Preview RPG Codex Preview: Blackguards

[Scruffy]

i'm more of a storyfag, but i'll give this a go anyway. thanks for the preview!

im more of a combatnigger, but occasionally i like to rape storyfags in the ass with my big choicecock

bring it on, bitch. i'll storyfag you to death with my walls of text.
i'll storyfag you so hard, that the trauma will make you forget how to read

 

[Delterius]

felipepepe

Does your character's dark past involve cheating her husband? <internal_joke>

 

[Scruffy]

YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE ILLITERATE.

 

[clemens]

Is the story bad in the way that suggests it is always going to be bad or is there hope its quality will improve in the future chapters? For that matter, is it bad or just mediocre?

Not that it matters terribly.

It's pretty straightforward, does'nt leave you much freedom of movement, but it's nothing cringe-worthy IMO. So I'd say it's all right, gets the job done even if not very memorable. (In act 1 at least, I've only played the early access stuff). So definitely "mediocre" rather than "outright bad".

As far as mechanics and combat goes, though, it's the most fun I had with a game since... well since a long time.

 

[Smashing Axe]

I'm interested in hearing more about how you guys built your characters. Starting off with two mages, I can't help but feel that I only need one. But would specialising in combat with a starting mage be effective later on in the game? Do you invest in a secondary weapon for when your mana supply runs out? I'm having a hard time deciding what to do with my main mage and the NPC recruit.

 

[felipepepe]

Two mages is cool at the start since you can bombard enemies with fireballs, but keeping both of them with mana will be hard, IMHO the best thing to do would be to give your PC a leather armor and a fencing weapon + a shield and teach him how to fight as well, while keeping the NPC as a pure caster.

 

[clemens]

I'm interested in hearing more about how you guys built your characters. Starting off with two mages, I can't help but feel that I only need one. But would specialising in combat with a starting mage be effective later on in the game? Do you invest in a secondary weapon for when your mana supply runs out? I'm having a hard time deciding what to do with my main mage and the NPC recruit.

I invested in bows for my PC and use him mainly as an archer, I rely on his astral points when shit hits the fan, works well enough. I see no reason not to begin the game with two mages, honestly. The mages are not that fragile that you can take the risk of having them hit in melee once or twice. But maybe it becomes harder past act 1...

 

[felipepepe]

But maybe it becomes harder past act 1...

Focusing too much on mages can be a bitch when you're stuck on a chain of 2-3 fights without being able to rest in between, and since you can't grind in the game, your money is limited, and astral potions cost A LOT.

 

[clemens]

Yeah, I already saw that when you get to the besieged town and you're not able to rest for a couple of encounters (though you have access to a healer). But if your mages are at least proficient in one weapon, it stays manageable.
It's fine actually, it builds some tension. If the story in Blackguards is not the most fascinating thing ever written, the flow and rythm of the combat encounters are actually nicely done. So, "narrative" design doesn't fail in the end...

 

[Severian Silk]

Glad there's finally some incline after all.

 

[Awakened_Yeti]

i'm more of a storyfag, but i'll give this a go anyway. thanks for the preview!

im more of a combatnigger, but occasionally i like to rape storyfags in the ass with my big choicecock

bring it on, bitch. i'll storyfag you to death with my walls of text.
i'll storyfag you so hard, that the trauma will make you forget how to read

oh my... thats quite inapproproate

 

[Crooked Bee]

Gamebanshee's Steven Carter has (p)reviewed Chapter 1: http://www.gamebanshee.com/previews/112697-blackguards-preview.html

(I wonder why just Chapter 1? Didn't they send him the press preview build?)

Blackguards still has a lot of work that needs to be done. Daedalic will need to continue polishing the text (it was in a terrible state when I first started playing, with typos, untranslated phrases, and missing text being all too common, but the first patch took care of a lot of those issues), working on the interface, and balancing the classes. Right now warriors seem to be way more powerful than hunters or (especially) mages, but I don't know if this means that certain skills or classes need work, or if like in a lot of RPGs warriors start out strong but then get bypassed by the more complicated classes as the game progresses.

