I also gave up beat the final boss, but I enjoyed a lot this game. the only trick for me was to find how play the game without any grinding, that is without replaying any dungeon, or one or two to check how is managed the regen.
Its combat system was a lot of fun for me. I don't remember any front to front system as fun, certainly not Might & Magic 1-5, nor Final Fantasy I & III & IV, nor Dragon Quest 3&4&7 nor Loren the Amazon Princess or Cursed Lands, nor Lords of Xulima. And none was far to have the same fun than BCN combats.
There's the Wyzardry series, but I failed ever played any more that some parts, and it started with the 1. I hate the random character creation for those of the best of the 90's, it stopped me play them. And those later released seem use non front to front combats but multi fronts, and that's different. For sure I found Might & Magic X combats quite more fun, but when combats are multi fronts.
And recently I played a second exception after BCN, another pure front to front system I found a lot of fun, Planet Stronghold. It's dev of Loren the Amazon Princess, less pro, and overall less good than Loren, but, for me, combats was a lot more fun.
I wonder what will be Bard's Tales IV if it is ever been released on Mac.
