The Banner Saga 2 is now available for mobile devices, too. The Pocket Gamer has reviewed the game:

The Banner Saga 2 review - Another deep and moving tactical RPG

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There's a dynamism to The Banner Saga 2 that few other mobile games can boast, and it seeps into every aspect of the game. From the wind tugging at character's cloaks during cut scenes, to the animations during the battles. Everything feels alive and important.

And next to that there's a sense of doom. A sense that every choice you make is coloured in the deepest shades of grey. There are no easy ways out, and everything you say and do is weighed down by consequence and conscience.

In other words, it's a bloody brilliant tactical RPG with a deep story, some fantastic characters, and enough content to keep you enthralled for hours and hours and hours.

[...]

Score: 9/10

RPGFan has reviewed the second part of the Banner Saga:

The Banner Saga 2

Whether I'm reading a book or playing a game, my ultimate goal is to be drawn in. The narrative should be so compelling that my mind can't wander off anywhere else. I should be so completely enveloped in the fictional world of the media I'm consuming that the outside world might as well not exist. Truly being able to experience something the way it was intended is rare for me, as it takes a lot to get me hooked. Maybe my standards are too high; maybe I'm too selective. So imagine my surprise when after finally taking my first break from The Banner Saga 2, I saw that over five hours had suddenly passed.

The Banner Saga 2 is nothing short of compelling. It weaves a tale so intriguing that you're too focused on the present to even wonder what's in store for the future. Characters have arcs and develop, you're forced to see things from different perspectives, and you're presented with choices that have both true benefits and true consequences. It succeeds masterfully at putting players in the shoes of its protagonist and encouraging them to lose themselves in their role. The story is epic in scale, sprinkled with moments that made me genuinely gasp aloud.

[...]

Score: 95/100

TrueAchievements has reviewed Banner Saga 2:

[...]

Summary

The Banner Saga 2 presents a story that defies the middle episode syndrome, building on the rich lore and expanding its world in new and interesting ways to give players a wholly interesting narrative experience. It comments smartly on the role of a leader and what such a position requires, while trying to beat those leaders into submission. It's a story of great scale and turmoil presented alongside a gameplay loop that does everything that it wants to do very well. It just so happens that what it wants to do is nearly identical to what it did last time. If you're returning to Stoic's Saga then it's more of what you enjoyed, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you're a fan of the genre and new to the series, The Banner Saga 2 is absolutely worth your time, just make time for its predecessor first.

Score: 4/5

Positives:

• Excellent storytelling
• Stunning visuals
• Sophisticated musical score
• Solid tactical gameplay

Negatives:

• Fails to build on its formula in any meaningful way

@Bluesnews they posted about the Banner Saga 2 and its new free survival mode courtesy of Stoic.

...This challenges players to try to survive 40 consecutive levels of combat in the turn-based tactics game. Here are more details:
"Survival Mode is something we've been working on behind the scenes for a while now," commented John Watson, Technical Director at Stoic. "This is an entirely new experience within Banner Saga 2. Our goal was to create a fun, tactical game mode where fans can play from a different perspective which focuses on strategy and the hard cost of death in combat. We modified how the combat worked from the core game based on feedback from our community and put it through a closed beta to make sure that it was fun. Thanks again to our dedicated fans for their continued support." he added.

In survival mode players have to assemble a ‘combat' team from a wide range of existing Banner Saga heroes. Once their team is complete, combat begins, but beware, perma-death in battle is real and once lost, a hero can not be brought back. Each victory grants ‘Renown' (one of the major currencies in the Banner Saga), which can be used to unlock more Heroes to replace ones that have fallen. Items now drop in combat, or can be purchased with Renown, so that you can constantly improve your combat team. A 30-second timer keeps the action moving and leaderboards track how each player ranks against others. All three difficulty levels are included in survival mode, so the hard core challenge is available to those who think they can make it all the way through.

"Although Stoic is a tiny indie studio and their time is precious, they have shown an unrelenting commitment to fans of the Banner Saga by producing more content for them to enjoy. " said Steve Escalante, General Manager of Versus Evil. "The Banner Saga 2 just became a much bigger game with the core experience already lauded as one of 2016's best games and now this new, free game mode included. We hope to get this update in the console launch later this Summer as well as make it a part of our mobile experience." he concluded.

The FREE Survival Mode is available now for Banner Saga 2 owners (on PC and Mac). Banner Saga 2 is also currently available to buy on Steam, GOG, Humble Store, GreenMan Gaming, EA's Origin and other digital PC and Mac stores.

Gamer Professionals reviewed Banner Saga 2:

Banner Saga 2 Review (PC)

After the great success Stoic Studios had with The Banner Saga, they brought us part two on April 19, 2016. Taking place almost immediately after the first game Banner Saga 2 brings us back to familiar faces, artwork and that amazing music score. That’s just the beginning as Stoic has listened to their fans and what content to improve on. Let’s go through what was added to the second Banner Saga, part two of a trilogy.

