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

[Grauken]

Is the low FPS thing really all that relevant in an TB-based game? Or is it so choppy that just moving around becomes annoying

 

[Roqua]

Now for some non-edge lord, "I'm so cool for helping to destroy crpgs because as long as I get more Pokeman and Zelda and Dragon Age I have all the rpg backlog I could ever want. Tee-hee. I'm 12 and retarded," questions.

1) Anyone know what you do with the elven trees? I found two so far. The one in the guild won't fit the axe elven weapon I got as a bonus item with the wine and ale, that the riddle seems to want? Any clues on what I should be doing? I did figure out that you can upgrade these items by inspecting them. I got the hilt one for it, but the handle one has 4 sections that seem to have eight possibilities each. That's 4k combos. Anyone get that one?

2) Anyone know if there is a way I can get the answers to the circle graph thing without printing out and pretending I'm 12 and doing a little kid art project?

3) Is there a way to reset skills of the recruitable companions? Since it has base classes, and from what I understand the recrtuiables have content tied to them, I don't mind using them if I can respect them? I picked bludgeon for my main, and the fighter guy also has a point in bludgeons, which is very suboptimal.

4) I haven't got the last recrtuitable yet, which I am assuming is a mage. I'm assuming they stay with me and I can just spend time with and focus on these 4? Or does my party go up to six? Do they all have actual content or is it just talking shit I can ignore and make my own more optimal characters?

Is this game perfect? No. It does a lot of shit I definitely disagree with. But again, after MMX, this is the in all likelihood the last chance of a big budget blobber being made. If you like blobbers in general, you would do well not to kill off the type of games you at least claim to like. And I despise seeing the best crpg makers since Troika get Troika'd by the same retarded idiots who hate crpgs and say utterly retarded nonsense like the retard Urthor above.

You fucking morons make acne-covered basement dwelling low T, down syndrome virgins all look like Brad Pit with the minds of Steven Hawkins. If given a chance I'd rub my anal leakage all over your gums after I rape all your face holes.

 

[Jinn]

Is the low FPS thing really all that relevant in an TB-based game? Or is it so choppy that just moving around becomes annoying

I don't think it's really that big of a deal functionally. I think what has got people going nuts is that the game's visuals don't seem to warrant such immense GPU and CPU power usage.

 

[newtmonkey]

Performance didn't bother me much, even on a gaming laptop (1050 ti, for reference; 25-30 fps on all ultra settings, moving a couple settings down to med/high got it to 30-45 fps). I think people are pissed on principle, as the game doesn't look nearly good enough to run like this.

It's basically similar to M&MX.

 

[Grauken]

Art direction in M&MX was leagues better than this, BT4 faces are Oblivion-level terrible

 

[Roqua]

We seem to be way over quota on crpg-philistine art fags on this site.

 

[Jenkem]

I'm just going to replay The Witness while stopping periodically to play SMT: Strange Journey Redux on the 3DS. Not only will the puzzles be better, the combat and dungeon crawling will be better too!

 

[aweigh]

Any desire to play this went out the window as soon as I read how stats, items and combat work.

EDIT: No wonder they never mentioned a single thing about any of this during development, they knew they'd have bad word-of-mouth.

 

[Electryon]

I remember when this game was announced and they showed the SUPPOSED gameplay footage saying to myself "gee, that looks pretty stunning". When I opened this game this afternoon, I felt like I was staring at a puddle of mud. It isn't JUST the optimization issues, it's that it has optimization issues even though it basically looks like complete garbage. And I frankly wouldn't even care about the graphics not being what they were advertised to be, if the gameplay wasn't a sluggish mess.

The simple fact is that both Legend of Grimrock games are not only infinitely better, but they, you know, run well on machines they are supposed to run well on. While of course being far closer to the spirit of the original games than this one is. And I don't even care so much about the last part, if it wasn't for everything else wrong with it.

 

[Agame]

If given a chance I'd rub my anal leakage all over your gums after I rape all your face holes.

You seem very angry.

I will probably regret this, but I feel the need to respond. Its possible that what these people want is a game that returns to the values of the classics and then actually iterates and evolves the gameplay in meaningful and interesting ways. Instead of what we seem to be getting, that is products that name drop classic games and then attempt to shoehorn in all the terrible gameplay systems that will appeal to the modern gamer, along with an (apparently failed) attempt to provide shiny graphics, vioce acting etc etc, to entice those modern gamers.

