The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep

 PC
User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 101 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 101
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 101
  3. Negative: 31 out of 101

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  1. Dubeau
    May 19, 2019
    5
    Bards Tale 4 is surely a step up in the grid base RPG. The graphics are amazing but very poorly managed in terms of performance and of visual filters. I played with re-shade to get rid of the constant blur on the textures. The sounds and the music are easily the best parts of the game. The soundtrack is just lovable. Combat is very weak. It works but you have a lot of balancing problems.Bards Tale 4 is surely a step up in the grid base RPG. The graphics are amazing but very poorly managed in terms of performance and of visual filters. I played with re-shade to get rid of the constant blur on the textures. The sounds and the music are easily the best parts of the game. The soundtrack is just lovable. Combat is very weak. It works but you have a lot of balancing problems. In particular with the resurrected skeletons, which destroy the combat system after 25 hours of gameplay. That, made me leave the game. The puzzle are uneven. Some are decent but others very obscure. The problem is that in the ending phase some obscure puzzles are mandatory. I give it a 55%. I wasn't very please to experience most of the problems of this game after 25-30 hours. While the initial impression were good, the game becomes frustrating in the long run.… Expand
  2. Murthax
    Sep 27, 2019
    3
    I figured this would be a pleasant trip down memory lane being that I recall the original. I had to force myself to finish it (cursing along the way). Gameplay was extremely linear and the puzzles were just frustrating and not fun at all. The turned based battles were kind of fun at first. They reminded me of a card game. After a while, it got mind-numbingly boring and one-note. DoI figured this would be a pleasant trip down memory lane being that I recall the original. I had to force myself to finish it (cursing along the way). Gameplay was extremely linear and the puzzles were just frustrating and not fun at all. The turned based battles were kind of fun at first. They reminded me of a card game. After a while, it got mind-numbingly boring and one-note. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.… Expand
  3. SpectralShade
    Sep 21, 2018
    3
    I had written an in-depth review listing why the game was bad. But when I reached the character limit of 5000 characters in an interview, the browser decided that instead of merely closing the box telling me my review was too long, it would turn a page back, thus deleting everything I had written.
    I can't be arsed writing it all again, especially not for a crap game like this.
    To put    I had written an in-depth review listing why the game was bad. But when I reached the character limit of 5000 characters in an interview, the browser decided that instead of merely closing the box telling me my review was too long, it would turn a page back, thus deleting everything I had written.
    I can't be arsed writing it all again, especially not for a crap game like this.

    To put it short: Game is dumbed down checklist of ideas from different games that got mashed together with little thought of the interaction. Playing it consists of 'solving' monotonous puzzles, being spoonfed a gated/railed tour thorugh the areas while getting your party filled with pregenerated characters one at a time.

    And those that actually loved the trilogy: don't bother. The only heritage is the name. They could have called it barrows deep, without the bards tale name attached, and no-one would have guessed it had anything to do with bards tale.