First and foremost, if you have completed Banner Saga you may import your characters, items, levels and choices. Through testing I have found this to be the preferable option. The edge you get from importing a save is well worth it. Some of the items and characters won’t be available without an imported save.

[...]

To wrap this up, The Banner Saga 2 went beyond my expectations. The masterful way of melding story, lore, and music into a tactical RPG is simply wonderful. Artwork that had already impressed many was improved both obviously and in minor detail. Storytelling has become more fluid while making battle less of a grind. Lastly, the way Stoic meshed the first and second Banner Saga games was brilliant. Much like any of Telltale’s games, your choice effects how things play out in a major way.

Score: 8/10

Gaming Nexus has reviewed the Oregon Trail game Banner Saga 2:

The Banner Saga 2

Welcome back to The Banner Saga, where the sun never sets, the darkness is coming, and nobody knows if we'll ever get out of this alive. The Banner Saga 2 is the middle game in a planned trilogy. To put it another way, don’t even try playing this second game without completing the first. The Banner Saga, as a whole, is a singular epic, beginning to end, taking a displaced people on an apocalyptic exodus. Some games are pre-apocalypse and some are post-apocalypse. But The Banner Saga is apocalypse now. There are a lot of bad things happening at once, and the end of the world just got a whole lot closer. But read our review of the first Banner Saga if you're unfamiliar--or could use a few minutes' worth of refresher--with that world. 

Scouring the Tolkien-esque map, the land tells stories of struggle. Lakes fished out and polluted, twin cities that would murder one another, woodlands whose flocks have been hunted to extinction. It’s a used-up land. So much picturesque wilderness, yet so battered and bruised at the same time.

[...]

The Banner Saga 2’s finale needed another round of QA. In dialogue, especially. In a culminating scene, one person that cannot be seen at all is contributing to the conversation. Another dialogue tree mislabels who’s speaking exactly. In another instance, a recurring character is missing his right hand, but at some point they mirror-image the 2D illustration of him--so suddenly it’s his left hand that’s missing instead of his right. And this isn't any kind of glitch, but one character's recurring dream imagery looks hasty and cobbled together at the last minute, compared to the masterful compositions making up the rest of the game. The attention to detail started slipping near the end. Nothing catastrophic. They just needed to take a Q-Tip to clean up some of the harder-to-reach areas.

Reaching the walled city of Arberrang is the goal. But who you are when you get there is the most important part of the journey. The first Banner Saga felt momentous. The Banner Saga 2, however, feels relentless and just a little hopeless. Bring on the third act.

Score: 8/10

The Banner Saga 2 has a new patch that fixes some memory leak issues and the flickering character problem. Other fixes and improvements are listed below.

This build addresses the memory leak and flickering-character issue, as well as some other more minor issues and improvements.

Changed: Match Resolution summary now shows injured units in the wrap-up. This shows up in a 'Consequences' section
Changed: Prevent duplicate items from appearing in markets when your caravan already has the item.
Changed: During intro tutorial, the pause/options menu has a button to SKIP TUTORIAL
Changed: Reduced game executable size, slightly improving startup time
Changed: Change caption of 'Assemble your Heroes' page so simply 'Heroes'
Fixed: The memory leak related flickering-character issue
Fixed: More minor memory leaks to improve stability during long play sessions
Fixed: Unable to unlock Fighting Force achievement upon meeting criteria
Fixed: Placeholder text when Stonesinger Ally appears in Chapter 13
Fixed: sav_finale_2 was not saving at the end of the game in some cases
Fixed: Typo corrections to several conversations
Fixed: Assemble Heroes screen returning to view briefly during the loading of some battles
Fixed: Kragswoman Skystriker (kragsman_02) blinking out at end of Rain of Arrows animation
Fixed: Master Tactician achievement not unlocking after completing a sparring battle with six rank 10 units
Fixed: Killing 3rd consecutive enemy using Cull the Weak on last enemy not completing the Objective
Fixed: Nid and Oddleif's activities in the Arberrang gate fight should be less error prone.

Gameplanet likes the Banner Saga 2, too:

It’s a bit cheeky of developer Stoic Studios to present The Banner Saga 2 as a sequel, because in reality it’s really more like an episode. There is generally an expectation that a sequel will develop the series in someway, be it mechanically, visually or in gameplay variation. The Banner Saga 2 slightly tweaks a few aspects of the first game, but in almost every way it is a straight continuation of the first.

It picks up exactly where the last game left off, even starting with Chapter 7. To be clear, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just a clarification. Considering how great the first game was, in many ways this is great news.

[...]

“Like father, like son.”

