The Dark Eye Blackguards - turn-based tactical RPG set in The Dark Eye world

[Jaedar]

Damn, missed the sale. Hopefully it shows up again.

 

[Roguey]

One of the Steam reviews linked to an off-site thing so I decided to check that out.

This game is hard. I was playing on easy and still tearing my hair out. I really wanted to finish all of what Early Access had to offer before writing the preview, but I’m quite stuck on the only two quests (read: battles) I have available to me. There’s no way to grind, so if your characters aren’t strong enough for a battle, tough luck I guess. You can only use healing potions if they’re in your belt at the time of fighting, they don’t stack, and the early belts you find have only one slot, so that math isn’t exactly in your favor. Why this game eschews the convention of every other game with regards to potion inventory access, I have no idea. Healing potions are also quite expensive in the early game. Enemies seem to come out much better on the dice rolls than your characters do. I will say that I enjoyed being able to use the environment against enemies – forcing them to be under falling stalactites, for example. Overall, however, I died a lot, in ways that I couldn’t really have prevented; battles seem much too random to me.

favorites include the Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age,Elder Scrolls, Fable, Fallout, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Monkey Island, and Portal series in addition to Full Throttle, Indigo Prophecy,Jade Empire, Planescape: Torment, Super Mario World, and many more.

So even in its current state it's more difficult than BG? That's promising, assuming the problem wasn't with a botched character.

"I want to chug healing potions" is still an exasperating complaint. Play better.

 

[clemens]

One of the Steam reviews linked to an off-site thing so I decided to check that out.

So even in its current state it's more difficult than BG? That's promising, assuming the problem wasn't with a botched character.

"I want to chug healing potions" is still an exasperating complaint. Play better.

I think you can certainly build a non-optimal character, but a really "botched" one ? I don't really see how. From the evidence we've gather so far, chances are the guy is an idiot who sucks at rpgs.
Was the case with every other moron claiming the game was "too random" and "based on luck" while casting spells with 21% chance not able to figure out how to put a couple of points in them... Also, if he only has one-slot belts, it means he's still in chapter one. If he's already stuck there... well, see above.

 

[StaticSpine]

I've messed around a bit yesterday.

From the beginning I didn't like the narration, nothing is explained properly, this is XXX, the daughter of YYY, the war between CCC and VVV, so I didn't get involved with a story much.

The battle system and the battles seem decent.

Overall, I have a feeling that the game won't be a Hit, just an average well-made Turn-Based RPG for the fans of genre to spend time till something bigger comes out.

 

[skyst]

I'm somewhat glad to report that the encounters are more difficult in chapter 3. Some fights are quite gimmicky, too drawn out, poorly balanced or otherwise nonsensical, but they are harder. There is one in particular that is really frustrating for reasons beyond challenging difficulty:

Spoiler

There is a side quest to rescue a woman from some tribal woodsmen. They have her on a sacrificial altar, prepared to burn alive. You have seven turns to slay the 3 loincloth-clad spear fighters and their shaman with your team of 5. Problem is, these guys are super soldiers. I'm okay with tuning up the difficulty, but when an unarmored little asshole with a stone spear can avoid my max Strength/Max weaponskill warriors' attacks 90% of the time and stab through their full plate for half of their life, plus poison every turn with ease, it just makes me rage. I have killed all but the shaman previously, where I arrived within melee range with 3 characters at the end of turn 6, missed 5 attacks in a row (2 of which supposedly eliminate the target's chance to parry) before the woman was set ablaze. Also of note, charging straight into it to just snuff the fire/free the woman is not even an option.


edit: Naturally, the stars align and I am victorious with a turn to spare after bitching on here.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

Snatched on sale. Also not impressed with presentation so far. Wolf diner was a interesting start, then it's just kinda derp. Got a bit bored with writing. Sure hope the combat is not too adventure style with forced "interactions". Also need to figure good performance settings and get rid of all the bloom.

What's up with text? Too small, didn't read.

 

[Duellist_D]

I'm somewhat glad to report that the encounters are more difficult in chapter 3. Some fights are quite gimmicky, too drawn out, poorly balanced or otherwise nonsensical, but they are harder. There is one in particular that is really frustrating for reasons beyond challenging difficulty:

Spoiler

There is a side quest to rescue a woman from some tribal woodsmen. They have her on a sacrificial altar, prepared to burn alive. You have seven turns to slay the 3 loincloth-clad spear fighters and their shaman with your team of 5. Problem is, these guys are super soldiers. I'm okay with tuning up the difficulty, but when an unarmored little asshole with a stone spear can avoid my max Strength/Max weaponskill warriors' attacks 90% of the time and stab through their full plate for half of their life, plus poison every turn with ease, it just makes me rage. I have killed all but the shaman previously, where I arrived within melee range with 3 characters at the end of turn 6, missed 5 attacks in a row (2 of which supposedly eliminate the target's chance to parry) before the woman was set ablaze. Also of note, charging straight into it to just snuff the fire/free the woman is not even an option.


edit: Naturally, the stars align and I am victorious with a turn to spare after bitching on here.

He, yeah that was one hard fight.

Use poison on ranged weapons.
Having that super-elvenbow also helps quite a lot.

 

[skyst]

Wolf diner was a interesting start, then it's just kinda derp. Got a bit bored with writing.

What's up with text? Too small, didn't read.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

That was obviously an understatement from my part. I was aiming at TLDR, as TSDR... but nobody got sense of humor these days.

 

[felipepepe]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=192905991

Everyone should have a read of Felipepepe's guide on Steam. It's really good.

For what's worth, Daedalic asked me if they could use it on their website.

