Blackguards 2 asks you to spring a noblewoman from a dungeon, hand her an army of sellswords, and march on a throne that already has a man sitting on it. Daedalic Entertainment developed and published it. It came to Microsoft Windows and OS X in January 2015, then to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September 2017, and to Nintendo Switch in June 2022. It is a sequel to 2014’s The Dark Eye: Blackguards, and it carries the German title Das Schwarze Auge: Blackguards 2.
The pitch is blunt: a turn-based strategy-RPG with hexfield battles and a story full of violence and crime. The execution is uneven, but the parts that work are worth the trouble.
Trailer, via Daedalic Entertainment.
Cassia and the Shark Throne
Three years have passed since Count Uria’s plots. The Vanquishers of the Nine Hordes long parted ways, but life in Aventuria went on. Cassia, a young woman of noble descent, has one goal: claim the Shark Throne, no matter the price, be it only for one day.
Two problems stand in her way. She spends her days locked in a dungeon. And Marwan already sits on the throne.
Cassia is neither fond nor proficient in matters of diplomacy or politics, so she takes a more practical approach. She plans to break out of prison and overthrow Marwan to claim the throne herself. That requires strong allies. She needs to recruit an army of Sellswords and rally the Vanquishers of the Nine Hordes around her.
The game’s own summary asks the obvious question: how cunning must one be to escape the dungeon’s walls, and how reckless must one be to gather and command the worst scum of the realms? Blackguards 2 answers that with a campaign that runs more than 20 challenging hours and branches in ways that matter.
Hexfields, Traps and Falling Chandeliers
Battles are turn-based and take place on a hexagonally gridded playing field. Units can topple stacked boxes, activate traps, cast spells, and drop chandeliers on enemies to attack them. That last option is the one that tells you what kind of game this is. It is not a stately chess match. It is a room you can wreck.
You interact with your environment, let walls collapse, and discover new routes on your journey through Aventuria. Lay waste to your enemies with powerful spells and abilities, but stay on your guard, because your foes may wield them as well.
The playstyle is yours to pick. Front line combat monster, mage or ranged fighter — how you develop your character is in your hands. Choose your spells, talents and skills wisely, since they dictate your strategy on the battlefield. Give priority to offensive or tactic in challenging battles.
A Party of Twenty, and Every Decision Costs
Blackguards 2 lets you command up to 20 characters in your party and lead them to death or glory. You recruit mercenaries, find upgrades and build an indomitable army. Allies turn up as you progress through the story, each with skill trees and equippable weapons or gear.
Every action has consequences, so make your decisions wisely. Death may be just around the corner. Decisions influence your squad and the ending of the game, and you can master and finish it on many different non-linear paths. Find the Vanquishers of the Nine Hordes and see what has become of Takate, Naurim and Zurbaran.
That is a lot of promise for one game to carry. Here is how the pieces land.
What Blackguards 2 Gets Right
The hexfield is the best idea in the game. Toppling boxes, springing traps, and dropping a chandelier on a man’s head turn positioning into something you think about rather than something you endure. The environment is not set dressing. It is a weapon, and the game treats it like one.
The branching structure earns its keep too. Non-linear paths and decisions that shape your squad and the ending give a second run a reason to exist. Twenty hours is a real commitment, and the game respects it by letting the story bend.
Cassia is the right protagonist for this material. She is not a diplomat and does not pretend to be. She wants a throne and she is willing to raise an army of the worst people available to get it. The setup is clean, and it does not waste time apologizing for her.
Where the Cracks Show
The same freedom that makes the battles interesting makes them unstable. When walls collapse and routes open, the field can turn against you in ways you did not plan for. Your foes may wield the same powerful spells and abilities you do. That symmetry is fair. It is also punishing, and the game does not always telegraph when a fight has already been lost.
Twenty characters in a party is a bold number. It is also a management burden. Skill trees and gear for a roster that size can turn preparation into bookkeeping, and the game’s own advice — choose wisely, give priority to offensive or tactic — reads like a warning as much as a tip.
The story promises many twists and turns and fateful decisions. It delivers the decisions. The twists are thinner, and the gritty tone of violence and crime sits more comfortably in the battles than in the script around them.
The Road From 2015 to the Switch
Blackguards 2 has had a long life for a mid-budget tactical RPG. Daedalic shipped it on PC and Mac in January 2015, brought it to PS4 and Xbox One in September 2017, and put it on Nintendo Switch in June 2022. That is a seven-year tail, and it says something about the game’s staying power.
| Release | Platform | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Original | Microsoft Windows, OS X | January 2015 |
| Console port | PlayStation 4, Xbox One | September 2017 |
| Handheld port | Nintendo Switch | June 2022 |
The Switch version is the easiest way to meet the game now, and the hexfield battles hold up on a handheld. The port history also tells you the audience never fully went away.
The Verdict on Blackguards 2
Blackguards 2 is a good tactical RPG with a great combat sandbox and a story that does not quite match it. The hexfield battles are the reason to play. Toppling boxes, triggering traps, and dropping chandeliers on enemies give every fight a physical comedy and a tactical edge that most games in the genre never find.
The branching campaign and the decision system are real, not marketing. They change your squad and your ending, and they justify the 20-plus hours. Cassia’s climb toward the Shark Throne is a strong spine for all of it.
The problems are the ones the game invites. A 20-character roster is a lot to manage, and the difficulty does not always announce itself before a battle turns. The writing around the violence and crime is serviceable rather than sharp, and the promised twists do not land as hard as the decisions do.
None of that sinks it. Blackguards 2 knows what it is: a turn-based strategy-RPG that wants you to wreck the room and live with the consequences. When the chandelier drops, it works. When the game asks you to sort twenty skill trees, it drags.
The published critical score is 7.4/10, an aggregate drawn from five outlets. That number is fair. Blackguards 2 is worth your time if you want a hard, hands-on tactics game with a mean streak and a branching spine. It is not worth your time if you want the story to carry the load.
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