Bard's Tale IV - Hands-on Impression

Originally Posted by Arkadia7

Anyway, as I said, I'm definitely not the intended audience for this style of game, and I know there are players out there who enjoy the niche this game is being made for.

That "niche" of players have survived and enjoyed many incarnations of RPG's for 30+ years

One thing that bugs me, and it's a little thing, but that grid that shows during combat looks like something out of a Tron movie. I don't mind the grid, but it shouldn't look like the grid from the world of Tron.

I'm a little concerned that the free roaming dungeon crawling style is going to trivialise many of the core elements that made Bard's Tale exploration so challenging and memorable (I.e, spinners, anti-magic zones, darkness zones etc) thus the possible addition of a classic tile based movement mode in the style of the original games is very welcome.

It's hard to disagree with the simple assertion that it doesn't look much like Bard's Tale but yet making a simple comparison doesn't change that. The positioning of characters looks tactical and interesting, making use of distance and placement (linking well with the originals) but for me it's also a little awkward looking the way the characters appear on screen and kind of a blend between ideas we've seen before from Lords of Xulima and later period Might & Magic. I'm not fully sold on it yet, but we'll see.

That said, the very notion of exploring Skara Brae all over again is very exciting indeed and I'm doing my best not to spoil my anticipation with too much information. I've been wanting to see this game made ever since the petitions of yore!

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
I'm a little concerned that the free roaming dungeon crawling style is going to trivialise many of the core elements that made Bard's Tale exploration so challenging and memorable (I.e, spinners, anti-magic zones, darkness zones etc) thus the possible addition of a classic tile based movement mode in the style of the original games is very welcome.

I have to admit, while I have many fond memories of the bards tale series, spinners in dark rooms are definitely not one of them.

Good article, thanks for posting.

Originally Posted by Silver
Combat sounded really interesting until I saw the screenshots, and the perspective, and the HUD. And the models. And the effects. And the fonts. And the stupid little popup facing the player. WTF is this?

LOL I feel I'm at the Codex with that comment

@shaneplays
lol I didn't post that comment screeg did.

I can understand some concerns like with the HUD and the models that turn and face the player but the graphics, effects, sound and perspective seem fine to me.

Having said that keep being edgy screeg.

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
One thing that bugs me, and it's a little thing, but that grid that shows during combat looks like something out of a Tron movie. I don't mind the grid, but it shouldn't look like the grid from the world of Tron.

Yea agree there, it just really throws off the whole feel of the world. From what I have seen I dont get a Bard's Tale vibe but will hold out till its released to decide. I also don't like the sound of it being Casualized into a more modern gaming style. Not why I backed this game…hmmm

Originally Posted by Saxon1974
I also don't like the sound of it being Casualized into a more modern gaming style. Not why I backed this game…hmmm

That comment was actually the one that made me cringe the most as well, but since he didn't explain in any way in what way it was caualized I choose not to take it as a bad thing. You could call a more informative UI casualized too, or an auto-map feature. None of which I have a problem with.

True, they do use some casual-style verbiage that puts me off slightly, but I'm hoping we'll see some significant changes prior to release. The look isn't entirely what I was hoping for also, but that could change as well.

Originally Posted by Saxon1974
Yea agree there, it just really throws off the whole feel of the world. From what I have seen I dont get a Bard's Tale vibe but will hold out till its released to decide. I also don't like the sound of it being Casualized into a more modern gaming style. Not why I backed this game…hmmm

Yeah, it's the way the combat interface imposes itself that I find very unappealing, and I find the design horrible. Also, when the player is exploring and characters' heads pop up on screen and bounce as they're speaking, like some kind of instant messenger. The simple puzzle game that's kind of incongruously stuck to the wall, too. It almost feels like a kid's game. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not really doing it for me.

I am very interested to see how this alpha progresses on into beta. Will be keeping my eye on this one.

I don't know what's "edgy" about my comment. I didn't elaborate because I mistakenly thought the design problems were obvious: it's busy and confusing, and too colorful for my taste. And honestly, just plain silly looking.

Originally Posted by fadedc
I have to admit, while I have many fond memories of the bards tale series, spinners in dark rooms are definitely not one of them.

To be honest, whether you liked it or not, for better or worse, these are features that arguably made the games unique and not like the more accessible or regular dungeon crawlers of the day. The dungeons of Bard's Tale were often challenging to traverse, full of bizarre esoteric clues, red herrings and riddle speaking magic mouths.
It would take time to unravel everything and solve the puzzles to make progress.

Obviously the internet will now make many of these concepts less impacting with spoilers and solutions a mere click away to the less patient, but too far a departure for me from this established tradition is definitely not very desirable. After the weak one-weekend finishing travesty that was BT2004, I want a real Bard's Tale!

Did any Watchers finish Devil Whiskey incidentally? After purchasing it several years ago and taken several parties through the starter dungeon and a little bit more, I found progress very tough and tricky indeed. Unfortunately the random crashes got a bit too much after awhile too. This game is definitely the closest to the original trilogy in style and spirit and I'd like to try again one day.

Hmm….when I think of what made Bard's Tale 1 unique, my memory was just that it was more detailed/advanced than other RPGs at the time. There were plenty of RPGs at the time with long and challenging dungeons filled with riddles and annoying navigational hazards. But Bard's Tale had things like allied monsters, bard songs, class changing and multiple schools of spells, and I feel like there were a lot of other new things that I can't remember anymore.

The new Bard's Tale doesn't remind me at all of the original. But it still looks like a potentially good game in it's own right.

Originally Posted by screeg
I don't know what's "edgy" about my comment. I didn't elaborate because I mistakenly thought the design problems were obvious: it's busy and confusing, and too colorful for my taste. And honestly, just plain silly looking.

And thats fair enough. Sorry if I came across the wrong way.

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Did any Watchers finish Devil Whiskey incidentally? After purchasing it several years ago and taken several parties through the starter dungeon and a little bit more, I found progress very tough and tricky indeed. Unfortunately the random crashes got a bit too much after awhile too. This game is definitely the closest to the original trilogy in style and spirit and I'd like to try again one day.

I'd never heard of Devil Whiskey, but a Google search and browse of their website has definitely piqued my interest! I'll add it to the list.

I'm hopeful for BT4 but the player character models don't work for me either, for the reasons others have already said.

Originally Posted by Pongo
I'd never heard of Devil Whiskey, but a Google search and browse of their website has definitely piqued my interest! I'll add it to the list.

You might want to save your time for a game that's playable. I found DW near impossible to extract one moment of fun from, unless someone has created some significant patches over the past few years. I had high hopes and a low bar, going in.