The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - Deluxe Edition

Note : I have only played the Director's Cut. I have not played the older Bard's Tale dungeon crawlers, but I am a fan of such games. Honestly, this game has everything I want from a modern dungeon crawler. The gameplay is split more or less evenly between exploration, puzzles and turn-based strategic combat. The environment is very pleasant to explore, with nice graphics and vibrant colors. The mandatory puzzles in the main quest are fairly accessible, while the optional ones can be quite challenging. The turn-based combat system is quite unique. It also feels like a puzzle of sorts. Your main damage dealers will be made of glass, so you'll have to think carefully about your character builds and moves in order to keep them alive and dishing out good damage. There is no level scaling of enemies afaik - you will have the freedom to tackle some difficult fights early for rewards (or not). The music and sound are top notch. The amazing celtic music is omnipresent. This is truly the best feature of the game. The ambient sound and voice acting are solid and really make the world come to life. The story is ok, fairly typical rpg fare with a bit of humor thrown in. The game runs smoothly on my midrange gaming PC. I have experienced a couple of crashes, although since the game lets you save almost anytime, this hasn't been a major issue. In any case, I love this game and its unique take on the dungeon crawler genre.

So, this game received pretty mixed reviews on this site when it came out. It's not for everyone, but one thing it is, is fun if you allow it to be. Some people have claimed there's no humor or pub singing. The bard in the Adventurer's Guild is always singing. Like, to the point where if you sit in the pub for too long you definitely notice it. Humor is subjective, but I found tons of humor in the game, and not only that, it was dry and European, which I appreciated given the subject matter. The soundtrack, which I purchased separately on release through inXile's campaign for the game, is absolutely beautiful. Worth the price of upgrading to Deluxe just for that, alone. I'm serious. If you enjoy Celtic music, it's a no brainer. The amount of detail and love put into the world is obvious to anyone who is looking at this as what it is, and not as something more than it should be looked at. Little touches abound everywhere, and can pull you in if you allow the game to do so. On top of all of this, combat is fulfilling and strategic. If you don't know how to build your character for end game, it's ok to look at minor spoilers for character building, otherwise you'll have to either recruit certain classes later or re spec into the skills you'll need once you start hitting the damage gates in the game. And yes, there are damage gates. I play this game every year and was working on a playthrough but gave up because I'm not an entertaining content provider. Don't buy this thinking you can stream it. It's more fun to just enjoy with a cold beer or glass of your favorite beverage, after a long day. The humor is welcomed and cherished in such occasions, and the game is undeniably charming and again, full of love.

I've seen a lot of comments, positive and negative. I think most of the latter come either from nostalgic purists, whom think it's not close enough to the old BT's (made more than 30 years ago!!), or of people who're used to FP shooters or ARPG's. Having played it, I can say the game is very good and fun, IF one manages ones' expectations. It's a game of a small indie developer, NOT an AAA title of some big studio. So don't expect a witcher 3. Also, it's a modern take on an old-school RPG genre, so it's not about fast-pace hack&slash ARPG style playing. The combat is a quite rate and novel chess-like grid system, where your party setup, the combo's of the masterskills of your different partymembers, and your overal playing tactics come into play. The game also involves a lot of puzzles, exploration, and crafting. Now, it's not without faults; the occasional bug can happen, and the inventory system could have been better done. But anyone who doesn't sweat the details, has an open mind to try out something that is unorthodox, or who likes old-school RPG's, puzzles, exploration, and novel combat, is sure to love this party-based RPG. I had a blast and more fun with this little gem than with lots of other, more renowned games. Since it's not new, but a 2-3 year old game, I would recommend buying it when is on promo, not full price. But if one can buy it for half the price or less on summer or winter sales, its a steal, and well worth it. Highly recommended.

I am playing PC games for 30 years now and this is my first review ever. Why I am writing this? Because I think this games deserves it! I really had a great time: - wonderful atmosperic sound, really outstanding! - great grafics - challenging combat - interesting story/characters Overall it was really one of the best games I ever played. Also I didnt had any bugs.

This game is a worthy successor to the Bard's Tale legacy. I think some of the negative reviews were from people who funded the Kickstarter, and as I understand it there were some issues with the rewards. And like a lot of games, there were many bugs at launch, but the 4.20.1 version seems really stable on PC. I've got to start with the music because it's that good, some of the best I've heard from any game, and it really makes the world of Caith feel alive. Most of the songs are in Scots Gàidhlig, performed by world class vocalists. They must have spent a fortune producing it.You can preview it on Youtube. I can't stop listening and smiling. Next is the puzzles. and BT4 is full of them, If you love the satisfaction you get when you finally figure out the correct sequence of button to push, or pieces to slide, this game is for you. BT4 has riddles, gear puzzles, block pushing, musical puzzles, code wheel offerings, and even some weapons are themselves puzzles. There's also lots of secrets to find for sharp-eyed players, like hidden stashes, runes, and breakable walls. BT4 rewards the player for being thorough. Now the combat system is weird, and takes some getting used to. The battle field is a 4x4 grid, 2 rows for you, and 2 for the enemy. This harkens back to the original BT series. Some attacks can only hit mobs in your particular file, so movement becomes important, but certain boots for instance give a bonus when you move, like cheaper action or spell cost. My only gripe is that you have so few abilities that you can use at any one time. Each character gets 6, so you really have to plan ahead on what you want to use, and certain weapons grant the player an ability, but it comes at the cost of 1 of your other 6 abilities. Potions also count against this limit, and you have to equip them before combat. Passive abilities are therefore your best friend. What I think a lot of these reviewers are missing is a game's first job is to be fun, and BT4 delivers.