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

[Ravn7]

Still around 45-55 fps most of the time on max.

A true horror.

;-)

 

[fantadomat]

Finished the Wizard tower today. That was a real and proper introductory dungeon, really well done. The pacing from encounter to puzzle to encounter flowed really well for me and they kept changing up the puzzles enough so that it never got tedious or too samey. Some of them were obviously easy, but that's fine. It's not fun if a puzzle is too hard and obscure that it halts your progress for hours since this isn't supposed to be a pure puzzler in that regard, but they do require enough neurons to finish in a timely manner. The end boss was pretty challenging as well and I managed to survive it just barely. Feels good playing a western dungeon crawler this good after such a long time. A shame it has so much negativity surrounding it so we'll probably never see another western blobber made by a bigger studio again, but then again I'm not at all surprised that this is happening. People were going to hate it regardless of technical issues just on grounds that it's a blobber. An extremely niche sub-genre within an already niche genre.

If there's any place on the internet where a niche game like this should find universal support, it's here or rpgwatch, and yet:

After 13 hours, I can't do another minute in this game. I'm glad some people like it, but for me, it's more like a task than a game. I'd rather go back and play Bard's Tale 1 Remastered again while I wait for Bard's Tale 2 to finish.

At least in Bard's Tale 1, I can:

* Create characters from the beginning of the game.
* Grind monsters to gain levels in order to face tougher challenges.
* Find items that actually benefit my party the majority of the time instead of useless junk.
* Cast from a huge list of spells instead of just having two or three things in a hotbar.
* Enjoy combat where every character gets to act every turn.
* Run at a frame rate more than 20 on my gaming rigs (what the fuck, guys).

I do fully agree with you mate,still in defence of ProphetSword he did tell wished us a good luck for liking the game and pointed out that it is his personal dislike of certain parts of the game. We shouldn't shy from critiquing the game.

 

[ProphetSword]

If there's any place on the internet where a niche game like this should find universal support, it's here or rpgwatch, and yet:

It's a very simple bit of code that helps my brain sort it out...

if (nicheGame == funGame)
{
     playGameAndEnjoy();
}
else
{
     deleteGameAndRequestRefund(Steam);
}

 

[Mortmal]

fantadomat if you are still stuck with a broken save, i just reached that step wich was bugged before pre patch , here's my save : http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=01759255519803536369

 

[Nyast]

Finished the game at 50 hours in. I won't spoil it, but let it be known that the end is completely linear ( more so than the mid game, which opened up ) and past a certain point you cannot turn back, so make sure you complete all your side quests before you enter the final dungeon(s).

Overall a servicable and fun game for what it is. Not a good rpg, but a fun little adventure. The puzzles got tiring and the devs never learned what pacing is, so until the end, be ready to eat the same variations of puzzles you've seen in the early game. This is litterally baffling. But overalll I'd rate it 7/10 if you can play in good conditions ( which was my case, I didn't have framerate issues and no crashes, and only experienced minor bugs other than maybe the bugged main quest, which has already been fixed in the first patch ).

 

[fantadomat]

fantadomat if you are still stuck with a broken save, i just reached that step wich was bugged before pre patch , here's my save : http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=01759255519803536369

Thanks mate,i appreciate it . Still most likely i will go for a new game after all the patches and i finish Kingmaker,but i will try it out,hope it is close to my build .

 

[Bara]

Got to the poison fog island and also picked up the rogue talent that puts my entire party in stealth at the start of combat. Does combat ever get more difficult again or have I trivialized the game by picking up that trait?

I can just sit through the first couple of turns building up spell power to chain effect the opposition down. The AI also does nothing but move around the battlefield and don't even try to counter buff themselves since they can't target me or do any kind of AOE.

Do I just need to bump it up to hard mode now? General I do normal first play through and then hard mode the second to try to add extra value to the experience. I suppose I could just kick that rogue out of the party.

 

[Nyast]

Got to the poison fog island and also picked up the rogue talent that puts my entire party in stealth at the start of combat. Does combat ever get more difficult again or have I trivialized the game by picking up that trait?

I can just sit through the first couple of turns building up spell power to chain effect the opposition down. The AI also does nothing but move around the battlefield and don't even try to counter buff themselves since they can't target me or do any kind of AOE.

Do I just need to bump it up to hard mode now? General I do normal first play through and then hard mode the second to try to add extra value to the experience. I suppose I could just kick that rogue out of the party.

