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Bard's Tale The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep - Director's Cut

Darkzone

Arcane
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
2,323
The performance issues were never due to textures, but i think it was rather through looping through several loops for different states of game like spawns, dialogs, npc statements and inventory. And the size / length of this loops ( lists and arrays ) are lowering the performance. Even if you nativice the blueprints containing the lists and arrays, you still do not have the performance of pure C++ code. I have not thought of this before, because i have assumed that the developers know that and that they have already caught this. But since they changed textures and models for more performance, then there is no other explanation than the devs do not know how the engine exactly works.
 

Bohr

Arcane
Joined
Nov 20, 2012
Messages
1,878


Text:
The Bard’s Tale 4: Director’s Cut Review
The Battle of the Bards
User Rating: 8.5
Mitchell Gassner September 4, 2019
bt4-780x354.png


Last year I reviewed The Bard’s Tale 4: Barrows Deep and found developer inXile had done a good job of blending in some gameplay mechanics found in recent dungeon crawlers while keeping the charm of the original grid-based games of the franchise. There were some technical issues plaguing the game, keeping it from being the best it could be. To top it all off players wanting an old school experience were put off by the modern design choices and at the same time, other players were claiming inXile didn’t go far enough in adding the current conveniences they have grown accustomed to. Over the last year, inXile has been addressing all of these concerns and last week released The Bard’s Tale 4: Director’s Cut. Were they able to cut through the technical issues of the original game and at the same time somehow magically satiate two diametrically opposed player bases? Pull up a chair and listen to the tale of my second adventure in the Bard’s Tale 4 world. This is our Bard’s Tale 4: Director’s Cut review.

Our Journey Begins, Again
We could spend a lot of time going through the core features and gameplay of The Bard’s Tale 4: Director’s Cut but, honestly, the basics haven’t really changed since my initial review. For anyone who hasn’t played the original release and is here trying to decide if it’s time to pick the game up, I would suggest checking out my original review to get you up to speed on what the game has to offer. Then head back here and check out the changes if you’re still on the fence.

For returning players, some of what we will cover here may seem very familiar to you. inXile has been adding in a lot of the fixes over the last year and depending on when you played the original they may or may not have already been implemented. At the very least you are getting a new end game dungeon, The Royal Necropolis of Haernhold, some new opponents to slay and subsequently new loot to plunder. There have also been a ton of tweaks, rebalancing, and bug squashing going on behind the scenes as well.

I am sure many people, myself included, wondered whether inXile had addressed the community concerns, and overall they succeeded in attacking all the major concerns. Let’s start with the big-hitting changes.

Controller Support
My preferred choice of control has always been a keyboard and mouse, but there are many people who like the compact nature of a controller. The BT4:DC has support for the Xbox One controller, and I must say that it’s quite intuitive. Sticking to normal convention, the left stick replaces the WASD keys for movement and the right stick controls the camera free-look. In grid-based movement you can even use the D-pad for authentic old-school 90-degree snap turns.

bt4controller_mapping-1024x736.jpg


My biggest praise has to be in the use of a radial skill bar during combat. Selecting a skill or spell is as easy as pushing the left stick in whatever direction the skill is located on the circle and pushing the A button. This may seem a minor choice, but so many games keep a horizontal skill bar and I detest having to tap back and forth on the stick to select a skill. I always end up either too far or not far enough and then select the wrong skill on accident. This radial selector is also used on some of the UI menus as well. Again, it only saves a second or two but it just feels smoother than moving up and down to select a menu item.

Overall, the little things like the radial menu have turned me to the dark side of PC gaming and I found myself using the controller instead of mouse and keyboard to play through the game. If all games could implement the use of a controller as well as inXile did for the Bard’s Tale 4, I would be a happy camper.

Grid-Based Movement

The grid-based movement was one of the iconic elements of the genre thirty years ago, and the move to a more modern free movement system was one of the loudest complaints from the old-school regime. inXile didn’t go all the way back to the true grid-based system from the original series but they have found a compromise that should check another complaint off of everyone’s list.

With a true 3D environment and a free view camera, it isn’t always obvious which spot you are going to move to. inXile overcomes this by representing each grid space with a glowing glyph on the ground. These glyphs are blue, and whichever one you will move to is changed to green. It is a simple yet elegant solution. Devs showed they listen too. They heed the mistake of not giving options and have provided an option so that it can even be turned off if preferred.

