For the most part, the AI relies on sheer force of numbers, or one or two hard-as-nails super-baddies, rather than exercising genuine strategy. Sometimes, they will effectively avail themselves of cover or break from combat to run to a nearby alarm bell or unleash a caged menace, but at other times it will see them run headlong through a cloud of poison or box themselves into a corner, thus sealing their fate. Occasionally, suspect AI sees enemies behave in curious ways but it also has wounded enemies try to take-up a more defensive position. Using traps or level furniture to herd foes into a bottleneck before unleashing destructive abilities forms a useful strategy early on, especially as enemies often outnumber your motley group by three to one. Special abilities and offensive spells, moderated by endurance and astral energy, are typically a good bet for dealing more significant damage. It takes a long time for weapons and abilities to deal enough damage to feel effective, which is particularly jarring when you've just spent a significant portion of your gold on new weapons only to find that it still takes several hits to down a foe wearing little to no discernible armour. Experimenting with the many levers, pulleys and obstacles strewn across levels is an entertaining part of Blackguards' combat, which is otherwise too pedestrian for too long as the game struggles to get up to pace during its opening hours. They add an additional layer of options when it comes to besting your enemies and combine well with mission objectives that help explore their variety, be it fleeing for an exit and dropping obstacles to slow pursuit or opening-up pathways for reinforcements to join your cause. Strewn with precariously stacked boxes to tumble, traps to spring and chandeliers to drop atop foes, the levels themselves are a particular highlight of Blackguards 2. Regardless of the reasons for your actions, the meat on the bones of Blackguards 2 is its hex-based combat, myriad skill trees and the tactical decisions presented by its interactive maps. These are mostly deliberate, although the occasionally wonky script and voice acting conspire to turn it all into a bit of a pantomime that undermines its otherwise dark overtones. The scenarios are suitably grim and take in ritual slaughter, torture, and your own fragile state of mind but Blackguards 2 is not without moments of humour. Here, you'll also visit the blacksmith, merchant, alchemist and trainer and uncover the main crux of the story as you question townsfolk and make some ugly choices that will affect how your new subjects perceive you. Interaction with your ragtag bunch takes place when you set-up camp or in bigger towns that you capture along the way.
Some enemies appear ill-prepared but ineffective weapons can still make fights drag out for far too long. There are also a band of mercenaries brought on board to help bolster your numbers and provide the mainstay of your forces when your meddling provokes your deranged-ex to strike back against some of the settlements that you've "liberated". Each of your companions, from the greedy dwarf with anger management issues to the mopey but dashing mage, have their own thoughts on the wider world and on Cassia's tenuous grip on her sanity, not all of which are complementary.
Accompanying Cassia is a bunch of shady reprobates who all have their own reasons for signing up and whose fate will ultimately be decided by the choices you make along the way. What follows is a single-player, turn-based tactical jaunt across a sizeable world map, seizing control of towns, fiddling with stats and choosing just how dastardly anti-hero Cassia will be as she beats a bloody hexagonal path to her former beloved's door. Occasionally, that parting shot is less bittersweet and altogether more final, something along the lines of "I don't love you anymore, so I'm casting you into these labyrinthine catacombs to have your face and mind vandalised by giant-spider venom." So it is for Cassia of Tenos, who thankfully is a resourceful lass and one for self-empowerment so that after just four years and a 30-minute tutorial she's back on her feet, a tad miffed and crazy enough to frequently argue with herself. Often, the end of a relationship is accompanied by such familiar, cliché-ridden sentiment as "It's not you, it's me", "You're still my best friend" or "I love you, I'm just not in love with you".
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