Pining for a BG3? Blackguards review and nitpicks

[Taurist]

The death of Niam fucking ruined my party. I had 3 warriors and 2 mages and no rangers. Shit sucked. I attempted a reroll, but the slow combat speed put me off on the second playthrough.

It was an interesting thing to do, but I dont think it was worth it, in general the writing was top notch though. As for the game itself, im always a sucker for an implementation of pnp ruleset.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

The death of Niam fucking ruined my party. I had 3 warriors and 2 mages and no rangers. Shit sucked. I attempted a reroll, but the slow combat speed put me off on the second playthrough.

It was an interesting thing to do, but I dont think it was worth it, in general the writing was top notch though. As for the game itself, im always a sucker for an implementation of pnp ruleset.

I also didn't like the Niam kill, and even deducted a point for it in that category. However, quitting the game because you lacked an archer? For real? I've completed the game twice now and had no issue with having zero archers both times (aside from Niam's brief appearance). I plan to make my PC an archer one day, but other than that... I'm not getting how it 'ruins' anything.

 

[Taurist]

I also didn't like the Niam kill, and even deducted a point for it in that category. However, quitting the game because you lacked an archer? For real? I've completed the game twice now and had no issue with having zero archers both times (aside from Niam's brief appearance). I plan to make my PC an archer one day, but other than that... I'm not getting how it 'ruins' anything.

"Ruined" was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, it did feel kind of crappy and unbalanced though. I ended up playing through the game with my "ruined" party.

 

[vonAchdorf]

2 mages provided sufficient range capabilities in BG1 (but I played it before they nerfed them - or was the nerf just in BG2?). Still, offing Niam without alternatives was one of the weaker choices by the team.

 

[abnaxus]

Takate can easily be archer/spear hybrid. At the end I even had him use hammerblow too.

 

[JRIz]

Finished BG1 some days ago and it is really a great game. I realized I don't actually like exploration that much except in games that shine almost only because of it like Morrowind.

Take the other BG1 for instance. It could have been a much better game if the endlessly running around mostly empty maps and encountering random enemies only to find the few actually interesting fights and items would have been left away. When you enter a tavern, you go around checking every room, every cupboard and every patron but in the end only a handful have anything else to say than filler dialogue. I say either go full 'immersive simulation' and push the boundaries of current technology to present a believable tavern, or go back to the roots, just show a list of quest givers and a generic tavern background and concentrate on more important things instead. In Blackguards, every fight is hand-crafted and the combat system is fun. This just shows that Daedalic knew their strengths.

What I liked the least are that your party members are dictated by the story, the minimal and somewhat nonsensical C&C, and the only decent itemization. The game is overall just too linear and has little replay value.