The only missed opportunity I see with the grid-based movement is very minor. I would like to see an option to have the camera auto-center when you move. When using a controller this would make movement very fluid.

bt4grid-1024x571.jpg


Technical Upgrades
I had accepted the design decisions to modernize certain aspects of the game as a necessary evil to make the game appeal to all but the most hardcore players searching for an authentic grid-based dungeon crawl. For me, the technical issues at release were what held The Bard’s Tale 4 from being better received. The game had plenty of bugs and not the variety that you had to go out and kill. No, I’m talking about the kind that can ruin your immersion.

I consider myself lucky since most of the problems I encountered were infrequent and not game-breaking. A perfect example is the annoying pause encountered in combat as I had to wait 10-20 seconds for an enemy frozen mid-attack to finally finish their move. Some players had it much worse and had to deal with frequent game freezes and crashes to desktop.

My biggest issues were centered around graphics. First and foremost was frame rate consistency. In my experience with Barrow’s Deep, I could only achieve frame rates in the high 20s with a Vega 64 graphics card at 2550×1440. That was the best case, with frame rates dipping into single digits at times. Switching to a lower resolution did help with maximum frame rates but the stuttering and freezing from the stalls still remained.

Another graphical issue was having black bars on the sides of my screen since even though 3440×1440 (my default monitor resolution) was listed in the options but wasn’t actually supported. I know, first world problems, but if you say a game can do something it should damn well do it.

I am happy to say that my time in The Bard’s Tale 4: Director’s Cut has been much improved on the technical side. I still haven’t encountered a single crash to desktop and the long pauses of combat have been virtually nonexistent. All around, everything feels more responsive and is most likely due to the squashing of bugs and optimization of code over the last several months.

That optimization is undeniable when it comes to frame rates. Not only does the 3440×1440 resolution work this time around, even at the higher resolution I am getting a good 15fps higher than I did a year ago at 2550X1440. I still see a dip in frame rates from time to time, but usually, it is when I swing the camera around quickly after just entering a new area and is nowhere near as big a swing as it was in the past.

The Little Bits
Sometimes the little things are all it takes to make a big difference, and the Bard’s Tale 4: Director’s Cut is no exception. There are a plethora of minor additions, tweaks, and changes that make the Director’s Cut a better game. As a one-off item these could easily be missed (and I did miss some until I read the patch list and went back to check them out). Let’s start with the new stuff:

  • The Royal Necropolis of Haernhold – The one piece of content that extends the playtime, the Haernhold dungeon is a new end game challenge for veteran players. Unfortunately for the owners of the original game old saves are not available in the Director’s Cut. You will have to start a fresh game to experience all Haernhold has to offer. Fortunately, many of the other additions to the game will make your next playthrough much quicker.
  • Mastercraft Gear – A grade above the Adamast and Mothren items, this new tier of weapons and armor won’t come cheap.
  • Dwarven Weapons – Just like the Elven weapons we already have, Dwarven weapons are some of the most powerful weapons you can find. Unlike the Elven weapons, though, the dwarves haven’t hidden their power behind any puzzles and come ready to kill right out of the box.
  • Inventory Filter – There is so much stuff to be found and collected in the Bard’s Tale 4, managing it all was a major chore. The new Filter button on the inventory screen will allow you to quickly find whatever item you need quickly.
  • New Bosses – Along with the new dungeon comes 6 new bosses to fight. If you are capable of defeating them, expect one of the new dwarven weapons as a reward.
  • Skippable Puzzles – A true staple of old-school dungeon crawls, the ability to solve the many puzzles in the Bard’s Tale 4 can be a barrier to your success. The new Song of Exploration, Struggler’s Lament, will allow you to move past any of the puzzles blocking you from completing the story quests, but you won’t have this option for any of the optional puzzles that hide some good loot. I would strongly suggest doing your best to solve the puzzles on your own your first run through or else you end up missing a lot of what this genre has to offer.
  • Opening Cinematic – I get it when a three-person indie team uses still images in their opening story cinematic, but when I watched the original opening for The Bard’s Tale 4 I was a little annoyed they didn’t put in the effort to give a real opening for the game. They solved that by putting in a full cinematic opening for the Director’s Cut.
bt4cinematic-1024x554.jpg


Now let’s highlight some of the back end changes.