The Banner Saga 2 isn't mechanically distinct from the first game and its story suffers second act syndrome, but it's nonetheless a cracking title that will both satisfy and leave players in desperate need of the trilogy's closing act.

Ups

• Beautiful art.
• Fascinating characters.
• More enemies than the first.

Downs

• Marginally less captivating story-wise than the first.
• Fewer tricky moral quandary to navigate.

Score: 8/10

Stoic held an interview with Outerhaven Productions at PAX East 2016 about their new game The Banner Saga 2

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Jason met up with John, Drew and Matt from Stoic to talk about their newly released sequel to the hit tactical RPG, The Banner Saga. We talked a bit about the story and some gameplay improvements fans can expect as they continue their clan's journey.

Gamespot has reviewed Banner Saga 2:

The Banner Saga 2 Review

The Banner Saga 2 begins at “Chapter 8” and ends just as its engrossing plot begins to reach a tipping point. It feels like the central portion of an epic novel, torn straight from the binding. It’s a game that looks and feels practically identical to its predecessor released two years prior, but the attractiveness of its presentation--inspired by 1960’s Disney-style animation--and the refined combat system still stand strong, giving it an air of timelessness. The Banner Saga 2 presents a grand mythological odyssey and effectively conveys the hardships of the characters enduring it.

[...]

The Banner Saga 2’s wonderful balance of systems and their effectiveness in heightening the ongoing narrative can still be appreciated if you aren’t familiar with what came before--but much more so if you are. Like the original game, The Banner Saga 2 leaves you holding your breath, completely invested in the world, its inhabitants, and their struggles, anxiously eager for more.

Score: 8/10

Another favourable review for the Banner Saga 2 from Gameinformer:

The Banner Saga 2

Two Tiles Forward, One Tile Back

The world is dark, cold, and unforgiving. In fact, the world is coming to an end. This is the backdrop for the second installment of Stoic’s Nordic tactical role-playing series – a place where lives hang in the balance. Not all will survive in this bittersweet journey through beautifully created caves, marshes, and skybridges, but the grim backdrop exudes a dignified grace. Even as your favorite characters give their lives fending off the never-ending swarms of Dredge and ensuring the civilian-packed caravan makes it to its final destination, Austin Wintory’s tunes combine with the unique artstyle to create a wholly unique experience.

[...]

The Banner Saga 2 carries the banner onward for the series, and while it’s made a few steps forward in creating more interesting tactical decisions and has added some more options for customization, it seems to have taken a step back in terms of making your journey across the world memorable. If you enjoyed the first chapter, you are ready for a great time continuing your tale right where you left off. If you’re new to the series, you should play the original and start the saga from the beginning.

Score: 8.5/10

The first reviews for Banner Saga 2 are out now:

PC Gamer:

A handsome and brutal strategy sequel that benefits from a range of intelligent improvements

Score: 86/100

IGN:

The Banner Saga 2 is as beautiful and tactical as the first, but with greater variety in combat and story.

Positive:

• Two stories to follow
• New combat units
• Victory conditions
• Stunning aesthetic

Negative:

• Questionable obstacles

Score: 8.9/10

PCGamesN:

The Banner Saga 2 captures much of what made the first game such a compelling fight for survival. It has a tendency to focus on the bigger picture and with the large number of characters that don’t have much to say, some of the emotional engagement from the original is lost, but both the management side of things and the tactical battles have been lavished with improvements. The journey is bleak and savage, but the game is great.

Score: 8/10

High-Def-Digest:

The two year plus wait for 'The Banner Saga 2' was well worth it. Stoic has managed to improve on its formula, adding new wrinkles to the admittedly limited gameplay and telling an even more absorbing story in the process. The saga is better than ever and I’m very excited for the next installment.

After two years in the making Banner Saga 2 will be released today:

Banner Saga 2 April 19th

Hello All!

We're excited, thrilled, and eager for all of yuou to jump back in to our world tomorrow! The game should be available around 10am PST on the 19th and we're less than 15 hours away!

We look forward to hearing your comments, and of course - your feedback! Because of all of you - our community - you have helped us make Banner Saga 1 better, and we hope you continue to do the same for Banner Saga 2.

From all of us at Stoic and Versus Evil, thank you so much for the support and comments. Banner Saga 2 has been over 2 years of work that we're amazingly proud of and ready to show you all on the 19th.

Skol!

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Check out the new pre-launch trailer for Banner Saga 2, sequel to the award winning indie hit, The Banner Saga. In this action packed role playing, turn based strategy game, continue on your epic journey where hard choices have to be made for your survival and the survival of an entire civilization. Banner Saga 2 on PC will launch on April 19th and consoles later this summer.

Game Watcher has interviewed Arnie Jorgensen, the Art Director at Stoic and John Watson, the Tactical Director of Stoic.

