I began my love affair with the CRPG with The Bard's Tale I on my Commodore 64 in 1985. The story itself has been reused so many times, it has become cliche, but it was pretty much standard fare. But, the way The Bard's Tale handled every game mechanic was excellent. The enemies, the magic system, the weapons were all done so well. This tried and true formula carried throughout the series. In Bard's Tale II, you actually ventured out into the wilderness. Again, even through nostalgia colored glasses, these early games are well worth the play through, even if they have not aged particularly well. This brings us to the "Reboot" of the Bard's Tale. My love of the first brought instant scorn when I heard of this blasphemous attempt to recreate the wonderful game of my youth. The end result, however, is one that is almost worthy of The Bard's Tale name. But this re-incarnation from inXile Entertainment places it's tongue firmly in its cheek and takes you on an enjoyable fantasy adventure. The Bards Tale is more Princess Bride than Lord of the Rings. The mechanics are straight forward for an action RPG. The NPCs you meet are well developed and the story is quite cliche. As a matter of fact, The Bards Tale pokes fun at RPGs for the entirety of its story. All in all, I give this game 4 stars as it is not Amazing, but a worthwhile play though. And of course the 3 original Bards Tale games helps boost its ratings as well.
Ok, so this is what happens when game designers are hit on the head with an anvil and suffer amnesia that makes for so many great sitcoms. Previous installments of Ultima are pretty much ignored in Ultima IX. Yes you play the Avatar, yes the cities and land remain the same, and yes, there is even a bloke named Lord British. But that is about it. This is definitely a watered down version of the earlier installments. So, for those of you that hold the Ultima Mythos as canon, this will be a huge disappointment. If your still with me, then this game is truly a guilty pleasure. The 3D environments, while dated, were quite nice at the time. The voice work is definitely AAA and has just a hint of cheese in it. The story, while not revolutionary, is decent and easy enough to follow. The characters are decent, if not enthralling. It is well worth the price point, and makes for a nice night of RPG Gaming.
