![]() Naurim is now a pot-bellied layabout living off the fame of his previous exploits, Zurbaran is now a shackled slave while Takate oversees a gladiatorial area, believing to be too mighty of any challenge and bored of everything else. However, that seems to work in Blackguards 2 favour as the strategic machinations of the meta game and the tactical nuances of the combat come to the fore.įor those who played the first game, three out of the five heroes return all having fallen on hard times. It doesn’t have anywhere near that level of focus though and there’s not much here to get overly excited about. In terms of story Blackguards 2 is knee-deep in the dark low fantasy setting common to European RPGs - The Witcher being a prime example. The campaign map is where you'll decide to go next - invade or defend? But the occasional crushing difficulty of the battles can make it feel like a tiresome chore if you have to defend too many places too many times. I like the potential of having an ever-changing enemy, always looking to exploit a weakness as it makes it feel like your waging a real war. I’m on the fence about this one as I haven’t experienced enough of these instances to get a good understanding of them. There’s also the added threat of having to retake the city in a much harder battle if you fail. Nobody likes having to defend cities you’ve already taken but the strategic battle that takes place can be compelling and satisfying if your plans and traps pay off. The defensive part of the game is a new feature and will sound tedious on paper. How that plays out in the end isn’t yet clear but it’s the kind of feature that could make Blackguards 2 stand out from the other SRPGs out there. You get to decide what to do next and the story responds accordingly. Now those territories you claimed will need defending from mercenaries and the way control of strategic areas can change makes the campaign feel more… alive, than the linear focus of the first game. Here you’ll wage war against Marwan and you’ll both be grabbing land, cities and more from other factions and each other. ![]() The biggest improvement from the original comes with the strategic map in the campaign. It’s overwhelming unless you have experience with this type of RPG but for those of us who like nothing more than taking character spreadsheets to bed, Blackguards 2 will delight. Being set in the Dark Eye universe an absolute ton of stats and tiers are present to weigh up upgrades and which path you want characters to take. These improvements help you feel more in control of the battle and less likely to level yourself up wrong and end up with a useless character as was the case in the original. High quality visuals make each battlefield feel alive - with more particle effects to come on release
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