When comparing Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition vs The Banner Saga 2, the Slant community recommends Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition for most people. In the question“What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?” Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is ranked 46th while The Banner Saga 2 is ranked 120th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Amazing art and atmosphere
Pro Great soundtrack
Very nicely made music.
Pro Great Metroidvania gameplay
Pro Fantastic soundtrack
Pro Enjoyable gameplay
The controls are intuitive, the difficulty feels just right, the boss encounters are fun, there's a really nice upgrade system, and there are tons of secrets to be found. As a result, Ori and the Blind Forest is an enjoyable experience.
Pro Compelling puzzle design
Pro Available DRM-Free
It took a while, but Ori did eventually release DRM-Free via GOG.
Pro Amazing skills
Amazing upgradeable skill set.
Pro Helps you to learn the gameplay thoroughly
Tactical RPGs can be really intimidating, especially if you're just starting out. The tutorials often blaze forward, causing you to miss important mechanics. Luckily, Banner Saga 2 tries to alleviate this by adding a trainer NPC who will give you challenges. These involve performing various combat exercises, helping you to solidify your understanding of the game and even learn something new.
Pro Solid tactical combat
Even though Banner Saga 2’s turn-based combat system is fairly straightforward. You and your opponent take turns in moving and attacking with units on a tactical grid. Each unit has its strengths, weaknesses, and set of unique abilities that you need to consider.
For example, archers can attack from far away but they have low armor, so you can’t leave them out in the open. Another example are the Varl, very durable and strong melee units that occupy 4 tiles as opposed to 1. This makes it trickier to position them since more enemies can stand next to them and attack them.
This creates combat that is not too simple but still has enough variety and strategy involved to feel rewarding.
Pro Great hand drawn graphics
Banner Saga 2 environments, characters, and animations are all hand-drawn. This includes your caravan as it marches over a snowy hill, passing trees and houses in the distance. The various viking-esque soldiers, centaurs and other mythological creatures, swinging axes and thrusting spears on a worn out bridge. Even the very detailed character sprites as they discuss matters with extremely serious expressions. Everything just feels like you’re watching an animated movie, which is something almost never encountered in a game.
Cons
Con Non-combat focused
The game is more about puzzle solving and exploration than combat. Unlike traditional Zelda/Metroidvania games.
Con Boring combat system
The combat system is kinda boring and repetitive. It's just about mashing buttons.
Con Really short
I managed to finish the game with nearly everything unlocked and most secrets in a little over 5 hours, on my first playthrough. It's not a game that you can sink a lot of time into.
Con HP damage based attacks cause one-dimensional tactics
A unit's current number of hit points equals the damage it will deal to an enemy. Because of this, the best strategy is always to hit all enemy units in a sequence, so they inflict as little damage as possible. Any other strategy is too risky and can backfire way too easily, limiting your creativity.
Con Incomplete story
To get a full and satisfying story, you’ll have to play the entire Banner Saga trilogy. Banner Saga 2 on its own feels like you’ve suddenly started reading a book from the middle. There are a lot of characters you know very little about, making it hard to understand their motivations. The on-going events are not explained fully. Even the ending is not a satisfying conclusion but just a setup for the next arc.