[...]

GameWatcher: The Training does seem expanded a lot, I don’t even remember using it in the first game!

Arnie Jorgensen: A lot of people went in, tried it, and never went back. But now going through the different scenarios nets you a lot of Renown too.

John Watson: We’re trying to give players access to the information that may have been hidden previously, such as a lot of the advanced interactions between units.

Arnie Jorgensen: After that we hope players will take this information and apply it to their Hero units. The Training tent is also where you convert Clansmen to Fighters so it’s a lot more important to TBS2 than it was before. Testers have been saying that we seem to have sanded off the rough edges from the first Saga too. We’re hoping players come in to TBS2 thinking that it’s got all the things they like from the first game but a lot more polished.

GameWatcher: I can definitely say that I was one of those who bumbled through the first game’s combat…

Arnie Jorgensen: Yeah, we’ve seen plenty of people get way late into the game and still not know why shots missed for example, so we dropped the ball a little on that. We’re really making a concerted effort to teach players the game a little better. We also want to do it through the story more organically. Instead of a big tooltip popping up we introduce players to new systems through the characters.

GameWatcher: It’s still the on-rails style of the first game of course, but in TBS2 do players have any additional choice over which way to go?

Arnie Jorgensen: It’s similar to the first one. You head to the same locations but how things play out there is entirely up to you and the decisions you’ve made along the way. I think if we had another team working on this we could start diverging but it would be a lot of work for a tiny team like Stoic to do that!

[...]

With the release of Banner Saga 2 only 6 days away. here are two previews for you to check out.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun, checked out the trailer:

Yup, that’s the Banner Saga alright. Death, despair, desolation and uncommonly lovely cutscenes. Seems like they’ve dialled stuff up just a notch in the epic stakes, but other than that it would seem to be primarily business as usual. I suppose what I want most from it is a slightly different flow, as the samey combat killed my enthusiasm before I could finish the original, but when Pip chatted to devs Stoic last year it sounds like they’re addressing that.

Eurogamer has 33 minutes of spoiler rich information (especially if you have not played its predecessor yet) by means of a video.

Entertainment Buddha checked out the upcoming caravan RPG Banner Saga 2:

It's the End of the World as we know it...

The Banner Saga, as well as being subject to one of the most ridiculous lawsuits in history, was a smash hit indie debut from the veteran game makers at Stoic. Fondly remembered for its breathtaking visual style, stirring musical score and surprisingly deep storyline, The Banner Saga also surprised many gamers with its compelling take on strategic turn-based combat.

Now, full disclosure, The Banner Saga is also one of my favorite games of all time (what can I say? I love me some Vikings) so while noone was suprised a sequel was in the works, I was unbelievably psyched to get my hands on a preview consisting of a handful of new, compelling chapters that I get to share with y’all right now.

[...]

Still, The Banner Saga 2 retains the originals ability to enthrall with its storyline and the haunting beauty of its artwork. The scene pictured above, where you must lead your people over a immense crack in the earth itself, is easily one of the most memorable I’ve experienced in recent years and instantly reminded me of everything I loved about the original. On the strength of that alone I want to recommend picking up this game as soon as it’s released but while that’s an easy statement to make for long-time fans of the franchise I do worry that the continuous flow from the original and unchanged gameplay may put off some players, old and new alike, from picking this up full price. In some ways it does feel more like an Episode 2 rather then a full sequel.

I’ll reserve final judgement until the full game hits in a couple of weeks but suffice to say for now I am pumped to see more and if, like me, you are a fan of the original I can only say that this sequel definitely does not disappoint.

IGN checked out the first 25 minutes of Banner Saga 2:

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The epic turn-based strategy game continues.

The launch trailer for Banner Saga 2 is out:

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Check out the new pre-launch trailer for Banner Saga 2, sequel to the award winning indie hit, The Banner Saga. In this action packed role playing, turn based strategy game, continue on your epic journey where hard choices have to be made for your survival and the survival of an entire civilization. Banner Saga 2 on PC will launch on April 19th and consoles later this summer.

-> Steam

Gameinformer lists four reasons why The Banner Saga 2 is better than the original game:

The Banner Saga 2

Four Reasons The Sequel Is Better Than The Original

Stoic’s original Banner Saga set up a planned trilogy of strategy titles that explore the state of a Norse fantasy world after all its gods have died. The company’s sophomore release continues this tragic tale while improving on the compelling strategy framework of the first game. After getting six hours of hands-on time with the near-finished product, we’re more eager than ever to see how this journey comes to a close. Here are four ways Stoic has improved its epic Norse strategy series.