Congrats, you reached about 50% of the game. There are a lot of combats coming after that, mostly trash enemies, so it's up to you to decide if you like the combat system enough to go for a challenge or if you want to rush to the end ( which still offers the occasional challenge or boss fights ).

 

[Volourn]

Bard's Tale 4: Barfing Bard

 

[toro]

Finished the game at 50 hours in. I won't spoil it, but let it be known that the end is completely linear ( more so than the mid game, which opened up ) and past a certain point you cannot turn back, so make sure you complete all your side quests before you enter the final dungeon(s).

Overall a servicable and fun game for what it is. Not a good rpg, but a fun little adventure. The puzzles got tiring and the devs never learned what pacing is, so until the end, be ready to eat the same variations of puzzles you've seen in the early game. This is litterally baffling. But overalll I'd rate it 7/10 if you can play in good conditions ( which was my case, I didn't have framerate issues and no crashes, and only experienced minor bugs other than maybe the bugged main quest, which has already been fixed in the first patch ).

There are 3 or 4 fags here which are still claiming that the end game is good but I'm glad that my instincts were right about this one: it doesn't get any better.

I think they filled the world with puzzles because (1) they are easy to copy-paste all over the place and (2) the game doesn't have a lot of content besides combat (and puzzles).

 

[Grampy_Bone]

they filled the world with puzzles

Puzzles are the lowest form of content. There's a reason why puzzle games are ubiquitous shovelware.

You generally spend more time manipulating the puzzle elements or traveling from node to node in an RPG than you do in actually solving them. It's always pointless busywork.

 

[fantadomat]

they filled the world with puzzles

Puzzles are the lowest form of content. There's a reason why puzzle games are ubiquitous shovelware.

You generally spend more time manipulating the puzzle elements or traveling from node to node in an RPG than you do in actually solving them. It's always pointless busywork.

Hexcells is really good puzzle game,would recommend it to anyone. It is really relaxing playing it once in a while.

 

[BEvers]

You generally spend more time manipulating the puzzle elements or traveling from node to node in an RPG than you do in actually solving them. It's always pointless busywork.

Certainly true of some of BT4's puzzles. The stream I watched reached its low point when the guy spent a full ten minutes pushing a block around.

 

[Nyast]

Finished the game at 50 hours in. I won't spoil it, but let it be known that the end is completely linear ( more so than the mid game, which opened up ) and past a certain point you cannot turn back, so make sure you complete all your side quests before you enter the final dungeon(s).

Overall a servicable and fun game for what it is. Not a good rpg, but a fun little adventure. The puzzles got tiring and the devs never learned what pacing is, so until the end, be ready to eat the same variations of puzzles you've seen in the early game. This is litterally baffling. But overalll I'd rate it 7/10 if you can play in good conditions ( which was my case, I didn't have framerate issues and no crashes, and only experienced minor bugs other than maybe the bugged main quest, which has already been fixed in the first patch ).

There are 3 or 4 fags here which are still claiming that the end game is good but I'm glad that my instincts were right about this one: it doesn't get any better.

I think they filled the world with puzzles because (1) they are easy to copy-paste all over the place and (2) the game doesn't have a lot of content besides combat (and puzzles).

I don't think BT4 is a bad game, but as an RPG it's certainly average ( even assuming all technical issues fixed ). In fact it does have a lot of content. Many cities / villages, a dozen major dungeons ( often on multiple floors ) plus many side quests dungeons, but it's #1 flaw is that it's stretching everything. There are too many combats with the same enemy types, too many puzzles with the same principle, many dozens of NPCs ( with no meaningful dialogues or shopping and forget about choice & consequences, there are none in this game ), even some of the maps are too big for their own sake. The same game could fit in 25-30 hours and would be much better paced ( but of course, RPG fans would be crying that as an RPG, it's too short ). So pick your poison.

I'll remember it fondly for its excellent dungeons. Many of the mid / end-game dungeons look unique and have pretty interesting designs. But I have no wish to replay it any time soon.

I do not regret backing that game on Kickstarter, but I'm not a hardcore BT original fan. If I was, I'd probably feel betrayed right now - as I am with another Kickstarter, Ultima Ascendent ( but that's another story ).

 

[Volourn]

"but as an RPG it's certainly average"

This, folks, is the example of the next top comic.

If fukin' Bard's tale 4 is ane xample of the 'average' RPG we are all as RPG fans fukked up the azz.


'average'. It is like stating I have 'average' looks. It is a bold face delusional lie.


FFS Don't spread lies, rumours, innuendo, and bullshitz.

