When comparing The Banner Saga 2 vs Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn, the Slant community recommends Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn for most people. In the question“What are the best PS4 (PlayStation 4) games?” Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn is ranked 6th while The Banner Saga 2 is ranked 121st. The most important reason people chose Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn is:
The combat in FFXIV is incredibly polished. It requires quick, real-time decisions and reactions, as well as a plan for how your team is going to take on whatever you're fighting. Like many games, it begins as simply hitting your attack buttons and waiting for your abilities to be ready again. FFXIV, however, has taken it a step further and has implemented complex combos and other interactions. These other interactions often have wildly different end results, so you must decide how best to use them.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
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.
Pro Combat is very in-depth
The combat in FFXIV is incredibly polished. It requires quick, real-time decisions and reactions, as well as a plan for how your team is going to take on whatever you're fighting.
Like many games, it begins as simply hitting your attack buttons and waiting for your abilities to be ready again. FFXIV, however, has taken it a step further and has implemented complex combos and other interactions. These other interactions often have wildly different end results, so you must decide how best to use them.
Pro The story is incredible
Most MMORPGs don't offer much in the way of a story line, but that is not the case with FFXIV. The story will span the entire world, and is completing it is actually a requirement to get into most of the game's content. However, it doesn't feel like you're being forced into following a story you don't care about, the characters get into your head and you begin to feel like an actual hero.
It's very well written, and can be listened to in multiple languages if you prefer that.
Pro An absolutely stunning game
Final Fantasy XIV is gorgeous. The developers clearly put a lot of time and energy into creating all types of climates, ranging from harsh, desolate deserts to untamed, icy wastelands. The cities and villages in this game are vibrant and alive, while the cinematics can be dreary and depressing.
Apart from the landscapes, the spells and abilities of this game will take you by surprise. Every ability is animated very well, and has gorgeous pixel designs to pull you even further into the game.
Pro Play all classes with one character
You don't have to create a different character for every single class. Your one character can be every single class. Each class has a specific weapon (bow for archers, daggers for rogue, axes for marauders, etc.), and you just equip that weapon type and your character switches classes. Each class starts at level, so you have to level each class you want to play, but there are numerous ways to get exp so it feels a little less like a grindy chore.
Pro Plenty of side-quests to keep the player busy
For those that would like to level their character without having to d a lot of grinding in dungeons or the main story, There is quite a lot of side-quests on offer in this game. So many in fact that the player could level up through mainly side-quests if they liked. Every area the player reachers will see plenty of NPCs that will offer a new quest to go out on (an even sometimes multiple quests), which not only means a ton of content but an actual story to the game (that is different from the main quest) that can keep the player involved without feeling like they are repeating the same things over and over again.
Cons
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.
Con Pay to play
The game itself has a base price of $19.99, but also has expansion pack prices that could be added on top of that. This is just to get the game, once purchased the player will also need to pay a monthly subscription of $12.99 to continue playing the game, which can add up over time making for a pretty steep investment for some.