1. Story is still king [...]
2. A second caravan [...]
3. Enter the horseborn [...]
4. Combat has evolved [...]

The Banner Saga 2 will be released on April 19:

Banner Saga 2 Coming April 19th

Hello All

Huge thank you for playing The Banner Saga and supporting us during development. Being a small team and working on something we love is both amazing and challenging but we're finally here with Banner Saga 2. Thank you all and we can't wait to get you folks in game!

We're proud to have the Windows and OSX version of the game launching on April 19th. The preorder will also be on a 10% discount up until we launch the game but we will not have any launch day or launch week discounts, however our main price will only be 19.99 this time around instead of 24.99.

April 19th will be here soon! If you have any questions, please let us know via the Steam Forums, Twitter, or Facebook.

IDigitalTimes is impressed The Banner Saga 2:

The Banner Saga 2 Hands-On: Tactical Strategy Has Never Looked Better

[...]

The Banner Saga 2 picks up moments after the conclusion of its predecessors, letting players see the fallout of their final decision in The Banner Saga. In the demo build, players can choose which ending they’d like to see continued, but James says the final build of The Banner Saga 2 will automatically import your TBS save file. Many of the characters from the original will return in The Banner Saga 2 and will eventually be joined by new members of your caravan, including a new race called the Horseborn. The latest addition to The Banner Saga mythos is a centaur-like race, forced out of its own home by an unidentified evil, but Stoic isn’t ready to say how the Horseborn’s plight will impact your caravan.

The Banner Saga 2 won’t just update the series’ cast of characters. Big changes are coming to the game’s combat mechanics. For starters, Stoic is introducing new classes, along with new character abilities, in the upcoming Banner Saga sequel. TBS2 will also introduce new combat objectives, like defending a bridge or protecting a specific character, to give combat scenarios a bit more variety. Cover objects are now spread throughout each battlefield, too, and can be destroyed as needed.

“A lot of the biggest feedback that we got, from the first game, is that combat got repetitive and our tactics weren’t all that great,” James said. “Stoic made a lot of changes to the way combat works, and the way battle boards are set up.”

[...]

Thanks Eye!

Banner Saga II gets another update and another character.

Very pleased to let you all know that we’re working hard on wrapping up development on Banner Saga 2. As we get toward the end we’ll start sharing more information about the game, but at this point here’s what we can tell you: 

• Combat Changes - Over the past few years we noticed and heard all of the feedback regarding combat in The Banner Saga, so improving that experience has been on the top of our list. We’re adding things to the battle boards to make them more interesting, adding in objectives to certain combat scenarios, vastly increasing the unit and ability diversity, and telling more story via the battle board this time around. 
• The Story Continues - You’re going back to the same world but you’re going to see more of it and experience a host of new characters. We hope you import your saved games from The Banner Saga because doing so will make sure your choices, characters, items and ranks all carry over to Banner Saga 2. 
• Keeping the Bar High - We set a high quality bar for ourselves with the launch of The Banner Saga, and nothing has changed as far as that standard is concerned, except that we like to think we’ve raised the bar just that bit little higher for Banner Saga 2.

One character you’ll encounter early on is Folka. Folka is a shieldmaiden, gets involved in combat up close and personal, is a true force to be reckoned with and is our first female melee character.

Folka’s size, mind for strategy, and gall make her the unofficial second-in-command of the Ravens, the infamous mercenaries led by the last varl berserk, Bolverk. From a frozen region where a family’s worth is measured daily by the trees they fell, Folka knows hardship and loss better than most, yet still finds reason to fight on. As the only human alive who has challenged Bolverk’s orders and gained his trust, the other mercenaries go to her to make requests. Her strong personality keeps most of the men around her at arm's-length, whether she wants that or not.

More information.

Gamereactor interviewed Stoic co-founder John Watson about the changes coming in The Banner Saga 2:

[...]

GR: How are you taking any lessons learned back then and making them count with TBS2?

JR: We now have a full time Technical Designer on the team. I've taken great pains to make the entire game very content and data driven, but much of the content is quite complex and technical. Abilities are a good example of this. Abilities are driven by a complex system, and defined in data files, but it almost takes a programmer to implement them anyway. Having a Technical Designer allows me to share these tasks that would usually fall entirely to me. He also serves as a supporting role for Arnie and Drew when they need tool help with Art and Writing, respectively.

GR: We loved the first game, but perhaps the combat could've had a little bit more variety. What plans do you have to refine this area?

