The Bard's Tale

[Urban Ranger]

I saw a new game called The Bard's Tale yesterday, but it appears to have nothing to do with the classic game (although the trilogy is included on the CD). Has anybody played the game? Is it good or poor?

[child of Thor]

I've seen it too - looked interesting, but i think you are restricted to a male only character?; which was why i didn't get it as my gf pointed that out. Looking at the cover screenshots, it seems far removed from the Bards Tale i used to play. More a scripted+humerous story led thing i think. Probably worth getting just for the trilogy alone - thanks for reminding me about it - i'll pick it up tomorrow and let you know sometime

[Urban Ranger]

Thanks coT

I am afraid that it would be some "real time" RPG thing.

[snoopy369]

You can also get IIRC the Bard's Tale trilogy in the Ultimate RGP Anthology, a huge antho of old, great RPGs that I bought a few years ago. Not sure if it's still in print, though...

[Traianvs]

I heard it's not so good... Problem it being a bit repetitive at times, and a bit short. It's finished rather quickly

[LDiCesare]

There's a downloadable demo of the game. I didn't like it, found the commands tricky and the view unpleasant. I didn't try very hard to get it to work and get inside the game. But then giving a demo where you are in the middle of the adventure and little or no idea about the story which led you there is a bit stupid.

[Dis]

the game is supposed to be more humorous, with jokes about beer and breasts.

And it's supposed to make fun of it's own genre, by having you rescue a damsel in distress.

Some people found the music and songs in the game quite excellent. But I'm not sure if I can buy a rpg just for good bard songs and some jokes that may or may not be lame.

but I head the beer song is a great song.

Other than that, it's a fairly standard dungeon crawl. Less than 20 hours too, from what I hear.

[DrSpike]

It has not received rave reviews, and looks quite basic.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by DrSpike
It has not received rave reviews

Hmm, a meta-review, nice

Sort of like what rottentomatoes do for films.

[child of Thor]

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbx/bardstale

Not setting the world on fire - but 75% is ok. Ok enough for me to bother IF it has the origonal series bundled with it too.
I couldn't find the Xbox version i had seen a few weeks back in my local games store. I ended up with 'Segas Football Manager 2005'(the real Championship Manager follow on) for a very reasonable £15(Pc)+ they were running a special on 'Oddworld's Strangers Wrath' for £10(Xbox). So i didn't leave empty handed

I'll keep my eyes out for the new BardsTale, and see if i can find confirmation on the bundled origonals.

Edit: well my dilema is that its the PC only version that has the origonal games on it. The Xbox just has this new version. As my pc wont run the new game, i'll have to think long and hard over wether to buy the PC version just for the old games - if i see it cheap then i will. But i wont be able to comment on this new game

[DrSpike]

Just get your spectrum out and play the original.

[Grumbold]

I'm not a fan of Diabloesque "RPG" games as a rule, but the pacing of the game and the humour works for me. I'm enjoying it a lot and its definitely taken more than 20 hours to complete. Of course I'm doing it the roleplayers way, hunting down every secret map, optional area and revisiting locations to see if my advanced trap expert can find secrets I missed (he can, good ones too!)

Its definitely eastern in its RPG style - the plot and dialogue is preset and largely linear, you only influence minor outcomes by having the Bard choose to be nicely sarcastic or bitingly acid in his responses, or having the right companions in the group at certain encounters.

[Datajack Franit]

I'll give it a try

[Dis]

It's one of those games you wait until it hits the bargain bins, or undergoes the first reduction in price (to around $20). No way would I pay full price for a game with less than 20 hours of gameplay.

[child of Thor]

Originally posted by Dis
It's one of those games you wait until it hits the bargain bins, or undergoes the first reduction in price (to around $20). No way would I pay full price for a game with less than 20 hours of gameplay.

I hope your going to get used to doing so, as its set to become/is the industry norm
But yeah its cheap at the momment(around £20 or less), and i've heard it is quite fun - so excellent value if you take it for what it is, a humorous take on the whole rpg genre and a little lite in hours.
I still dont know which version to get - pc or xbox? oh well.