Stoic’s The Banner Saga 3 was a pretty awesome tactical turn-based RPG at launch, but it’s just gotten even better. The developer has announced that a new game mode, Eternal Arena, is now available to play. It was a stretch goal in the game’s crowd-funding campaign for $400,000, so it’s good to finally see it come out.
The Eternal Arena is a combat-focused mode that lets players create their own custom battles. You can choose the enemies, adjust any rules, and make it as challenging as possible. The Eternal Arena supports all 46 characters and enemies, along with all the battleboards, from The Banner Saga 1-3. If that weren’t enough, there’s a weekly tournament to participate in with global rankings.
Technical Director John Watson said, “Eternal Arena has been a lot of fun to devise, tactical gameplay plays a major role but PC players can really mix it up to test out their own combat scenarios and ideas, if you love tactical combat then this is a perfect mode to get stuck into. The fans and backers have been an integral part of helping us deliver this game so we’re thrilled to introduce the last stretch goal to the final chapter in the Banner Saga series.”
Even if you’re not interesting in tournaments, there’s plenty of incentive to step into the Eternal Arena. The update has brought 39 new Achievements, with three hidden for the total completionist. Plus, it’s never a bad time to revisit The Banner Saga 3, currently available for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.