    Avoid.    … Expand
  4. RolandofYew
    Sep 18, 2018
    10
    Bards Tale IV has all the elements of previous games as well as introducing elements we take for granted in the 21st century. I say go ahead and buy Bards Tale IV Barrows Down you will not regret your purchase and remember, the Google analytics engine has scrutinised every written word available on the web about the game and subsequently rated it as the number one 'Steam Game of 2018'.
  5. razordaman
    Sep 18, 2018
    0
    Low frame rates for bad graphics. Looks amateurish. Combat slow and clunky. The game fights your every move. No exploration allowed, only one path to go in. Console save points, showing they don't care about the PC much. Lore as been destroyed from Bards Tale 1-3 and npcs came back to life from those games for some reason to be in this one. This is a cash grab nothing more. The only goodLow frame rates for bad graphics. Looks amateurish. Combat slow and clunky. The game fights your every move. No exploration allowed, only one path to go in. Console save points, showing they don't care about the PC much. Lore as been destroyed from Bards Tale 1-3 and npcs came back to life from those games for some reason to be in this one. This is a cash grab nothing more. The only good thing is the music the rest is garbage.… Expand
  6. Whytepathe
    Sep 19, 2018
    8
    BT 4 Barrows Deep is a combination of the past and present. It has personality and atmosphere with good rpg elements. As I see it so far, the negatives are uncalled for as I have a pretty low end rig and it runs well enough for me. Others think it's not enough like the originals. Good, as those were great for their time but Barrows Deep's combat has been updated while maintaining the feelBT 4 Barrows Deep is a combination of the past and present. It has personality and atmosphere with good rpg elements. As I see it so far, the negatives are uncalled for as I have a pretty low end rig and it runs well enough for me. Others think it's not enough like the originals. Good, as those were great for their time but Barrows Deep's combat has been updated while maintaining the feel of the BT series and in my opinion does so successfully. Barrows Deep is a fine addition to the BT series. Don't let the famous score lowering Metacritic zeros put you off. Bottom line is that it's entertaining and funny.… Expand
  7. sweredrim
    Sep 20, 2018
    9
    Despite some performance issues which were not so much of a problem for me, the game is quite nice. Graphic is decent, story is ok, combat is refreshing, and there are many nice puzzles that will keep you occupied. Overall i recommend it.
  8. queerchameleon
    Sep 23, 2018
    1
    "This is a brief review of the project that I thought that I was kickstarting vs what I got. I thought that I was kickstarting a Bard's Tale game. I thought that I was going to get a quirky, fun, old-timey D&D type experience. Lots of classes. Several races. Lots of stats. I was expecting an interface somewhat similar to Legend of Grimrock, but with a good bit more flair. (this is not an"This is a brief review of the project that I thought that I was kickstarting vs what I got. I thought that I was kickstarting a Bard's Tale game. I thought that I was going to get a quirky, fun, old-timey D&D type experience. Lots of classes. Several races. Lots of stats. I was expecting an interface somewhat similar to Legend of Grimrock, but with a good bit more flair. (this is not an indie game company, this is inXile, who has released several highly acclaimed games, plus they were using UE4) I expected the game to be a 5 to 10 gig download.

    I was expecting the world to have a mix of pre-generated, story driven content, as well as some form of random encounters. (I mean, the random encounters were a massive part of the original series) Along with this, I was expecting a good bit of freedom to explore. (Again, this is 2018, and the game is being made by a somewhat reputable company that should be able to pull off a fairly decently crafted open world.)

    Alas, all of these expectations were left empty with the release of this game.

    We have 4 character classes, down from 10. We have swapped out some races for other races. Most of the races have almost no ability to have their appearance customized. (can't even change sex) We got rid of almost all of the stats, and simplified the game to a few.

    There's no open world to explore. There's a pre-designated path with pre-scripted fights. Nothing random. Nothing wild. This game is intended to be played one way, and one way only. Again, this is 2018. Indie teams are putting out far more complex game designs on little/no budget.

    The graphics are on par with Oblivion, a game which was released 11 years ago. Many modern game engine features are simply missing, which is weird, because this was made with one of the most modern game engines available. This is massively surprising to me considering this game is a 50 gig install.

    The UI is kludgy. Inventory management is awful, from a lack of sorting, to having inventory windows rapidly scroll through tabs as you try to drag/drop between windows. Obvious quick keys are missing, such as a "loot all key." Party formation sometimes holds up between combat, and sometimes not. (there's a checkbox for this, but again, it seems to work intermittently)" HunterAP    … Expand
  9. Ferrante79
    Jun 10, 2021
    0
    A total gem. I have played the last version of the game and it is pretty sweet, bug free and beautiful. I mean, this game deserves a 10 and hurts to see a 6.6 beacuse of tech problems at launch. I love how the game is all about music. Puzzle, story, even combat revolve around the sound of the game. In the bad side I could say the most of the puzzles are too easy and the rewards are mostly poor.
  10. TylerNF
    Sep 18, 2018
    0
    We were promised an open world rpg faithful to the original, instead, Inxile siphoned the money we donated away from the project and rushed out some buggy, turn based Trainwreck of a dungeon crawler with a shallow story and poor visuals so we couldn't file a lawsuit for not delivering our game.
  11. didactickatydid
    Sep 20, 2018
    10
    They got this one right. As a big fan of the original series, I think a complete retread would have pleased me at first but quickly lost its shine, so I'm very happy with the way they sustained what I love but developed beyond a simple sop-to-the-fans profit-maker. Victor Minor may be in the vault, but I'm gonna be spending a lot of time with this one in the near future.
  12. maxheadroom
    Sep 19, 2018
    8
    Some of the user reviews on here are complaining that it's "turn based" and "nothing like the original" in the same sentence. I can only assume they think this is a sequel to the god-awful 2004 'funny' Bards Tale which shares only a name with this game, and the classic trilogy that came out between '85 - '88

