Author: Prague
So I was flipping through some articles on a website a couple of days ago when I noticed one of them pointing to a place at which I could buy Blackguards 2… and it wasn’t Steam. It was the Humble Bundle website, something we should all be familiar with by now. But just in case you aren’t, Humble Bundle is a website that has weekly and bi-weekly PC and mobile games, digital comic book and audio book bundle rotations, the proceeds of which are divided among Humble Bundle, the developers, and a specific charity for that bundle. As well as serving as a secondary storefront for Steam for selected titles, of which 10% of all sales go to various charities.
What was curious about this to me is that there is no Steam page for Blackguards 2 (as of this writing), and the page for it on Humble Bundle claims it will be available on January 20, 2015. There IS a games page for Blackguards 2 on Daedalic’s website, however. So I’m not too overly concerned, as I’ve not known Daedalic to do anything shady, with several games published and I thoroughly enjoyed Blackguards. So here’s hoping that Blackguards 2 does in fact come to Steam.
But let’s get on to what the game looks like, shall we? Based on some screenshots on the Daedalic website and the available video, it looks as if Blackguards 2 will functionally play and feel like Blackguards does, using The Dark Eye rule book. Which is a good thing, in this case, it isn’t broken so why fix it? Blackguards 2 takes place three years after the events of Blackguards, with three returning characters – Zurbaran, Takate, and Naurim – each with their own new set of new problems, but no less scoundrels and anti-heroes than before.
However, the ability to create your own character seems to have been removed as the main protagonist (and player character) appears to be a static character, a woman by the name of Cassia, who wishes to wrest the Shark Throne of Mengbilla from the hands of the slaver, Marwan. This really isn’t a problem for me personally, but it may put some points against it for people from other veins. I’m hopeful that the game will take the same moral issues and have the same branching decisions featured in Blackguards, as well, as that’s something I put a lot of stock in for dark fantasy RPGs of all kinds.
However Blackguards 2 will come with some improvements, and a new element that I find particularly interesting. Blackguards 2 will bring new weapons, new armors, what looks like a few new spells, as well as the extensive attribute, skill, spell and ability trees from before, though with some simplifications and some streamlining. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the complexity in and out of battle is something I really enjoyed about Blackguards. On the other hand, I felt that I spent a little bit too much time looking at the stats screen. Daedalic also says that have improved line of sight, cover and formations in the game. I’m very interested to see what they came up with.
The new element I spoke of earlier is city capture and defense, and with it a far less linear story. In order to wrest the Shark Throne from Marwan in Blackguards 2, you must take all of the towns and cities around it from Marwan’s mercenaries. But it doesn’t stop there. Marwan can attempt to take the cities BACK, and to prevent him from doing this you can set up traps and obstacles on the cities’ battle maps, as well as take up to ten mercenaries into battle with you. However, should you fail to defend the city, you can still take it back again, which feels like it will set up this kind of tug-of-war between Cassia and Marwan.
The last point worth considering is the price. Blackguards was definitely worth its price point at $39.99. Blackguards 2 appears to have a lot of recycled assets from Blackguards, took less time to develop but brings enough new things to the table to be a fresh experience. So I’m going to say that Blackguards 2’s price of $29.99 is more than a fair bargain.
Overall, I’m very excited to see Blackguards 2 hit the digital shelves and get my hands on it. Are you? Let us know down below. This is Prague from Decrypted Gaming, signing out.
Click here to visit Blackguards 2 on Daedalic’s website!
Click here to visit Blackguards 2 on Humble Bundle!
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