Daedalic is probably best know for their adventure game Deponia (a genre we’ve already established that I suck at) so I haven’t been paying them much heed, but today a press release came over the transom that got my attention.

They’ve announced a new turn-based fantasy game, Blackguards. You put turn-based and fantasy in the same sentence and I start to slobber, so this is an easy sell for me. Want to get me even more amped? Tell me it’s about a band of anti-heroes; your character is a convicted murderer, for starters. Any other fans of Glen Cook’s The Black Company novels? Then you know how awesome it can be to play bad guys trying to do good.

Blackguards is scheduled for a 2013 release but for now all we have is a blurb and a few concept art pieces so I’ll cut this one short. Just noting it so I can remember to keep track of it.

Here’re a few snippets from the press release I was sent:

Framed in a significantly darker story than you usually find in Daedalic games, the player will walk in the boots of a convicted murderer as he travels through Aventuria’s wild south. On this journey the protagonist is accompanied by companions of varying loyalty: scoundrels and thieves like the half-elf Niam (and her latent drug addiction) or the lecherous wizard Zurbaran.

Blackguards features hordes of lethal creatures and other enemies waiting to be taken care of on more than 170 unique battlemaps. A number of major and minor quests ensure exciting and diverse gameplay through the campaign.

As can be expected in all Daedalic titles, Blackguards focuses on strong storytelling, now combined with action-packed gameplay and tactical, turn-based combat. Blackguards delivers more than 40 hours of adventure in Aventuria.

About the Game

What happens when the only hope of a threatened world lies not with heroes in shining armor but in the hands of a band of misfits and criminals? Blackguards � the new turn-based RPG by Daedalic Entertainment � explores this very question. The player takes on the role of a convicted murderer, who with the help of a team of more-than-questionable characters, must save the world from a dark menace. During the wild chase throughout the South of Aventuria, the world of The Dark Eye, there is more to fight than vicious creatures � chapter by chapter, a story full of intrigue and surprising twists unfolds. But when life and death are in the player�s hands, how far will they go to reach their goals?

The first turn-based RPG by Daedalic Entertainment unites the studio’s high standard of a suspenseful storytelling and unique characters with gripping battles in elaborately crafted 3D-environments. In taxing campaigns the player takes part in a dark story full of doubt, betrayal and loss.

Whether the player chooses to go into battle as a mighty warrior, a clever wizard or a skillful hunter, the first battle isn�t far away. Over 170 individually crafted battle maps full of interactive objects and strategically complex situations lead the player to exotic locations and put them through deadly trials.