    This game isnt perfect, there are a number of bugs and optimisation issues    Some of the user reviews on here are complaining that it's "turn based" and "nothing like the original" in the same sentence. I can only assume they think this is a sequel to the god-awful 2004 'funny' Bards Tale which shares only a name with this game, and the classic trilogy that came out between '85 - '88

    This game isnt perfect, there are a number of bugs and optimisation issues (which the developer has acknowledged and are working on) and if im honest it strayed a little 'too' far from what made the original games classics 30 years ago, but still a solid AA old-school RPG. Idiots giving it 0 because they're confusing as a sequel to an entirely different game not withstanding    … Expand
  13. socokid
    Sep 21, 2018
    9
    This game is FAR better than the current 6.2 user score due to performance issues I'm just not seeing. Click on the people leaving 0 scores. They are almost all one-offs by anonymous people just to vote 0 on this game alone. The combat is great and gets more complex as you play (turn based in small grids). Otherwise it's a 1st person RPG with loot, armor, weapons, magic, collecting,This game is FAR better than the current 6.2 user score due to performance issues I'm just not seeing. Click on the people leaving 0 scores. They are almost all one-offs by anonymous people just to vote 0 on this game alone. The combat is great and gets more complex as you play (turn based in small grids). Otherwise it's a 1st person RPG with loot, armor, weapons, magic, collecting, recipes, equipping your gained party members with what you want depending on how you progress the characters through advancement selections, etc... I'm 15 hours in and have experience a single crash, but otherwise am having a lot of fun, which is the real test.

    It's a wonderful game that is definitely worth the $35 for this long time gamer. I played the original games but it's been so long I have no idea what they were like. People complaining that it's not the same as those games is beyond silly. On it's own, it's a very good game, good story, side quests, etc..    … Expand
  14. smax
    Sep 20, 2018
    10
    The game is very-very old school in terms of the gameplay.
    There is a mix of exploration, quite challenging battles and nice music.
    The graphic aspect is pretty crappy but I don't really care.
    Hope the developers would fix all the lags soon.