 

[poetic codex]

So... Wasteland 2, Blackguards and Divinity Original Sin all start off with murder as a central plot point. Let me ask you this: does murder even mean anything in an RPG game world? You start off the game and "oh my god ! a murder has been commited!" yet five minutes after that your PC heroes are slaughtering through foes without a second thought. In RPG games, the hero is essentially a mass murdererer so using the murder of one individual as a central plot point doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[Roguey]

So... Wasteland 2, Blackguards and Divinity Original Sin all start off with murder as a central plot point. Let me ask you this: does murder even mean anything in an RPG game world? You start off the game and "oh my god ! a murder has been commited!" yet five minutes after that your PC heroes are slaughtering through foes without a second thought. In RPG games, the hero is essentially a mass murdererer so using the murder of one individual as a central plot point doesn't make much sense to me.

Tragedies and statistics.

 

[poetic codex]

^Yeah that might play a role. The life of one missing American girl could generate more headlines and public outcry than hundreds of people dying in a tsunami. Still doesn't really apply because we know nothing about these murdered individuals at the beginning of the game, so why should we a give a damn about them? I think it's just lazy writing.

 

[tuluse]

Both D:OS and W2 don't require to you care about the person killed. You're given a mission to accomplish. One McGuffin is as good as another I say.

 

[sser]

So... Wasteland 2, Blackguards and Divinity Original Sin all start off with murder as a central plot point. Let me ask you this: does murder even mean anything in an RPG game world? You start off the game and "oh my god ! a murder has been commited!" yet five minutes after that your PC heroes are slaughtering through foes without a second thought. In RPG games, the hero is essentially a mass murdererer so using the murder of one individual as a central plot point doesn't make much sense to me.

I used to mull this over as a kid watching Superman cartoons. Superman would get into a fight with, say, some bank robbers who just happened to have nice equipment on them. In turn, the ensuing battle would lead to much destruction of the city. And I would sit there, as a kid, and wonder if Superman's quarrels here were really worth it, or if just by intervening he was doing far more damage than his enemies ever could.

And, interestingly enough I guess, the rationality behind the pursuit of evil - or rather, the savagery committed to ending it - actually shows up in literature. There's a part in A Man for All Seasons, for example:

Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!

More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!

More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

So I'm kinda surprised we don't see more people trying to subvert this obvious and overused trope. You'd think at some juncture your vilified 'bad guy' would also turn around on the party of heroes and ask, of all the destruction they've caused, might it be possible that they have done more harm than he? Heroes can make a bad guy forfeit his life by essentially making him feel bad, but rarely do we see those same tables turned back at the player. It's not very often you get to see a game try and dress down its protagonists for what is, as said, blatant hypocrisy. Hell, it doesn't even have to be the villain doing it (though a villain with justified goals is always superior to that black-and-white cliche shit), but it'd be nice if every so often someone in the game questioned your motives or your means. Too many games strap you and your characters into an almost solipsistic world view. A lot of memorable games find ways to knock players out of that thinking, even if it's just the little things (like some of the comments you get in Deus Ex from the grunts and supplymen if you go on a warpath).

 

[LeJosh]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=192905991

Everyone should have a read of Felipepepe's guide on Steam. It's really good.

For what's worth, Daedalic asked me if they could use it on their website.

Heh that's sweet, frankly it's essential to enjoy Blackguards: not enough is explained in-game nor the manual.



Off-topic but are Daedalic the retail distro for D:OS? Noticed they have it under development and are the publisher on their website.

 

[poetic codex]

... A lot of memorable games find ways to knock players out of that thinking, even if it's just the little things (like some of the comments you get in Deus Ex from the grunts and supplymen if you go on a warpath).

Excellent post. Some other games I can think of are VtM:Bloodlines with its humanity/beast mechanic and the early Thief games. They acknowledge the fact that the player is already in a questionable moral position as a thief, so discourage you from slaughtering innocents and guards at the higher difficulties.

 

[Raghar]

I risked unknown Chinese virus and looked at it before I went to sleep. Basically it's just a ball of handpicked maps with a combat, loosely connected with a map. I was wondering how they were able to move from stuff like they did to 3D RPGs, but this explains it.

No hiking simulator.

 

[Eyeball]

Played it for about an hour, got to the second time. I am not especially impressed. Combat, while fairly nicely done, looks a lot like stuff I've seen before, and combat is really all there is to the game.

Extremely limited freedom, what appears to be NeXT to no replay value and generally unimpressive presentation and storyline. I should frankly have passed on this, and I got it at 50% off.

 

[Infinitron]

Oh look, another person who doesn't read Codex previews

It's pretty clear what this game is about. Non-combatfags beware.

 

[Bubbles]

Just shows the power of the flash sale if people were that clueless about Blackguards when they bought it.

 

[V_K]

Non-combatfags beware.

Not necessarily. Being a total non-combatfag I actually found some of Blackguards' combat sequences (the more puzzle-like ones) pretty entertaining.
(I do have a soft spot for TDE though. Probably wouldn't be so open-minded if it were a D&D game )

 

[Raghar]

It's pretty clear what this game is about. Non-combatfags beware.

Dunno. I wonder how many combatfags played river temple, or rats in Drakensang.

 

[Eyeball]

Oh look, another person who doesn't read Codex previews

It's pretty clear what this game is about. Non-combatfags beware.

I eat Wiz8 for breakfast, homie. An overabundance of combat doesn't put me off. The difference is, Wiz8 is free roaming in the extreme and allows you a great degree of freedom. Blackguards appears to be the exact opposite, linear fights that have many puzzle-like features to them, making them less about combat strategy than working out the "trick" to beating specific encounters.

Lots of games use this particular type of encounter design. I never liked it.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Speaking of that, give a rough percentage of encounters that require some puzzle element that must be used to beat the encounter.