  • Inventory Filters – By adding a simple inventory filter button inXile has taken the huge time sink of trying to organize your plentiful inventory and removed it from the game. You can now filter to just the type of item you are looking for, making locating that set of robes you had been carrying around for hours much easier to find.
  • Economy balance – By the end of my playthrough last year the economy was of no consequence. I had amassed so much gold I was able to buy anything I needed and quit collecting items unless they were an upgrade to what I was already using. The balance pass has adjusted the pricing, making this a little less pronounced but anyone taking the time to scour every inch of every map will still probably break the economy.
  • Enemy Balance – Enemy encounters have been rebalanced to provide an easier early game and a much harder end game. You can still manually change basic difficulty options adjust the overall difficulty of the entire game at any time.
These are just the tip of the iceberg and represent just some of the bigger changes I noticed. A full list of changes and additions made for the Director’s Cut can be found here.

Final Thoughts

With the release of The Bard’s Tale 4: Director’s Cut, inXile has done a solid job of addressing much of the community’s concerns with the original game. They were able to give the players the options they wanted, allowing each person to tailor the game to whatever level of old-school vs. modern style they wish to play. All of the technical improvements and bug fixes have made the Director’s Cut a much cleaner and optimized game, and the horde of minor tweaks and additions have added a little more meat to an already good gameplay experience.

One thing I can’t quite wrap my mind around, and most will find it very nitpicky, is coining this version of the Director’s Cut. Generally speaking, a director’s cut takes an already completed product and adds in extra content that got cut and just didn’t make it into the original release. In this case, many of the changes and additions were added in previously through patches over the last year. It is all really semantics, and whether inXile decided to call this the Director’s Cut, Barrows Deep 2.0, or the ‘We Just Wanted To Fix The Things You Didn’t Like About Our Game’ version, they took an already good game and made it better.

Summary
inXile has spent the last year upgrading the original Bard's Tale 4. The release of the Director's Cut is the culmination of all their hard work. They were able to address many of the community complaints with the addition of new game play options and have squashed many of the frustrating technical issues of the game along the way. The Bard's Tale 4: Director's Cut is the version of the game we deserved.

Good
  • Fantastic controller support on PC
  • Improved frame rates
  • New items, enemies, and a new end game dungeon
Bad
  • No save transfer from original version
  • Grid-based movement needs fine tuning
  • Balance changes don't go far enough to make the game more difficult
  • One additional dungeon feels very light for a Director's Cut
8.5 - Great
 

Gunnar

Arbiter
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
819
Mitchell Gassner said:
I had accepted the design decisions to modernize certain aspects of the game as a necessary evil to make the game appeal to all but the most hardcore players searching for an authentic grid-based dungeon crawl. people who backed the game.
 

Solid Snail

Learned
Joined
Oct 31, 2018
Messages
328
How hard is this? I see it's similar to Grimrock, but right now I don't have the time or patience to go with such a game, and I have it via Game Pass. If it's something light like Operencia I can try and play it.
Also, is it playable or it's again a buggy mess?
 

Curratum

Guest
How hard is this? I see it's similar to Grimrock, but right now I don't have the time or patience to go with such a game, and I have it via Game Pass. If it's something light like Operencia I can try and play it.
Also, is it playable or it's again a buggy mess?

It's a very buggy mess, probably on par with what the original was on launch day, before the two months of bugfixing before the last original version patch.

Don't waste your time.
 

Solid Snail

Learned
Joined
Oct 31, 2018
Messages
328
How hard is this? I see it's similar to Grimrock, but right now I don't have the time or patience to go with such a game, and I have it via Game Pass. If it's something light like Operencia I can try and play it.
Also, is it playable or it's again a buggy mess?

It's a very buggy mess, probably on par with what the original was on launch day, before the two months of bugfixing before the last original version patch.

Don't waste your time.
Ok, uninstalled, thanks.
 

Gord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
7,049
First patch is finally out. Fixed some issues of the DC, including some of the graphical problems: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1091980/announcements/detail/1582374841959818682

