Here's my review of the Steam version of Redguard: after trying everything on UESP and the Steam Guides, it crashes all the time, it looks like garbage and it runs like garbage. Don't buy it, don't play it, don't bother. The end.

If you somehow managed to get it running and want to actually find out something about this game, read on. I ran the Steam version of the game in the background to track playtime and actually played the offline GOG version which still runs slowly and not great, but at least that one had the courtesy to stay running.

The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard was very key in Elder Scrolls history in more ways than one. It introduced a lot of things in terms of world building that Elder Scrolls fans take for granted post-Morrowind: everything Dwemer-related, a unique, culture-melding architecture and artstyle, Khajiit that actually look like cats, branching dialogue systems, point-based fast-travel, I could go on and on. If you ever wondered where some of the cool mechanics, deep political intrigue story and zany vibe of Morrowind came from, well, Redguard was kind of a testing ground for these kinds of ideas. And to be fair, most of them work really well. Despite the low-res textures and blocky, low-poly PS1 models, Redguard is still nice to look at - not in a "wow such beautiful graphics" kind of way, but more in a "whoa that's so cool" kind of way. Like Battlespire before it and Morrowind after it, Redguard was made during what I call the Golden Age of Bethesda Art Design. So while the technical limitations prevent(ed) Redguard from looking good, it still looks captivating, unique and beautiful. The music is also some of the best swashbuckling pirate MIDI and ominous mood tracks you've ever graced your ears with. There are only three or four tracks, but they work so well I didn't really feel the need for more. The voice acting is cartoony and over-the-top and it fits the "Saturday morning cartoon" vibe perfectly. Dated as it may be, I actually enjoyed the overall atmosphere and presentation of Redguard a lot and it was one of the main reasons why I gritted my teeth through it.

Speaking of gritting my teeth - the problem is that the controls and the framerate are infuriatingly bad. Controlling Cyrus is a total chore in both versions I tried, it's just slow, laggy and unresponsive. The map, the cities, the dungeons and caves look great and have a spectacularly crafted atmosphere, but actually moving around them, solving puzzles and defeating enemies is a head-thumpingly frustrating experience. If you've ever played something like the first four Tomb Raider games, you will be fooled for a second into thinking these two games have something in common. Unfortunately, this game shares none of the finesse and Spartan precision of Lara's carefully designed environmental encounters. The platforming is clunky and consistent only in its erratic inconsistency. It is very much a "save after every jump" endeavour. Actually, I take that back, partially. The platforming is not good, but the repetitive and simplistic combat makes the whole thing drag on more than it should. There's also a point in the game where all the guards in the town become hostile - thankfully, I activated that quest last because it seemed important, but if I did that quest first, the world would be incredibly tedious to navigate because you'd be constantly forced into bouts with the guards. Combat is literally circle dodge around stuff and whack it until it dies. After one or two encounters, you've seen it all. There is no magic, no upgrades, no leveling - this is an action adventure game, and while it's a great adventure, it is utter crap action. I will say though that the simplistic combat system does mean you're free to go anywhere you want on the compact open world without fear of getting stomped on. But unlike future Elder Scrolls games, there is little point in exploring the island unless you're doing it as part of a quest since there's little to find.

Lastly, I want to mention the story. It's a simple enough premise: a vagabond Redguard pirate named Cyrus goes to the island of Stros M'kai to find his estranged sister, who has gone missing. You soon get caught up in everything from civil war to necromancy, and I'll stop my synopsis there. I will only add that the ending is super satisfying in that uplifting, adventurey "good beats bad" sort of way. While it's not meant to be nearly as serious or grandiose as any of the main Elder Scrolls games, I enjoyed the dialogue and writing a lot, and like the art style and atmosphere, the story was another reason I didn't give up on Redguard. I put up with the horrendous controls because I liked the places that these horrendous controls took me to. I suffered through navigating the admittedly awesome dungeons because I could at least derive some pleasure from looking at them and solving the actually well-designed puzzles (despite pulling my hair out after falling through a pixel-wide crack for the n-th time). I completed them so I could get that next story step, that next piece of lore or information, that new interaction with the colorful NPCs of Stros M'kai.

Ultimately, like Battlespire before it, Redguard is technically not up to snuff to be considered worth recommending as a whole. During my quest to complete all the main Elder Scrolls games (currently on Oblivion), I became a die-hard Elder Scrolls fan, so I took a detour into the spinoffs as well. While Redguard, like Battlespire, is clunky and frustrating, I would, again, be lying if I said I derived no fun or enjoyment from it. Everything about this game except its execution on the performance and controls front is really, really good. But this is still a game, not a book, movie or series, so if the main reason for not enjoying a game is in how you interact with it, well, I don't consider it a game worth recommending to anyone but the most dogged Elder Scrolls fans. Play it for the lore, the story, the characters, the cool dungeons. But be prepared for a lot of navigational suffering. You've been warned.

