Imagine if you will, that the original tabletop Dungeons & Dragons had a love-child with Dragon Age: Origins. That child would go on to combine interesting characters and story with turn-based grid combat and dice rolls for all of your attacks and actions. If this is sounding exactly like the game you’ve always been waiting for, then you have an oddly specific taste, but more importantly your wait is finally over because this is the game for you!
Blackguards comes to us from Daedalic Entertainment. The game was released on the 24th of January for the PC. Daedalic Entertainment specialise in PC releases and have had their hand in a variety of pots. Previously they have published titles for the PC including: Torchlight II, Tales of Monkey Island, Sam & Max – Im Theater des Teufels, and Botanicula. Further more Daedalic have also produced their own games over time including: The Whispered World, The Deponia series, and most recently; Blackguards.
Blackguards is Daedalic’s first attempt at a turn-based RPG. Previously they have been most commonly associated with the adventure game genre. This step into unknown territory was not a bad move however. Personally speaking it looks like they may have a good grasp on how to execute a turn-based RPG. The gameplay consists entirely of map-based navigation and individual hexagonal grid-based battles. When navigating you pick a node you wish to visit from your map and you travel there. It may be a town, a battle, or something else.
During these turn-based battles you are tasked to defeat a number of AI enemies which vary in size, number, and toughness. The mechanics of battle follows a similar formula to the tabletop Dungeons & Dragons where you move and attack with your characters in turn based on “initiative” dice rolls. All the damage, skill checks, and dodging is done by these psuedo dice rolls and the possible damage any given weapon can do follows the X number of Y dice format. For example; a basic axe can do 1d6 damage (A theoretical 6 sided dice is rolled once and the result is the damage + any damage modifiers gained from your stats like strength). Anyone familiar with Dungeons & Dragons will likely feel equally familiar with the combat system of Blackguards. You learn skills by visiting skill trainers in various towns. Stats conversely can be boosted at any point out of combat by using the character sheet menu.
Your inventory is your bog-standard affair with local differences. You can swap out character equipment, and customise spells/skills in the Character sheet section. You earn AP (Ability Points) which you can spend on upgrading your party’s stats or skills. You can buy and sell your gear to merchants in towns, allowing you to kit yourself between missions. While each mission will hold a reward which often contains equipment, money, and other loot items.
At the beginning of the game you are given the opportunity to create a character. There is a small variety of customisation and 3 professions to pick from (Mage, Warrior, Ranger). Once you’ve decided what gender you are, what you look like, and what your profession is, you are thrown into the game’s story. The plot begins with your character shortly after the death of a lady named Elanor. You begin somewhere in the wilderness; a large, angry looking wolf has just attacked and killed Elanor who was both the Queen, and apparently an acquaintance of yours. With gusto you attempt to save the poor lady, but are unfortunately too late. After murdering the wolf, a small contingent of guards conveniently report on the scene and naturally suspect you as the murderer (apparently ignoring the giant hole ripped into the Lady’s chest by teeth).
Thus as the suspect you are jailed and sentenced to death, only to shortly after escape with the assistance of a Dwarf named Naurim. Along with Naurim and his delightfully Northern accent you break free, releasing a Mage by the name of Zurbaran on your way to make 3 of you in total. After searching for answers you find yourself at a loss. With the three of you being seen as murders and outcasts, and with no where else to turn, you eventually join the misfit ranks of a group called the Blackguards.
Blackguard‘s graphics are up to par for a modern PC title. The models & environments are nicely detailed, with warm filtered lighting effects. Overall it is very pretty to look at. The animations are also nice and realistic for the most part. Characters jog and swing with satisfying natural movement. The only problem is some of the more subtle animations. Speaking in particular is quite immersion breaking with characters open and closing their mouths like goldfish. Also some blocking and parry animations have the character just lean back in the same way which is disappointing given the rest of the nice design that the game features.
The music score unfortunately is nothing special. There are nice background tracks for towns and villages, as well as more lively tracks for battles and cutscenes. Personally however I found that for myself no tracks particularly stood out as distinctly interesting or catchy. The soundtrack is what it is, an accompaniment to the scenes taking place. On the other hand the voice acting is very good, Naurim and Zurbaran are amusing well characterised in their own unique ways and they cover the range of emotions well. Unfortunately the same was not true for the voice actor playing your character. While some lines are delivered well, any attempts at panic or distress sound incredibly phoned in and are awkward to listen to.
All in all Blackguards, for me at least is an interesting title. The gameplay is entirely self contained battles but there are enough gimmicks and variation that they can keep you interested. Many battles will require you to tackle them in a specific way, while some alternatively give you multiple ways to complete them. Despite the issues it does have, the game is still definitely worth a play if you like turn-based RPGs. There are a lot of RPG affordances within, which allows you to quickly grasp how to play and progress. All this paired with the fact the game is well tutorialised means that the core mechanics are easy to get into and play. Blackguards is currently available for purchase on Steam and Daedalic’s site directly.