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Preview RPG Codex Preview: Blackguards

Crooked Bee

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Tags: Blackguards; Daedalic Entertainment

Blackguards is an upcoming turn-based RPG from Daedalic Entertainment, a German developer whose only titles so far have been adventure games. The game means to provide an oldschool tactical experience, with a "dark narrative" different from that of most other RPGs out there. Instead of the usual goody-two-shoes heroic adventurers, you will be in command of a bunch of criminals as they escape from the law all over The Dark Eye's world of Aventuria.

Our previewers, Felipepepe and Darth Roxor, have played through many versions of the game starting from the early beta, and now they have gone through the press preview build (kindly supplied by Daedalic) as well as the Early Access edition currently available on Steam. Here's a snippet from their impressions:

Darth Roxor: Blackguards' combat impressed me greatly when I played the beta/early access versions of the game. There were two reasons for that:

1. The fact that the combat was any good, because I totally expected the whole game to suffer from the typical “non-RPG company’s first RPG!” syndrome, where the biggest focus would be placed on aspects such as the narrative, while largely ignoring or streamlining the combat system to near-minigame status.

2. The fact that the combat was so damn good. There aren't many games out there where almost every fight feels unique, challenging and genuinely fun, and Blackguards manages to actually fit into this category. [...]

Felipe: I’d say it’s precisely Daedalic's adventure game background that allows for such fresh and unorthodox battle design, adding puzzle-like elements such as the previously mentioned crocodile trap, moving cranes, mazes and other such things to the game's battles. Hell, I had to capture a rampaging gorilla with a cage on a crane during a rather amusing side-quest. The inclusion of a gladiator arena in Chapter 2 seems tailor-made for allowing for more “creative” battlefields without clashing with the setting, and I was glad to see that Chapter 3 provided extra optional fights in the arena for even more challenging fun. [...]

Roxor: Blackguards surprised me many times when I played it. In fact, the game was the complete opposite of what I expected – I assumed it would have been at best an RPG-lite, more of an adventure game with stats, with plenty of dialogue, puzzle-solving and a very advanced narrative. Instead, the combat system turned out to be great, but the narrative part disappointed me, or at least the parts of the narrative that I saw. The main plot seems to be an unexciting mess, the way it progresses makes little sense, and the whole “bunch of criminals” aspect is underplayed.

Felipe: True, it strikes me as odd how the game is constantly being marketed as a “dark story”, in which you play as a convicted murder, testing your moral compass and all that. The first 10 minutes of the game have you being unjustly arrested, and after a short while your group of fugitives is acting just like any other RPG party, helping out random people, and even attacking slavers without any really good reason besides “slavers are bad”. Some of your party members (especially Takate) seem to have no reason to even follow you other than the fact that you’re the main character in a game.

Roxor: This is a shame, because at this point in development “fixing” any combat and mechanics flaws is the only possible thing Daedalic can do, as the narrative is pretty much set in stone. But to be honest? I don’t care. I swear, I haven’t had this much fun whacking enemies in turn-based combat since Knights of the Chalice, and while it would obviously be ideal for this RPG to cover all the bases, I’d much rather see one with a combat system that actually puts some classics to shame while sacrificing the story, than another drop in the ocean of pseudo-choice oriented storyfag LARP simulators.​

Read the full preview: RPG Codex Preview: Blackguards
 

Kem0sabe

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I like this preview/review format, with various people chiming in with their opinions, reminds me of the bit they do at RPS. You guys should do this more often, instead of a single person writing the whole thing.

Anyways, after playing the first chapter i was not impressed by either the writing, graphics or combat, i doubt the first 2 will see much of an improvement, but if the combat gets better as you develop your characters and face harder set pieces in later chapters, then the game might be something to look at.

At least it plays better than Shadowrun and i spent money on that crap. :decline:
 
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Some of your party members (especially Takate) seem to have no reason to even follow you other than the fact that you’re the main character in a game.

Roxor: This is a shame, because at this point in development “fixing” any combat and mechanics flaws is the only possible thing Daedalic can do, as the narrative is pretty much set in stone.​


Not at all. Just have a nysterious godlike figure named 'MCA' appear late in the game and explain that you were unjustly accused due to an uncomfortable presence emanating from your psyche, that has the effect that those who spend too long around you can be literally bound to your will (subverting the whole concept of a party system(...

