Blackguards

 PC
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 256 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 143 out of 256
  2. Mixed: 69 out of 256
  3. Negative: 44 out of 256

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  1. Kenning
    Jul 15, 2014
    5
    Combat is widely reported as being the heart of Blackguards. Except it isn't. It is its saving grace, but the heart of Blackguards actually lies elsewhere.

    The combat starts out highly enjoyable, and would receive an excellent grade if it maintained the quality it has in chapter one and iterated upon it in the later chapters. But instead, the game fades out, with good combat in chapter    Combat is widely reported as being the heart of Blackguards. Except it isn't. It is its saving grace, but the heart of Blackguards actually lies elsewhere.

    The combat starts out highly enjoyable, and would receive an excellent grade if it maintained the quality it has in chapter one and iterated upon it in the later chapters. But instead, the game fades out, with good combat in chapter two, drifting to okay combat in chapter three and part of four, and collapsing in chapter four into becoming rote routine through most of four and all of five. What drags it down is, in part, what turns out to be only a small number of ideas for antagonist combat styles, but is largely due to the heavily imbalanced character development system.

    For all of the famed glory of the Blackguards combat system, there actually isn't much to it. The party is made up of five members, and they usually fight from 6-7 enemies, occasionally more, sometimes less. The battles take place on a hex-grid, and they take place in turns based on individual character speed and an initiative roll.

    Unfortunately, there is not a great deal of enemy variety. There are a large number of enemy portraits to fight. But there are not a wide variety of methods of attack. Most enemies are melee grunts who attack using the same pattern and single attack, whether they are mindless zombies or (supposedly) intelligent bandits. A few combats have enemies with ranged ability, which they use in a largely random fashion, instead of a focused aggressive one. And a rare few have spellcasters, which use their spells in a largely ineffective fashion. Combats against opponents with special abilities beyond that are really rare.

    On the other hand, it is good for the party that enemies remain stupid and unfocused, as the party are always outnumbered and usually fighting on empty square battlemaps, and thus a focused effort would likely easily overwhelm the party. As it is, the enemy AI strikes largely randomly, effective (such as it is) only by its superior numbers.

    Likewise, the enemy do not have all of the special abilities that the party do. Again, this is a must for the survivability of the party. If the enemy were given full access to all of those abilities, then the party would just fall over when facing them. Much as the enemy does with the party during the latter parts of the game.

    Damage output ramps up from 10 to 15 to 25 to 50 (with over 90 on a critical) with each power upgrade. And once you get a power upgrade, there is no real reason to user a weaker attack in that line ever again. There is just no reason to NOT attempt to do 50 points of damage instead of 10. While the chance to hit when a character first gains Super Improved Power Attack is low, that does not outweigh the damage output.

    On top of that, the mages gain access to haste at about the same time the warriors gain access to Super Improved Power Attack. So, suddenly the warriors can do 90 points of damage in one attack and they can do it twice in one round! Only a handful of enemies can survive even one 90-point damage attack, much less 2. Thus, once the party has Super Improved Power Attack and haste, they can use just those two abilities to conquer 99.9% of the rest of the combats in the game. And half of the remaining 0.1% demand only the use of a couple of heals or an elemental knockdown.

    Which leads to the main issue with the combat - the gameplay is badly balanced. Open character development systems are really hard to balance, and this one is not even remotely in the balanced ballpark. There are some aspects of the character that are hugely beneficial (Super Improved Power Attack), some that are only of minor benefit (Read Enemy hp), and some that are of no benefit at all (fireball). Thus, the difficulty of the game lies almost entirely in the character sheet.

    And that means nothing you do on the battlefield matters, after leaving chapter one. Tactical gameplay is thrown out the window, and the game becomes a game of character building strategy. Battles are won and lost by wise choices on the character sheet, not through brilliant tactics in the field. Which means the vaunted tactical combat of Blackguards gets lost in a haze of character builds and spreadsheeting.    … Expand
  2. MeritCoba
    Jun 13, 2015
    5
    How would you feel when you are unable to proceed because you do not have the required abilities to deal with the enemy?
    You could say, tough luck, it is your own fault, because you made the wrong choices.
    And I grant you that. But how can I make the right choices when I do not know the strengths and weaknesses of these abilities? And how can I foresee that the story seriously impacts    How would you feel when you are unable to proceed because you do not have the required abilities to deal with the enemy?
    You could say, tough luck, it is your own fault, because you made the wrong choices.
    And I grant you that.

    But how can I make the right choices when I do not know the strengths and weaknesses of these abilities? And how can I foresee that the story seriously impacts the functioning of my party? At two moments in the game you will be inflicted with a setback that unhinges your party's fighting power. Once, one of the party members gets killed because the story is written that way. And at another time her replacement, a magic user, gets robbed of her ability to do magic and so thousands of points sunk in developing her magic powers becomes nullified with one stroke.
    So you might expect that the game takes this into account, but not at all: you cannot undo your choices nor does the game allow you to make up for the loss of a valuable party member.