If I had to evaluate Blackguards right now, then I'd say it looks like it could be a fun little game. It feels more like an RPG to me than a tactical strategy game (despite the structure), and a lot will depend on how well the mystery in the main storyline plays out. You don't learn much about it in Chapter 1, as the majority of your time there is spent dodging the authorities and making your way south to meet with somebody who can shed light on your situation. If the story can provide enough twists and intrigue to keep players guessing, then I think it and the combat can complement each other enough to make the game enjoyable.

Chapter 1 took me about 8 hours to complete, and so the full complement of five chapters might take around 40 hours, which would be fine for the game's $25 asking price. Look for the full version of Blackguards to come out sometime around the end of January.​

 

[Io-Daedalic]

Hi Codexers!

I work for Daedalic Entertainment as the Community Manager responsible for Blackguards. As you might have noticed, I'm not Mr Malone, who posted earlier on the Codex. The guy is fine and didn't get fired . We just agreed on a switch of responsibilities. Still we would like to apologize for sending you over to Steam and assure you that we totally respect you as a community. Your review and the feedback so far are invaluable to us and we'd like you to keep up the good work. After all you're the guys and gals we're developing this game for and we hope you'll love it - or that you already do that.

I want to make it 100% clear that we do read your boards and we do take your opinion about the game very serious. Even more so I would like to offer you an "Ask Me Anything". Just post your questions on Blackguards right here and I'll get the answer for you if at all possible.

Thanks for your interest in Blackguards! If you're playing the game, we hope you have fun!

Cheers,
Io

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

I want advantages/disadvantages customisable like in Drakensang RoT, so I can powergame more.

 

[abnaxus]

Is the final boss Helme Haffax

 

[Darth Roxor]

I have two questions that have been in my head since I've started playing this:

1. What exactly prompted you to start making a game that was so much different both from your current catalogue, and from the "current" "definition" of what is an RPG (aka a hiking and/or romance simulator)?

2. Do any of the folks working on Blackguards have experience with PnP and, if so, to what extent?

 

[clemens]

Oh, FFS, people on steam are complaining that this game is also too hard now... For AoD, I can get it, it's kinda punitive. But Blackguards is certainly not too hard. Beat the first chapter on normal, did not loose a fight. I'm gonna try it on hard next.
Please, Daedalic, don't change the balance, your game is fine. Please do not make it easier. Pretty please.

 

[Delterius]

clemens If you're really worried, you may want to make a backup of your install directive. Though I'm not sure you can play on Steam with an outdated copy.

I want to make it 100% clear that we do read your boards and we do take your opinion about the game very serious. Even more so I would like to offer you an "Ask Me Anything". Just post your questions on Blackguards right here and I'll get the answer for you if at all possible.

I'd like to complement Roxor's question with: are Dark Eye RPGs a path which you plan to follow for the future? Not just by keeping to this new genre but also as far as the IP goes.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Not much point in replaying Chapter 1 over and over, though.

They should just keep this kind of difficulty for the entire game. Just call it "Very Hard" or something.

 

[Delterius]

Well, I gave in. I bought the game. Looking forward to it.

 

[Infinitron]

Io-Daedalic What do you guys know about the Crafty Games Realms of Arkania remake fiasco?

Seriously, they're trashing your brand. Now whenever people refer to the latest Dark Eye CRPG, they have to specify if it's the Good (Blackguards), the Bad (Demonicon) or the Ugly (Blade of Destiny HD).

 

[DeepOcean]

Io-Daedalic What do you guys know about the Crafty Games Realms of Arkania remake fiasco?

Seriously, they're trashing your brand. Now whenever people refer to the latest Dark Eye CRPG, they have to specify if it's the Good (Blackguards), the Bad (Demonicon) or the Ugly (Blade of Destiny HD).

They could say they are the real Ubermensch, the rest are just german posers.

 

[Smashing Axe]

If we play through chapter 1 and 2 in early access, will we be able to continue with our progress when the full game comes out or will we need to start a new game? It's not a big issue for me, just determines how far I progress in early access.

