A closer look at The Banner Saga on PS Vita

The first thing we have to say is thank you to every single fan of The Banner Saga who has helped raise the profile of the game and has supported the Stoic team from the start. Your passion for The Banner Saga and the way you have helped ‘spread the word’ has been instrumental in the decision to bring this amazing and unique game experience to PlayStation 4.

We were also excited and honoured to have Sony announce that the game is also coming to PlayStation Vita at the recent PlayStation Experience event in Las Vegas this past weekend. Our friends and partners in crime at Stoic (who just announced The Banner Saga 2 at the Game Awards in Las Vegas last Friday) are some of the nicest, most talented and dedicated game makers you’ll ever meet, and we couldn’t be happier for them. The team at Stoic took some time out of their busy schedules to tell you a bit more about the PS Vita version below.

Being able to bring The Banner Saga to PS Vita is especially exciting since the fans have been asking for it for a long time and it is a natural fit. The Banner Saga is often described as reading a good book, as players often get engaged in the story and have a hard time putting it down. PS Vita will allow players to continue their journey when they leave their homes.

Stoic initially designed the UI and the gameplay with the idea of mobile devices in mind, and the Vita is no exception as the gameplay, UI, and design all work extremely well on PS Vita. The idea of holding The Banner Saga in your hands and utilising both PS Vita’s PlayStation controls and its touch surfaces while being able to move about freely in the real world is something we’re really keen on developing and seeing in action in 2015.

Another thing that is exciting for us is to bring that old school style of gaming back to the modern age. We’re big fans of games such as Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics and The Banner Saga was heavily influenced by how those games operated. We wouldn’t be here without those great games that really proved handheld tactics games had an audience and a right to be there. We really love the idea of being handheld and paying homage to those classic turn-based tactic games of the past in addition to hopefully giving gamers a new take on the genre with our own game.

The award-winning art combined with the excellent story of The Banner Saga creates a wonderful world that we have seen capture people’s hearts and we hope to continue that on the Vita and PlayStation 4 in 2015.

 
Finally, we’ve got a lot of big things coming down the road for The Banner Saga and we hope you continue to interact with us via Facebook and Twitter. We really can’t thank you enough for all your valuable feedback.

That’s it for now, but we’ll be back soon! Happy holidays from Stoic and Versus Evil! ​