JW: We agree with this. There were too many combats, especially later in the game, that were functionally similar to others. We're improving this in several ways. First, we are weaving the storytelling more directly into the combat. Scripted events occur, characters have dialogue on the battlefield, establishing shots are made, and battlefield conditions can change during the battle. New units show up, win conditions change. We have a variety of win conditions depending on the story, instead of relying almost entirely on the 'kill them all' win condition that is the default. Second, we've massively increased the number of unique characters and abilities. There are dozens of new units and abilities, both in the player's party as well as on the enemy side. Third, we've extended the maximum rank of units to Rank 10, allowing your heroes to take on a second ability, making them more versatile in battle. Fourth, we've added a Talent system to each of your primary stats. These Talents allow you to put points into perks which improve your battle prowess in a variety of way. Fifth and finally, we've revamped the way the War system works. A War in Banner Saga is a scenario where your caravan encounters as massive enemy force, and consequently the entire caravan is in danger, including the civilian clansmen. Your heroes lead the charge into a battlefield, but at the same time, your fighting population is in battle as well, defending the caravan. The results of your Heroes' battle, coupled with the relative compositions of your fighters and the enemy, determine your casualties, your change in morale, etc... In the first game, the War mechanics were very opaque, confusing, and more or less meaningless to the player. We've improved this by doing a balance pass on these mechanics, explaining them much more clearly, and making the whole system more transparent. As a side effect, it gives the player a much stronger motivation to save as many people as possible.

[...]

Thanks Couch!

Stoic tells us that The Banner Saga 2 is almost content complete, and that the console release will launch "alongside or after" the PC release.

Again, thanks to Couch for tonight's haul of news!

In an interview that's going to be published here on Gamereactor in the coming days, Stoic's John Watson revealed plenty of interesting details regarding his studio's upcoming RPG sequel, The Banner Saga 2.

Notably Watson gave us an update regarding the upcoming console version of The Banner Saga, but he also told us a little bit about the progress of The Banner Saga 2, which is coming to PC, PS4 and Xbox One at some point in early 2016.

"We are almost 'content complete' meaning you can play through the entire game from front to back and none of the major plot points are missing," Watson explained when discussing the incoming sequel.

"In a few weeks we will all get together for a jam session to get all the music hooked up properly, in the right places, with the correct transitions, etc..."

The studio aren't only concentrating on TBS2, and the original is heading to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 26.

"Console builds of The Banner Saga have finally passed cert and are ready for release prior to Banner Saga 2's launch, which is a relief. We've started work on console ports for The Banner Saga 2 with the hope that we can launch them alongside, or soon after, the Steam launch."

"Everything's coming together quickly each day, but there are still a few solid months of work ahead of us."

More information.

We missed this bit, but about a month ago the news was out that The Banner Saga 2 will not be released this year. It will be a 2016 Q1 release according to the article on Eurogamer.

The Banner Saga 1 came out on PC at the beginning of 2014, and was released on mobile towards the end of the year. We rather liked it. A port to PS4 was announced for 2015 but the wires have since gone cold, and publisher Versus Evil wouldn't directly clarify what was going on. A spokesperson told me he thought Banner Saga 2 would be the next release from developer Stoic, which suggests The Banner Saga 1 won't happen on PS4 before Q1 2016 - if it happens at all.

And

"We are currently wrapping up development for the first game now. The delays in the console is mainly game development fun, but also the team has spent time working on console specific controls to make it perform as a console game, more than just a port.

"Banner Saga 2's development is progressing nicely. Customers who have attended Gamescom and PAX have seen its progress. We will update everyone on its launch date when the timing is right."

Thanks Eye.

Pixel Dynmao have interviewed Technical Director John Watson about The Banner Saga 2.

The Banner Saga 2, like its predecessor, gives equal weight to both narrative and gameplay – and indeed tries hard to make the division between the two nonexistent. “You’re kind of trying to please multiple audiences,” acknowledges Watson, but “in The Banner Saga they’re really kind of merged together, you can’t have one without the other.” In many other SRPGs, some encounters aren’t important in the overarching story; in The Banner Saga series there isn’t any such thing as a random encounter; every fight is significant because it’s a part of the struggle of the characters’ daily lives.

The commitment to merging narrative and gameplay goes even further. There are no randomly-generated characters amongst your fighters; everybody has a name, a history, and particular way of fighting. Thus, character classes are more rigid in The Banner Saga than in some of its more freeform peers. In the first game, a character named Ivar loses an arm, and this loss shapes the way he fights; he’s never going to pick up a bow, for instance. This deliberate rigidity is one of the major ways in which The Banner Saga series differs from its SRPG peers. Whereas in something like Disgaea, players could have a character be a mage and then a fighter and then a thief, no matter how disparate these classes are, Stoic’s game shows a commitment to the predilections of its characters.

Thanks Eye.

Steven Messner (PC Gamer) takes a look at the combat of The Banner Saga 2:

The Banner Saga 2 continues the story and gives combat some depth

[...] The first game, while gorgeous and memorable, was spoiled somewhat by a rather shallow combat system that often felt repetitive. The team at Stoic seem keen to show that they have been listening to player feedback because each of the fights I encountered during my time with the demo introduced more and more new features into the combat.

