Blackguards 2

Most turn-based strategy RPGs want you to mould your main character into a particular shape or form. But not Blackguards 2. In this game, you’ll find that your own choices will affect how you both play and experience the story. While it’s presentation isn’t anything to write home about, the open gameplay and vast amount of choices ultimately make this a worthwhile title to explore, whether you’re new to the genre or a veteran.

Here’s everything you need to know about Blackguards 2.

Your Character Your Way

In Blackguards 2, your character is your avatar and, as such, you are given freedom as to how you develop their abilities. You can be a warrior, a mage or anything in between. It’s important to choose your talents and spells wisely to complement your chosen playstyle. Blackguards 2 gives you enough options to shape the way your in-game avatar lays waste to their foes. This ultimately also decides the type of army you end up recruiting and how you shape it.

Develop Your Squad

Blackguards 2 enables you to recruit from a vast set of characters to create an unstoppable army. As you play the game, you’ll uncover powerful upgrades to enhance your mercenaries’ capabilities. The choices here are quite numerous so you’ll need to evaluate your own avatar’s playstyle and choose the minion abilities that synergize with it. Undoubtedly you’ll also find abilities that are downright useless or situational so make sure you spend time experimenting.

A Twisty Story

Across its 20-hour long campaign, Blackguards 2 has quite an intriguing narrative. As the noble Cassia, you are struck by a need to obtain the throne and you’ll stop at nothing until you accomplish your goal.

Along the way, there are those who’ll betray and oppose you. Admittedly the story can feel quite cliche-ridden and shallow but as you progress, intricate plots begin to unravel that ultimately change the course of Cassia’s journey.

Pros

• Lots of protagonist customization options
• Plenty of ways to upgrade and enhance your army
• Story has several non-linear paths to completion depending on the choices you make
• Destructible environments add a lot of flavor to the gameplay

Cons

• Story is slow at first with lots of cliches and tropes that are overly familiar
• No real innovation to the genre so it may not be for you if you play tactical RPGs a lot