Game review
The Banner Saga 3
6 / 10
- Developer
- Stoic
- Publisher
- Stoic Studio
- Released
- 26 July 2018
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS
- Genre
- RPG
- Monetisation
- One-time purchase; survival mode content sold as separate DLC
- Players
- Single-player only
The short version
The Banner Saga 3 is Stoic's finale to its Viking-inspired tactical RPG trilogy, concluding the story begun in The Banner Saga and continued in The Banner Saga 2. It sits at 79% positive ("Mostly Positive") across 1,613 English-language Steam reviews — noticeably lower than either predecessor, which this outlet also reviewed today at 89% and 90% respectively — and this review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews alongside the 100 most recent English reviews.
This review found the decline reflected clearly in recent sentiment too: 65% positive across the 100 most recent English reviews, well below the recent figures for the first two games (88% and 86%). Two specific, compounding problems explain the gap. First, a severe and apparently unresolved crash and freeze bug, worsened by the absence of a manual save option: "the game crashes and freezes every 30 minutes or so. And it gets worse the further you're in. The absence of manual save makes it so you need to retry any battle that ends with a crash," reads a 2026 review. Second, and specific to a trilogy finale, reviewers who loved the first two games widely describe the conclusion as rushed: "'Rushed' is not even close to describing it - it felt like the devs didn't even want to try tying everything up neatly," reads one detailed review.
Biggest strengths
- Continues the trilogy's distinctive hand-drawn art and score through to its conclusion
- Adds new ranks and character customisation options reviewers credit as genuine, if modest, mechanical additions over the second game
- Closes out plot threads from the first two games that some reviewers do find satisfying, even amid the broader disappointment
Biggest weaknesses
- A severe, apparently still-live crash and freeze bug, reported as worsening the deeper into the game a player gets, is the dominant complaint in this review's negative sample
- The absence of a manual save option compounds the crash problem directly — reviewers describe losing 30-40 minutes of progress per crash because only autosaves are available
- Recent sentiment (65% positive) sits well below both the 79% lifetime figure here and the recent figures this outlet found for the first two games (88% and 86%), suggesting an unresolved, ongoing problem rather than a settled launch issue
Who it's for: Existing Banner Saga fans who want to see the story through — go in aware this entry carries real technical risk that the earlier games did not, and temper expectations for the ending given how consistently reviewers who loved parts one and two describe disappointment here.
Our recommendation: Worth finishing the trilogy for if you're already invested, but save obsessively around the crash risk and expect the conclusion to land less cleanly than the story that led to it.
6 / 10
Introduction
The Banner Saga 3 is Stoic's finale to its Viking-inspired tactical RPG trilogy, published by Stoic Studio and released on 26 July 2018 at NZ$29.99, concluding the story begun in The Banner Saga and continued in The Banner Saga 2. It sits at 79% positive ("Mostly Positive") across 1,613 English-language Steam reviews — noticeably lower than either predecessor, which this outlet also reviewed today at 89% and 90% respectively. This review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews of 340 total, plus a sample of the 100 most recent English reviews.
A measurable decline across the trilogy
Reviewing all three Banner Saga games in the same session lets this review compare their current standing directly, checked the same day: 89% lifetime for the first game, 90% for the second, and 79% here. The gap is sharper still in recent sentiment — 88%, 86% and just 65% respectively across each game's 100 most recent English reviews. That's not a small, statistically noisy difference; it's a consistent, step-wise decline across a trilogy from the same small studio, using largely the same engine and systems.
A severe, apparently unresolved technical problem
The clearest explanation for that decline is technical. "The game crashes and freezes every 30 minutes or so. And it gets worse the further you're in. The absence of manual save makes it so you need to retry any battle that ends with a crash," reads a 2026 review, describing a problem that compounds itself: the crash bug alone would be bad enough, but the lack of a manual save option means each crash can cost 30-40 minutes of progress rather than a few minutes. A March 2026 review puts it starkly: "this game series is full of bugs (including GAME BREAKING bugs that appear only after you've bought the third game and spent more than 2 hours playing it so you can't refund it) and the developers are not providing meaningful support." This review found the same crash complaint recurring steadily across every year from 2018 through 2026, with no evidence in the sample that it has been resolved.
A finale reviewers who loved the trilogy call rushed
Compounding the technical problems, this review found a specific and pointed narrative complaint from reviewers who specifically praised the earlier games. "'Rushed' is not even close to describing it - it felt like the devs didn't even want to try tying everything up neatly - writing is beyond redemption, dialogues are few and far between," reads one detailed 2019 review. Another, from 2018: "I might be able to overlook the frequent freeze bug during loading screens... IF and only IF you were allowed to save whenever you want." A third sums up the trilogy-wide arc many reviewers describe: "This trilogy should have been a single game" — praising the original's "unique and beautiful art style" while describing a steady decline across the three entries.
Verdict
The Banner Saga 3 closes out a trilogy this outlet found genuinely acclaimed at its start, but this review's same-day comparison across all three games shows a real, measurable decline rather than a consistent experience across the series. A severe crash and freeze problem, compounded by the lack of a manual save option, remains the dominant and apparently unresolved complaint years after release, and reviewers who specifically loved the earlier chapters widely describe this finale's conclusion as rushed and unsatisfying. Worth finishing for players already invested in the story — save constantly, expect real technical risk, and temper expectations for how the saga wraps up.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Continues the trilogy's distinctive hand-drawn art and score through to its conclusion
- Adds new ranks and character customisation options reviewers credit as genuine, if modest, mechanical additions over the second game
- Closes out plot threads from the first two games that some reviewers do find satisfying, even amid the broader disappointment
- This review's same-day comparison across the trilogy shows the underlying combat system remains consistent, for players who came to appreciate its logic in the earlier games
Cons
- A severe, apparently still-live crash and freeze bug, reported as worsening the deeper into the game a player gets, is the dominant complaint in this review's negative sample
- The absence of a manual save option compounds the crash problem directly — reviewers describe losing 30-40 minutes of progress per crash because only autosaves are available
- Recent sentiment (65% positive) sits well below both the 79% lifetime figure here and the recent figures this outlet found for the first two games (88% and 86%), suggesting an unresolved, ongoing problem rather than a settled launch issue
- Reviewers who specifically loved the first two games widely describe this finale's conclusion as rushed, under-written and unsatisfying relative to the story's build-up
- Some content, including a survival mode, was split into paid DLC rather than included, a specific complaint from reviewers comparing the value to earlier entries
Screenshots
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The Banner Saga 3Image: Stoic Studio via Steam -
The Banner Saga 3Image: Stoic Studio via Steam -
The Banner Saga 3Image: Stoic Studio via Steam -
How the review scores each part of the gameWanderer Editorial -
The essentials at a glanceWanderer Editorial -
The short versionWanderer Editorial