This tactics sequel continues the great Viking march with its gorgeous hand-painted style. Turn-based battles demand planning and every narrative choice carries weight. Dark, melancholic, beautifully staged. A story that leaves a mark.
Your verdict
Category
Tactics1 player12+
Description
Two caravans flee a cataclysm and trek south, where every decision weighs on survival. Published by Versus Evil, released worldwide in 2019. Turn-based grid clashes, managing supplies and morale, weighty narrative choices and gorgeous painted animation.
The Banner Saga 2 review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
The Nordic saga continues its old-school animated fresco: hand-painted backdrops, an icy palette and rotoscoped characters moving as in a vintage cartoon. This solemn beauty, never wavering, gives the survival tale a deeply striking visual gravity.
Austin Wintory's return brings a Nordic-tinged orchestral score where solemn choirs and folk instruments mirror the caravans' desperate flight. Every battle and every loss carries its own musical weight, and the mournful themes linger long after, deepening a journey defined by sacrifice.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"Pleasant"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Easy"
Lifespan
"Massive"
The caravan resumes where the previous epic left off, and every decision leaves a lasting mark: permanent losses, supply management and moral alignments shape a tactical campaign worth replaying. Dense, merciless turn-based battles invite experimenting with other line-ups. Carrying over into its sequels naturally extends the saga.
Technical info
💾1,5 GB📅29/08/2019
Published by Versus Evil
The Banner Saga 2 (Nintendo Switch) price, value & rarity
On the tactical grid, the major showdowns take the shape of pitched battles where every key piece can tip a desperate war. The weight of decisions, where sacrificing a unit carries lasting consequences, lends these confrontations a rare gravity. Strategic tension and the austere beauty of the tale clothe these fights in a solemn intensity.
Is The Banner Saga 2 still worth playing in 2026?
The Banner Saga 2 extends a trilogy that gave real weight to narrative choices, here every decision bears on the caravan's survival and it should be discovered after the first entry. The grid-based turn-based combat stays tense, built around an armor-and-strength system that demands thought. But it is the painted animation, heir to the great cartoons, that strikes most and has not aged a day. Resource management adds welcome harshness. For lovers of mature tactics and bleak stories, it keeps a true elegance.
