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

Swigen

Arbiter
Joined
Dec 15, 2018
Messages
1,014
Heard a lot of good things about this series. Noticed #4 is only $35 on steam, think I’m ready to take the plunge.

You should just give the $35 to a prostitute and ask her to punch you in the stomach several times. It's about the same feeling you would get from playing this game.


:roll: So the latest release from a highly regarded series is a giant piece of crap? Again?! Ya’ll are pulling my leg, there’s no way the newest Mass Effect, Fallout, Bard’s Tale AND Jagged Alliance all suck ass! Like all of the sudden the developers were all, “know what? I’m tired of making good games, time to make some shit”?!?

Anyway, heard a lot of good things about Planescape Torment and noticed Tides of Numenera was on sale. Think I’m ready to take the plunge and see what all the fuss is about.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Jesus I need a Brecht macro or something every time this happens

Round about stood such as inspired terror, shouting: Here comes the New, it’s all new, salute the new, be new like us! [...]
So the Old strode in disguised as the New, but it brought the New with it in its triumphal procession and presented it as the Old.
 
Self-Ejected

theSavant

Self-Ejected
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
2,009
I wonder how accessable or Frankenstein the game will be after the next patch. Also can the game be beaten with a party of 4?
 
Self-Ejected

theSavant

Self-Ejected
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
2,009
I downloaded the Unreal Engine 4 "KiteDemo" (interactive standalone version from 2015) and the scenery shown there is exactly what I expected from Bard's Tale 4. This vast open space and scenery is how I imagined BT4. In fact some of the first screenshots of BT4 (and footage in the "World of Caith" trailer) hinted something like that. Who would have thought it became an uninspired corridor game afterwards? Something like this should also have been the starting location of the game and not that brown, steaming pile of shit a town. People would have given positive ratings just because of the scenery alone (the "Skyrim effect"). The KiteDemo almost makes me want to reinstall the game, but after 5 minutes I would probably start to cry.
 
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KevinV12000

Arcane
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
749
Location
Some Lame-ass International Organization
As has become my custom with games I intend to play, I only read threads and the review about Bard's Tale IV after having played the game myself, and I have to say that my view is very much contrary to the Codex general opinion. While I agree that the game has a rather uninspiring beginning, it quickly takes off after that and really is a great little gem of a game.

I think it manages to be an homage to the old games while also being new and unique in its own right. It's true that the game's systems are quirky and take some getting used to--especially the Skill Mastery system which, if used in a certain way, allows a character to use a "weapon" skill without actually wielding said weapon. But once that mental adjustment is made, and properly understood, it stacks up very well against others in similar games and has a certain old-school charm about it that speaks well of the designers.

The character classes are fun and unique, their different lines of skills are well-defined and in tune with the overall class. Whether or not one can call a Troubadour Bard and a War-Chanter Bard two different classes or not strikes me as a rather autistic argument I'd rather not have. What's important is that they play differently, have different roles in battle and in non-combat interactions and feel distinct.

The art style also manages the cool blend of the old and the new, reminiscent of some of the better Might and Magic games, updated. As the reviewer properly notes, there is one scene in particular involving a forest that is among the best graphical effects I've ever seen in a game. More, it's also shocking and unexpected.

The writing is a clear homage to the older games. Sure, we don't have Bioware's tired angst-ridden characters trying to decide whether or not to let a party companion stick something up their ass, but if you ask me that's all to the better. Instead, we get good old-fashioned stuff, like, say, Paladins who want to fight evil, Mages who want a quiet library to study and Bards seeking the original, ancient lyrics to a song.

And the songs! The music in this game is SUPERB. The songs are not only high quality, they are sung by different bards in different ways that make them almost like cover versions of the original, each good in its own way. Pass by a house in a village, and you may hear a busy housewife within singing to herself while she's doing the cleaning, walk by a bar and you may here a bagpipe lament coming from inside, pass a temple and you'll hear acolytes chanting within.