    Giving it 10 flutes out of 10 for now to balance the undeserving bad reviews
  15. tknight
    Oct 9, 2018
    4
    I played this game some time ago, in the end I uninstalled it. I don't think this game deserves 0, but I can absolutely understand anyone who rated it this poorly. If you're looking for a game that combines a lot of fun and great moments with absolute frustration and disappointment, this is the one you're looking for. Ignoring all the negative issues, the game is quite good. I like theI played this game some time ago, in the end I uninstalled it. I don't think this game deserves 0, but I can absolutely understand anyone who rated it this poorly. If you're looking for a game that combines a lot of fun and great moments with absolute frustration and disappointment, this is the one you're looking for. Ignoring all the negative issues, the game is quite good. I like the combination of (almost) open world with turn based combat. With 'almost' I mean, you can't just step off the road and enjoy the view. The story is OK; the puzzles are quite good too. One remark I have, often the game is confusing and doesn't explain things clearly. This includes some advanced skills, but also basic stuff like walking. You have to try a path to know whether the game will allow you to walk there or not (it isn't visually clear). And you don't want to try it, because you can get stuck (bug). The main reason, why I rate this game poorly - controls and bugs. Sometimes I had a feeling no one from InXile tried to play this game before. Definitely no one tested it. I lost some battles just because I accidentally switched two characters (my mistake). Then I lost some, because my fighter mastery book got reset (bug) after every cut-scene (whenever I forgot to fix it, I lost the next battle). A lot of disappointment comes from bugged abilities that doesn't work as expected or doesn't work at all (Master Thief, Blood for Blood, Archmage). I was able to cope with everything mentioned before. I learned from my mistakes and with some (a lot of) discipline, I could avoid some (a lot of) bugs and have fun too. But then, the most frustrating - game breaking bugs, when you have to repeat same section/fight again and again, because something happened. And a lot of things could happen. After every important fight I ran to the nearest save totem to avoid ‘bad luck'. Don't use the stone teleporter, they can crash too. I remember a battle where instead of opponents I've seen a hill and they were somewhere behind, I wasn't able to select them. They were able to attack me though. I lost. Last chance I gave this game - there was a barricade it my way. I used dragon's bomb and somehow I stepped on the wall next to the barricade (very small broken stone wall, I was about 10 cm above the ground). A skeleton was walking right in front of me (I could literally touch the skeleton). But I wasn't able to attack it, or step of the wall. I was just standing there, unable to find any solution, avoiding to load my 45-minutes old save slot. Maybe they'll fix the bugs later, but it won't fix my ruined experience. The game brought me a lot of negative feelings and didn't deliver the fun I expected. It wasn't worth the money and I would not recommend this game to any friend.… Expand
  16. MacHarper
    Sep 25, 2018
    8
    Thoroughly enjoying myself. I had not played the old games so there's no nostalgia here. I've not run into any performance issues or bugs at all - my system is a GTX1080 on an I7 8700K. I love the music and the overall ambience of the game. The story is interesting so far and I'm enjoying the combat strategy. Don't go in expecting an action game, the combat feels like a board game. There'sThoroughly enjoying myself. I had not played the old games so there's no nostalgia here. I've not run into any performance issues or bugs at all - my system is a GTX1080 on an I7 8700K. I love the music and the overall ambience of the game. The story is interesting so far and I'm enjoying the combat strategy. Don't go in expecting an action game, the combat feels like a board game. There's a risk to playing with the save stones - although there is a workaround apparently to exit the game. I backed the game on KickStarter - got digital stuff on time. The physical edition is delayed which is a shame. I'm a couple of hours in.… Expand
  17. iancurtis
    Oct 3, 2018
    10
    Beside of the Bugs its a great game overall. Atmosphere, Sound, Character Creation. Unfortunately the most players don't get more than 5 hours into it and blame technical bugs for it to be a bad game. The game gets better after 10 hours. If you like dungeon crawlers like legend of grimrock 1/2 and older ones like stonekeep go play it.
  18. FooJones
    Sep 28, 2018
    8
    I wanted to give this game a 10, but I have to be fair and give it a very solid 8, because there's always room for improvement. That being said...

    The Good: The gameplay is fun and I actually really enjoy the combat. There are waypoints you can unlock for fast travel as you progress. The game comes with two difficulty modes (normal and hard) that can be adjusted at any time. The    I wanted to give this game a 10, but I have to be fair and give it a very solid 8, because there's always room for improvement. That being said...

    The Good:
    The gameplay is fun and I actually really enjoy the combat. There are waypoints you can unlock for fast travel as you progress. The game comes with two difficulty modes (normal and hard) that can be adjusted at any time. The puzzles aren't that challenging when you think about them. And for those who hate puzzles, they did include a digital guide. The soundtrack is one of the things that hooks me. Those who loved the trilogy will probably find more gripes with the lore and some retconning, but I personally am not bothered by it. I've been watching the story unfold in my 13 hours into the game. Character customization is fair as there are four classes to choose from and many skills to develop. You can also choose from several races. You can swap out party members in town and create your own with mercenary tokens you acquire. The characters will also have witty banter with each other randomly. Kind of reminded me of Wizardry 8. Combat is pretty cut and dry as far as mechanics go, but you can definitely add for some customization and change things up with swapping out skills. While the graphics aren't top notch, they serve very well for a game that was funded by a kickstarter. The map comes complete with many icons to help you remember where and what things are. The compass that shows your location in the minimap can have the rotation turned on and off. For those who want grid-based movement, you'll have to wait. That wasn't implemented at launch and is coming with a mode for that later.