If a company says they are making an old school blobber then give me a goddamn, balls out, no holds barred, blobber experience. Not a half arsed, compromised, lets try and make something that will appeal to everyone game.

At that point I could care less if these kickstarter nostalgia exploiting companies go belly up and vanish from existence. There will always be the bunker dwelling maniac Cleves in the world who are willing to make proper old school games.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

but the core mechanics is total shit. even shittier than P:E.

Looking for a real blobber? Try Labyrinth of Refrain:Coven of Dusk. Of course it has its dose of animu kawai cancer

But I will take animu cancer for a real blobbber with real mechanics over SnakeoilSalesman Popamole AIDS riddled BT4.

 

[aweigh]

Y'all already know what game I'd recommend to play over this.

But aside from that, I find it funny that Dragon Quest 11 has more complex mechanics than BT4... truly a sign of peak 2018.

:dispirited lulz:

 

[Roqua]

PEEKACHEW!!!!! My T-levels are getting dangerously high, Peekachew! Please pass the Edamame and Tofu Infused Avocado Toast and lets break out the controllers and play a real rpg like Zelda!!! That should crash them right down to our normal super low levels! Phew - my balls almosty produced viable sperm! That was a close one, buddy!

here will always be the bunker dwelling maniac Cleves in the world who are willing to make proper old school games.

Sure, if you have a backlog of hot hipster shit and console retard games waiting 20 years to play the odd game in the crpg genre you sort-of-don't mind playing a game from every once in a great while will work great for you. But, if you retards successfully Troika this company not only is the most steady source of good crpgs not making games, but you retards are almost definitely putting the last nail in the coffin of anything but super-indie blobbers being made after what you fucking morons did with MMX (which had full party gen, proper itemization, and wasn't a nonrandom/systematic game you retards blabber the praises of all the time).

Even if crpgs aren't for you - why all the glee and coordinated effort to tank the last professionally made blobber attempt and consistent crpg producer? Crpgs would be in a much better place if you guys didn't do the same thing to Troika three games in a row that you have done to inXile.

 

[MRY]

Just fired up the game to look at performance on my 3 year old rig. Less than a minute load time (HDD), 30-40 FPS at all Ultra settings.

Maybe, like the flu, it affects the strongest worst of all?

 

[Electryon]

PEEKACHEW!!!!! My T-levels are getting dangerously high, Peekachew! Please pass the Edamame and Tofu Infused Avocado Toast and lets break out the controllers and play a real rpg like Zelda!!! That should crash them right down to our normal super low levels! Phew - my balls almosty produced viable sperm! That was a close one, buddy!

here will always be the bunker dwelling maniac Cleves in the world who are willing to make proper old school games.

Sure, if you have a backlog of hot hipster shit and console retard games waiting 20 years to play the odd game in the crpg genre you sort-of-don't mind playing a game from every once in a great while will work great for you. But, if you retards successfully Troika this company not only is the most steady source of good crpgs not making games, but you retards are almost definitely putting the last nail in the coffin of anything but super-indie blobbers being made after what you fucking morons did with MMX (which had full party gen, proper itemization, and wasn't a nonrandom/systematic game you retards blabber the praises of all the time).

Even if crpgs aren't for you - why all the glee and coordinated effort to tank the last professionally made blobber attempt and consistent crpg producer? Crpgs would be in a much better place if you guys didn't do the same thing to Troika three games in a row that you have done to inXile.

Nobody is gleeful, I was looking forward to playing the game today. When I saw it ran like complete shit no matter what I did with the settings on a GTX 1060 I simply got a refund for the damn thing. There is no excuse to release a game that is this graphically mediocre with these kind of optimization issues. inXile isn't some one or two man show working off their davenport. This is a fairly major release and you only get one chance to make a first impression. I mean, did anyone even play-test this game?? Do they not understand that people who invest money in their PC hardware expect a smooth experience if they meet or exceed the recommended settings?? This game was sold almost exclusively on it's visuals for a large part of the development cycle, and not only are the visuals NOTHING like they were promised, but the game can't even handle the ones it has.

 

[PEACH]

after MMX, this is the in all likelihood the last chance of a big budget blobber being made.

If this is anything like MMX that would be for the best.

