Blackguards 2

Genre: Turn-Based Strategy-RPG

Players: 1

.

Review:

(Note: This game is included in “The Dark Eye” Bundle, along with The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav and The Dark Eye: Memoria. Also included in Daedalic Turn-Based Bundle along with Capes and Inkulinati.)

Blackguards 2 is a Turn-Based Strategy-RPG released in 2015 on PC, and then in 2017 ported to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a port to Nintendo Switch in 2022. This game is set in the Dungeons and Dragons-esque medieval fantasy universe of The Dark Eye.

The story of Blackguards 2 follows a new protagonist, Cassia, a noblewoman imprisoned in a dark labyrinth for seemingly no reason, warped and physically deformed by the poisonous spiders that call the labyrinth their home. Cassia gradually becomes driven (or driven mad) by the experience, wanting above all else to escape and rise to rule. This game’s plot is mostly self-contained, but it does feature the return of supporting characters from the first Blackguards, allowing fans of the series to see what has happened with these characters since the end of the first game.

Overall the plot here is pretty good, and wonderfully original even if it is within a pretty stereotypical medieval fantasy world. It’s helped along by full voice acting for all the characters, with Cassia herself having some particularly good voice acting. This is joined by a soundtrack suitable for this sort of dark fantasy, as well as some decent visuals that blend some lovely hand-painted artwork with some decent but unspectacular 3D for the battles.

When it comes to the gameplay, Blackguards 2 eschews the usual grid often preferred by games in this genre in favor of a hex-based layout, but otherwise this is a mostly pretty straightforward entry in the genre. I say “mostly” because this game’s menus and controls are unnecessarily confusing, and the battles are particularly slow-paced. I also feel like the game’s linear progression is likely to frustrate those players who enjoy the genre most when they can grind up their characters to trounce their competition. All told, it’s certainly not bad, but I definitely feel like there’s a lot of room for improvement here.

Overall, I think Blackguards 2’s interesting story and characters help somewhat to make up for what it lacks when it comes to its gameplay issues, making this worth playing for fans of this genre. Having said that, those gameplay issues mean this isn’t going to be a game newcomers to the genre or more casual players will want to start with, and the slow pacing means that even discounting those players, this still won’t be a game for everyone.

tl;dr – Blackguards 2 is a Turn-Based Strategy-RPG about a noblewoman imprisoned and deformed for seemingly no reason, driven mad and aspiring to escape and conquer the kingdom. The story and characters here are great, but the gameplay and controls are unnecessarily confusing, and the pacing is pretty slow. This game’s unique charms may still make it worth seeking out for fans of the genre, but more casual players are better off skipping it.

Grade: C+

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Jamie and His Cats, Ben, Ilya Zverev, Andy Miller, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Francis Obst, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Jared Wark, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}