I'll Banner your Saga

You ever want to be a viking? OF COURSE YOU HAVE! Burning coastal villages to the ground after rolling up with one hundred of your best friends in boats that have dragons carved into the prow. Taking heads by the dozen then going home with a boat fill of stolen booty to eat meat and get drunk. Whats not to love? Unfortunately it's the future so that's not an option anymore because of things like "Guns" and "Coast Guards". Truly, things have only gotten worse as time as progressed. Thankfully, you can live out your viking fantasies without having to risk death or imprisonment, and its with today's game! It's called Banner Saga: Factions.

It was a simpler time

You may remember awhile ago, back when the kickstarter craze was really getting going, one of the games that popped up was The Banner Saga. Made by some dudes who fled Bioware when the fleeing was good and banded together under the name Stoic, the game as promised was a turn based strategic game with some sick art and classic animation. People were clearly buying what they were selling because it made seven times its initial goal. That isnt out yet, what IS out is a free to play multiplayer game, that looks to not only be a fun game in and of itself but also a test bed for balancing the main game that has yet to come out. It even has a tournament function.

BAR FIGHT

However, the game IS Free to Play so now we get into the most important part of this postHOW THEY TRY TO GET YOU
You buy things in game with renown. You get renown through playing the game, obviously you get more if you won than if you lost. Some of the stuff you buy with renown are cosmetic colors to make your units visually distinct, more units to get some variety for troop line up, and class upgrades. Does this reach PAY TO WIN levels? Since the game presumably lines you up against players with a matching level of strength, it shouldnt matter. But of course thats just my personal view on things, obviously your mileage may vary.

He probably has trouble getting through doors

SO. If your soul hungers to please Odin on the field of battle but you dont want to personally place yourself in harms way, or you dont want to get arrested, you could always play Banner Saga: Factions, it's got strategic gameplay, some fantastic art and animation, and if any of that stuff sounds good to you, then you should go for it. If nothing else its good practice incase all technology fails and we regress back into communities of farmers and fisherman and groups of raiders who burn stuff down.

One day that golden age shall come again

You can get Banner Saga: Factions off of steam, here