The Banner Saga 3 makes you feel like your choices really matter. Never put me in charge of saving the world, because I made some pretty serious mistakes along the way, which resulted in some painful losses. The dangling plot threads are tied up in a (mostly) coherent, cathartic way, although be forewarned – this is the most merciless Banner Saga game yet. Those hoping The Banner Saga 3 will provide clear answers to the questions raised by the first two games are in luck. The beautiful visuals are further enhanced by the game’s mournful soundtrack and a light sprinkling of top-notch voice acting. The Banner Saga’s stylish background art and beautifully-animated characters have always been impressive, but the Darkness, with its corrupted, broken landscape and Lovecraftian horrors, takes the artistry to the next level. The game’s striking visuals make the contrast between these parallel stories all the more stark. It’s a compelling contrast – on one side, Game of Thrones-esque intrigue and tricky moral decisions, on the other, a straightforward, yet harrowing march into the heart of darkness. Meanwhile, Juno’s group trudge ever-deeper into the gloom, which has twisted and transformed everything (and everybody) in horrifying ways. Alette must keep the dredge from overrunning Arberrang while navigating the city’s politics and the machinations of Rugga, a corrupt governor with an eye on the throne. The Banner Saga 3 bounces back and forth between these two groups throughout its story. Meanwhile, Juno, accompanied by her partner Eyvind, the noble varl Iver, and a band of mercenaries known as the Ravens, plunges into the darkness to try to bring an end to the apocalypse. As we begin The Banner Saga 3, Alette has led her caravan to the bustling human city of Arberrang, the last bastion of civilization amongst the darkness. One is led by the humble hunter Rook (or his daughter Alette, which is who I played as), the other by a powerful spellweaver named Juno, who, it’s hinted, may have had something to do with the darkness afflicting the world. The first two games served up more twists, turns, and backstabbings than I could possibly get into, but, the story roughly follows two groups. This world is in a bit of a sorry state, as the sun has stopped moving, the dredge have returned and are destroying everything in their path, and a sphere of menacing dark energy is spreading across the land. The Banner Saga takes place in a Norse-inspired world populated by humans, giants (varl), centaurs (horseborn), and unearthly thought-to-be-extinct stone people (the dredge).

That said, here’s a brief recap for those jumping in at the end of the story… You’ll get more out of the story, and be less confused by the barrage of hard-to-pronounce names if you start with the first two games. The Banner Saga 3 is, technically, a standalone game, but the trilogy tells a single connected story, with decisions from previous entries carrying forward. Warning: The following review contains some spoilers for The Banner Saga 1 and 2.

The banner saga juno