 

[Great Deceiver]

The introduction and first three hours are easily the worst part of the game. It feels like a last-minute addition that completely shits on the player - as soon as you get to the first actual dungeon, it's almost like an entirely different thing.

They should have just had a basic chargen for a custom party and started you out in the mage tower. Instant success.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I bet the Shacknews intern disagrees with you, and that's the point. Grimrock is too solitary and introspective for most gamers.

Fortunately, neither Grimrock nor any other game need to appeal to most gamers; they just need to appeal to their target audience. In the case of The Bard's Tale IV, InXile deviated from the formula of the original Bard's Tale trilogy in both combat and exploration, while at the same time the game heavily "casualizing" the game in almost every respect. The result is an evidently unsuccessful attempt to reach a broad audience that has never played the original trilogy and wouldn't care for it, while at the same alienating the narrower audience that appreciates Wizardry-likes and might be nostalgic for the original Bard's Tale games. Changes made to combat were seemingly aimed in the direction of making it more tactical, and changes made to exploration placed a focus on mechanical puzzles, but they're so casualized that combat won't appeal much to the type of CRPG player who enjoys the tactical combat of Pool of Radiance and similar games, and exploration wouldn't appeal much to the type of CRPG player who enjoys the sort of puzzles found in Dungeon Master and similar games.The game is additionally hurt by the agonizingly-lengthy loading times (reportedly also poor framerates for many with older and/or cheaper computers) and by a prolonged, unskippable tutorial sequence in a dreary underground area and generic medieval city before the game finally allows you to create your own party and enter the first real dungeon.

Despite everything, I've been finding some enjoyment in The Bard's Tale IV, but it's a shadow of what it could have been.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

The introduction and first three hours are easily the worst part of the game. It feels like a last-minute addition that completely shits on the player - as soon as you get to the first actual dungeon, it's almost like an entirely different thing.

They should have just had a basic chargen for a custom party and started you out in the mage tower. Instant success.

Yeah, I just had no patience for the undercity. Maybe I'll give it another shot at some point.

 

[fantadomat]

Ok,i must ask you guys. Why don't you like the first map,the undercity? It is dark and brooding,it have good soundtrack to go with it,it is focused mainly on exploration and have unique puzzles connected to exploration,it is mainly combat and no spam puzzles. It is serious question.

 

[Roqua]

Ok,i must ask you guys. Why don't you like the first map,the undercity? It is dark and brooding,it have good soundtrack to go with it,it is focused mainly on exploration and have unique puzzles connected to exploration,it is mainly combat and no spam puzzles. It is serious question.

Because it didn't have enough scantily clad anime children, and clearly wasn't made for the sophisticated tastes of NuCodex bigwigs like Pokeman, Metal Gear whatever, Zelda, Bethesda games, or most jrpgs. This site doesn't scale to your fucking level, dude! PS2 Rules, mate! San Dimas High Football rules, bro! Pokeman forever!

 

[2house2fly]

Metal Gear is pretty good

 

[Roqua]

Metal Gear is pretty good

To general gamers, sure. To rpg aficionados - it isn't so doesn't register. This game being more popular than every crpg released in the last 20 years on an rpg site that is supposed to be filled with highbrow rpg-lovers pretty much sums up all my points and allows me to rest my case.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Ok,i must ask you guys. Why don't you like the first map,the undercity? It is dark and brooding,it have good soundtrack to go with it,it is focused mainly on exploration and have unique puzzles connected to exploration,it is mainly combat and no spam puzzles. It is serious question.

I was referring to upper Skara Brae specifically, which is by far the worst part about the game. Undercity is fine but the whole 'tutorial' setup is just fucking awful and it reeks of having been added at the last minute.

The first dungeon (mage tower) is awesome and would be a much better introduction to the game as it is.

 

[Roqua]

I was referring to upper Skara Brae specifically, which is by far the worst part about the game.

The upper city you have access to when you first start is extremely minor and short. What is wrong with it? Its more a flavor area/story set up than an actual area. What would have made it good? Pokeman and My Little Ponies?

 

[Great Deceiver]

Not existing at all. Just give me a fucking chardev for my party members instead of feeding me this piecemeal one companion at a time bullsht - all it takes is 2 screens of succint backstory and dumping my party in the mage tower, which is incidentally a very well-designed dungeon.

I don't consider 3 hours of handholding through painfully railroaded, shit-stained corridors with static prosper NPCs standing around extremely minor, especially when thinking about future playthroughs.

How can you not see that the entire introduction is a popamole concession made for retards with no redeeming qualities whatsoever?