    This then, in a nutshell, is the problem with Blackguards..

    This game is very much like searching for keys to doors, while you do not know which key opens which door, you do not know if a door leads to anything useful, you do not know when or if you will find the key or the door to which it belongs and you might find that the keys and doors disappeared before you actually could make use of them.
    So what is left is to go back to an earlier point in the game and find the right keys to the right doors: make the right choices. And unfortunately you might have to go a long way back: perhaps all the way to the beginning.

    And then another issue pops up.

    Blackguards is basically a tactical battle simulator in which the battles are linked together by a thin storyline that gives the battles context. You will find that many of the common characteristics of a roleplay game are underdeveloped. For one, your party members are a given and so are their classes. Do not expect that you can build your own party.
    Furthermore there are few choices in equipment so your party will be running around with the same armor and weapons for long stretches. And while many places have shops, you will only visit them to restock your supplies.
    But the crucial issue is that the story is simply too linear. While at some point you can select what to do first, you will be unable to change the storyline in any significant way. And because the story isn't really special at all, redoing this game just so you can change your characters is not enough of an incentive to go through the game again..

    Even as a tactical battle simulator the game leaves much to be desired. For instance you are unable to determine the setup of your party members. More often than not the game gleefully shoves your more vulnerable members, your magic users, in the front line. Hilarious is the ability to set traps. You have almost no time to set traps, let alone set the traps that actually make difference. The traps are expensive, the relevant skill requires a massive amount of points and you have only a very limited amount of traps.
    In addition some battles confront you with a special setup that is pivotal to the battle, often without explaining to you the specifics. In one battle, for instance, you will be able to make use of automated flamethrowers. But the game doesn't explain this to you, nor do you know what the impact is until you have seen their effect and you figured out how to operate them. It therefore requires you to redo the battle at least once.
    Some battles are practically unwinnable until you achieve a certain level, or develop a certain ability to a certain level.

    Is it all bad then?

    Actually no.
    When I went through the game the first time I actually was entertained. The game uses what I call the fall out principle. The fall out principle is that you start out as a nobody and then gradually start to make a difference when the story unfolds. This is the reverse of what you might call the dragon age effect in which it is clear from the start that you are a special person destined to make a difference.
    Personally I prefer the first angle to the last.
    Also the characters are amusing, even though, or perhaps because, they are so cliche. The remarks of the Naurim, the grumpy dwarf, are pretty funny and in line of what you might expect from a dwarf: a fighter who distrusts magic users and elves.
    The story, although linear, has a few twists and also there is some emotional connection as it involves a friend and later on a family member. It isn't also clearcut that the enemy is actually bad and it leaves things fuzzy for a long time.
    So it seems to me that if you go once through the game(using a game guide to form your party) then you might probably be entertained.

    Verdict:
    Blackguard is a filler when you are in between better games. Pick it up when it is in the bargain bin and around five dollars or euros or less.    … Expand
  3. demondred79
    Dec 6, 2014
    5
    I feel terrible for anyone that paid $40 for this game.
    Voice acting was good, graphics are fair, there seems to be some depth and strategy, but that's where the good stuff ends.
    CONS: - very difficult to compare item upgrades - questing interface in towns is barebones - work vs reward doesn't balance. In other words, if you're in an encounter fighting 3 enemies and more get summoned    I feel terrible for anyone that paid $40 for this game.
    Voice acting was good, graphics are fair, there seems to be some depth and strategy, but that's where the good stuff ends.
    CONS:
    - very difficult to compare item upgrades
    - questing interface in towns is barebones
    - work vs reward doesn't balance. In other words, if you're in an encounter fighting 3 enemies and more get summoned or spawned you don't get xp (AP) payout. It's very frustrating fighting a simple and fast encounter for 25 xp payout....and then the next encounter you work your butt off in a brutal and slow fight and also get only 25xp.
    - ability points are ridiculous. It's far too easy to unbalance your character and go down the wrong path skilling yourself up. This is a clunky miserable mess for tuning up your character with a billion moving parts to navigate.
    - Cinematic and cut scene animations (particularly mouth movement) are hideous. While not a major detriment, it's still a low quality blemish that deserves a call out.

    There are plenty of gamers that can look past these flaws and have a fun time but I'm not one of them. Good effort but falls really short.    … Expand
  4. Neravarine
    Feb 12, 2014
    9
    1st of all Blackguards is part of Dark Eye series which is appealing only to D&D fans, and combat system is based on tabletop games which makes it a bit harder to understand if you never played any tabletop,drakensang or neverwinter. Storyline of the game is superb mostly coz you are not some hero who set off a farm to save the world, you just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong1st of all Blackguards is part of Dark Eye series which is appealing only to D&D fans, and combat system is based on tabletop games which makes it a bit harder to understand if you never played any tabletop,drakensang or neverwinter. Storyline of the game is superb mostly coz you are not some hero who set off a farm to save the world, you just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Gameplay itself is good if you are fan of turn based games, and if you are not, you should not even consider playing it unless you are rly into Dark Eye. Graphics are average but still had 5x more fun playing this then for example Banner Saga, I am fan of Vikings but I rly must ask myself a question why there were close to non viking games b4 2011.