Here's my review of the Steam version of Redguard: after trying everything on UESP and the Steam Guides, it crashes all the time, it looks like garbage and it runs like garbage. Don't buy it, don't play it, don't bother. The end. If you somehow managed to get it running and want to actually find out something about this game, read on. I ran the Steam version of the game in the background to track playtime and actually played the offline GOG version which still runs slowly and not great, but at least that one had the courtesy to stay running. The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard was very key in Elder Scrolls history in more ways than one. It introduced a lot of things in terms of world building that Elder Scrolls fans take for granted post-Morrowind: everything Dwemer-related, a unique, culture-melding architecture and artstyle, Khajiit that actually look like cats, branching dialogue systems, point-based fast-travel, I could go on and on. If you ever wondered where some of the cool mechanics, deep political intrigue story and zany vibe of Morrowind came from, well, Redguard was kind of a testing ground for these kinds of ideas. And to be fair, most of them work really well. Despite the low-res textures and blocky, low-poly PS1 models, Redguard is still nice to look at - not in a "wow such beautiful graphics" kind of way, but more in a "whoa that's so cool" kind of way. Like Battlespire before it and Morrowind after it, Redguard was made during what I call the Golden Age of Bethesda Art Design. So while the technical limitations prevent(ed) Redguard from looking good, it still looks captivating, unique and beautiful. The music is also some of the best swashbuckling pirate MIDI and ominous mood tracks you've ever graced your ears with. There are only three or four tracks, but they work so well I didn't really feel the need for more. The voice acting is cartoony and over-the-top and it fits the "Saturday morning cartoon" vibe perfectly. Dated as it may be, I actually enjoyed the overall atmosphere and presentation of Redguard a lot and it was one of the main reasons why I gritted my teeth through it. Speaking of gritting my teeth - the problem is that the controls and the framerate are infuriatingly bad. Controlling Cyrus is a total chore in both versions I tried, it's just slow, laggy and unresponsive. The map, the cities, the dungeons and caves look great and have a spectacularly crafted atmosphere, but actually moving around them, solving puzzles and defeating enemies is a head-thumpingly frustrating experience. If you've ever played something like the first four Tomb Raider games, you will be fooled for a second into thinking these two games have something in common. Unfortunately, this game shares none of the finesse and Spartan precision of Lara's carefully designed environmental encounters. The platforming is clunky and consistent only in its erratic inconsistency. It is very much a "save after every jump" endeavour. Actually, I take that back, partially. The platforming is not good, but the repetitive and simplistic combat makes the whole thing drag on more than it should. There's also a point in the game where all the guards in the town become hostile - thankfully, I activated that quest last because it seemed important, but if I did that quest first, the world would be incredibly tedious to navigate because you'd be constantly forced into bouts with the guards. Combat is literally circle dodge around stuff and whack it until it dies. After one or two encounters, you've seen it all. There is no magic, no upgrades, no leveling - this is an action adventure game, and while it's a great adventure, it is utter crap action. I will say though that the simplistic combat system does mean you're free to go anywhere you want on the compact open world without fear of getting stomped on. But unlike future Elder Scrolls games, there is little point in exploring the island unless you're doing it as part of a quest since there's little to find. Lastly, I want to mention the story. It's a simple enough premise: a vagabond Redguard pirate named Cyrus goes to the island of Stros M'kai to find his estranged sister, who has gone missing. You soon get caught up in everything from civil war to necromancy, and I'll stop my synopsis there. I will only add that the ending is super satisfying in that uplifting, adventurey "good beats bad" sort of way. While it's not meant to be nearly as serious or grandiose as any of the main Elder Scrolls games, I enjoyed the dialogue and writing a lot, and like the art style and atmosphere, the story was another reason I didn't give up on Redguard. I put up with the horrendous controls because I liked the places that these horrendous controls took me to. I suffered through navigating the admittedly awesome dungeons because I could at least derive some pleasure from looking at them and solving the actually well-designed puzzles (despite pulling my hair out after falling through a pixel-wide crack for the n-th time). I completed them so I could get that next story step, that next piece of lore or information, that new interaction with the colorful NPCs of Stros M'kai. Ultimately, like Battlespire before it, Redguard is technically not up to snuff to be considered worth recommending as a whole. During my quest to complete all the main Elder Scrolls games (currently on Oblivion), I became a die-hard Elder Scrolls fan, so I took a detour into the spinoffs as well. While Redguard, like Battlespire, is clunky and frustrating, I would, again, be lying if I said I derived no fun or enjoyment from it. Everything about this game except its execution on the performance and controls front is really, really good. But this is still a game, not a book, movie or series, so if the main reason for not enjoying a game is in how you interact with it, well, I don't consider it a game worth recommending to anyone but the most dogged Elder Scrolls fans. Play it for the lore, the story, the characters, the cool dungeons. But be prepared for a lot of navigational suffering. You've been warned.