Banner Saga

[jack1974]

Because of recent events (another sick cat) I really couldn't force myself to work too much. So took a break and played Banner Saga.
Now I want to make an isometric battlefield RPG
Well not now, but if I can find the right artists, one of my next games might be like that. Having a real battlefield offers much more tactical options vs a simple grid!

Also I really liked the fact that the game had VERY FEW stats but was still quite fun to play. I think next RPGs might be simpler like that. If I think in that game each hero has ONE unique skill while in SOTW each one has 15!!

The only thing I was a bit disappointed with was the length, is true that I played it in Easy mode but lasted 16h. I think takes 16h just for the first two SOTW acts even in Easy mode... I make games too big

[Miakoda]

I love Banner Saga, but yes, it is easily possible to beat it under 20 hours in easy mode. Then again, I usually play more for story, etc. in a game rather than hardcore

When I first saw your tilesets, I did think you might consider doing an isometric rpg in the future. I for one would be up for playing it :D

[Franka]

Just make better rules than Banner Saga. The whole "leave enemies with 1 health, bcos health=strength so the enemy will waste turns doing nothing" was not very clever. Also, don't have a right choice and 2 wrong ones when doing consequence choices. And don't end your game in the middle of the story, with a cliffhanger. In fact, as much as I enjoyed Banner Saga, the more I think about it, the more frustrated I become at its design.

But it was pretty.

[jack1974]

Yes well of course the rules would be different. But I like to have some simpler rules. I'm not sure about the health=strength thing myself too, but to be honest the most annoying thing was the turn order. All characters had same initiative, which seemed a bit strange.
The choices were "funny" too, since I picked one early in the game which killed one of the characters. In that game there isn't romance so probably is not unforgiving like mine, but I admit was a bit shocked to lose characters with just 1 click/wrong choice!
Still a great game

[Anima_]

That happens pretty much with every tactical style RPG. Movement and positioning supply the complexity. Adding complicated skills and rules just distracts from the main focus. Though I'd really wish there would be more movement and terrain alteration skills in these games.

@ Same Initiative
Actually that is a pretty valid choice. It simplifies the AI by a significant margin and it adds the order of your moves to the decision pool. Of course there are games that use a similar initiative system like Loren, for example Devil Survivor, but the reasoning behind it is sound.

[jack1974]

I guess that with a map the "speed/agility" of a character can be shown in other ways (longer movement radius, etc). Still I would like for example some quick short / slash skills that a character can use sooner, like happens in Loren

[Anima_]

Then you should give Devil Survivor a try. It's actually a pretty great example since it also has only a limited number of characters on the field.

[jack1974]

Damn Nintendo 3DS don't have one I really should get one though since most of the RPGs that interest me are made for that platform!

[Jaeger]

Honestly, I thought Devil Survivor's combat system was really weird, though I did like the fact that player is given some control over skills load out and party composition. Also, choices have consequences, determining who is saved and who are your friends or enemies, something you don't find much in JRPGs.

Before the 3DS, the only handheld I owned was the Gameboy Color. It seems that most turn-based games have migrated to that platform. They were never common on consoles and my PC has difficulty playing games less than a decade old.

As for Banner Saga, it seems that the health of your caravan didn't really matter that much. The game took inspirations from Oregon Trail, except lacking in resource management/gathering. As others have mentioned, turn-order and health/strength system forced players to use odd tactics. Another thing that bothered me was how kills are required for promotions.

The small maps and parties meant that you had to make your moves count. I also like the fact there is less in way of random elements that make luck more of a factor than good position/tactics.