Blackguards 2 - New Hands-On Preview

One part of RPGs I'm not so much a fan of is clutter on the screen. Whilst Blackguards 2 has plenty of stats to tweak, abilities to learn, and HUD features, I never felt overwhelmed - everything was clear, and detailed enough, without looking like a confusing mess.​

One of the best parts of my experience with the game would be the story. Playing as Cassia, a woman banished into a dungeon with no hope of escape, you start the game walking through said dungeon trying to find a means of actually getting out. This section serves as something of a tutorial. Unfortunately the dungeon is filled with giant spider-like creatures (I hate giant spider-like creatures) that have a poisonous bite which will either kill you or send you insane. Spending four years down in the depths with the spiders, Cassia becomes disfigured and loses her mind. Eventually escaping the dungeon she has nothing but revenge on the braind. As someone who generally likes to play the 'good guy' in games, and creates them in RPGs, I enjoyed the dark tones of Blackguards 2, and the twisted angle they went for with the main protagonist.

Despite not knowing much about The Dark Eye universe's lore, I still had a blast with Blackguards 2. It's a fun turn-based RPG that I'm looking forward to delving further into, and I can't see any die-hard RPG fans being turned off by it's deep, strategic gameplay and intriguing story.

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bjon045 said:

Agreed about the ups and downs of Blackguards. Honestly there were some things that should of never passed play testing. There are a few fights that unless you have spec'ed in a certain way are almost impossible. I finished the game on hard but there were times when I certainly felt like uninstalling.

One of the few bright spots was the reasonable representation of the TDE rules - and to hear they have made significant simplification has me worried greatly.

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