    If you are fan of D&D, Dark eye, tabletops and turn based games you should play this, if you are not, you just wont understand it.    … Expand
  5. Thornville
    Dec 18, 2014
    9
    If you are a friend of AAA turn based tactial games like XCOM or Final Fantasy Tactics, this is a game just made for you! Daedalic Entertainment made a real good job on this one. The Story, settled in "The Dark Eyey" Universe is immersive, the graphics are real nice, the tactical approach is kinda advanced and pretty tricky from time to time and even the voice actors made a great job! TwoIf you are a friend of AAA turn based tactial games like XCOM or Final Fantasy Tactics, this is a game just made for you! Daedalic Entertainment made a real good job on this one. The Story, settled in "The Dark Eyey" Universe is immersive, the graphics are real nice, the tactical approach is kinda advanced and pretty tricky from time to time and even the voice actors made a great job! Two thumbs up!… Expand
  6. Whisper
    Jul 10, 2014
    9
    This is my game of the year. I love the story, the subtle humor, the characters but definitely most of all: The level design. The vast majority of the levels are based on an important puzzle. If you try to brute-force yourself through the level - the game will be really difficult. If you understand how to use the environment to your advantage - the game is challenging but doable.

    The    This is my game of the year. I love the story, the subtle humor, the characters but definitely most of all: The level design. The vast majority of the levels are based on an important puzzle. If you try to brute-force yourself through the level - the game will be really difficult. If you understand how to use the environment to your advantage - the game is challenging but doable.

    The level design makes the game quite hard (That's why there are so many frustrated negative reviews) but also very rewarding, fun and non-repetitive. Personally I have never seen this good level design in any TBS game. I simply LOVE it.

    The only things that I don't like is the voice acting for some very specific NPCs which is kind of a bummer because all main characters are really great, and the game is very linear. There are also some graphical issues on my graphical card (HD Graphics 4600) that makes it hard to see your inventory.    … Expand
  7. Chabbawouk
    Dec 19, 2014
    9
    I liked Blackguards. It was a long time ago that I played a turn-based. It felt like a little bit back in time but with better graphics :-). I heard that there will be a second part sometimes in 2015. I think I'll have a look into that game, too.
  8. Zubacz
    Feb 9, 2014
    7
    The best thing about this game, mentioned by a few other reviewers, is the difficulty. It's challenging, even on the Normal setting and truly painful on Hard. At least in the first half of the game, before the characters are developed.
    People who enjoyed Heroes of Might and Magic combat, will find this familiar, however there is a lot more luck involved in Blackguards. Misses, parries,    The best thing about this game, mentioned by a few other reviewers, is the difficulty. It's challenging, even on the Normal setting and truly painful on Hard. At least in the first half of the game, before the characters are developed.
    People who enjoyed Heroes of Might and Magic combat, will find this familiar, however there is a lot more luck involved in Blackguards. Misses, parries, dodges and damage rolls play a huge role and even though they prevent the player from winning battles with a set strategy every time, they make a lot of the combat tedious.
    Good character development is important - knowing the skills and reaching those which will allow you to implement your desired strategy makes the game easier sooner. Some spells, like the area-wide debuffs on enemies or the ultimate melee and bow skills are a little too strong. Like in almost all RPGs past a certain point in character development, the game becomes easy.
    The story isn't too engaging. There is mystery but the path is linear and the player's decisions whether moral or not, do not seem to have any effect.
    The thing I missed the most, is a choice in companions. I realise this would require a little more voice acting and animation, however it would also add a lot more variety to the game-play. Currently, players who do not opt to go for the generic warrior-tank are severely gimped in combat, since out of the 4 playable companions, 3 can't really take a hit without being knocked down or wounded. Having 2 melee warriors seems a necessity, at least on normal and hard difficulty.
    Overall the game is enjoyable, but the linear nature of the story, and little variety in companions cause it to become boring a lot sooner than it should.    … Expand
  9. mjani77
    Jan 30, 2014
    8
    Really good turn based fantasy rpg. I liked it a lot. I don't understand why some critics complain about the story or game mechanics. I think it's not a easy game but after few restarts i played it through in 60 hours of solid entertainment.
  10. alghero
    Apr 19, 2014
    8
    First I would like to say I consider myself quite a veteran of RPG and strategic games. All reviews here miss a description and presentation of the game for experts in search of their next game and have never heard of this title before.
    There are two thing to consider before. The first is that the game's settings are those of the Dark Eye, the most successful pen&paper RPG in German    First I would like to say I consider myself quite a veteran of RPG and strategic games. All reviews here miss a description and presentation of the game for experts in search of their next game and have never heard of this title before.
    There are two thing to consider before. The first is that the game's settings are those of the Dark Eye, the most successful pen&paper RPG in German speaking countries. It's a really interesting world with a set rules at first quite complex but that make sense after playing a while. And yes, this means that if you don't know how to spend your AP (Adventure points, like experience points to be used to increase attributes, talents, spells and weapons proficiencies) you will just see a sequence of Miss or Spell failed. Another important point is that every talent / spell uses three attributes (like strength, dexterity, intelligence, etc.) for their base value. So you can try to max a talent as much as you want, but if your strength is low you will simply not do so much damage, if not miss at all, with that big two handed mace.
    Second thing to consider is that the game is developed by Daedalic Entertainment, a software company more famous for their graphic adventure games.
    So back to this game. This is a strategic game with major attention on the fight component. It's possible to interact with the environment and the scope of the battle is not always to kill everything that breathes. Sometimes you can distract a troll while collecting mushrooms with the other team-mates or, like in the tutorial, block the guards with a magic wall and open the gates of all prisoners to send them against the guards.
    Yes the game evolves as a sequence of battles with beautiful interactive screens of cities where to restore your party, upgrade your gear or search for new quests. Is that bad? Well, big games like Vagrant Hearts or Final Fantasy Tactics, to cite a couple, used the same concept and I believe sometimes it's great. Quicker game, more focus on battles. And most important: no time lost to track back from the end of a dungeon to its entrance.
    The plot so far it's interesting, there are several side-quests, but even looking at spoilers they don't seem to have a great impact on the story if not for the extra loot. I didn't encounter any annoying bug so far (just finished the first chapter).
    In few words, if you are a fun of strategic games with customizable characters, NPCs with a background and personality and you loved games like Final Fantasy Tactics, there's a big chance you will like this game too. If you don't know the Dark Eye settings, have a look at it first. Drakensang, another RPG set in the same world, has a lot of guides and materials in Internet that will explain how the pen&paper game works, the rules are really similar (I didn't find too much material on the original rules, but I blame my no knowledge of German).    … Expand
  11. Helbare
    May 3, 2014
    10
    Great Strategy RPG...I wish they would make more games like this.
    The story is dark, brooding, and enjoyable.
    The character customization is amazing and truly in-depth.