I dont understand the need to protect a game simply because it may be the last chance for a big budget attempt at the genre. There are plenty of games, even fairly recently, that seem to provide a better general experience for blobber fans on PC alone, not to mention handhelds. Grimoire, Labyrinth of Refrain, Lord of the Seal, 7th Circle, Operation Abyss/Babel, Grimrock 1-2, Paper Sorcerer, Elminage, etc. I haven't played half of them but the point is that there's no dearth of options here so people can probably get away with being critical and come away unscathed, assuming Bard's Tale isn't giving them what they want in the first place. People keep making blobbers and people will keep making blobbers, we might even get Grimoire V2 one day.

You shouldn't hold a game like this up as anything more than it is for better or worse: another game in the genre, one that is as open to criticism as any of its peers regardless of what it might represent in your mind. One day I might play it when it won't run like shit on my PC and maybe I'll really enjoy it, maybe I won't. What I definitely won't do is give it special treatment just cos Fargo had his shitty paws in it and it cost 10 million bucks to crank out. I don't care if a game is professional, I care if it's good.

 

[Bara]

Few hours in and I like it but it certainly doesn't capture the same magic that Wizards & Warriors has or Bards Tale 1 remaster.

If you had to chose I"d say play between games I'd say definitively go for Wizards & Warriors first if you never played it before like me and way more value per dollar.

Thankfully I've got the time to play both it and Bards Tale 4.

 

[Kem0sabe]

How long till another kickstarter to keep the company afloat after this shit bombs?

Or will Fargo just keep scamming the Japanese until they put a yakuza hit out on him.

 

[Taxnomore]

So I finally got my BT4 key but after reading the rest of the posts here, all I want is my Bard's Tale 1 key. Thanks Brian.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Boy, if people thought Might and Magic X was popamole and "bad" blobber, you gotta check this game.

Not even sure what to think about it for now. But if you like "blobbers", it's not that.

P. much. I 'd hard yesterday when I checked the stats and gear, and then went into actual combat to see the, uhm, let's call them "mechanics".

It's pretty much got the depth of a tablet game, yep.

 

[Haba]

No need to even read the reviews. The fact that Roqua is white knighting the game makes it irredeemable trash.

So... anyone wanna buy a collectors edition?

 

[you know what time it is]

3 years and counting, will never get tired of posting this in every inExile thread

 

[Zombra]

So I finally got my BT4 key but after reading the rest of the posts here, all I want is my Bard's Tale 1 key. Thanks Brian.

Ehh I'd say give BT4 a shot taxalot, I think you may be able to appreciate what this is instead of being disappointed in what it isn't.

 

[cvv]

Two hours in and I'm having fun. I'm liking the basic idea of the combat grid but alas, it's too limited. I've been waiting for ages for someone to replicate the Betrayal at Krondor combat system, I guess this is as close as it gets nowadays. Can't give players too much space to move, might confuse them. Combat so far is fairly simple but it's still just a beginning and I'm still stuck with 2 chars. Plus simple combat isn't necessarily a game stopper for me, blobbers have always had very simple combat including the all time greats like BaK and all combat eventually turns into a repetitive routine. So far it's fun tho.

The stat system is a disappointment tho. The stat dumb down reached a new lows in this game. It's Witcher 3 bad. A simple combat is fine if you have an interesting chardev system but so far this seems even more barebones than Diablo 3. Just a few super basic stats and then skill slots. Bleh. Hopefully it'll get a bit more interesting once I finally get a bigger party.

The slow start is my second problem, I guess they were aiming roughly at the Lands of Lore or BaK model where party composition and management is tied to the narrative but I just prefer the Wizardry 7 mode - creating a party even before the game starts and then having to stick with it for the rest of the game.

A minor gripe - hopefully they'll add the grid movement soon, could be just me but free movement doesn't feel right, as if the world wasn't built for it. It's like playing Grimrock with free movement, it's just off.

But again, it IS fun. Exploration is great, setting and writing not outright retarded, combat still hasn't turn repetitive and the puzzle load is acceptable. Graphix is a mixed bag (did this thing really cost 10 mil. dorra?) and the game runs like dogshit but I'm an old warhorse, I can roll through minor technical issues like a panzer through Potato cavalry. So far 7/10.

 

[Jinn]

Unity runs like dogshit as usual but for me this is fairly minor

Unity is not the culprit this time. It is a very poorly optimized Unreal Engine 4.