We sat down with Alex Thomas, Writer, Designer, and founding member of Stoic to discuss The Banner Saga and more!
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi, my name’s Alex Thomas. I’m the writer for Banner Saga 3 and one of the founding members of Stoic. Most of us came from different companies and ending up working together at BioWare, where we honed our skills and set out to form our own company.
What was the first console/game you ever owned?
Personally, my dad had it in his mind that PC was the way to go, that it’s where all the “smart” games were. I grew playing a lot of Sierra and LucasArts adventure games. Eventually, I ended up with a Sega Genesis and the defining game for me on that system was Shining Force, which influenced quite a lot in Banner Saga, such as the centaurs!
Do you have any fond childhood memories based around gaming?
I used to really enjoy getting down into the gritty details when playing games. I’d get really into breaking out how everything worked. At some point, I was obsessed with Street Fighter and submitted my personal Vega combo I had labored over to a game magazine for their “best combo” competition, who ended up publishing it! This was, of course, before the internet came around.
How did the Texas-based developer, Stoic, form?
As mentioned, we all worked together at BioWare and were in the last stages of wrapping up The Old Republic when we decided to take the plunge. Around the same time, a lot of developers were starting to get the same idea. I think each of us (Arnie, John and myself) thought it was a “now or never” sort of moment. After releasing the first game, the company began to grow to help us fill out the roles we couldn’t handle with just three people, including more artists, designers, coders and marketing/public relations.
Stoic’s debut title, The Banner Saga, debuted on the PC in January 2014. Since then, you’ve produced two sequels, added more consoles, expanded to a board game, soundtrack and novel. However, for those who have yet to experience this tactical RPG set in a Viking-esque world and rich in storytelling and music, how would you describe the game?
The Banner Saga was a love-letter to old turn-based games or even board games, which is how we originally designed the combat, hanging out late into the night playing a homebrew version of our combat on a makeshift “board”. Going from there, we really wanted to marry this with an in-depth story that truly changed based on player decisions, and felt more like a believable world than most RPGs. Where many games start with systems and try to fit a story on top, we did the opposite, starting with story and working it around gameplay. The end result is a meticulous combination of going back and forth to always try to keep both these things well-balanced and integrated with each other.
Since its release, The Banner Saga has gone on to win multiple awards and rightly so. However, I would be remiss if I did not mention the score. Composed by Grammy-nominated and two-time BAFTA award-winning composer, how did Stoic and Austin Wintory come together for this project?
This was actually a bit of an unexpected win for us. With our original Kickstarter being as successful as it was (to our great surprise), we were receiving lots of requests from composers to work on the project. Some indie devs we knew suggested that if we had this much interest, we ought to just go after the guy we wanted. Couldn’t hurt to ask, right? Journey had just come out and we were so blown away by Austin’s work that we sent him an email, not expecting to hear back. To our great surprise, he was super excited about the project. The rest has been a fantastic partnership since.
Let’s fast forward to today where the trilogy has reached its conclusion on July 26th with the 3rd installment. How does it feel to have reached this point in The Banner Saga journey?
I think for most of us, it’s a bitter-sweet combination of relief, sadness and excitement amongst other emotions. We set out with an insanely ambitious project for such a small team and the fact that we were able to finish as strongly as we have is nothing short of miraculous. We’re super-excited to see how people react to the final part, and I know from talking to the rest of the team that nothing feels left out or wish we could have done it differently. We pulled off what we hoped to do!
Also releasing at the same time as the final saga is the physical release on PS4 and Xbox, dubbed: The Banner Saga: Bonus Edition. This comes with a “best of” soundtrack, mini art book, collectible poster, and in-game item. How exciting is it to see your complete trilogy arrive in retail?
One of the best things about the whole process has been watching the game come out to completely new audiences and seeing their reaction to things we did years ago. On a personal level, there’s some pride in just being able to play the game on something like a Nintendo Switch, especially now that most of us have kids of our own that are just as infatuated with Nintendo as we were.
Although a little bit later, the trilogy will also see a physical release on the Nintendo Switch in September. Will you be including goodies with the Switch release?
Not sure about the different versions, myself! Sorry!
What’s next for Stoic?
We’re definitely excited about completing the full trilogy of Banner Saga, but it’s probably not the last you’ll see of it. We also promised additional modes like Survival and Eternal Arena that will be released to everyone in the near future, and we’re just starting to look toward our next big, new project. There are many options on the table right now!
What upcoming games are you most looking forward to playing?
My last big kicks were with Monster Hunter World and Breath of the Wild. Sadly, like many devs, we have to be pretty choosy with what we can devote time to anymore. The latest E3 had an impressive selection of stuff to get excited about – Last of Us 2 looks pretty amazing, and personally I think Satisfactory is going to be a huge hit. Looking forward to it!
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to share?
From the bottom of our hearts, we have so much love for all of our fans who have stuck with us over this long journey and even come back multiple times to support us in making this game. It was something I grew up dreaming about and having actually completed it now is almost hard to believe. We sincerely hope it lives up to everything our players are expecting and then some. Thanks again from everyone at Stoic.
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