    this turn-based RPG is truly a great experience for anyone who loved the old school greats like shining force, tactics ogre, ect. It's a shame developers don't make games like this very often anymore.
  12. StellarDragon
    Jan 23, 2014
    8
    This game I've enjoyed since it went early access on Steam... the plot is good and has some unexpected twists. The game play is detailed and battlefields typically have features that can be turned to your advantage. The leveling process is detailed, but you have to plan your advancement carefully or it will be filled with regret. Quite a few skills are relatively useless, I suggestThis game I've enjoyed since it went early access on Steam... the plot is good and has some unexpected twists. The game play is detailed and battlefields typically have features that can be turned to your advantage. The leveling process is detailed, but you have to plan your advancement carefully or it will be filled with regret. Quite a few skills are relatively useless, I suggest saving up some experience, save your progress, then test out the part you want to try.

    Overall it is a good hex based game, with many good features if you like turn based strategy in a fantasy setting (like Final Fantasy Tactics) then you will enjoy this game!

    Be warned without a varying story re-playability is limited.    … Expand
  13. Gankatron
    Jan 23, 2014
    9
    Blackguards is a turn-based fantasy, often dark and frequently humorous, RPG.

    While still a beta product it is polished and one of the best RPG's I have played in a while. It is a good feeling to catch myself laughing at the well voice acted humorous dialogue, which I haven't experienced to this degree since way back in games such as KOTOR and Jade Empire. Daedalic Entertainment might    Blackguards is a turn-based fantasy, often dark and frequently humorous, RPG.

    While still a beta product it is polished and one of the best RPG's I have played in a while. It is a good feeling to catch myself laughing at the well voice acted humorous dialogue, which I haven't experienced to this degree since way back in games such as KOTOR and Jade Empire. Daedalic Entertainment might just be the new old pre-EA BioWare we all fondly remember.

    Probably the only frustrating thing I experienced was the questionable stated odds of a spell succeeding, but I am also not sure if that percentage was meant to take into account the defender's resistances.

    I give it a 9 because it is hard to me to envision a better RPG without my mind drifting back to old BioWare. So this is a real user score, not an artificially inflated rating meant to preemptively fend off the incoming 0's from reviewers that found fault in this product.

