Germany's Daedalic Entertainment has spent the past several years making a name for itself as one of the top adventure gaming companies, consistently hand-crafting unique point-and-click experiences for fans of the genre. Now the developer prepares to wade into deeper waters with Blackguard, its first tactical turn-based role-playing game. I'm in.
If Daedalic applies the same sort of craftsmanship and creativity it used to craft The Whispered World, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout and the Deponia series to this new genre, Blackguard will certainly wind up something special.
It's certainly off to a good start. Rather than the standard heroic fare, the main character here is a convicted murderer, his companions a drug-addicted half-elf named Niam and a lecherous wizard called Zurbaran — it's a band of scoundrels and thieves, and the only hope of saving Aventuria (the world of popular European pen-and-paper RPG The Dark Eye) from a dark menace.
Blackguard promises more than 170 hand-crafted battle maps, each filled with interactive objects to spice up battles. How those battles play out remains to be seen, but considering Daedalic's pedigree, I have high hopes.
Blackguard is due out for PC in Q3 of 2013.