Blackguards Reviews
Hardcore RPG fans and pen and paper purists will get their fill with Blackguards both in combat and story. Just be prepared to do a lot of planning and possibly losing in order to succeed.
There is fun to be had and Daedalic have done their best to keep battles interesting, but often things can get very frustrating and it's hard not to come to the realisation that you're just doing the same things over and over again. Daedalic have made two excellent adventures out of The Dark Eye, but they've yet to make a good RPG.
Blackguards is enjoyable enough for diehard strategy fans, but nagging bugs and a poor UI keep it from its full potential.
There's a lot of content in Blackguards, but memorable moments are few and far between. This is a game that feels like it has a lot of ambition, but it's held back sharply but budgetary constraints and, perhaps, an engine so unfamiliar to the development team that they couldn't compensate for its inherent flaws.
Daedalic Entertainment have outdone themselves and Blackguards is one of the best adaptations of a pen and paper RPG that I have ever seen, transforming the original into an amazing digital version that still retains the heart and soul of a pen and paper, whilst getting rid of the inconveniences such a game implies.
The development team at Daedalic Entertainment has created an enjoyable experience, but one that asks players to accept its quirks if they are looking for hours of solid but unexceptional role-playing gameplay.
Daedalic may have had the intent to spin a tale of treachery and malevolence with Blackguards, but from the outset you'll find that each character has a conscience that is rarely tested, ultimately weaving an only slightly less-than-virtuous tale. That being said, every encounter is exciting and challenging, and the massive amount of class tailoring gives you plenty of reasons to replay the adventure and sample different character choices. It's a great foundation, especially for a game developer not accustomed to the genre, and I am eager to see if Daedalic can do anything more with the series, be it with a sequel, new content, or tools for players to create their own adventures.
Blackguards is a monstrous slab of ruthlessly tough yet massively rewarding strategy that fans of old-school RPGs will find impossible to resist. The more esoteric and chance-based aspects of its mechanics and presentation will put many players off -- not to mention a difficulty curve that makes The Shard look like The Shire -- but chances are you already know where you stand.
Blackguards is a grueling tactical role-playing game that thrives on brutal challenges.
Blackguards has its up and downs, but at $40 for 40 or more hours of good gameplay, it's hard to beat.
While the game is still currently in development, there is more than enough time for the developers to tweak the mechanics and make this a wonderful title that I would gladly recommend to fantasy and strategy fans, but right now, this just doesn't cut it. Hopefully, Blackguards won't remain as a sea of untapped potential. It feels like trying to eat delicious soup with just a fork; it's going to take too long, and there are just no spoons anywhere.