....damn I want a finished KoTOR2.​
 

Crooked Bee

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Funny that from all upcoming and/or released turn-based RPGs this is the game that I expected to enjoy the least, just because of Daedalic's purely adventure game background.

Good to see I was wrong.
 

V_K

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Puzzle-like battles sound intriguing, but I still wish they'd do something along the lines of QfG. There's simply not enough good RPG/Adventures out there - and the DSA ruleset is obviously much better suited to that than to combar-centric stuff.
 

deuxhero

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Low information given to the player along with very permanent specing is a combonation I dislike quite a bit. I'm still looking forward to the game as this could easily be fixed before the final release, but I'll note how I dislike that.

Permanent specing when the player has full knowledge of what each thing does is fine (Armored Core's system, where you can freely test entire loadouts before buying them makes the limited money completely bearable for example), but limited resources when you have no idea what they will actually do is a serious no-no.
 

Crooked Bee

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Puzzle-like battles sound intriguing, but I still wish they'd do something along the lines of QfG. There's simply not enough good RPG/Adventures out there - and the DSA ruleset is obviously much better suited to that than to combar-centric stuff.

But if you had to choose between a new QfG and a new KotC, what would you choose? :M
 

V_K

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Puzzle-like battles sound intriguing, but I still wish they'd do something along the lines of QfG. There's simply not enough good RPG/Adventures out there - and the DSA ruleset is obviously much better suited to that than to combar-centric stuff.

But if you had to choose between a new QfG and a new KotC, what would you choose? :M
A new QfG without a shade of a doubt. I'm not a combatfag, quite the opposite actually - I wouldn't mind one day playing a completely combat-less RPG.
 

Zetor

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How is the longevity of magic users later in the game? It seems that astral points don't recharge between combats (very un-SRPG-y!) and running back to the inn to rest isn't always an option. There is an ability that regenerates astral points every round, but the first rank is really pitiful (1/round) -- are its later ranks worthwhile?
 

felipepepe

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Well, if you have enough provisions you can camp and rest mid-dungeons, but yeah, managing astral points is part of the challenge, especially when the game locks you in a chain of fights. The later ranks of Astral Regeneration only give you 1 more point per turn, so at most you'll regen 3 points per turn, and Astral potions are extremely expensive. IIRC magical staves are supposed to increase your astral regeneration as well, but it's not implemented yet in the current Early Access version.

For most of Chap 1 you'll just spam firebolts and then rest before the next battle, but at least for me, as the game advanced I started to switch for a almost "P&P D&D" approach when using magic, focusing on support and game-changing spells and using direct damage only to quickly dispose of dangerous enemies. Turning my other mage into a able fencer and then using all his mana to make a shadow clone of him at the start of battle also worked pretty well.
 

Grunker

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Is it feasable to create fighter/wizards? Selecting magician and put all your points into weapons n' shit?
 

felipepepe

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Is it feasable to create fighter/wizards? Selecting magician and put all your points into weapons n' shit?
It's how I play. :3

Obviously is not as sturdy as pure fighters, and I can't equip metal armor if I want to keep my casting good, but works pretty well, especially with fencing weapons, since they provide a boost to your attack roll.
 

Monty

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Yes, great preview. Hadn't really been considering getting the game but this has piqued my interest. :salute:
 

Alex_Steel

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Ok, now I'm kinda excited for this game. The preview was well-written and it got me thirsty for that juicy combat! :bro:
 

Grunker

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It's how I play. :3

Obviously is not as sturdy as pure fighters, and I can't equip metal armor if I want to keep my casting good, but works pretty well, especially with fencing weapons, since they provide a boost to your attack roll.

Fuck yeah, I :love: gishes
 

felipepepe

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The game does not use Arcane Tests?
It does feature Arcane Tests, with each spell having different ruling attributes and all that, but I can't tell you if it uses the remaining SP to enhance some spells like in the P&P rules... apparently not, but I'm not sure.
 

Kem0sabe

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Is it possible to fail casting a spell?

I didn't see any spell casting failures, not sure if it is possible, but friendly fire is something you very much have to account for, spells like fireball or those flaming missiles, are capable of doing as much damage to your own characters as the enemy.

Also, AOE spell targeting is a pit unwieldy, could be much improved.
 

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