18 Essential PS4 Games Every Owner Must Play

8. The Banner Saga

The Banner Saga 2
Stoic

In the spirit of providing a list of games that covers all the major genres and a couple of offshoots I really think more people should play, the excellent Banner Saga is one of the latter. Set on a top-down grid and doth'd in beautiful, Norse-inspired fantasy artwork, TBS is a turn-based strategy game that takes XCOM's immediately engaging setup and adds some neat health vs. armour tactics to keep things fresh.

By tying attack power to health and letting you choose to target it directly (thereby reducing how much damage enemies deal) or whittling away at their armour so your blows hit harder, it gives every battle a tactical overlay that immediately sets it apart from the competition.

From there, you'll assemble you team of humans alongside the giant Varl, before setting out on a journey to escape the evil and mysterious Dredge, who are ravaging the land. You'll make scores of decisions on who to trust, when to stock up and who to help on your travels, with a surprisingly affective and unique story unfolding depending on all of the above.

Think Game of Thrones' relentlessly bleak tone of repercussions and death being around every corner, add turn-based battles and an art style that makes every character immediately memorable the second you meet them, and you've got The Banner Saga.

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Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.