    I eagerly await the Chapter 5 release...    … Expand
  14. Cordova
    Jan 24, 2014
    6
    I really enjoy a good turn based RPG, Blackguards has some merit, but something always feels really off.

    I haven't played a PnP RPG since my AD&D days so I'm not familiar with The Dark Eye character set and Blackguards does little to explain how to raise skills. Even when I'm at a trainer will all prerequisites and enough AP to buy the skill, it won't let me. So whatever. In any case I    I really enjoy a good turn based RPG, Blackguards has some merit, but something always feels really off.

    I haven't played a PnP RPG since my AD&D days so I'm not familiar with The Dark Eye character set and Blackguards does little to explain how to raise skills. Even when I'm at a trainer will all prerequisites and enough AP to buy the skill, it won't let me. So whatever. In any case I pressed on, but the game has issues that really irritate me.

    I know combat is based on dice rolls in the background, but it seems oddly skewed in favor of the NPCs. 95% chance to hit? Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss, oh well now my warrior is dead. Or maybe I'm lucky enough to hit, 4 damage with level 18 2h sword skill . . . whereas enemies hit for 15. Nice.

    Then there's fights like the gladiator gauntlet. 3 fights back to back, you don't get to rest or heal, no mana for your wizard (really wtf?), I don't get the thought behind doing that.

    Story is anemic for an RPG (let alone an "old school" rpg), haven't decided if I'm going to finish it - it's more tedious than fun.    … Expand
  15. Killspre
    Jan 28, 2014
    8
    Blackgaurds is one of the most addicting games I have played and has been a great game to start out 2014 for me. This game has some of the best voice acting and music I've heard and its gameplay feels like it actually melds with the story. Quite a few times you'll be presented with interesting alternatives in combat most wouldn’t think of in a turn based RPG. You could go the classic routeBlackgaurds is one of the most addicting games I have played and has been a great game to start out 2014 for me. This game has some of the best voice acting and music I've heard and its gameplay feels like it actually melds with the story. Quite a few times you'll be presented with interesting alternatives in combat most wouldn’t think of in a turn based RPG. You could go the classic route and just beat the baddies in a one on one fight, or if you’re feeling creative lure them into hazards that you normally wouldn't think of. For instance lure them into a bush then set it on fire or release a group of prisoners to fight for you. Even some battles have great story elements. Need to collect some mushrooms while a giant troll is guarding them. Distract the troll and gather the mushrooms, then run. It’s these types of options that make you feel like you’re having an impact and cause you to think outside the box. The few problems I do have with the game mostly revolve around a few graphical glitches and sometimes the enemy AI can be a little too slow. Graphical glitches like people suddenly having mouths that stretch way too far when they speak or the amount of a silver currency you earned being blocked has happened to me. While the biggest flaw is probably the AI, I like how you can set traps for them but when an enemy chooses to continually get burned in a bush and not leave it that’s when I call stupid on the AI. These bugs can be annoying but they don't break the game and I recommend this game to any RPG or Turn-Based Strategy fan.… Expand
  16. daskind
    Jan 31, 2014
    10
    another underestimated game. if you can spare the poor graphics, but are fond of turn based strategy with rpg, you might like this one. the story is interesting, with some twists - typical for the studio which is normally focused on creating some of the funniest adventures out there )deponia trilogy! yeah!) ..
  17. StaticSpine
    Jan 26, 2014
    9
    ~40 hours of gameplay, hand-made encounters, decent roleplay system, nice graphics, decent voice acting, memorable characters, the story is messy though. There were no such RPGs for years. Don't miss!
  18. spitfire_ch
    Apr 22, 2014
    10
    Extremely addictive and fun to play. In addition to that, the combination of western RPG and turn-based battles (featuring a party of heroes as opposed to one hero and an army) is quite unique. I wish there were more games like that!

    It does have a few bugs, but they are minor and no showstoppers at all.
  19. Citizen2BX
    Jan 29, 2014
    6
    Fun, entertaining (at least for a while) but always felt like it was missing somethings.

    Key points: A) The graphics were great; they put a lot into it. Great artwork, etc. B) Audio was good, not spectacular, but good enough. C) Game play and the user experience: Now where the game falls flat, bad in key area's of it's design, and over all it's game play. The worst glaring    Fun, entertaining (at least for a while) but always felt like it was missing somethings.

    Key points:
    A) The graphics were great; they put a lot into it. Great artwork, etc.
    B) Audio was good, not spectacular, but good enough.

    C) Game play and the user experience:
    Now where the game falls flat, bad in key area's of it's design, and over all it's game play.
    The worst glaring problem was the lack of any sensible progression/leveling.
    They do away with "levels" using some sort of stats based system instead.
    I'm left over all with no clear direction of where/how to progress.
    Okay, I can say increase a weapons skill level but then how does it directly effect my character?

    There was no real skill tree to say advance up with any notable special moves, perks or improvements.
    No real coolness factor, no pizzazz.
    The story was interesting though; it made sense and did make me want to play from this standpoint.

