![]() Conquering a town or a fortress unlocks new perks such as stat increases, the availability of new mercenary units or weapons and items. Flitting between story and combat, the long march across the world map to the capital of Mengbilla involves defeating enemies in wilderness locations as well as towns and fortresses. The overall structure of Blackguards 2 is fairly straightforward once the world map becomes available. While it is impossible to upgrade Faramud in any way, his endless supply of mercenaries provided to Cassia do show improvement over the course of the game. Also of note is Faramud, leader of a band of mercenaries who provides Cassia with her ‘army’. ![]() However, as with Cassia they too can be fairly customisable to a degree – while battlemage Zurbaran can dual wield magic and a staff with the best of them, the same can’t be said of Tecate or Naurim, both of whom are forever unable to learn spells. Protagonist Cassia is a blank canvas that can be readily shaped to suit player preference (mine ended up a mace and bow-wielding flame sorceress) while each of the other 3 main characters show clear signs of predisposition towards certain builds. These are tiered and ensure that players can focus on specific areas of development for their characters. What does differ is the lack of a traditional levelling up system – rather than increase stats through XP, winning a battle grants each of the four main heroes Adventure Points (AP) which are used to purchase incremental weapon skill upgrades, spell upgrades and attribute upgrades. Visually, the game is reminiscent of Diablo 3 with a reduced colour palette, meaning that it will still run for those with modest PC specifications.Ĭombat wise, Blackguards 2 sticks to the standard RPG formula with physical & magical attacks, buffs & debuffs and equipment & skill management. Played from an almost overhead perspective, it’s easy to read the layout of level maps that are varied and mostly well designed, many of them offering multiple paths as well as traps and obstacles to navigate. The inclusion of a cover mechanic ensures that enemy archers and mages have a tougher time sending projectiles your way, a welcome addition that I haven’t experienced in other titles in the genre. It’s possible to quite literally get in your own way if you haven’t managed your character positions carefully enough. Indeed, blocking pathways through the use of traps, spells or simply having a body in the way is one of the quickest ways to ensure victory or defeat. Both character backgrounds and plot unfold across conversations between Cassia and others, her dialogue options often providing slightly evil or incredibly evil results – make no mistake, Cassia is an anti-hero if there ever was one and by the end of the game it’s quite possible to have alienated or even murdered your closest allies.īlackguards 2 operates on a hexagon-shaped tile grid system – put simply, this means that unlike a standard SRPG square-based grid which allows movement in four directions Blackguards 2 offers 6, providing further options in terms of movement and positioning. The story works hard to put the dark in dark fantasy, as Cassia cuts her way across the land in search of her ex-husbands head and throne. ![]() I’m no stranger to Strategy Role Playing Games (SRPGs) and I still felt I wasn’t quite grasping what Blackguards 2 expected of me, at least not until I had quite a few battles under my belt. Not that I’m complaining, as I was desperate to be given any help on offer – for beginners, this can be a very unfriendly game with criminally brief explanations of the way some mechanics work. Many of the characters from the previous title return throughout an extended tutorial that runs upwards of an hour. I couldn’t help feel that, at least in terms of narrative, Blackguards 2 is slanted in favour of anybody who put a lot of time into the original game. Loosely based on German RPG rulebook The Dark Eye, Blackguards 2 picks up some time after the conclusion of the first game. ![]() What do you do? If you’re anything like Cassia, the protagonist of Daedalic Entertainment’s Blackguards 2, the answer is quite obvious – seek revenge by conquering the world just to rub it in his face, all the while debating with yourself whether you’re really cracked or not. ![]() Pop quiz hotshot – your ex-husband Marwan has just thrown you in a dungeon where poisonous spiders will gnaw at your face for the next four years until you’re both disfigured and insane. ![]()
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