    What needs improvement (i.e. the bad):
    Performance is a bit lacking. Running the game with a 1080ti, I'm finding a few huge performance dips in 2K. For the amount of GPU power this game requires, it shouldn't be an issue. I see some heavy frame dips in places, even with shadows and AA turned down. InExile has patched out some of them, and I believe they are doing more in the next patch. I have noticed a big difference since the first patch, but more needs to be done.

    Character customization could be better. There aren't really enough portraits for my liking, and the Elves, Dwarves and Trow portraits all look male. I also don't like that I cannot create a full party from early on. The maximum amount of characters you can have is 6, and currently I'm only allowed to have four. This is a personal pet peeve of mine. The slots unlock as you progress.

    Normal combat kind of disappoints me a bit. There are times that my characters are near death and the AI stupidly ignores them and just attacks the nearest target, instead of strategizing. I imagine this would change if I bumped my difficulty up to hard. I'll do that next playthrough. Although there are times I don't feel like doing things again and with the save system of this game, that's a blessing. To my next point, the save system is kind of iffy. You have to save only at markers (or when you quit the game). You can choose to consume the markers (which destroys it) for extra XP, or you can choose to bind it and use it as a save point. While this isn't terrible or anything, it's just not what I really like - personal taste and all that.

    Lastly, the mastery system bugs me a bit. You can only have up to 4 combat masteries at a time. When you are in combat, you get six total: four skill masteries, one trinket mastery and a move mastery. These are all you can use and you cannot swap them during combat. While it's not a deal breaker, sometimes it can be annoying and I wish it could be handled differently. I'd like to be able to waste opportunity points (what you use to take actions during combat) to swap skills in combat. I think that would be a cool option. Would help with the micromanagement, or have the option to be able to have more than a max of four skills for use at a time.

    Overall, I think the game is solid. It looks great for what it is, the characters are charming, you do have options for character customization, the combat is pretty much just right, the puzzles aren't unbearably boring and the game is overall a lot of fun. I would highly recommend giving it a try, even if you wait a month or two for the patches to stop flying.

    Bonus: Mean Drunk is just one of the favorite Bard talents you can choose from, in my opinion.    … Expand
  19. wrf101
    Sep 18, 2018
    8
    Good game, lots of atmosphere. Medium depth for an RPG. Some Bard's Tale purists are **** that it didn't carry enough gameplay mechanics over from 30 year-old games. I played the originals, and their game mechanics are dated and combat was pretty shallow, so InXile wisely made some major changes. The mechanics as a modern game are just fine. The attribute system is streamlined/dumbed-downGood game, lots of atmosphere. Medium depth for an RPG. Some Bard's Tale purists are **** that it didn't carry enough gameplay mechanics over from 30 year-old games. I played the originals, and their game mechanics are dated and combat was pretty shallow, so InXile wisely made some major changes. The mechanics as a modern game are just fine. The attribute system is streamlined/dumbed-down but the combat is much more strategic and there's a new skill and crafting system. The positives are good graphics for it's price point ($34.99) - not cutting-edge but decent and lots of atmosphere and variety. I love the Scottish accents. People are whining that this is "new" but there were NO VOICES in the old BT games, so how do you know they didn't have Scottish accents back then? I like the new free form 1st person movement, you can switch to grid-based if you like. Combat is grid and turn-based with medium complexity. Good occasional puzzles, good atmosphere, voice acting is cheesy but very colorful so overall a plus for me. Not a super-deep RPG but not shallow either. Overall I'm really enjoying it, it's a good game for those who like some depth without getting bogged down with an extreme amount of stats. Has a light-hearted tone and a sense of humor without being clownish. I recommend it unless you're a very hardcore RPG fan a la Pillars of Eternity or Baldur's Gate. BTW this runs butter-smooth on my GTX 970 on highest GFX settings.… Expand
  20. Urthor
    Sep 19, 2018
    0
    What looks like a revival of a classic childhood love rapidly becomes a shuddering mess as the glossy coat of paint peels back to reveal a congealed blob of badly thought out gameplay systems and ultimately unenjoyable turn-based combat. Definitely avoid at all costs.
  21. soli
    Sep 23, 2018
    6
    To everyone who is having trouble with load times: install the game to a SSD hard drive. It loads in just a few seconds, compared to what feels like forever on a conventional hard drive. I can say, the difference is like night and day!

