Do you have questions about Bard's Tale IV?

Hey.

I recently reached out to InXile to see if they would be up for another Bard's Tale IV interview and they kindly agreed. So, I'm going to start slowly putting it together, this time focusing a bit more on what we saw in the recently released combat trailer.

To refresh your memory, it was this video:



So, if you have anything you'd like to ask Brian and the gang about the game, post it here! I'll select a few to add to my own questions and shout you out in the interview.

I'd like to know if dungeons will have secret passages? And will the dungeons have a history to uncover?

Also how many spells from the original games will make it into Bards Tale 4?

Nice ones, Silver! Thanks!

Anyone else? I know you guys have some questions from watching that trailer...let's hear them!

A follow-up to Silver's secrets question if the secret areas exist...

If I find most of those secrets, am I going to also find myself overpowered? If I miss most of them, will the game be much harder?

Nice initiative Fluent.

Thanks, Wisdom! I have been excited about this game for awhile now, being a new first-person 'crawler and all. Hoping to play the remastered originals sometime, too.

Thanks for the question, Zloth! More are welcomed.

Silver said:

Also how many spells from the original games will make it into Bards Tale 4?

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Yes indeed, will MAMA make an appearance? (Mangar's Mallet)
Or how about the sheer mage-power drain of NUKE? (Gotterdamurang)
I guess we'll all just have to chug on a fire horn and summon a HERB and find out! (Summons Herb)

A list of grizzled old school questions for Flooey: (Good work here sir, take your pick should it choose to be too many; I'm simply loaded with them.)

"Death and drek!" You cry, as you are rushed upon by a behemoth of blathering questions in the form of 1) Pessimeister 10"

Do you: A) Engage this dastardly foe B) Flee (fly, fly Fleance!) C) Use an item D) Cast a spell E) Bard song!

1) How will the different puzzle types in dungeons evolve and draw from the item interactions made possible whilst exploring and solving quests in Bard's Tale 3?

2) Will we be seeing the return of some form of death snare to please the BT2 fans or is this too much of a spoiler?

3) Have the original composers of the soundtracks from the first three games had any role or offered any feedback upon the development of the BT4 soundtrack? (Lawrence Holland, Kurt Heiden…) Any other interesting heritage connections you can share with us based upon the personnel responsible for the amazing first trilogy?

4) Did any of the Interplayers survive BT3? Bring back Ironpants and Runeflinger!

5) Is the tradition of a "starter dungeon" set to continue?

6) What did IRKM DESMET DAEM mean? (More riddles please!)

7) To what degree is BT4 a relatively clean slate as far as lore in concerned? Could you perhaps give a lesser known example for how fans will nod and smile knowingly when exploring the new game?

8) Were you aware of the BT4 petition lurking in the depths of the internet before the
kickstarter came along to grant this wish its longed for recognition?

9) Knowing the nostalgic attachment for gamers that Bard's Tale has (for many it was a formative RPG experience) how much of a burden is the weight of expectation to meet the idealised visions of a generation of role-players? How do you see the essential party based dungeon crawling experience being translated for new generations to enjoy?

10) One word: Tarjan?

Thanks for the opportunity mate, feel free to use any at your discretion.

How many characters can you have in your party? In the video there was only 3. How many classes are going to be in the game? In the original game you fought hundreds of opponents at once. In the video the grid looks pretty limited, like you can only fight 8 foes at a time. Is that correct?

Hey guys. Thanks a ton for the awesome questions! You are giving me a lot to work with. I don't know if InXile knows what's going to hit 'em.

Don't forget, I also did an interview last year with them. There wasn't a ton of info about the game then, but check this out as well for a refresher:

https://www.rpgwatch.com/articles/the-bards-tale-iv-interview-374.html

@forgottenlor, I believe you can have 6 party members + 2 summons. I'll double check that in the new interview, though.

Keep 'em coming, guys. I'm not going to ask all of them (obviously) but I will narrow it down to a good 10-15 or so.

Bump for more questions.

Having played some (or all) previous BT games is fundamental to get a full BT 4 experience?

Thanks, henriquejr!

Keep them coming. I know there are more dungeon-crawler RPG fans on this site...

Pessimeister said:

Yes indeed, will MAMA make an appearance? (Mangar's Mallet)

10) One word: Tarjan?

Thanks for the opportunity mate, feel free to use any at your discretion.

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If were bringing enemies back from the dead I'd love to see Brilhasti, too. I don't know how many times I lost my party before figuring out the correct combination of spells needed to defeat him. That was the battle I'll remember the most. Number two was against all those sorcerers who kept on killing my party with rimefangs, but that was a much more straightforward battle. I guess that's also because I played part 3 first.

forgottenlor said:

If were bringing enemies back from the dead I'd love to see Brilhasti, too. I don't know how many times I lost my party before figuring out the correct combination of spells needed to defeat him. That was the battle I'll remember the most. Number two was against all those sorcerers who kept on killing my party with rimefangs, but that was a much more straightforward battle. I guess that's also because I played part 3 first.

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That's not quite what I meant; Tarjan as the Mad God need not be an enemy as such, but more of a a philosophical/religious or riddling menace or entity of some kind throughout the game.
I'm just curious if we'll get to explore the concept of Tarjan a bit more somehow.

I have much the same experience as you regarding BT3 - that was my first BT experience as well, evidenced by my signature, which is actually a Brilhasti taunt written on the walls deep within the Unterbrae. I'm not sure how I'd feel though about seeing Brilhasti again - so many parties have murdered him countless times repeatedly for the xp over the years!

Yeah, they'd definitely be better tied into the lore. Cultists of Tarjan could make good enemies though