The Bard's Tale - Added to Steam

[Dhruin]

Thought I'd mention inXile's Bard's Tale was added to Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/app/41900) a couple of days ago and is currently on sale.
More information. (http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?newsbit=13994)

[Daroou]

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/bardstale

[skavenhorde]

Would you care to elaborate a bit with the reason for the link?

[DarNoor]

I remember being so disppointed when i heard about this game. I thought it was going to be an update version of the original. But, it was a totally different game. It had nothing to do with the original. that i why i'm not very excited about the Wasteland rumors.

[Vistaer]

If we can get the original Bards tales on steam, compatible with modern systems, I'd buy that. But if that happens, I want Wizardry, Zork, and the Ultimas too :)

[Daroou]

Would you care to elaborate a bit with the reason for the link?

Helps people decide if they want to bite your promo headline.

[skavenhorde]

Ahhh, makes sense now. You could throw in an opinion or two as well ;)

As for me, funny game. Loved the parody. Gameplay was decent for an action game, but wish he would of went with a more traditional kind of rpg instead of an action rpg. It didn't have to be The Bard's Tale of old, but it could have been so much more than it was.

Now he needs to do Wasteland for the 21st century, but with less twitch action this time around.

[Badesumofu]

Well the headline seems to be 100% accurate, so I'm not sure what this poster means about biting.

As for the game itself, the poster's post implies that the poster has an opinion about the game, and as someone who has never played any Bard's Tale game, or really has much idea what kind of game it is, I'd have liked to have read some more opinions about it.

Thanks Skaven, for your opinion, anyway. Gives me a fair idea about whether I'm interested in the game. (sounds like I'm not)

[Dhruin]

Helps people decide if they want to bite your promo headline.

I don't understand what this means. Can you explain?

[DArtagnan]

I seem to recall trying it and thinking it was a travesty of epic proportions, but that's about it.

I was also a big fan of the originals, so that might have something to do with it.

[Sir_Brennus]

I seem to recall trying it and thinking it was a travesty of epic proportions, but that's about it.

IIRC that was the idea behind the game. As a big fan of the originals I woud've liked it to be good, but, alas, it didn't work for me even as a ARPG.

That was probably due to the perspective, that reminded me too much of the POS that was Wild Tagent's Fate.

[Burress]

It had some funny moments, but it didn't take the rpg elements seriously. Rpgs are too long of games not to take their gameplay elements seriously. That was how I felt after completing it a long time ago.

[wolfing]

It was a comedy game more than an RPG or action game.

[Melvil]

I don't understand what this means. Can you explain?

I think he thinks you think we don't know that you are promoting steam for revenue, but you're not. You knew that though.

[skavenhorde]

I didn't know. I missed the word "promo" when I read this at work.

Another 'trying to be' witty troll, just what the world needs.

[JDR13]

I think he thinks you think we don't know that you are promoting steam for revenue.

I actually have a headache after reading that. ;)

[Dhruin]

I think he thinks you think we don't know that you are promoting steam for revenue, but you're not. You knew that though.

Yeah, I thought so. Steam, get in contact so I can tell you where to send the cheque, please?

[rune_74]

Yeah, I thought so. Steam, get in contact so I can tell you where to send the cheque, please?

man, you always get some good qoutes out there...should really add some of them to your posts:)

[Relayer]

Yeah, I thought so. Steam, get in contact so I can tell you where to send the cheque, please?

Getting royalties for reporting NEWS... can life get any sweeter for you RPGWatch moguls? :D

[txa1265]

They send him checks just for the cool spelling of cheques ... :)

Bards Tale ... yeah, have that on ? 6 CD's? Amusing for the first 15 minutes ...

[JDR13]

I played the demo for inXile's Bard's Tale and hated it. It compares to the original Bard's Tale in the same way that BG: Dark Alliance compares to Baldur's Gate……epic fail.

[Wulf]

Is there still a link somewhere to Corwins review of "The Bards Tale" ?

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Is the original "Bard's Tale" there, too ?

I mean - either on Steam or on GOG ?

[JDR13]

None of the games from the original Bard's Tale series are currently available on Steam or GoG. You can find the original versions of them at Abandonia.

[txa1265]

I played the demo for inXile's Bard's Tale and hated it. It compares to the original Bard's Tale in the same way that BG: Dark Alliance compares to Baldur's Gate……epic fail.

At least the BG:DA games were fun for what they were ... I liked the GBA game and my kids still play theCube version on occasion

[xSamhainx]

i just put a couple hours into it. I bought the boxed version on Amazon a while ago, and figured I'd give it a whirl between DA:O session. It's worth noting that it comes w/ the prior games in the series included when you buy the boxed game. I didnt bother w/ the prior games, try as I may, I cant seem to stomach a lot of the way old classics. BG is the cutoff date for me.

This iteration pretty much sucks, for lack of a better term atm. Tho I do intend on returning and giving it another shot soon before I uninstall and shelf it, after all it was a 6 gig install - i want to see if I can get something out of it. It's an action-rpg, where you can basically summon minions to fight w/ you. The humor is ok, and it's not a bad looking game, but the control is pretty lacking.

There's a particularly infuriating control issue that it doesnt seem that I can do anything about: double click=auto run. Now in an action-rpg where your whole world revolves around clicking around and on things, this is very poor control decision by the designer. It's not very fun when your bard is running around in circles all the time because you clicked too close together. Also, the targeting system sucks. Again, action-rpg modus operendi is pretty standard - you click on something, you run up and kill it. In this game, you have to run up and be directly on something to whack at it, then click attack to start swinging. If you click from afar youll just sit there swinging away. So you click around trying to get close to moving opponents, then you accidentally click too soon to the last click and auto-run and are running around while they pound on you….

Yeah, it had me cursing a bit this morning. I think playing as a ranged character would be better.

The zoom level is too close in, the map is too small and doesnt show you much, there doesnt appear to be a grand map that shows the entire area, etc etc. I didnt like BG: DA because i dont like things that come at me from offscreen. That's the way this game plays, thankfully you can see the red dots on the map. Still, it's pretty lame.

Also, interactable objects are not/can not be highlighted in any way. You arent given a chance to interact with something, or even told that you can w/ a cursor clue unless standing very near something. You can then hit your interact key, or double click. Which can at times of course send you into your auto run, so it's double click on something then run right past it! So in a nutshell you have to canvass every square inch of all maps to find everything you can interact with.

It's radial-menu style, and you have to jump thru chains of stuff to find what youre looking for. The chains arent that long, and once you know the routine it's not that bad, but it's clearly console game and it feels like one.