    The game is heavily focused on the music & sound effects / ambient sounds -- to get the best experience, I strongly recommend a good sound card & good    To everyone who is having trouble with load times: install the game to a SSD hard drive. It loads in just a few seconds, compared to what feels like forever on a conventional hard drive. I can say, the difference is like night and day!

    The game is heavily focused on the music & sound effects / ambient sounds -- to get the best experience, I strongly recommend a good sound card & good speakers or headphones. Otherwise the game feels flat and mediocre -- really, it's like adding great sound & music to movies rather than watching a movie on Mute.

    I'm personally impressed by how Bard's Tale 4 incorporates puzzles into the adventure. Having played Bard's Tale 1-3, I recall having to solve numerous puzzles and devious & clever riddles (apparently a Celtic tradition). Barrows Deep has an innovative combat system that reminds me of the old-school feel of combat, spiced up -- almost like a mini-game.

    I do recommend staying closely to the main storyline, which gives the game a flow and feel which is rather nice.    … Expand
  22. FalkonSwift
    Sep 20, 2018
    9
    As of this writing I'm about 25 hours into the game, and feel like I'm about halfway through. Overall I'm having a blast. I have only encountered 1 game crash and minor bugs at best 2 other times. The best part of the game for me is exploration.

    There is so much stuff in the game you could miss if you rushed it. Tons and tons of secrets. Which is sometimes one of the thing's I did not    As of this writing I'm about 25 hours into the game, and feel like I'm about halfway through. Overall I'm having a blast. I have only encountered 1 game crash and minor bugs at best 2 other times. The best part of the game for me is exploration.

    There is so much stuff in the game you could miss if you rushed it. Tons and tons of secrets. Which is sometimes one of the thing's I did not like about it. Some puzzles are so vague you have no context of what the game is asking for you and it's tough to progress.

    I find the combat system unique and fun mixing team dynamics and using combos and synergies from other heroes in your party. Some loot feels like you might never find an upgrade for a long time, other times I felt like I got too many of the same thing. The gear is usually unique in giving you special perks in your fights.

    The companions seem very interesting to me and I'm enjoying the banter between them. The only part that is a little bothersome is I find sometimes the game offers to add new party members into the group too soon after you have someone already such as having 2 or 3 rogues or 2 mages, etc so you don't get to really see how one person performs over another as much as I'd like.

    Also as of this writing one of my only complaints in the game there is no way to respec your hero. The only way is to create an all new hero at the guild. so I'm forced to use a bunch of skills I don't want to to progress the talent tree until the review board will open up more slots.

    The music in the game is SO GOOD! Also the voice actors are very good too.

    I've only played the 1st Bards tale and there are some call backs to it in the game, but it's not fair to compare it to this. The lore is in there, but the game play and classes are missing. I personally am fine with no random encounters and I'm okay with random loot drops. I like that some places have really tough fights mixed in with easy fights.

    I wish there were more classes in game. My personal favorite was the monk, but monks are not in the game as of now. I'm hoping they come later on.

    Other than the starting dungeon I find the world to be really beautiful. Some places I find myself just taking in the ambience, while others there's a real sense of danger, if you stand still and a monster walks by you might be in trouble!

    Overall, I think this is well worth a play through, and don't let the horrible hero models give you a false impression of a poor game. There's enough content that makes me feel like I'm def getting my money's worth, and I could see some replayability using different team make ups.    … Expand
  23. dpisacane
    Oct 10, 2018
    10
    In my estimation, inXile has managed to do what so many creative people fail miserably at. They have taken a beloved classic property (personally, I played the classic games on my Apple II back when they came out), updated it, made it different enough to be fresh but clearly in the spirit of the original games.

    This is obviously an update and a reimagining of The Bard's Tale, but not in    In my estimation, inXile has managed to do what so many creative people fail miserably at. They have taken a beloved classic property (personally, I played the classic games on my Apple II back when they came out), updated it, made it different enough to be fresh but clearly in the spirit of the original games.