    D) Gear:
    Dismal. For one no special magic armor of note.
    Again no coolness factor nothing really to look forward too in finding any "awesome" loot drops.
    Even worse it oddly took for ever to even find a base set of amour.
    Kind of frustrating feeling that I could do better if I just had at least a basic set of newbie armor!

    So in the end you are left with a game that looks pretty, an interesting story, but is basically boring.
    I'm not sure if it was supposed to be more of an RPG or strategy game but most of the 'R' in "RPG" was missing.

    I want to feel empowered in an RPG. I want to go into fantasy land after a days work where I am a King, a Knight, a grand wizard!, something special.

    It's all about:
    "Hey I'm a cool wizard!" (or fighter, thief, what ever)
    "Look at my cool gear!"
    "If I keep killing these monsters, especially the bosses, I'll find some great loot drops!"
    "Hah! I advanced to level 3 fireballs, now I'll really kick some!"
    "I used my smartness in building my character, it's powerful!"
    In this game I felt very little of these things.

    Whom ever built this game focused on the graphics, the maps and their strategy, the story, but then left all the cool things out that makes you want to keep playing..    … Expand
  20. Q3gun
    May 22, 2014
    5
    Looks warm, artistic , i kinda want it BUT it makes me too feel like "God , why am i even here - this is taking foreveeer!" -when im trying to battle.
    i would not waste my TIME even if , honestly , this was free game .
    If you're normal guy / girl , experienced with games that demand some skills, you will get bored in this game. - Daedalic had hurry to work on better game , and they    Looks warm, artistic , i kinda want it BUT it makes me too feel like "God , why am i even here - this is taking foreveeer!" -when im trying to battle.
    i would not waste my TIME even if , honestly , this was free game .
    If you're normal guy / girl , experienced with games that demand some skills, you will get bored in this game.
    - Daedalic had hurry to work on better game , and they released this incomplete.
    Too bad that the graphics is enough to post pretty game-pictures online and sell game, kids pre order it.    … Expand
  21. kupochan
    Jul 6, 2014
    6
    A mediocre tactical fantasy RPG with nice graphics.

    Character creation and improving is overly complex but when you figure out the best approach you are effectively only choosing what type of weapon or what spells you will use. Typical combat starts with buffs if necessary and then you use your strongest attacks with good hit chance until everything is dead. There are battles with    A mediocre tactical fantasy RPG with nice graphics.

    Character creation and improving is overly complex but when you figure out the best approach you are effectively only choosing what type of weapon or what spells you will use.

    Typical combat starts with buffs if necessary and then you use your strongest attacks with good hit chance until everything is dead. There are battles with other objectives but new ideas are few and far between. Early on there is a focus on using environmental tools to exploit the stupid AI but later on there are many generic battles where you have to cut down a number of generic humanoids with little effort.

    The story is the typical heroes saving the world from a great evil with standard plot elements. Characters are very shallow and stereotypical.

    World exploration is fairly boring because you only see battles and town screens. Many of the towns being very empty with a few service providers and sometimes a quest giver. Side quests usually only provide some extra exp and gold, finding better gear doesn't happen very often.

