Bannerman

Beautiful graphics and charming atmosphere and animation.. the game is chalk full of atmosphere. The soundtrack is also great! Unfortunately, the combat is rough.. it doesn't feel very consistent. You'll basically never know where an enemy's attack animation is going to land (the game has directional blocking) until it's already hit you, so you just have to memorize each and every attack rather than identify the direction like you would in a real sword fight, but I got over that and *was* enjoying the combat until.. I fought the 2nd boss. To keep things spoiler-free (even though it's shown in the store screenshots), it fires projectiles at you while a bunch of minions constantly spawn and spam swing at you, constantly pushing you away from the boss itself. It's just too B.S. and frustrating, I basically gave up instantly, knowing I would't be able to stomach it. Maybe you can, but I just can't recommend this game as it might take you 2 hours just to get to that boss and you'd end up disappointed and unable to refund. I'm looking forward to the developer's next game. If it's like this but more polished, it'll definitely be worth the buy.

I did not at all find the imprecise "skill-based combat" engaging. Clearly a story is meant to be told in this, and I feel it certainly would interest a certain sort of player, but by the time I was half-way through with the game I was tired of it, and the end boss did not compel me to continue dealing with it, especially when compared to other fights of the game. I did beat the game, I don't feel the "challenge" of this game to be a rewarding enough one though what with the slow, sluggishness of *every* action to choose the combat ending of the game. Bannerman did however give me a sense of what to avoid in games similar going forward for myself, but I would not call that a reason to recommend it. For the sort inclined to watch games played, I think this would probably be a better game to watch than to play...I think, and *if* you inclined to purchase: always on sale or free.

This game really threw me for a loop with the story, good stuff. Game mechanics feel great once you get the hang of it, although I would recommend a controller. All the opponents are difficult but every battle feels rewarding, and ultimately if you play your cards right you can beat them.

Gutes Spiel um es zwischendurch einmal kurz durchzuspielen, weckt retro Gefühle.

Атмосферная, брутальная, душевная игра. Прекрасная музыка и оригинальная интересная боёвка. +Ностальгия

[h1]At-A-Glance:[/h1] [b]Game type:[/b] Action RPG [b]Genre(s):[/b] Fantasy [b]Art:[/b] 16-bit style of pixel art [b]Length:[/b] Medium (8-10 hours) [b]Pace:[/b] Slow-paced [b]Tags:[/b] Fantasy, swordfighting, medieval, weird gameplay choices [b]Computer requirements:[/b] Low-end [h1]Notes:[/h1] [olist] [*] I would go so far as to call this game "false advertising". It is not "historically accurate" swordsmanship; it is changing between two stances and having a weak attack or a strong attack. That's it. You want to call this "historically accurate"? If so, [i]Dark Souls[/i] is far more accurate! At least the swords there are based on real weapons, and the way you fence with a rapier or swing a broadsword is pretty similar to how you'd actually use those weapons. [*] As other reviewers have said, it is not really "skill-based" but more "walk to the left or right and time your reactions". The archers in this game are awful - you barely have any time to react as they shoot, and the timing to dodge is different depending on the archer. This makes what would otherwise be careful attack timing much more an awful trial-and-error with far more error. [*] The assets are weird. Despite, again, the advertising saying it's "medieval", there's very little medieval about it. A bannerman doesn't go into single combat (though perhaps we can chalk that up to the main character's hubris, though he barely has a personality to begin with). Also, why is there a mage? I thought this was "historically accurate"? Why are there [i]Easter Island heads[/i] in the first half hour? Why are their Greek busts? Why anything? Yeah some of this is pretty, and the large HUD has its early 90s DOS game charm, but it's a pretty bizarre statement. [*] The game is too sensitive on certain button presses and not sensitive on others. You have to very, very carefully tap the "switch weapon" button else you'll cycle back to the initial weapon. Yet your character won't start running or move unless you wait until the very end of an action to press anything; apparently the game doesn't interpret previous inputs well. [*] The slow pace of play itself is nice - I find it kind of endearing in the face of so many modern fast-paced action RPGs. But the game kneecaps itself by having almost no save function except between days and to provide fairly useless shortcuts. If you die at any point, you are repeating everything. And the repeating is pretty painful given that your character moves so slow and it has the aforementioned input issues. [*] There are minor RPG elements that allow for some customization, and the music is kind of cool. [/olist]