    This is obviously an update and a reimagining of The Bard's Tale, but not in the way that the 2004 Bard's Tale tried to do something completely different. This is a dungeon crawler in the spirit of the classic games, only with interesting, new and updated gameplay systems and absolutely gorgeous visuals. I am consistently amazed by how good this game looks, and I have to keep reminding myself that this game was produced as the result of a Kickstarter. You WILL be impressed when you play it, I promise you that.

    Simply put, if you like dungeon crawlers like Legend of Grimrock, Eye of the Beholder or Ultima Underworld... this is a game you will really enjoy. I would also like to point out that the turn based combat is a breath of fresh air in this era where everything is so "twitchy". I don't mind real-time combat, but I chafe at the realization that I can't even find a good turn based RPG nowadays without resorting to playing games I never got around to fifteen or twenty years ago.

    Basically, I am loving The Bard's Tale IV. If you enjoy dungeon crawlers, and particularly if you have fond memories of The Bard's Tale from "back in the day" I highly recommend that you give this game a try.    … Expand
  24. yellowfinch
    Sep 30, 2018
    8
    I am enjoying the game despite the tech issues. It is a unique game and is entertaining in two fronts, the dialog and the puzzles. I have an older pc and it is kind of difficult to control the first person view. I get a lot of satisfaction out of solving the puzzles and finding loot in different locations.
  25. MechZahnSlayer
    Sep 25, 2018
    9
    The idea that this game deserves a 0 is criminal. I get that some of you don’t like it but purposely trying to torpedo the over all score is petty & insanely selfish for people who love the game like me. At least they did something different by going back again to old staples long gone. The sound track alone is vibrantly full of memorable moments. The combat is hard and reminds me of earlyThe idea that this game deserves a 0 is criminal. I get that some of you don’t like it but purposely trying to torpedo the over all score is petty & insanely selfish for people who love the game like me. At least they did something different by going back again to old staples long gone. The sound track alone is vibrantly full of memorable moments. The combat is hard and reminds me of early Dragon Quest titles. And the puzzles? Still better then the Witness and it’s off putting one note type of puzzle on endless repeat. Voice acting top notch. A lot of this anger is coming from people who don’t know how to optimize their workstation, I do a lot of I.T. Work over the years. Most people act like it’s so hard when in truth it’s literaly a handful of YouTube videos away. This being said it will be patched more in the future for better optimization which is what keeps me from giving it a higher score. Otherwise, some of these reviews you’d have to be drunk with anger to write with a strait face.… Expand
  26. QweSteR
    Oct 4, 2021
    7
    The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - отличная игра, сочетающая различные геймплейные аспекты: раздолье для исследования и поиска секреток, пища для ума - головоломки, сложные и вполне увлекательные тактические бои. К тому же игра красиво оформлена и приятно звучит.

    Думаю The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut прежде всего подойдёт первопроходцам жанра Dungeon Crawler (Blobber'ов), олды же    The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - отличная игра, сочетающая различные геймплейные аспекты: раздолье для исследования и поиска секреток, пища для ума - головоломки, сложные и вполне увлекательные тактические бои. К тому же игра красиво оформлена и приятно звучит.

    Думаю The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut прежде всего подойдёт первопроходцам жанра Dungeon Crawler (Blobber'ов), олды же справедливо подвергнут критики. Я не смог осилить Wizardy и Might and Magic, но The Bard's Tale IV понравился.

    The Bard's Tale IV оказался слишком затянутой игрой. И дело не в размере игрового мира и загадках, а скорее в несовершенстве навигации и избыточности незначительных боёв (не всегда быстро найдёшь маршрут, через часов 10 забудешь кому сдавать квест, по пути наткнёшься на пятёрку проходных боёв и т.д).

    Достоинства перевешивают незначительные недостатки. И пусть Брайану Фарго не хватило денег с продаж The Bard's Tale IV на покупку Interplay, но ему удалось сделать достойный сиквел культовой игры.