Quest & Progression
  • Fixed an issue where the user is not given the Wildland Whistle at the Adventurers’ Guild after disabling Party Chatter
  • Fixed collision around certain puzzles and ledges that were allowing the player to fall out of bounds in certain circumstances
  • Fixed messaging for when the player does not have a lockpick in their inventory they will not be informed about it being required to open locked doors
Graphics/Performance
  • Added various art optimizations, collision, and asset loading improvements
  • Improved performance when player opens and closes inventory windows
  • Grass is now once again growing in the Forest of Inshriach
  • (PC) Improved NPC shadows and fixed High and Ultra shadow settings
  • (PC) Lighting adjusted throughout Skara Brae Above, Skara Brae Below, and The Cellars of Kylearan's Tower
  • (Xbox One and PS4) Improved framerate in various levels
Combat
  • Fixed an issue where rapidly issuing commands may cause one of the spaces on the combat grid to become locked
  • Fix for Forceful Wave attack that may cause the character's position to get out of sync
  • Fixed certain issues where charging specific enemies could result in players getting stuck on the environment or produce a misaligned combat grid
  • Fixed an issue where loading an auto save created before a combat animatic could stop the following combat from occurring
  • Fixed an issue where enemies could fail to launch Mangar’s Mind Jab
  • (Linux) Fixed an issue where enemies in any combat could respawn after reloading the level
Misc.
  • Removed the Save Game option during animatics
  • Fixes and improvements for various party chatter moments
  • Fixed issues where using songs to quickly solve multiple puzzles could cause the puzzles to break
  • Fixed an issue where translation was missing for the 2nd riddle statue in Kylearan's tower
  • Fixed an issue in Mangar’s Tower where subtitles and VO would fail when ghosts were summoned and interacted with for the first time
  • Fixed an issue where music from loading screen would play during gameplay after a load or level transition
  • Fixed various minor audio issues
  • (PC) Fixed an issue where using the 'Esc' key to close the Mastery Book could break its intended functionality
  • (PC Microsoft Store) Fixed issues with signing in and syncing saves
  • (Mac and Linux) Fixed an issue where all load-game story videos were missing
  • (Linux) Fixed an issue where Rabbie's speech did not have voice or subtitles
Crashes
  • Fixed a possible crash during the 99-wave combat
  • Fixed a possible crash when using the Dragon Breath ability

IIRC there should still be a quite large amount of issues remaining, but it's a start, I guess.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Zed Duke of Banville

Dungeon Master
Patron
Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
11,756
How hard is this? I see it's similar to Grimrock, but right now I don't have the time or patience to go with such a game, and I have it via Game Pass. If it's something light like Operencia I can try and play it.
Also, is it playable or it's again a buggy mess?
The Bard's Tale IV is not in the same subgenre of CRPGs as Dungeon Master and Legend of Grimrock. It does have puzzle-based exploration, but the puzzles will pose little challenge to a veteran of Dungeon Master and its descendants (while still being hard enough to scare enough any Skyrim-loving casuals). Combat is turn-based and completely different from the sort found in Dungeon Master.

If you want a relatively "light" CRPG, then give The Bard's Tale IV is a try, since neither the exploration nor the combat should be difficult. The original version was playable enough, at least after a few patches, but they apparently managed to introduce new bugs in the Director's Cut. Just don't expect too much of the game, and don't expect it to follow the formula of either Dungeon Master / Legend of Grimrock or of Wizardry / The Bard's Tale.
 

agris

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Apr 16, 2004
Messages
6,761
The game is tedious and uninspired in all aspects except the music. And you will even grow tired of that given how frequently the same songs are played. The puzzles are anything but, the combat is bland because the enemy roster and your abilities are bland, chardev has obvious best choices (and full respec courtesy adventurer tokens), and the loot pool is bland as well as shallow.

There are much better ways to spend your time.
 
Self-Ejected

theSavant

Self-Ejected
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
2,009
I think the last patch has addressed the most pressing issues. There's very likely another one coming as they're still gathering bug information, but it's much less reports now. So you'll probably be good with their next patch.
 

Saxon1974

Prophet
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
2,104
Location
The Desert Wasteland
I think the last patch has addressed the most pressing issues. There's very likely another one coming as they're still gathering bug information, but it's much less reports now. So you'll probably be good with their next patch.

Thanks. Probably won't play it that much, too many games and too little time and what I played of the original didn't impress me much but since I kick-started should get something out of it. Wish I would have known it would feel nothing like the originals or would have never backed. I liked wasteland 2 but what a miss this game was from Fargoland
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,228
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1091980/announcements/detail/1577874414222232427

October 9 Patch - The Bard’s Tale IV: Director’s Cut Update
This patch address some of the most commonly reported issues

fe3df6334647ce4117dd672984151769e13aa9b7.png


This update is live now! Please follow the inXile forums for known issues and updates on patch releases.

