History VideoGame / TheBannerSaga

''The Banner Saga'' is a tactical RPG developed by Stoic Studios. It is a series of tales set in a fantasy north, where humans struggle to co-exist with the varl, a race of horned giants. They live in the shadow of a race of armored beings known as the Dredge, forcing them into an uneasy alliance. One day, the Dredge attack again, threatening all of mortal civilization.

* AnAxeToGrind: Rook has one as his up-close weapon, with a bow for distance. Many other characters have a one-handed version.

* DivineAssistance: If you play your cards right, you can get an item from every single Godstone, including some unique level-five items.

''The Banner Saga'' is a series of tales set in a fantasy north, where humans struggle to co-exist with the varl, a race of horned giants. They live in the shadow of a race of armored beings known as the Dredge, forcing them into an uneasy alliance. One day, the Dredge attack again, threatening all of mortal civilization.

A sequel, ''VideoGame/TheBannerSaga2'' has been released as of April 19, 2016.

A sequel, ''VideoGame/TheBannerSaga2'' has been announced.

* CriticalExistenceFailure: Averted for once, as the unit's strength, whether allied or hostile, is directly tied to their health. They more wounded they get, the less damage they'll be able to deal. Thus, the best combat strategy is to wound all enemy troops before killing any of them. Conversely, your heavily wounded soldiers become nigh-useless, and it's better to suicidally throw them into the fray rather then letting Dredge cripple more soldiers.

* RobotWar: The Dredge don't even seem to be organic, and are referred to as "Stone Men". They also summon help by using their weapons as tuning forks. [[spoiler:{{Subverted}} - they have women and children among their species.]]

** GlassCannon/SquishyWizard: The Archer and Mender; have the lowest strength and armor but the highest willpower, mostly skilled with range combat.

** GlassCannon: The Archer; possesses the lowest Strength and Armor but the highest Willpower, and is a ranged unit.
** FragileSpeedster / JackOfAllStats: The Raider; possesses the most average Strength, Armor and Willpower, and is a melee unit.
** MightyGlacier: The Varl Warrior; possesses the highest Strength and average armor, but among the lowest Willpower aside from the Varl Shieldbanger.
** StoneWall: The Varl Shieldbanger; possesses the highest Armor and average Strength, but, as brought up, the lowest Willpower.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: While traversing the high mountains, Mogr advises Hakon to stop and rest. After considering it, Hakon watches Mogr jump off the side of the mountain while flapping his arms like a bird, and then explode into flames. Hakon then wakes up at the foot of the mountain, Mogr is fine, and both agree not to talk about it.

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Hakon's caravan arrives at Boersgard just when it looks like the city is about to fall to the might of Bellower.]]

* HalfHumanHybrid: The Varl were made as a combination of man and beast, probably yox. There are also the horseborn, who seem to be centaurs according to the rough drawings on the map.

* {{Gotterdammerung}}: The sun is stuck in the sky, robbing the world of all concept of time. The gods themselves are dead, and the Serpent lurks, plotting to devour the whole world. [[ItGotWorse This is before the apocalyptic army of the Dredge arrived.]]

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: With the exception of Rook (who also uses an axe), all archers are female.

* NorseMythology: The game is heavily influenced by this, even including a CaptainErsatz Jormangundr.

A sequel, ''The Banner Saga 2'' has been announced.

* WizardNeedsFoodBadly: Your party needs food, or else morale will suffer and people will start dying.

* CrapsackWorld: The copious amounts of information available on the map paint a picture of a joyless world that is downright hostile to life in most places, and merely survivable at best. And now that world seems to be coming to an end, as the sun freezes in place in the sky and the human and varl kingdoms are being overrun by dredge [[spoiler: who, it transpires, were driven out of their own lands by some yet-to-be-explained creeping shadow. Oh, and what appears to be the World Serpent is roaming about casually destroying ''entire mountains''.]]

* InvadingRefugees: [[spoiler: The dredge are being driven of their homeland by something only known as "the Darkness" and have no other choice than attacking settlements and caravans if they don’t want to starve.]]

* SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear: A party member who dies or otherwise leaves the caravan will take any item they had equipped with them.

The gameplay is reminiscent of both ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'' and ''VideoGame/TheOregonTrail'', with a lot of difficult moral choices thrown in.