activation in that slot because you lost a unit would be worse.

My perspective might be a bit different since I cut my teeth on the system with The Banner Saga: Factions PvP combat. So the aversion to snowballing kind of gains a different perspective in that light, and if you don't make the leap to maiming right away on your own, it will probably be used against you, leading you to see it in action and adopt it yourself pretty quickly.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Others take you.

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The Dude abides.

Hah, same here. My son was looking around on Steam yesterday, and I noticed it out of the corner of my eye. I was very surprised it wasn't green and muscle-y.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

This game is great. I finished the single player finally about a week and a half ago. I want to talk story, not mechanics, but y'all aren't done yet. So my spoilers will wait.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I just started Chapter 5. How much further do I have to go?

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The Dude abides.

there are 7 chapters, and 7 is fairly short.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I liked Chapter 5, though.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

That last fight was entirely frustrating. I kept having a streak of bad luck (at least 5 times) where The game tells a great story (although the end sucked) and it was pretty to look at. But I stopped having fun about half way through.

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The Dude abides.

Ouch, yeah, that would suck.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

If you haven't played it, you still should.

And now is an excellent and opportune time to do so -- if you'd prefer it on a non-PC platform, it's been ported to Android, iOS, X-Box One, and PS4, now. Not to mention, if you live in northern climes, playing for a couple hours to while away the evening next to a cold window or a crackling fire is ever-so-atmospheric.

And, you know, the second episode is due out soon, with the option to import your save data from the first to let your own story and the choices you've made and the fates of your friends and companions carry into the new game...

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I learned my lesson from Mass Effect.

Having not played Mass Effect, what lesson is that?

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Don't play Mass Effect.

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Well, yes. Which is why I'm asking Lenas what lesson Mass Effect taught him that he feels applies to (I'm assuming?) transferring save data to a sequel in another game, rather than playing Mass Effect myself to see if I can learn it first-hand.

I can't tell whether Lenas was disappointed with the way the Mass Effect follow-ups integrated (or failed to) the events of his previous plays, or whether he felt the story would've been better had he taken the default state, or whether he was so impressed by it that his comment means he's furiously playing through the first Banner Saga episode so he'll be ready for the upcoming second.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades