Bard's Tale The Bard's Tale IV Pre-Release Thread [RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Infinitron]

Brighton, England. RPS and Eurogamer previews soon?

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Shackleton]

That place really IS special. £9 for a bloody cheeseburger with whatever-the-hell 'stinky sauce' is and garlic mayo! £2 extra to add a slice of bacon on a burger?!

Remind me never to eat at gimmicky burger vans in Brighton!

*Edit* For comparison, our local 'gourmet' burger van sells quarterpounder cheese burgers with onions for £2.20. Admittedly that's in Nottingham so 'oop North' a bit but come on, £9 for a burger! My sensibilities are offended!

 

[DemonKing]

*Edit* For comparison, our local 'gourmet' burger van sells quarterpounder cheese burgers with onions for £2.20. Admittedly that's in Nottingham so 'oop North' a bit but come on, £9 for a burger! My sensibilities are offended!

Come on...it's not like Goblin meat grows on trees in the UK. They're probably importing that and the tariffs must be big, particularly if it's live export and has to be butchered once it arrives...

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Nyast]

Ironically, that's what I was expecting Ultima Underworld Ascendant to look like

 

[fantadomat]

This game could end up being good. It looks like a modern iteration of blobers.

 

[frajaq]

This game could end up being good. It looks like a modern iteration of blobers.

yeah i'm warming up to this game, it might be kinda fun

 

[Dorateen]

good

modern iteration of blobers.

An oxymoron.

 

[fantadomat]

good

modern iteration of blobers.

An oxymoron.

Still the only thing we have.

 

[Strange Fellow]

good

modern iteration of blobers.

An oxymoron.

Wizardry 8 was a "modern iteration of blobbers" and it was excellent, so it's not like it can't be done. I think the tennis court combat system could work well, but everything so far, from the skill tree to the animations to the UI, looks cheap and mobile gamey. That's the real problem imo, not that it tries something new.

 

[Infinitron]

Wacky!

 

[Sacred82]

mad (hair) props

 

[aweigh]

Man I really want a burger.

Also you can't do a "modern iteration" of a blobber, it's the same as saying you're making a modern iteration of an FPS, or that you're making a "modern iteration" of Mario.

 

[fantadomat]

Man I really want a burger.

Also you can't do a "modern iteration" of a blobber, it's the same as saying you're making a modern iteration of an FPS, or that you're making a "modern iteration" of Mario.

 

[Zombra]

3:30 character creation spotlight video!



As expected, fairly simplistic stuff: pick a base class 'archetype' from 4 choices, pick a special ability race 'culture' from 7 choices, pick a portrait and voice from ? choices, then go to the skill tree which could be decently interesting.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Oh boy is that fighter vegetarian?

 

[Strange Fellow]

As expected, fairly simplistic stuff

Pretty much. The skill tree seems huge, but skyrim-ish. Visually, it reminds me a lot of the chargen in D:OS. At least in that game you could choose your stats, which doesn't seem to be an option here. Very disappointing, I was hoping that character development would be good at least, but this game is looking half-assed every step of the way atm.

 

[Dodo1610]

A dungeon crawler without customisable stats, do they think there is a market for casual dungeon crawlers. I somehow doubt that.

 

[Zombra]

As expected, fairly simplistic stuff

Pretty much. The skill tree seems huge, but skyrim-ish. Visually, it reminds me a lot of the chargen in D:OS. At least in that game you could choose your stats, which doesn't seem to be an option here. Very disappointing, I was hoping that character development would be good at least, but this game is looking half-assed every step of the way atm.

The thing I have to keep reminding myself: this isn't and was never going to be a stats-based old school RPG; it's a card game based on abilities and positions. In that light, it's hard to call this "half-assed" because the card game doesn't look bad at all. Think of it as building a deck instead of building a party and you'll have the right mindset to enjoy this.

 

[Infinitron]

Brian Fargo in YouTube comments:

Brian Fargo 25 minutes ago (edited)

Fear not that this game is casual, it's extremely tactical and complex. It's been nice to see folks around the office using different strategies to get by the tough battles. I'd rather have the game too hard than too easy. All the QA feedback has been super positive. We hope you'll enjoy too.

 

[Strange Fellow]

As expected, fairly simplistic stuff

Pretty much. The skill tree seems huge, but skyrim-ish. Visually, it reminds me a lot of the chargen in D:OS. At least in that game you could choose your stats, which doesn't seem to be an option here. Very disappointing, I was hoping that character development would be good at least, but this game is looking half-assed every step of the way atm.

The thing I have to keep reminding myself: this isn't and was never going to be a stats-based old school RPG; it's a card game based on abilities and positions. In that light, it's hard to call this "half-assed" because the card game doesn't look bad at all. Think of it as building a deck instead of building a party and you'll have the right mindset to enjoy this.

Never played any of those Magic the Gathering games or whatever, so I have no frame of reference. I still think that there's nothing to prevent it from having a good character system, but the sooner I resign myself to lowered expectations the better, I suppose. It will apparently have spinners and stuff though, so a part of me is still stubbornly hoping for good/creative dungeons.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Brian Fargo 25 minutes ago (edited)

Fear not that this game is casual, it's extremely tactical and complex.

Oh good, glad we cleared that up.

 

[Zombra]

I still think that there's nothing to prevent it from having a good character system, but the sooner I resign myself to lowered expectations the better, I suppose.

Sure, if you want to look at it that way. If RPG is automatically "higher" than other games, then yes, another game type would be "lower". My point is that the gameplay actually does look good, just not of the type that many are expecting.

It will apparently have spinners and stuff though, so a part of me is still stubbornly hoping for good/creative dungeons.

Don't hold your breath for the true spinner experience. Spinners, teleporters etc. rely on the fact that in a cheap tile-based engine, every wall and every hallway looks exactly the same as every other. That won't be the case here. Plus the game will be playable "out of gridlock", so I don't know how spinners could possibly work. I'm hopeful that there will be tricks and stuff, but .... who knows really.

Never played any of those Magic the Gathering games or whatever, so I have no frame of reference.

I never played Magic either, but modern card games can be super deep and interesting. BT4 reminds me a bit of Mansions of Madness, a super fun card game/RPG hybrid. Give it a chance but yes, let go of your expectations that it will be anything like previous BT games.

 

[Strange Fellow]

If RPG is automatically "higher" than other games, then yes, another game type would be "lower".

It is if the game is called Bard's Tale ¯\_(ツ)_/ ¯
Actually, for me it's true in most cases anyway, so I'm still disappointed. It's not as if I'm presenting an objective critique here or anything.

My point is that the gameplay actually does look good, just not of the type that many are expecting.

Yeah, but good gameplay is even better if it's backed up by a good character system. In an RPG, that is.

Don't hold your breath for the true spinner experience. Spinners, teleporters etc. rely on the fact that in a cheap tile-based engine, every wall and every hallway looks exactly the same as every other. That won't be the case here. Plus the game will be playable "out of gridlock", so I don't know how spinners could possibly work. I'm hopeful that there will be tricks and stuff, but .... who knows really.

I know this, but that specific part of my brain won't listen to reason.