Week 4 - Day 3
The question I'm choosing to address with this week's gameplay of The Banner Saga is: 4. Do the choices you make in the game contribute to the sense of meaningful interactive moments?
I feel that my choices make a more meaningful interactive with the game because I'm playing in accordance to my own personality so I know that the choices I make, at the time, feel right according to who I am as a person. I could've asked Alette (because she's a girl) to go find safety in the great hall rather than have her stay with me for the next fight, but as a girl myself I would want to prove my worth and to show that I am capable of not only fending for myself but also for others. In a sense, I'm living my life through hers, hoping to garner loyalty by being noble and humble with myself. Of course, had I know that Alette was my (Rook's) daughter, I might've decided differently. (This calls for another session.)
I do appreciate that I can change the difficulty of the fight simulations without it affecting the overall story. I started off at Normal but had to change to Easy when I realized how poor my strategy making skills really are...
There are many moments during the travelling sequences where I can turn new people away or let them stay and increase my numbers as a caravan. I feel that these decisions will affect my gameplay later on in regards to how well I'd perform in future scenarios and how many fighters I'd have on my side, numbers that could mean the difference between winning or losing against the Dredge.
The narrative switches every other chapter between one party to the next, both on separate sides of the map. I try to make as many good decisions as I can, although I can see that sometimes my input doesn't matter too much; whether I have one extra person on my side against the Dredge, or not. If I lose someone to the opposition, I feel the loss quite strongly and I also feel guilty for not being a better strategist to ensure their life. The narrative changed for me in the beginning of chapter 3 because I was unable to keep Vognir from dying. Hakon has taken over as commander of the troop and it seems like there may be a riot on my hands because the varl there preferred to follow Vognir rather than Hakon...
In any case, I like that the game takes my decisions into consideration, although I'm not sure to what extent this affects my gameplay. It's a lot better than Facade as it doesn't take things out of context because in The Banner Saga I usually have a multiple choice of what to do. Some may not be exactly what I would've chosen for my characters within The Banner Saga but I understand that there's still the game-makers narrative we need to consider. The game wouldn't exist or succeed without the game-makers telling their story through specific story nodes within the playthrough.
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The Banner Saga - 8/10. I really enjoy the art style, and despite the story being occasionally confusing with its shifting narrative, I find it very engaging. I may return for a different playthrough for the sake of seeing whether or not decisions I make will create a bigger impact on the narrative.
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