Bard's Tale IV - Review @Christ Centered Gamer

Silver

Spaceman
Staff Member
Joined
February 13, 2014
Messages
9,312
Location
New Zealand
Christ Centered Gamer reviewed The Bard's Tale IV: Barrow's Deep.

Okay. I've been harsh with Bard's Tale IV's puzzles, but now for where the game shines: the battle system. Combat here carries so many intricate factors I doubt I can give it justice, yet here I am to try. Encounters of the evil kind are inevitable. Similar to Checkers, combat is done in turns between your party and the enemy party. Which side goes first depends on who strikes first. You've got a limited number of moves (called opportunity) in your turn. Each character only has six abilities, five of which you personally equip. You get four moves, one movement option, and an item slot. Consider how these choices work in a group, though. A well rounded team needs complimentary attributes. In battle, your characters are assembled on a two rowed, four columned grid. Who's in front and who's in back in relation to your foes can put you in or or out of harm's way. Changing positions mid-battle costs opportunity too. Lastly, each attack has different areas of range, cooldowns, and/or charge times. Some attacks can be cancelled mid-charge by mental attacks. Equipped weapons and armor can alter some moves' behavior, and items grant advantages if chosen wisely. Now, I agree that this all sounds dense. It is, but it's a good kind of dense, at least to my tastes. I enjoyed the countless variables I had to turn the tides. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it was mine.

[...]
Thanks Farflame!

More information.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
9,312
Location
New Zealand
It really wasn't a horrible game - for myself having played the full game there was something a little off esp with balance but overall i think it was a good effort and the negative reviews were over-blown.
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
7,758
Location
usa - no longer boston
Hehe never saw a game site that had a moral warning. Hellish images and drunkenness. If you play Bard's Tale you will burn in Hell :) God bless those Pagans!
 
Joined
Aug 28, 2010
Messages
2,838
Location
Wolf Light Woods
I agree with @you;, it wasn't horrible, it was quite good actually. The dungeons were fun to explore and quite beautiful, and exploration in general was very good. The combat may get too easy and you might have to play on Hard but even the character building I thought was quite good. It isn't perfect but it's a pretty good game and worth playing IMO.
 
Joined
Sep 5, 2018
Messages
1,603
Hehe never saw a game site that had a moral warning. Hellish images and drunkenness. If you play Bard's Tale you will burn in Hell :) God bless those Pagans!

Yeah, that site has been around for years. I hadn't read a review there in a long time because they really used to just be very short blurbs that were more heavy on the 'moral assessments'. Oh well, an audience for everything I suppose.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,932
Hehe never saw a game site that had a moral warning. Hellish images and drunkenness.

Sounds like a night out in Portsmouth.
 
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
12,085
Not horrible at all, from my perspective. Actually, for what it is, it's quite good. My initial problem was that while playing the game, I was constantly trying to compare it to the first three in the series. When I let that go and enjoyed the current game for what it does do, the enjoyment ramped up and it became a joy to play, not simply a comparison of new versus classic.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
18,799
Location
Holly Hill, FL.
It really wasn't a horrible game - for myself having played the full game there was something a little off esp with balance but overall i think it was a good effort and the negative reviews were over-blown.

I agree that it wasn't horrible, but I think how negative someone is towards it has a lot to do with the puzzles. In my case, loved the combat, liked the exploration a lot, but hated the incessantly annoying puzzles.

That update that fixed some things, MOST especially quick save, will make me get back to it some day. As long as I have a website handy that has the puzzle solutions :)
 
Joined
Jun 11, 2016
Messages
232
Location
East Coast
Aren't they working on a big patch or overhaul? Haven't played but will wait for that. I am dissapointed it feels nothing like a bards tale game but I will still play it at some point.
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Messages
875
I know I'll enjoy my next play on this game a lot more than my first, now that I took notes on the puzzles I'll breeze through those and get to enjoy the combat and exploration a lot more.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
18,799
Location
Holly Hill, FL.
Back
Top Bottom