    The game is still worth a try if you are a fan of the genre and it looks better than most other games in the genre.    … Expand
  22. MadVandal
    Jan 27, 2014
    8
    A welcome return to true turn based RPG combat that pushes you to carefully consider every skill point you spend and every move you make. Blackguards presents a good level of difficulty without going over the edge or resorting to obvious AI cheats in place of strategy. There is no "press the awesome button" to win. Battles are rarely won easy which makes clever or squeaked out victoriesA welcome return to true turn based RPG combat that pushes you to carefully consider every skill point you spend and every move you make. Blackguards presents a good level of difficulty without going over the edge or resorting to obvious AI cheats in place of strategy. There is no "press the awesome button" to win. Battles are rarely won easy which makes clever or squeaked out victories quite satisfying. As with any turn based dice roll fighting system luck can play a role in the outcome which can frustrate gamers not used to turn based combat. The game does throw you a bone in that you can save anytime between battles and should things go completely wrong you can restart a battle at anytime. The overall story, writing, and characters are the pretty typical RPG fare...nothing exceptional but more than enough depth to avoid being bland. Combat is where Blackguards shines and is a game for those who enjoy the battles more than the story behind them.… Expand
  23. Axlyss
    Jan 24, 2014
    5
    Most skills are useless and this is a real shame. The sound is awful the story it repetitive and boring with uninteresting characters and dialogues. The only plus is the 40 hour campaign main story gives you a chance to invent your own story since the main story is nothing to write home about... The combat is something you love at the beginning and dread at the end i found myself so boredMost skills are useless and this is a real shame. The sound is awful the story it repetitive and boring with uninteresting characters and dialogues. The only plus is the 40 hour campaign main story gives you a chance to invent your own story since the main story is nothing to write home about... The combat is something you love at the beginning and dread at the end i found myself so bored of spamming the only useful spell that i started using other spells (or tried too). Combat just gets repetitive really fast and its a shame i really liked other turned based strategy games such as Tactics Ogre... The games not bad but it needs work, I'd play through it again...… Expand
  24. Eldryr
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    What a positive surprise this game is. A good mixture of turn based gameplay, roleplay elements and strategy. Not easy and you have to choose your skills wisely but that's challenging. Different options to win a fight is a lot of fun and a reason to play the game more than once.
    I have to admit that they should defenitely work on the to hit chances this can be sometimes frustrating but if    What a positive surprise this game is. A good mixture of turn based gameplay, roleplay elements and strategy. Not easy and you have to choose your skills wisely but that's challenging. Different options to win a fight is a lot of fun and a reason to play the game more than once.
    I have to admit that they should defenitely work on the to hit chances this can be sometimes frustrating but if you have learned mastering the game you can also handle this in the most fights.
    Looking very forward to Blackguards II.    … Expand
  25. joggy
    Jan 23, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Very refreshing title for someone who likes turn based tactical RPGs.
    - Graphic is nice. Nothing to write home about, but nothing bad either, so no kudos in this category
    - I liked the story. It's not the greatest story, but it's very good. Definitely it kept me for "one more fight" most of the time. Almost all of the story and dialogue is narrated, and the actors are quite good. One thing that I didn't liked is that the end animation is not narrated. Why?
    - now the important part - gameplay. Tactical combat is good, and most of the time is without bugs. It's standard pen and paper RPG style mechanic, nothing new, but it's better that way :). I have few complaints here tho. Didn't really invested much time in number crunching since mechanic is similar to ADND and many other systems, but there are several things I didn't like. For example, lowly spider will hit mage in robes and fully armored dwarf fighter for same (high) damage constantly. They will apply poison no matter the resistance. They will also actively pursuit mage, like they have max intelligence. Also, when nedded they will cleverly block your paths. Very smart spiders. Zombies too. Ah, and skeletons. You get the idea, it's OK for humans and such to have battle plan, but not all of the monsters. Speaking of damage, prepare to be hit 90% of the time for about 1/3 to 1/2 of your health. Spider will do that damage, as will naked tribesman with spear, wood troll, stone colossus, large dragon, zombie, and tiny scarab.
    There is lot of variety of monsters in game, but 80% of the time you will fight humans or undead. Now, you could have all sorts of undead in RPG, but here you have zombies, skelies, and some ghouls I guess, which look more like the alien. It gets repetitive that way. Oh, and if you don't have all stats that affect the initiative maxed, forget about going first. Even against zombies. Same goes for damage, you will do damage only if you have strength and weapon mastery maxed, else don't bother attacking. Same for offensive spells, you need at least 13 points invested or don't bother. Speaking of which, many monsters have all sorts of resistances and immunities to cold, fire, poison, piercing damage etc., but I didn't noticed that any has weaknesses? . Some abilities are broken INMHO. For example, there is power blow (double damage) which you will spam since only then you will do SOME damage. And that would be around 10-20 dmg range, no matter weather you have rusty sword or megazor great axe of slaying. And then, there is ability which gives you 3x damage which will do 100 (more or less) damage per hit. Stone colossal? no problem, it's one hitter with this ability. Else, you will not kill him in 2 life times. Ah, yes, hit chance. 75% will hit aprox. half of the time so its more like 50%. True 50%? forget it, its like 15% in reality. And yes, equipment. There is like 5 uncommon pieces in whole game, and maybe 1 rare (because it does magical damage, which is a minus 'cause most bosses are immune or resistant to magic).
    So, to summarize, this game heavily relies on offense, so don't bother about defensive items, spells, abilities etc. Equipment is scarce and of common quality, and there are some broken abilities. Only things worth carrying on belts are healing and magic potions. But don't get me wrong, game is still fun to play, only frustrating on occasions. But that can be easily patched, so I wouldn't cut off much of points there.
    But sadly, there is one thing that cannot be repaired in patches. Linear game play. Once you finished, there is no reason to play again, since all your choices are superficial, they don't impact the game (well, almost always). For example, you have a side quest, you have 3 choices: Deny, accept, ask more money. If you have high appropriate skill, you have 4th option - to ask even more money. No matter what you choose it won't impact anything. There is fixed party at all times, so no diversity there either.

    All in all, this is a niche game for hardcore fans of RPG turn based games, which need some polish. It's NOT a indie game, so price tag of 30(ish) euros is about right. If you're fan, buy it. I am, so 7 overall score.