The biggest addition is several new enemy types. While I was only shown a few, with the promise of more appearing in the final game, each of them had a significant impact on the turn-based combat. In one battle, dog-like Skulkers swept in from my flanks, howling before turning invisible to prepare for painful surprise attacks. During that fight, more and more monsters continued to arrive to battle until the odds were hopelessly out of my favor. That's when The Banner Saga 2 sprung one of its new surprises: altered victory conditions.

Battles in the first game were primarily a "kill everything in sight" affair, but The Banner Saga 2 aims to cultivate tension and develop the story during combat. When a new type of Dredge shambled out onto the field, the terms for winning shifted to killing that new target to cause the others to flee. As more and more Dredge continued to flood the screen, my desperate bid to slay the leader before being overwhelmed became a lip-biting gambit.

Additional enemies aren't only one way Stoic is looking to improve battles. Destructible objects have been added, which adds a new layer to maneuvering your heroes and funneling enemies. There is also a much greater level of narrative scripting taking place, blurring the lines that separated the first game's story and combat. These moments are often influenced by choices you made before the fight, and watching them play out—often helpless to prevent them—was always painful. During the against-all-odds fight with the Dredge, a choice I had made earlier in an attempt to give me an edge resulted in the death of a named character. Despite the fact that I had only been playing for half an hour, I felt gutted.

The Banner Saga 2, like the first, is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played, and its adherence to an aging animated aesthetic gives its world a sense of timelessness. It's apparent that Stoic isn't merely content to continue the epic story but is also working hard to address the issues that marred the first game. While the story undoubtedly carried the original, The Banner Saga 2's improved combat already seems to be giving it a run for its money.

Kyle McGregor (Destructoid) has previewed Banner Saga 2:

Banner Saga 2 is 'basically the same' as the first

Except not really

[...]

In my limited time with the game, I witnessed a number of notable tweaks to the existing formula that figure to go a long way in addressing players' complaints about the original being somewhat of a repetitive slog. The sequel feels like a more dynamic, varied evolution on what's already been established, thanks to little touches like how battles arise and play out.

The Banner Saga 2 reinforces one of its predecessors greatest strengths -- how consequences born from player choice ripple throughout the experience like stones cast into a pond -- by having them directly bleed into combat, starting out battles with scenes that stem from your decisions, rather than have them play out exactly the same way regardless of how a particular situation came to pass.

Once a skirmish begins, you'll encounter new foes, such as four-legged creatures that can cloak themselves and ambush more fragile units (such as archers) that you figured were safe behind the front lines. New support units will also force you to make difficult decisions between targeting the enemy's bruisers or the guys making them even more imposing than they otherwise would be.

Even outside of battle, players will have new options to manage their caravan. Clansman seem to be of more use this time around, as they can be recruited as fighters. However, much like everything in Stoic's universe, there are drawbacks to this; these new warriors will no longer focus on collecting supplies, making your caravan's precious resources dwindle at a faster clip.

At a glance, it may not seem that too much has changed since The Banner Saga launched in early 2014, but upon closer inspection, the development team at Stoic appears to be making subtle, yet impactful changes to a blueprint that already worked in an effort to take its game to the next level.

Thanks Couch!

RPS interviewed Stoic about the sequel to their Indie hit The Banner Saga. Here's a quote about the improved combat:

“One of the things we’ve seen a lot in comments is some of the combat felt a little slow, or not diverse enough so that was the number one thing we tackled,” says McGee. “No-one seems to have a problem with the type of heroes you can play as, it’s the type of enemies you’re fighting so we went through and thought where can we spend our budget to diversify that enemy base – give them new abilities, buffs… My whole thing was to give them a culture and really extrapolate on that to bring the Dredge to life.”

The team has also dedicated a lot of time to watching Let’s Plays of the first game, picking out where players hesitate or pause. “You see where they lose interest – you can hear it in their voice and see it in their mouse clicks,” says McGee.

“Now the combat boards are all going to be hand touched. They’re going to be scripted to really follow the narrative so it’s never going to be this situation where I’m just on a blank board with random spawners. The first battle you fight there, the tutorial, is you come upon this village that’s about to be sacked so the whole battleboard emulates that. There’s destructible barricades. That wasn’t in the first but it really provides a new layer to the strategy.”

 Thanks Couch!

Marcus Estrada (HardcoreGamer) takes a look at Banner Saga 2:

E3 2015: The Banner Saga 2 is a Deeper, Darker Sequel

In 2012, developer Stoic Games launched a Kickstarter for The Banner Saga. By the end, they had raised 700% of their goal! Something about this turn-based strategy game had gained massive interest. That interest did not wane in the least as it trucked toward release. There was a bit of confusion with The Banner Saga: Factions and The Banner Saga proper, but eventually everyone played it in 2014 and the majority found it an epic, gorgeous and depressing RPG. This also happens to be a three part series, which is why the first game ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. The Banner Saga 2 picks up a few weeks after the initial title concludes and proceeds from there.