 

[Io-Daedalic]

Allright, let's get to some answers here.

Is the final boss Helme Haffax

Serious question ? I can't reveal anything on unreleased content. What a surprise .

I have two questions that have been in my head since I've started playing this:

1. What exactly prompted you to start making a game that was so much different both from your current catalogue, and from the "current" "definition" of what is an RPG (aka a hiking and/or romance simulator)?

2. Do any of the folks working on Blackguards have experience with PnP and, if so, to what extent?

to 1.: We're a company that has the vision to tell gripping stories, no matter by what means they are told. It never was our intention to focus only and forever on P&C adventures. There have been vague plans around to make an RPG ever since the company was founded in 2007. When we could acquire the DSA (TDE) license for Chains of Satinav and everything went well with that game, the company finally decided to go for the RPG plan utilizing that license again. Of course that has been a massive challenge for all of the team, so it took some time. But I think it worked out quite nice.

For that "current definition of RPG" part: To some extent the fact that this genre was entirely new to the company and this was easily to become the biggest and most ambitious game ever made at Daedalic, the team really had to focus on what was important for the experience they wanted to create. There was the decision to focus on good and tactical combat and an interesting story. The Blackguards you see now is the result of a long process of evolution and it's not yet complete. It just turned out to become the game it is now.

to 2.: Yes, especially the creative leads and the writers have been players of P&P for 22 years altogether and have countless play sessions on their track. Amongst the rulesets / universes are TDE (3rd / 4th edition), Shadowrun, Changeling: the lost, Werwolf, Vampire, Cthulhu, D&D, MERP, Palladium, TMNT and other strangeness, Ninjas & Superspies and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

Oh, FFS, people on steam are complaining that this game is also too hard now... For AoD, I can get it, it's kinda punitive. But Blackguards is certainly not too hard. Beat the first chapter on normal, did not loose a fight. I'm gonna try it on hard next.
Please, Daedalic, don't change the balance, your game is fine. Please do not make it easier. Pretty please.

We have no intentions to drop difficulty whatsoever. Actually, I'm quite curious how this discussion will develop when Chapter II is out .

clemensI'd like to complement Roxor's question with: are Dark Eye RPGs a path which you plan to follow for the future? Not just by keeping to this new genre but also as far as the IP goes.

For that RPG part, we'll have to wait and see how this one works out for us. No promises on more RPGs from us, yet. But for the IP, we like TDE a lot and would also like to make more games in that universe.

Io-Daedalic What do you guys know about the Crafty Games Realms of Arkania remake fiasco?

Seriously, they're trashing your brand. Now whenever people refer to the latest Dark Eye CRPG, they have to specify if it's the Good (Blackguards), the Bad (Demonicon) or the Ugly (Blade of Destiny HD).

Though the company has an eye on what else is going on in the Dark Eye universe and Blackguards has been inspired by the original Realms of Arcania trilogy, we try not to care that much about what other companies do (also not with the IP). Personally, I didn't play any of them and thus can't tell if they are any good or bad. Our team just tries to capture the best of the P&P game into a tactical turn-based cRPG. That's all we do for two and a half year now and no other product will change that .

If we play through chapter 1 and 2 in early access, will we be able to continue with our progress when the full game comes out or will we need to start a new game? It's not a big issue for me, just determines how far I progress in early access.

You can use your Early Access savegames in the full game if things work out the way our devs intent to. Can't promise that though. If there are any major changes on the technical side or the gameplay to be made, then that promise could probably not be kept. So, no promise on that one. But the dev team works hard to avoid such a case.

So, I hope I could cover your questions . If there is anything else just post it here. I'll try to get back to you as fast as I can, thus sometimes this can be a day or two. In that case, thanks for the patience!


Cheers,
Io

 

[Crooked Bee]

The Blackguards you see now is the result of a long process of evolution and it's not yet complete. It just turned out to become the game it is now.

Hmm, interesting. Are you free to share some more about that long process of evolution? What kind of competing visions/concepts did the game go through before taking its current, turn-based tactical RPG shape?

You probably can't tell it all, but you can share something, right?