    P.S. Whats the catch with that "teenage mutant ninja turtles" theme at the end of the credits???????    … Expand
  26. LD9000
    Feb 3, 2014
    8
    Fun turn based tactical RPG. While the array of abilities available to your heroes is not as big as in some other games, what makes this game unique is that each fight is different. It's hex tiles, but the shape, arrangement, interactive items and enemies are all different. I can't recall repetitive grinding of the same enemies. A couple maps and you are fighting something else.

    The    Fun turn based tactical RPG. While the array of abilities available to your heroes is not as big as in some other games, what makes this game unique is that each fight is different. It's hex tiles, but the shape, arrangement, interactive items and enemies are all different. I can't recall repetitive grinding of the same enemies. A couple maps and you are fighting something else.

    The character system is good, I like multiple stats, derived attributes and the ability to shift your weapon skill between attack and defense. What I don't like is that trainers, especially magic trainers are few and far between, and are frequently not accessible if you have advanced the story. This means that if you don't have 500AP saved for your magic characters, chances are you will never learn some of the cooler abilities, like magic regeneration.

    The equipment system is cool, but is somewhat confusing - too many different kinds of resistances, and it's kinda hard to see which item is better. The store inventory is also really limited. While I see some NPCs wear some really cool stuff, I haven't found anything better than leather exploring past the arena fight.

    Overall, a good game.    … Expand
  27. jeffmott
    Jan 26, 2014
    9
    Just finished the game and I really enjoyed it. The story is good, the skill system is fun (the person who said there were only a few useful skills clearly does not understand how useful some of the skills are), the battles are pretty varied and frantic with unique interactive maps (outside of the couple stealth ones which quite frankly sucked). The side quests tend to be quite fun asJust finished the game and I really enjoyed it. The story is good, the skill system is fun (the person who said there were only a few useful skills clearly does not understand how useful some of the skills are), the battles are pretty varied and frantic with unique interactive maps (outside of the couple stealth ones which quite frankly sucked). The side quests tend to be quite fun as well. My only gripe (outside of the stealth maps) would be that there was no way to reset skill points spent. It would have been nice to have that feature.… Expand
  28. dkaizer
    Jan 27, 2014
    7
    For the starters, the game gets a little repetitive when you are mostly thrust from one battle to another. This is not a typical RPG but something more akin to FF Tactics.

    That being said, the combat is fun, the story intriguing, interesting characters with detailed skilltalent trees.Some of the fights can be pretty hard and the RNG combat system can get a little annoying at times but    For the starters, the game gets a little repetitive when you are mostly thrust from one battle to another. This is not a typical RPG but something more akin to FF Tactics.

    That being said, the combat is fun, the story intriguing, interesting characters with detailed skilltalent trees.Some of the fights can be pretty hard and the RNG combat system can get a little annoying at times but nothing a reload can't solve. I like the fact that you actually need to prepare before moving on the next battle as you simply cannot hit the Inventory key and start swapping weapons or using items.

    All in all a solid game and one worth playing. Just try to limit your play sessions to 1-2 hours. Personally I feel any play session longer than 2 hours tends to get tedious.    … Expand
  29. gandalf9313
    Jan 23, 2014
    10
    I've been playing the game from it's early access beginning, and I have logged more hours in it than I care to say. The graphics are well done, the voice acting is excellent, and assuming you like turn based combat you will be in heaven. There is a demo for those who need to try it first. I haven't had this much fun playing a game in quite a while.
  30. Asspie
    Jan 30, 2014
    6
    A dour, but decently looking game, with detail given even to the most common items. Occasionally clever and charming writing lightens the decidedly grimdark atmosphere. Solid voice acting save for a few laughably voiced NPCs.

    The gameplay though.. and there is literally nothing else to do besides fight in this game.. and the combat is incredibly unforgiving. Highly, highly based on    A dour, but decently looking game, with detail given even to the most common items. Occasionally clever and charming writing lightens the decidedly grimdark atmosphere. Solid voice acting save for a few laughably voiced NPCs.

    The gameplay though.. and there is literally nothing else to do besides fight in this game.. and the combat is incredibly unforgiving. Highly, highly based on luck. Play at your mental health's risk.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

63
#63 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 48 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 29 out of 48
  3. Negative: 2 out of 48
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    May 11, 2014
    85
    Blackguards was a nice surprise: gaming system is solid and interesting, and the puzzle-like battles hold interest until the end. At times they are even challenging. Although patches might have changed that. [Feb 2014]
  2. SpazioGames
    Apr 13, 2014
    75
    Daedalic's first time in the world of RPG is one of those to remember. Blackguards is not a flawless game: it has a slow gameplay that after hours and hours can be boring, technically it is not that great and has an annoying problem of balancing the difficulty. Yet it remains a great role-playing game.
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  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 7, 2014
    60
    Some drawbacks and glitches aside, this is hardcore fun for the turn-based enthusiast. The not so enthusiastic player needs to brace himself for a steep difficulty curve. [Issue #239]
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