Bard's Tale IV - Director's Cut Review
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DArtagnan
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I tried getting into this a couple of times, but I just can't.
Not quite sure why. Something to do with the art style - which I don't really like, and the combat system that doesn't quite work for me, either. Same goes for the character system.
Also, it just has this.... off feeling about it.
I do like the music, though.
Not quite sure why. Something to do with the art style - which I don't really like, and the combat system that doesn't quite work for me, either. Same goes for the character system.
Also, it just has this.... off feeling about it.
I do like the music, though.
GabrielMP_19
Vault Survivor
I played the original version for many hours but eventually stopped. It was an ok game. However, I did lose interest half way.
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The art style didn't bother me, and the music was great, but almost all elements of gameplay were completely and utterly wack. As if it was made by some people who had absolutely no clue about the genre or their target audience. Such a massive disappointment.
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I have a copy of this that I received from someone here at The Watch iirc. I've never played it though because I have a hangup about playing sequels if I haven't played the previous games in the series.
Seeing as how I'll probably never finish BT 1-3, I should just get over it and give this a try.
Seeing as how I'll probably never finish BT 1-3, I should just get over it and give this a try.
This is a bit of a loaded and one-sided response. I thought the game was quite good before they 'enhanced' it which cleaned up some of the areas and game mechanic. K did a video review and he too quite enjoyed it. The game does have some non-required but interesting areas that are blocked by rather difficult puzzles and a lot of not so difficult puzzles. Of the series bt-3 is the game i least enjoyed and i suspect generally regarded as the worse of the bunch.Playing BT1-3 might be worthwhile on its own, but you definitely shouldn't play them just for the purpose of playing this terrible game afterwards
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Like GabrielMP, I played a lot of hours of this (Director's cut) but didn't finish it.
The game is basically a giant puzzle box, and is best seen as such.Whilst there is character development/skill tree etc, it is basically background to the puzzle box.
You start with the combat, which is very much a puzzle - you position your chars and their attack moves to damage regions on the battle "board" in such a way as to try and resolve the combat in a single swoop (if pos).
The puzzle then scales to the areas, which each have sub-puzzles that unlock a larger puzzle which then opens the way to the next area, which unlocks a larger chunk of the game and so on.
It's really nice to have so many puzzles in the game, but ultimately it felt less of an game world / RPG and more of a giant intricate lock.
For example, many areas have (fixed) battles which will be much higher level and effectively un-winnable until you have completed another area. Gradually teasing out the winnable battles allows progression, and the solution of another puzzle, which provides what you need to access the next bit, which gives you the strength to defeat.... etc. There's a touch of metroidvania, but it feels very mechanical.
The original games didn't feel quite so contrived, although I didn't play them much, preferring Might & Magic, if I'm honest.
Anyway, I *did* enjoy my time with the game, but then I like puzzle games. I'd like to go back and finish it, but probably never will as I find it difficult to re-engage with games after long breaks. Just don't expect a dungeon crawl in the typical sense.
The game is basically a giant puzzle box, and is best seen as such.Whilst there is character development/skill tree etc, it is basically background to the puzzle box.
You start with the combat, which is very much a puzzle - you position your chars and their attack moves to damage regions on the battle "board" in such a way as to try and resolve the combat in a single swoop (if pos).
The puzzle then scales to the areas, which each have sub-puzzles that unlock a larger puzzle which then opens the way to the next area, which unlocks a larger chunk of the game and so on.
It's really nice to have so many puzzles in the game, but ultimately it felt less of an game world / RPG and more of a giant intricate lock.
For example, many areas have (fixed) battles which will be much higher level and effectively un-winnable until you have completed another area. Gradually teasing out the winnable battles allows progression, and the solution of another puzzle, which provides what you need to access the next bit, which gives you the strength to defeat.... etc. There's a touch of metroidvania, but it feels very mechanical.
The original games didn't feel quite so contrived, although I didn't play them much, preferring Might & Magic, if I'm honest.
Anyway, I *did* enjoy my time with the game, but then I like puzzle games. I'd like to go back and finish it, but probably never will as I find it difficult to re-engage with games after long breaks. Just don't expect a dungeon crawl in the typical sense.
I have played and completed the original trilogy, the remastered trilogy and the directors cut of 4.
I thought BT4 was quite good and I am probably about as hardcore a bards tale fan as they come. I own original boxed copies of the first 3 for commodore 64 and for PC. I also have a sealed copy of BT4 collectors edition.
It is pretty much impossible to replicate the bards tale combat system into a modern game without directly copy and pasting it which would be highly unpalatable to most gamers - even old school ones like me. I thought the BT4 combat system was a pretty solid attempt at modernising it. I haven't actually read about any viable alternatives though.
When I played the remasters I used AutoHotKey to create 4 different macros which I used for the majority of fights - 2 for handling single group fights and 2 for handling multi group fights. It just isn't fun typing the same spells over and over again - how many times do you really want to type MAMA or NUKE?
I thought BT4 was quite good and I am probably about as hardcore a bards tale fan as they come. I own original boxed copies of the first 3 for commodore 64 and for PC. I also have a sealed copy of BT4 collectors edition.
It is pretty much impossible to replicate the bards tale combat system into a modern game without directly copy and pasting it which would be highly unpalatable to most gamers - even old school ones like me. I thought the BT4 combat system was a pretty solid attempt at modernising it. I haven't actually read about any viable alternatives though.
