Christophe De bont 
26/03/2021Do you want to hear a sob story? Black Legend is kicking our ass so hard it’s turned black. The newest video game forged by our proud member Warcave doesn’t kid around with its strategic combat. Whether you go toe to toe with a band of insane cultists or face the legendary (literally!) monster Old Red Eyes, one wrong move can see your group of mercenaries be ruthlessly mauled to death. Fair warning: don’t head into the City of Grant if you’re looking for mercy.
Steeped into a mysterious fog by the brooding alchemist Mephisto, Black Legend sees you venture behind the city walls in order to find out what’s going on. Mystery is at the heart of the game, which draws inspiration from 17th century Dutch folk tales. In-between strategic battles with the evil forces of Mephisto, you will get to explore the city and piece together stories from the few survivors, items and locations to discover the truth behind the situation.
While wandering around the cobblestoned streets you will regularly run into enemies who want to halt your progress. More than anything, the strategic combat is where Black Legend truly shines. There’s tons of strategic options to dispose of your foes, but as in any turn-based strategy game, positioning and character classes are key. On top of that, the developers spice up the strategy with an original alchemy system. Different types of attacks create different instabilities in the body of your enemy and the goal is to mix them all up and then capitalise on it with a devastating catalyst attack.
The various enemies you’ll face have different weaknesses so you’ll have to think about who you’re sending into battle as well. The game features 15 different classes and the great thing about this is that you can switch them on the fly. Provided you have the right weapons and gear to do so. Each class has its own unique abilities, and if you use them often enough, your character will learn them and be able to unleash them even when you’re switching to a different class. This allows for a complex system of multi-class builds that’s sure to entertain the most demanding strategy enthusiast.
Putting together your band of mercenaries will be interesting to say the least, and there’s plenty of mythological menaces that need a good slaying. From the architecture and weaponry through the enemy design and monsters from old wives tales, the team has been massively inspired by 17th century history. The end result is a dark aesthetic akin to Yharnam in Bloodborne. And death rolls around just as swiftly.
Another feat is Warcave managed to launch the game simultaneously on all major platforms. Black Legend is out now on pc, PS4 (plus PS5 through backwards compatiblity), Xbox One (+ Xbox Series S/X through backwards compatibility), and Nintendo Switch. Congratulations to everyone on the team for this accomplishment!
