The Bard’s Tale Trilogy is no more. Thanks to a well-funded Kickstarter by InExile Entertainment (a company who I have long adored since their fun, yet challenging Choplifter HD a few years back), the series is now a quadrilogy after more than thirty years on the bench. Not including their own spinoff game in the early 2000’s, The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep is a direct sequel to the original trilogy from the 1980’s, and while I have never personally played any of the first three games, I can definitely say this new one was made with love and adoration for the original games. The humor, combat, and atmosphere all blend well together into a superb sequel.
“Is that Russel Crowe?! (Just one of his many doppelgangers who works on the development team – he narrates the story so far every time you load up a save file!)
The story takes places approximately a century after the events of the third game. The opening narration is great in catching someone up to speed if they have never played one of the games before, or as a good remembrance for long-time players, with gorgeous artwork, narration, and absolutely phenomenal Gaelic music. In fact, the music is one of the most memorable portions of any game I have played in recent memory. There is singing and Gaelic instrumentals throughout the entirety of the game, which ties the whole setting together very seamlessly. Both the musicians and the voice acting as a whole is excellent, and honestly it puts a lot of triple-a studios to shame, which goes to show the dedication and passion of everyone involved in the production of BTIV.
The combat is, as far as I can tell, unique and original to this game. In a mix of first-person travel/adventure gameplay and turn-based combat, BTIV offers a refreshing and far less annoying take on random encounters than other games in the genre. Rather than traveling the world and suddenly being shifted to the combat screen, everything happens in real time. You will see a gang of paladins trying to flush out adventure guild members; giant trolls and other creatures prowl the woodland and dungeons aplenty, ready to feast upon the carcasses of fallen adventurers; finally, bandits loom around dark corners, waiting for their chance to strike. The party can decide to either sneak around these enemies if they can, or engage them in combat. Sprinting in first person and pressing the mouse will enable a charge action, which gives the party the upper hand in an encounter, in this case, a free first turn of attacks, which WILL be needed, as the game can be dreadfully tough. Luckily, this is alleviated by the ability to see what type of challenge an enemy will provide to the party based on their level, which ranges from green (easy) to impossible (red and probably dead!). The turn-based combat is very fluid, as you can select any character at any time to attack – maybe using one action on your bard, and another on the fighter, back to the bard, then to the apprentice, etc. – the choice is all yours and all is fun!
The customization is also very gratifying – you start off with Melody, a basic bard character, but soon into the story you can decide to keep her, or customize her into another class, another character, etc. How could I have possibly resisted making my main character a bard, the namesake of the franchise, who runs on beer and whose archetype selection intro has him strumming an electric guitar – absolutely epic! Each character you add to your party can be customized in almost any way you see fit, which is yet another intuitive way to become immersed in this fantastical setting.
BTIV is an excellent package, and I really only have one complaint that I am sure can be alleviated over time – the game did not run well at certain points for me. Enemy wizard’s attacks with blue lighting would cause me to crash to desktop. Similar incidents happened between loading screens, and overall there was a lot of slowdown or optimization issues throughout my experience. This is by no means a deal breaker, however, as video games, especially those on PC, are no stranger to weird glitches or problems with different graphical or overall rig setups, and I am sure the performance for the game will only become better as patches are rolled out in the future.
Do not let this very small issue prevent you from enjoying a truly engrossing and fantastic experience. The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep is the complete fantasy package. Great story, characters, setting, gameplay, and absolutely astounding music as well as true passion and dedication for the series make the game an excellent and truly immersive experience. Grab your grog, your lute, and your short sword, and journey into Skara Brae today!
Graphics: 8
Music: 10
Story: 9
Controls: 10
Gameplay: 10
OVERALL SCORE: 9.4
Check Out The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep Trailer:
The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep is available for Windows PC via Steam, GOG, and Humble Store. It is expected to arrive later on the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, Mac, and Linux.
Steam Review
Your local neighborhood nutjob, gamer, and teacher! I'm an avid fan of many genres such as platformers, shooters, horror, etc. I am also an avid tabletop gamer - hugely into the worlds of Warhammer and all of their spinoffs. I'm a big believer in being objective - even if something is not my cup of tea, I want to talk about it on the objective level - is it well made, crafted with love, and with care for the fans? If so, that's a good game in my book for someone and well worth their hard earned dollarydoos!
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