You don’t actually have to play the original game before this one, of course, but it would probably make more sense to have done so. If you have a spare 10-15 hours to spare I’d recommend just playing through it before jumping in. The Banner Saga save will transfer right over, along with all your character stats. If someone died on your watch then they’ll remain dead in The Banner Saga 2. With that being the case, perhaps some players would rather hide their saves… but let’s continue discussing what’s new about this game.

One of the main complaints against The Banner Saga was that battles became a bit dull after a while once you got used to the mechanics of them. The developers have paid attention to such criticism and amended the sequel accordingly. Now players will find that new enemy units (as well as on your own side) which switch up the flow of battle. A new class in particular is actually able to go invisible. If you recall from the first game there was never any fog of war, so there was really no way of enemies being “invisible” beforehand. Now though they can actually cause serious damage by ganging up on a character while they’re untouchable.

There’s some aspects which remain the same. The most obvious is the visuals. Yes, that outrageously good looking art and animation is back in full force here. Everything still looks stupendous, at the quality of an animated film in my opinion. Of course, this is a very sad tale of humanity rather than something akin to a Disney flick. It’s just great to see that the team was able to keep up this high level of visual artistry after pushing it to the max in the previous release.

The Banner Saga 2 is still all about tough decisions both on and off the battlefield. Choices just within the demo lead to events such as a character dying. If you thought that Telltale’s The Walking Dead was difficult to handle then you’ll be surprised by the emotional turmoil that this game is set to cause. And this is only the midpoint in the series, so who knows how rough things will get by its conclusion. The Banner Saga 2 will be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One sometime later this year.

Stoic Studio gave a brief presentation of The Banner Saga 2 in E3's last day Twitch stream.

There's also the intro cinematic for you to enjoy, plus 15 minutes of gameplay.

Interviews

• Video interview by GameSlice
• Video interview by The Technology Tell Apple Channel
• Video interview by Engadget

Previews

• The Banner Saga 2 Revealed @ PCGamesN
• Hands on Review @ iDigitalTimes
• Hands-On @ the escapist
• Hands-On Preview @ TechnoBuffalo
• Preview @ TouchArcade
• Preview @ GameSpot

Bullet points (digested from the Twich stream by Infinitron from the Codex):

• A more systemized approach towards caravan management, where you have to make a choice between promoting your clansmen to warriors, or leaving them to generate more supplies and Renown.
• An increased emphasis on cinematics, including "in-engine" scripted scenes during combat.
• More variety in combat, including the addition of destructible barricades on the battlefield.
• A significantly different campaign experience depending on the outcome of the big choice made at the end of the first game.

The Banner Saga 2 is due out in Winter this year.

Vince Ingenito (IGN) tells us something about the choices & consequences in
The Banner Saga 2 - a snippet:

If I were to name the one thing The Banner Saga had going for it when it came out last year, it would be "heart." It wove a dire, utterly human, heart-wrenching tale with humble threads. Much like last year's Child of Light, it felt like something that existed because its creators needed to make it, not because the free market demanded it. As much as it charmed me though, the RPG/resource management nerd in me didn't find its gameplay quite meaty enough. Still, I'm thankful that the state of the industry is such that we can have The Banner Saga 2, though I'm even more thankful that there's just a bit more to chew on this time around, whether you're making decisions on the battlefield or off.

Without getting into spoiler territory, the story picks up mere weeks after the closing events of The Banner Saga, and things have not improved. In fact, depending on the choices you made towards the end, the situation at the start of the game will be rather desperate, with characters struggling to cope with the repercussions. All your choices from the original carry over, shaping the experience as early as the title screen, and continuing on all the way into the combat itself.

Combat variety was a bit sparce in the original, but The Banner Saga 2 has made clear efforts to remedy that, some of which are present right from the opening tutorial battle. There are new units on both sides of the battlefield, giving you a greater number of problems to solve, and a deeper toolbox to solve them with. Dredge Skullkers are mutated hounds that hunt in packs, turning invisible and surrounding characters only to strike in ferocious unison. The Dredge Direguard on the other hand is a support unit that can turn parts of the battlefield harmful to your army while buffing his allies. Take one out though, and the rest of the Dredge scatter. Do you deal with his buffed cohorts, or do you take him on directly to try to end things quickly? Decisions like this make combat more interesting and challenging.

(...)

Stoic announces on The Banner Saga webpage they are looking for a new Artist to help them develop The Banner Saga 2. So if any of you are interested here are the details.

Stoic is looking to hire an artist for a full time position. We’re opening up the search world-wide hoping to find someone who can match the style of The Banner Saga.