The Banner Saga vs The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
The Banner Saga is an RPG strategy game from Stoic (2014) while The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is a JRPG RPG game (2004).
What each one is
Steam files The Banner Saga under RPG and Strategy. In contrast, it files The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky under JRPG and RPG.
Live through an epic role-playing Viking saga where your strategic choices directly affect your personal journey. Make allies as you travel with your caravan across this stunning yet harsh landscape. Carefully choose those who will help fight a new threat that jeopardizes an entire civilization.
Hailed as one of the largest, longest and most meticulously detailed turn-based JRPG series of all time, this first chapter in the ongoing Trails saga sets the stage for what's quickly become Ys developer Nihon Falcom's most popular and best-selling franchise in their entire 30+ year history.
At a glance
| The Banner Saga | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.7/10 | 7.6/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (89%, 15,950) | Very Positive (94%, 10,375) |
| Critic aggregate | 80/100 | 85/100 |
| Price | $24.99 | $19.99 |
| Install size | 4 GB | 3 GB |
| Steam Deck | verified | playable |
| Released | 2014 | 2004 |
| Developer | Stoic | — |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
The Banner Saga vs The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
The Banner SagaRPG strategy gameThe Legend of Heroes: Trails in the SkyJRPG RPG gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
The Banner SagaRPG, Turn-Based, StrategyThe Legend of Heroes: Trails in the SkyJRPG, Story Rich, RPGThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
The Banner Saga ✓Score 7.7 · 89% on Steam · 80 criticThe Legend of Heroes: Trails in the SkyScore 7.6 · 94% on Steam · 85 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
The Banner Saga15,950 reviews · 2 add-ons · 4 GBThe Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky10,375 reviews · 3 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
The Banner Saga$24.99The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky ✓$19.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
The Banner Saga ✓VerifiedThe Legend of Heroes: Trails in the SkyPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
The Banner Saga takes 2 of the marked rounds to 1. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe Banner Saga and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
- PlayStation
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: The Banner Saga (GamingPickz Score 7.7)
- The cheaper right now: The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky ($19.99)
- Better on a Steam Deck: The Banner Saga (verified)
- Lighter on storage: The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (3 GB)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
RPGTurn-BasedStrategyTacticalTurn-Based StrategyStory RichFantasyGreat Soundtrack
Where they differ
IndieKickstarterChoices MatterHand-drawnAtmospheric2D
JRPGAnimeFemale ProtagonistClassicTurn-Based CombatRomance
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, The Banner Saga is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| The Banner Saga | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | — |
| Minimum CPU | — | — |
| Minimum RAM | 2 GB | — |
| Install size | 4 GB | 3 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: The Banner Saga · The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for The Banner Saga and 1 for The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are The Banner Saga and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky in scope?
The Banner Saga has drawn 15,950 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 4 GB. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky has drawn 10,375 Steam reviews and installs in 3 GB.
Is The Banner Saga or The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky better?
By the GamingPickz Score, The Banner Saga rates higher (7.7 to 7.6). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, The Banner Saga or The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky?
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is cheaper right now at $19.99, against $24.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.