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Stoic recently released a new status update for the company's upcoming strategy role playing adventure game, The Banner Saga. The update offers information on the creation of the game's single player campaign. The Banner Saga will combine elements of turn based strategy, role playing, and adventure games, and will follow the exploits of a band of vikings.

Lots of games have world maps that let you roam a continent, discovering locations and giving the sense of a larger world. We wanted to capture that feeling, but with the sense of urgency and hardship that comes with thousands of people marching across a huge landscape. In The Banner Saga you don’t have the luxury of mucking around. Time plays an integral factor, and traveling plays a huge part in the decisions you make.

With that in mind, you’ll have a specific goal as part of the story, and the world map is where you’ll plot a course toward that goal and make high-level decisions. Deciding which towns and territory to pass though and whether to make a straight shot for your destination or a safer, more roundabout route will have a huge effect on the events that occur along the way. You carry news with you that others have not heard, and how you use that knowledge also impacts the story. In addition, the world is not an unoccupied land mass peppered with friendly villages. There are contested territories and different factions who have different opinions of each other. Negotiating these problems is part of travel.

At key points along the path events will occur that are out of your control and have world-wide effects. How you react to them, and the path you forge in response, are part of your story.

When major events happen, or you’ve taken an action like setting up camp or entering a town or city, the world map transition into the side-scrolling mode shown in the trailer, called exploration. This is a big part of gameplay! Here you can see the size and mood of your caravan, how many people are traveling with you, and get a better view of the world around you. Exploration will introduce you to the stark beauty of the world around you, and better immerse you in the environment.

The Banner Saga Single Player Update

The Banner Saga (add to watch list)

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