Combat is very tactical and turn-based, based on a grid, with skills that can force movement, impose different statuses (stunned, poisoned, bleeding, etc), and, holy of holies, features a MAGIC SYSTEM THAT ISN'T JUST SWORD DAMAGE AT A DISTANCE. That's right, for the first time in many, many moons in a CRPG, magic-users bring something powerful to the table. The combat system uses "opportunity points," itself a changable number depending on chosen skills, but on top of that, there are spell-points. Spell-points are hard to come by, but act completely independently of the opportunity point system. You likely will have only three or four opportunity points to spend on actions amongst your party, but if your magic-users have spell-points they can use them to their heart's content. This makes mages of various stripes decisive in battle.

The puzzles, mazes, riddles and lore books are all very, very well done. They are challenging at times, but, thankfully, not as challenging as the original games'. (I can recall stacks and stacks of maps and notes that I somehow manage to be nostalgic for yet at the same time not miss). When you hear the blessed whoosing and chime sound that means you have found the right answer, it's truly wonderful.

I'm not a huge fan of inXile. I even't don't like their name with the stupid capitalization. Heck, I didn't even like Wasteland 2.

But Bard's Tale IV is a good game, a real diamond.
 
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KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
12,874
The writing is a clear homage to the older games. Sure, we don't have Bioware's tired angst-ridden characters trying to decide whether or not to let a party companion stick something up their ass, but if you ask me that's all to the better.
I don’t think I care to know the name of such games (except to avoid).
 
Self-Ejected

theSavant

Self-Ejected
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
2,009
I'd expect a february-march release for the next patch. Probably the last patch, because they eventually want to release on Linux, Mac, Playstation, XBox, which is blocked until all major patching is done. The next one will definitely be a major patch, as they're working on all the remaining issues and points of criticism.
 

Martyr

Arcane
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,102
Location
Bavaria
why the fuck do the NPCs in this game look like this?? was that a deliberate choice of "style" or did inXile hire the character designers that worked on Oblivion? seriously, just look at them!

CZXp1xs.jpg

b1brE6q.jpg

EyVZgPC.jpg


:abyssgazer:
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
12,874
HO HO HO! The truth be told! Dude just had to mimick Lord Br... Er Richard.

Btw... need a barfing emoji
 
Self-Ejected

theSavant

Self-Ejected
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
2,009
Shitrated because Play-Button didn't do anything.

Edit: I'm serious... it doesn't work. I press the big ">" button, and then it changes to "||", and then... nothing. Just nothing. Using almost latest Firefox.

Why is everything linked to Bard's Tale 4 always kinda broken?! From the start of the project to the end... and even outside of it. E.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g! Almost unbelievable! :argh:

Or do I need to download the App and can only watch it on Android/iPhone? That would be ridiculous though... certainly not gonna watch something like that on a phone. Anyways... if anyone can tell me how they're playing this I might figure out what's wrong, browser etc.

Man, this is so sad. I try really hard to like BT4 despite all what has happened, but every time I find something which could be good, something else interferes and destroys it. It's like something doesn't want me to like BT4.
 
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Self-Ejected

theSavant

Self-Ejected
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
2,009
I could access a 5 minute video directly on Fargo's Twitter page. At least Twitter works correctly. This crappy periscope.tv website still doesn't play anything.
But there's only this 5 minute clip, and not the whole concert. Where is the replay of the whole concert? If someone links to a big fat periscope tv website about a "Live Concert" I expect no less than the whole live concert. Don't tell me it's only the 5 minute clip. Don't!
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
12,874
Maybe pay per minute view? Fargo’s ego is more inflated than my old Pamela Anderson floatation device.
 

Bohr

Arcane
Joined
Nov 20, 2012
Messages
1,878


"..If (The Bard's Tale) Barrows Deep repeats its forerunner's success" - slightly optimistic, I guess

 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
12,874
Is it my imagination or does that seem like a last minute setup in some pub’s conference room? Not giving out a “Rock on” performance imho. That clip was more than enough.. I skipped through it.

Meh!
 

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