Blackguards is a PC game that is being developed by Daedelic Entertainment, the creators of the Deponia series and publishers of Torchlight 2. The game is currently in alpha on steam and is shaping up to be an interesting party-based tactical role playing game.
Tutorial
Unfortunately the game does get dropped into the category of most clichéd intro to a fantasy role playing game, as you find yourself standing over the corpse of Princess Elanor (plot device and your friends main squeeze) with everyone pointing their finger at you for the cause of this tragic scene, when in fact all they need to do is look at the corpse, to see the killer’s ( a wolf no less) own lifeless body piled on top of her … the wolf which I bludgeoned to death… with my blunt sword …because my mage doesn’t know how to cast spells… or carry any necessary equipment in which to be a mage. Fast forward some weeks and it seems like the autopsy of the princess didn’t go so great after hauling the wolf’s carcass off of her I like to imagine that I was the only person who didn’t help and thusly was accused for the murder. Back in the actual plot, you’ve been hurled into jail under a false pretence and before you’ve even hit the floor another prisoner decided he’s had enough of being in imprisoned, he picks his lock and waltzes over to your cell, he then frees you and another prisoner and so starts your journey to clear your name.
Overview
The game itself is a pretty solid game which is focused around clearing your name for a murder you didn’t commit, which yes is very cliché but the game does give you degree of being able to choose your own path through the game, and these paths are quite interesting, but one thing that impressed me with this game is that there are bosses in the game, upon seeing them you get the same feeling that you get when you play a monster hunter game and you’ll say “I’m gonna take that down!” each time you see one, not all of them are memorable but they do give you a better sensation upon slaying them than when you kill the fodder of the game. Well when I say fodder there isn’t actually any enemy that I’ve seen in the game which you can just cast aside. The game is tactical and hex-grid-based, meaning you seriously have to plan out your moves and positions to survive against the AI. Black guards reminded me of playing chess, except for the queen doesn’t really spit out fireballs (well maybe), and why I stopped (I was terrible at it) but the game is challenging and does reward you for going off on side quests.
Combat
Other than my fire spitting queen, my party consisted of a dwarf and another mage, I soon realised that this party wasn’t to be due to two of the three members I had were reliant on Mana, this meant by about the third room I walked in they were practically useless and the tutorial had not yet taught me how to use potions, it was in that very room that I found there was no penalty for letting a part member hit zero health, though whether that is to do with the alpha version, I’m afraid I have no clue.
While exploring the land of Aventuria you will find many battlefields that have interactive objects, these objects can ranged from setting a table on fire to dropping a chandelier on to people, and as an added bonus make sure to keep your ears open for an valuable information, as you can find out if there are any features in certain battlefields that you want to be careful of, for example I was told swamp gas was easily flammable so when fighting in the swamp I used fire spells to quickly blast my foes to smithereens, whilst singeing my eyebrows.
The game plays how you’d imagine Dragon Age Origins to play if it was on a hex-grid, and while melee combat isn’t the flashiest the stage is stolen by mages whose spells are really visually pleasing and effective, one feature which makes me overjoyed to see is that spells have multiple levels and through these levels they can change their effects such as changing from single targets to the entire battlefield being affected, and while these levels are good for their stats the visual aspects of these spells really blows the spells from games such as Dragon Age out of the water, I say this because the spells visual cues change dependent on the level which you decide to use, so a level 1 fireball is a really dim and feeble spark but once upgraded to a level 4 the fireball engulfs the enemy in a blaze of intense fire, it really is a feature I’d like to see in more RPG’s.
Conclusion
Blackguards is a fantasy tactical RPG game much like Dragon Age Origins in which you can use all manner of traps and interactive environments, however the lack of an explained tutorial meant I felt that I struggled through the first portion of the game. The game has a relatively clichéd story but has a fantastic realm that you will be surviving through. Every battle is different and forces you to use your head, to outsmart the AI.
As I mentioned above I’m a massive fan of the spell system, thought the combat wheel can be a bit tedious and slow to use, and as it stands Blackguards is not a game to write home about, however I have great expectations for when it is fully released as the concept for the visuals really is stunning and I hope they can do the visuals justice.
Grab the game here http://store.steampowered.com/app/249650/?snr=1_7_15__13
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