When I played the remasters I used AutoHotKey to create 4 different macros which I used for the majority of fights - 2 for handling single group fights and 2 for handling multi group fights. It just isn't fun typing the same spells over and over again - how many times do you really want to type MAMA or NUKE?
Carnifex
SasqWatch
I played the original version yet haven't replayed it as of yet, when I do I'll be doing the director's version for sure.
Vitirr
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I tried to play when it came out and it was unplayable, literally, there was a game breaking bug at the beginning that affected only foreign language systems apparently, although I was playing in English.
So I waited for the director's cut and I really liked it. There were perhaps too many puzzles for my taste but some of them were really entertaining in my opinion. Other were a bit repetitive after you figured out how to solve that kind of puzzle.
Unlike others, I liked the combat and the cheerful art style. Music was superb too, and even if it was not top notch graphics there were some locations really worth looking at.
Character system is really bad though, although not so evident at the beginning. The problem is that in combat you can only have a few active skills at a time, so it makes little sense to pick more than a few of those and go as deep as possible with them rather than diversify. This could be ok unless it get to a point in which you have no more room for specialization nor passive skills to choose from, and you need to select other active skills just for the sake of spending skill points but it is all useless.
The big problem for me though was difficulty curve. Halfway through the game it became so frikking easy that it was no fun anymore. Once you fill all your roster of characters you can't lose a fight, which in a dungeon crawler full of fights is quite bad. Another pacing issue but less important was the exploration puzzle minigame of hunting for elven weapons. By the time you unlock the full potential of those, they are nothing special and even wors than the highest quality regular weapons, which you will also have found by then.
I didn't finish it due to the issue with the combat difficulty. I thought that perhaps if I limit the number of characters to use in the group it may remain challenging, although that feels a bit lame.
So I waited for the director's cut and I really liked it. There were perhaps too many puzzles for my taste but some of them were really entertaining in my opinion. Other were a bit repetitive after you figured out how to solve that kind of puzzle.
Unlike others, I liked the combat and the cheerful art style. Music was superb too, and even if it was not top notch graphics there were some locations really worth looking at.
Character system is really bad though, although not so evident at the beginning. The problem is that in combat you can only have a few active skills at a time, so it makes little sense to pick more than a few of those and go as deep as possible with them rather than diversify. This could be ok unless it get to a point in which you have no more room for specialization nor passive skills to choose from, and you need to select other active skills just for the sake of spending skill points but it is all useless.
The big problem for me though was difficulty curve. Halfway through the game it became so frikking easy that it was no fun anymore. Once you fill all your roster of characters you can't lose a fight, which in a dungeon crawler full of fights is quite bad. Another pacing issue but less important was the exploration puzzle minigame of hunting for elven weapons. By the time you unlock the full potential of those, they are nothing special and even wors than the highest quality regular weapons, which you will also have found by then.
I didn't finish it due to the issue with the combat difficulty. I thought that perhaps if I limit the number of characters to use in the group it may remain challenging, although that feels a bit lame.
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I completed the Directors Cut of Bard's Tale IV during the first year of the pandemic lockdowns. I found it wanting in most ways and was pretty disappointed with it overall. The dungeons especially were weakly designed with very little challenge compared to the originals. I never felt disoriented or lost and remembering what encounters to return to was straight forward. The combat was easy to master for me and severely lacking in options. The system hamstrung itself in many ways with its limitations and nothing felt really fulfilling about the character building. I found it less fun overall than say the combat from Lords of Xulima which is probably its closest cousin in style. The resurrection and travesty treatment of the series previous villains was the icing of the cake of my distaste. For a game that was kickstarted and marketed towards the hardcore fans, it was almost in the opposite category for me. A missed opportunity, methinks.
To be honest, Devil Whiskey was the real Bard's Tale IV for me from a template perspective and I think adapting that system and expanding on it with even more options would make for a more pure Bard's Tale experience. I know I'd prefer it that way rather than the failed experiment that we got with BTIV. The likelihood of a BT V seems highly unlikely at this point and I largely blame inXile's inability to cater to the old fans adequately for this.
This game was the start of a line of modern cRPGs which I've just seemed to bounce off, not complete and not found a great deal of enjoyment out of. As a result, I've done more competitve MAME gaming than ever before in the last three years.
But I did recently buy Solasta on sale - perhaps I should give it a go soon and see if I can restore some of my lost faith.
To be honest, Devil Whiskey was the real Bard's Tale IV for me from a template perspective and I think adapting that system and expanding on it with even more options would make for a more pure Bard's Tale experience. I know I'd prefer it that way rather than the failed experiment that we got with BTIV. The likelihood of a BT V seems highly unlikely at this point and I largely blame inXile's inability to cater to the old fans adequately for this.
This game was the start of a line of modern cRPGs which I've just seemed to bounce off, not complete and not found a great deal of enjoyment out of. As a result, I've done more competitve MAME gaming than ever before in the last three years.
But I did recently buy Solasta on sale - perhaps I should give it a go soon and see if I can restore some of my lost faith.
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Vitirr
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Wasn't inXile working on a virtual reality game based on the Bard's Tale universe?
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Yeah, Mage’s Tale. It came out long ago, actually before Bard’s Tale IV.
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