Blackguards Reviews
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.
For the most part Blackguards is a pretty enjoyable and engaging time, but there are significant areas that hold it back.
Great graphics, huge, varied and interactive battlegrounds and a quasi-intriguing story are drastically hampered by shoddy RPG systems, flawed combat and terrible customisation. There's a fairly good game here hidden underneath a mountain of broken gameplay mechanics.
Though I feel incapable of giving Blackguards the fair shake it would get with fresh eyes, that's ultimately nobody's fault but the developer's. Early access works for emergent play – games like Rust and Starbound where no play session is the same and every update changes the dynamics – but it's ill-suited to more linear, directed experiences.
There's nothing special or individual; everything is complete, but nothing more.
Blackguards is enjoyable enough for diehard strategy fans, but nagging bugs and a poor UI keep it from its full potential.
Masochistic stat-chasers will find much to enjoy, but Blackguards' varied combat is no substitute for a fully-formed RPG.
Blackguards is not not being recommended. In fact, it is being recommended. However, it is only being recommended to the right people. Those people are the true hardcore RPG fanatics - people who will put up with sadistic combat scenarios that will cause most other gamers to quit and load up something a little less painful.
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.
There is certainly potential beneath the many unrefined and unpolished layers, but Blackguards does not feel worth playing in its current state. Outside of the combat the game fails to impress in any way and often frustration at the user interface, the loading times or the embarrassingly jerky cutscenes drive the player away.
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.
Blackguards has its up and downs, but at $40 for 40 or more hours of good gameplay, it's hard to beat.
Blackguards is a nice change of pace from the Deadelic. The story is well told, if a little bit clichéd, and the slightly sub-par visuals are off-set by the interesting and addictive gameplay. It does suffer from a common strategy game issue, whereby if you fail at something, it can be hard to motivate yourself to spend another hour doing it all over again straight away. Play it in short bursts, however, and you could find yourself spending many an intriguing hour in Blackguard's universe.
A sort of diamond in the rough perhaps, in that Daedalic did a fine job with many aspects of Blackguards, yet a handful of problems, certainly some more crucial than others, and yet all patchable, keep the overall experience stunted.
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.
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.
Overall, Blackguards is a fun, tactical time waster with a throwaway fantasy RPG plot that does nothing new.
Loading times and voice acting drag down a decent title.
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.
Blackguards is a grueling tactical role-playing game that thrives on brutal challenges.