The Bard's Tale III - Don't Make Me Do This @ CRPG Addict

After a hiatus, the CRPG Addict is back and facing down The Bard's Tale III. With a post titled Don't Make Me Do It. Please., he lists a tract of faults with the game and asks for input on why people do like it:

The basic problem with The Bard's Tale series is this: by the end of the first game, your characters were already developed as much as they were going to develop. Oh, sure, there's a "chronomancer" class in this game that has a different set of spells, but they don't add much of anything to the game and you can max out your spell levels in about half an hour of gameplay. So after spending a relatively short and non-torturous game getting from level 1 to 15 or 20, you get to spend two more games of twice the duration getting from level 20 to…I don't know…probably 100 or so, but you don't really gain anything from these level increases except more hit points and spell points. This is why most other series (Ultima, Might & Magic, Wizardry) have you start over at Level 1 or, at most, allow you to continue your level progression through two games. If The Bard's Tale III had me start over at level 1, with level 1 foes, I wouldn't have complained for a second. As it is, with characters so over-powered, the game has no choice but to throw hordes of over-powered monsters at me.

I know I'm going to get a lot of comments urging me to just drop it if I hate it that much, so I'm more interested in hearing from people who see some value in this game. For god's sake, what do you like about it?

More information.

It's not as if "making all the numbers bigger" isn't a staple of pretty much all RPGs. I remember starting a playthrough of BT3 long ago, but can't remember why I never finished. I can't even remember what platform I played on.

I wonder, though. On the off chance that I actually wanted to play BT3, and somehow managed to make it through a 600+ game backlog before I expire, what platform would be best? Talk of bugs in some versions is troubling.

For some reason this one felt like a grindfest struggle for me even though I liked it. I prefer games that make you start back at level 1. I loved the first two games but only/liked this one

In case anyone cares, someone is fixing loads of bugs in the DOS version of BT3:
http://bardstale.brotherhood.de/tale…opic.php?t=989
Bugs surrounding the paucity of harmonic gems and the endless random encounters are fixed. I imagine that anyone playing with those bugs would find the game completely maddening.

From my brief experience with the DOS version, the C64 and Amiga versions are both superior to it and at least for me, are the preferred platform when it comes to these games.

Reading that blog entry is rather painful not only because the individual is having such a torrid time with a game that I hold close to my heart, but also because much of it reads like one long whinge.

I posted this in another section as well butI am following a blog about the Amiga version of BT1 playthrough. It's crazy how hard this game was back in the day. I'm definitely thinking about going through the series again as this brings back lots of memories

http://www.crpgresource.blogspot.com

Originally Posted by Thexder
I posted this in another section as well butI am following a blog about the Amiga version of BT1 playthrough. It's crazy how hard this game was back in the day. I'm definitely thinking about going through the series again as this brings back lots of memories

http://www.crpgresource.blogspot.com

Well, thanks for the blurb. I'm kinda surprised someone actually found it, lol.

I just finished up BT1, and I'm mentally exhausted. They don't make game like that anymore, that's for sure!

BT3 holds the distinction of being the one game that Richard Garriot really criticized. The fact that he was launching a competitor protect and he realized that BT3 set the bar to a new level..probably had something to do with it.

the BT's brought 3D (2.5D?) out of the wireframe mazes of Wizardry, increased their complexity and size, added color and (gasp) sound. Not only that, by doing so they made the bard a viable character class for the first and only time.

BT3 broke out of being another, better Wizardry and gave you overland travel - something that only Ultima had done decently before, and did it 3D.

For all these technical achievements though, I can't remember an interesting game - not like the intangible qualities that BT1 had - though I remember players who solved it telling me they weren't sure they finished it or not. For all the color and lore that seemed to be behind it, it didn't really explain itself.