Art
  • Fixed an issue where Priestess Clementia's model would occasionally fail to load.
  • Fixed a graphical issue where the fog on Sinister street would behave inconsistently
  • Fixed an issue where the animals in Baedish Lowlands sometimes appeared to float when standing on ledges

Gameplay
  • Fixed an issue where the user is not given the Wildlands Whistle at the Adventurers’ Guild when Group Chatter was disabled
  • Fixed an issue where NPCs would fail to play their voice lines
  • Fixed an issue where the player could not complete “A Hero’s Rest” quest if Necromancer’s Tome was equipped and not present in the quest inventory
  • Fixed an issue where exiting to desktop would fail to create the appropriate auto-save.
  • Fixed an issue where reloading a save from before the intro cutscene would return the player to the main menu
  • Fixed an issue where players could not interact with objects after defeating Mangar
  • Fixed an issue where the Mangar combat would fail to spawn upon reload
  • Fixed an issue where enemies would improperly respawn on the Isle of Stonsea.
  • Using Wildland Whistle for the first time near fast travel stones will now appropriately bring up the fast travel menu.
  • Fixed an issue where party conversations would play out of order
  • Added Struggler’s Lament use to the puzzle blocking the Reliquary in Midden Maw
  • Fixed an issue in the Attain Tunnel where praying to the Shrine of Noyan gave no experience
  • Fixed a minor issue where players could reach a location in Orkan Rookery without solving the required puzzle
  • Fixed an issue where Fiona's song tutorial would not play.
  • Fixed an issue where the loading screen music could play in-game after the player loaded a level
  • Fixed an issue where the "Forceful Wave" enemy ability would occasionally cause characters to become out of sync with their position on the Combat Grid
  • Fixed an issue where party conversations would play out of order
  • Fixed an issue where players who had visited the Dwarven Ruins early, came back later in the game to find the ruins locked
  • (Mac and Linux) Fixed an issue where story recap videos were not playing
  • (Mac and Linux) Fixed an issue where chests that have been lockpicked would need to be lockpicked again upon reload
  • (Mac and Linux) Fixed an issue where the "apply changes” button would not appear after making changes in the options menu.
  • (Linux) Fixed an issue where the grappling hook shortcut in Orkan Rookery would fail to save it's state upon reload

Hud/UI
  • Fixed an issue where swapping input methods from Mouse and Keyboard to Gamepad would break item interactions.
  • Fixed a timing issue where Inspecting items during the Inventory Tutorial could result in the player being stuck in the Inventory window
  • Updated Luck Stone tutorial to replace the word “Bind” with “Save” across all languages
  • Hitting "Esc" while using the mastery page will no longer transfer one character's skills to another
  • Fixed an issue where, after solving elven weapon puzzles, the player could be blocked from opening "Item Options" in the Inventory

Stability
  • Fixed an issue where manually deleting saves could create a corruption to the player save files in certain instances
  • Previously corrupted saves may be usable again after this update
  • Improvements to game-wide performance, asset loading, stability, and world collision
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when visiting Sulfur Springs for the first time
  • Fixed some isolated and specific combat crashes
 

Deleted Member 16721

Guest
I enjoyed the base game before Director's Cut was released. it ran well and had no bugs for me. The puzzles are real brain teasers at times, not overly difficult but some of them can really stump you for a bit. The combat is fun but after awhile it gets too easy as you quickly get overpowered, even on Hard difficulty. The explorations is fine and world is quite beautiful with great music to boot. I didn't finish the game but I played a good 30 hours before putting it down for awhile. Worth checking out. I imagine the DC is even better.
 

Deleted Member 16721

Guest
As a combat whore it sounds a bit disappointing :/ But I still wanna play it.

Combat is good for awhile, but once you start learning your tricks it becomes pretty easy. Maybe the DC addressed that, not sure. But for awhile combat is pretty engaging.
 

Martyr

Arcane
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,096
Location
Bavaria
I have to say I'm rather enjoying the game now, with the ability to remove all these annoying puzzles. plays more like a traditional blobber.
the combat is still a bit puzzly and relies heavily on the party member's positioning, which doesn't play like a traditional blobber at all. or did somebody here constanly re-arrange their characters positioning in Wiz8??

also, once you unlock all 5 character slots, the fights get rather easy, which brings us to my next point - the amount of backtracking is insane and often feels like in a metroidvanias: gated content, which gets accessible once you've unlocked better party members, more skills (which involves going all the way back to these hooded adventurer gurus) and better equipment. it's not the same as in other linear RPGs, that you get better gear along the way and the fights get more difficult, as you progress. here you've got pretty difficult fights almost right from the beginning of the game, you sneak past them and fight the easier enemies and once y'all have become stronger, but not strong enough to progress any further, you go back and kill all the enemies, which were too hard 2+ hours ago.

but all in all the constant fighting, the fairytale-like atmosphere and the nice soundtrack keep me entertained enough to play this as my secondary game right now and I went from strongly disliking the original game, to recommending the director's cut.
 

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