Bard's Tale Bard's Tale 4: DC is Mint

[cvv]

let’s agree to disagree on the puzzle quality

from my perspective, there are far too many of them *and* they are too easy

Difficulty of anything is obviously super subjective.

Let's just say the puzzles aren't exactly on the level of the Voynich Manuscript that people have been trying to decipher for the last 600 years. But they aren't dumbed down to the level of mentally handicapped or game journalists either.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Wait! So not?

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Eh? Wth? Why is YouTube showing CAPTCHA now instead of video?

Nvm—- rebooted phone. It was doing it to ALL videos.

 

[anvi]

Get an ad blocker.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

The lack of free party creation was such a bummer to me, esp when they took away the one good mage and replaced her with a garbage mage, and then made me fight enemies that could only be harmed by magic that he DOESN'T HAVE. So I had to use my warrior to deal mental damage to actually win battles. Argh. Fuck off.

Honestly I'm not sure how you play Bard's Tale 1/2/3 and decide the systems in this game are in any way appropriate. It's just some asshole's pet game system with the BT name slapped on it. I can see the fatass dev, hairline well past his ears, neck coated in cheeto dust, sanctimoniously explaining why creating a full party at the start is heteronormative oppression.

 

[Glop_dweller]

The principle thing wrong with BT4 is its use of the name; same as with Bethesda's FO3 abomination.

BT4 is a Frayed Knights clone:

Sadly (and inexplicably) it's not a Bard's Tale clone.
Like Bethesda with FO3 before it, InXile is exploiting a famous reputation to sell an unrelated game.

As with Fallout, the sequel needed evolution (built upon the series' foundation), not a malignant mutation into something wholly unrecognizable.

Spoiler

Also like Fallout, the heads were paramount, and with modern 3D engines they could have had heads par with the Nvidia [2007] head demo.

Spoiler

Shame on InXile and Bethesda both for not having it so.
_______

...aside

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Ming the merciless?

 

[grimace]

Bard's Tale 4 Directors Cut is a Frayed Knights clone and not a Bard's Tale Clone?
Thanks for clearing that up Glop_dweller

 

[Saxon1974]

There are as some good things in the game, but ultimately, it does not feel like a bards tale game in gameplay or atmosphere. The Scottish vibe while kind of fun was not in the originals at all so it didn't work for me.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

A game without an in-built audience, that diverged from its predecessors in combat and exploration, while not appealing to fans of any existing CRPG subgenre (or existing hybrid CRPGs, or even existing odd difficult-to-characterize CRPGs). I recall that some of the advertising for The Bard's Tale 4 attempted to promote the game to fans of Skyrim, who would probably run screaming from the first real puzzle and who wouldn't care for the turn-based combat. Which is a pity, since it isn't a bad game, though it could and should have been much better.

 

[Saxon1974]

A game without an in-built audience, that diverged from its predecessors in combat and exploration, while not appealing to fans of any existing CRPG subgenre (or existing hybrid CRPGs, or even existing odd difficult-to-characterize CRPGs). I recall that some of the advertising for The Bard's Tale 4 attempted to promote the game to fans of Skyrim, who would probably run screaming from the first real puzzle and who wouldn't care for the turn-based combat. Which is a pity, since it isn't a bad game, though it could and should have been much better.

Yes and not be called Bards Tale 4.

 

[DemonKing]

There are as some good things in the game, but ultimately, it does not feel like a bards tale game in gameplay or atmosphere. The Scottish vibe while kind of fun was not in the originals at all so it didn't work for me.

I agree - I think the game is ok but it doesn't really bear any resemblance to the original trilogy, even though it pinches some of its lore and then plops it in its faux Scottish setting. The combat and exploration are probably the best thing about it. The puzzles are mainly just tiresome busy work and the itemisation is terrible.

 

[Dwarvophile]

There are as some good things in the game, but ultimately, it does not feel like a bards tale game in gameplay or atmosphere. The Scottish vibe while kind of fun was not in the originals at all so it didn't work for me.

Scottish vibe !!! Argh, I was starting yo get hyped but if this is all plaids, bagpipes and heroin addicts no amount of adventure & turn based awesomeness will make this game bearable for me