I went in there with the idea that this was a tactical rpg like Gorky 17.

I am fairly used to their setup and drill so I got past the first 5--6 areas. Then I got up to the troll battle and it was tough but not in a way that made it tough. It was tough as in the skill/stat system of this game is broken.

The stat abilitities are all like 400-500 points per level while the weapon skills are at least 1-20th that amount. So what you have is a system where your characters dont have a leveling system and they level up every 3 major fights.

On top of that, I had put a lot of points in the RIGHT skills to hit enemies. Yet there are still 35% to 40% chance of hitting, with great stats.

I dont mind if a game is tough but this game is not tough, it just sucks. I still did beat the troll fyi. But it was probably dumb luck.

That game spanks you with a plank bristling with rusty nails, and makes you beg for more. Every time I thought I had mastered the thing, there was another cliff-like, completely unfair difficulty spike that forced me to drop perfectly functionnal tactics to create new ones. The worst is at the beginning of chapter 3? 4? the one with the cultists. My maxed-out bowman dropped to 45% chances of hitting against the normal enemy troopers, forcing me to invest massively in buff/debuff spells for my wizards (spells I had completely neglected before, apart from the ones that allowed more attacks)
A very frustrating game, and yet I finished it (something that doesn't happen that often)


For the troll battle, the key is using fire and swamp gaz. A torch or a flaming arrow is a FAR better weapon than an axe, here.

Indeed. There's usually some trick to each fight, which will make things much easier once you've figured it out. Most of the battles, especially early on, are well designed and there's often several tactics for success.

I've played through most of the game, and I can say that it definitely has some rough edges and bugs here and there, but overall it's still very enjoyable and I can't agree with OPs judgment at all.

I've been looking for how this compares to Original Sin but haven't seen anything yet to convince me to get this one.
Only posting here to see if someone here might make some good arguments for this game...or even Blackguards 2 for that matter. I'll be around to see if there are answers but till then, advance thanks.

I've finished the first one, and barely started the second. I can say that it's a really different game than original sin, other than it has a turn based combat system. Blackguards is all about the tactical combat for me, whereas Original Sin has more and different things.

There is less story and quests are more linear. The mechanics behind combat and character development are way more complex, but I found it quite rewarding once you understand how it works. That said, you can screw your characters until you learn how it works. I personally restarted when I was around 5 or 6 hours into the game because I realized a couple of my characters weren't heading in the right direction.

There is also no crafting here, and a lot less loot. In Original Sin your characters end up being incredibly powerful. In Blackguards you can expect them too become only really competent and you have to manage with that.

I don't know how it compares in duration because I didn't get to finish Original Sin. This one engaged me more, but if you care about the plot,magic loot and becoming really powerful, you will probably prefer Original Sin. I just liked my deep tactical combat, but I would recommend both games (each for it's own things).

Yeah, Blackguard is a "tactical RPG", i.e. a small scale tactical wargame with a RPG skin. No exploration, a "meh" plot, and cities are just a place where you prepare for your next battle. So not a "true" RPG. But the tactical heart of the game is really good and challenging (especially since there is no way to grind, so XP and money are finite).

My only real gripe with the game is that with the very light selection of caracters, you don't really choose your party members, so it's really easy to mess up your group by not choosing the right character type at the start of the game. At least in my case, I was really lucky to have chosen a ranger. Playing a melee fighter or a mage in the endgame might have felt redundant.

Yeah but Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 are both classics. They are some of my favorite games of all time. Top 2 along with Kotor 1 and 2.

How can you even compare Blackguards which sucks with those games? Anyone that likes Blackguard's is into tactical rpgs with NO ROLEPLAYING, NO STORY, NOTHING

Roguelikes and Action/Rpgs have better storytelling than tactical rpgs.

This is the most miser game I ve ever played. Miser. I also think the random number generator is broken and/or developers did not handle adequately the right probability distributions / random variables. Could have been such a deliciously replayable game but it isn't. Miser. Could be a difficulty setting, normal loot or miser loot, but no, you just do not get enough to make at least the start of it enjoyable, like in killing all those guards and ending up still half nude! I have played lots of tactical games, otherwise this would not be a game but an impossibility. I fear the game may fall into the "perfect level" error: unless you play the level perfectly, you will not be in conditions to win the next scenario no matter what you do.

I doubt he is referring to Baldur's Gate in this forum. BG1 here refers to Blackguards 1.