    ОЦЕНКА 7.8/10:
    The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut достоин прохождения, игру совсем не обязательно изучать вдоль и поперёк. Повторное прохождение затронет лишь самых преданных поклонников жанра, но вряд ли удовольствие окажется соразмерно первому опыту, всё же игра линейная.    … Expand
  27. TheTodd68
    Jan 2, 2019
    6
    To start out: I recommend this game, with hesitation. It's definitely recommended if you are a fan of "classic" CRPGs, including the original Bard's Tale Series.

    The game definitely is presented as a sequel to the original game, and in that vain, it succeeds well, transitioning between a combat focused CRPG and a puzzle adventure game. To hit some highlights: * There's a decent    To start out: I recommend this game, with hesitation. It's definitely recommended if you are a fan of "classic" CRPGs, including the original Bard's Tale Series.

    The game definitely is presented as a sequel to the original game, and in that vain, it succeeds well, transitioning between a combat focused CRPG and a puzzle adventure game. To hit some highlights:

    * There's a decent amount of content; I'm about 20 hours in and I'm guessing only 25-30% "done".
    * The game is configured for progressive revelation. Early maps don't unlock all of their content (making navigation of the early maps tedious) until certain skills are unlocked that open up other map areas.
    * Character classes from the original series are present in name only. Progression is basically via skills gained during level ups. A set of skills is selected for each character to use during combat. The need to have an effective mix of skills in the party is very important due to this gameplay element.
    * Excellent use of music and audio in the game. Probably the game's highest point, reaching AAA quality.
    * The gameplay switches between combat and puzzle solving. It tends to focus on one or the other, and the puzzle content is quite high--if you're interested in a combat focused RPG, you'll be disappointed by the large amount of puzzle content.
    * The game is fairly linear in terms of the plots and quests. There are side quests, but they seem to be given and persist for quite some time until they can be completed. As such the game plays in a very linear fashion: fight, solve puzzles, finish quest, optinoally finish side quest, repeat.
    * Open world. I really wanted an experience similar to Dragon Age Inquisition, with an open world feel and exploration being key. This game is not that, it (to me) was somewhat disappointing.

    The previous points elaborate the gameplay elements I feel are key to enjoying the game.

    Finally: I've ignored one of the major downsides for the game--the game engine. As of early Jan. 2019 it can best be described as a mess. It looks "ok", but the performance for the "ok" is atrocious. Load times are somewhere between long and painfully long. Combat can be fun, but the timing and animations make the entire experience seem prolonged--and unlike the original trilogy there's no "speed up combat" option. If you have to replay combat after a loss, it becomes even more tedious. To that end: if you aren't willing to accept (up front) the issues with the engine, you'd be better off playing another game.    … Expand
  28. Biberattacke
    May 10, 2020
    7
    Bards Tale IV Directors Cut
    Es ist ein OldSchool RPG aus der Ego Perspektive aller Black Crypt oder Lands of Lore (kleiner Verweis: jahaa ich weiß, dass die Wizardry Reihe und Dungeon Master viel populärer sind, aber ich habe weder das eine noch das andere je gespielt (Notiz an mich: Bildungslücke???)
    Dennoch habe ich dieses kleine feine Genre für mich wieder entdeckt und als Experiment    Bards Tale IV Directors Cut
    Es ist ein OldSchool RPG aus der Ego Perspektive aller Black Crypt oder Lands of Lore (kleiner Verweis: jahaa ich weiß, dass die Wizardry Reihe und Dungeon Master viel populärer sind, aber ich habe weder das eine noch das andere je gespielt (Notiz an mich: Bildungslücke???)
    Dennoch habe ich dieses kleine feine Genre für mich wieder entdeckt und als Experiment eben Bards Tale bei Steam erworben. Die Alternative wäre Operencia: The Stolen Sun gewesen, aber ich hatte bis dato keinen Epic Store Account und dieses Spiel ist eben temporär exklusiv für diesen welchen,

    Nun aber zum Spiel:
    Die Story vom Bards Tale ist recht schnell erzähl: Ancient Evil is lurking in the Dark... Punkt.
    Anfangs weiß man noch nicht genau worum es geht, aber alle fremden Rassen und Andersgläubigen in der Spielwelt werden von der vorherrschenden Klasse der Kirche und ihren fanatischen Paladinen verfolgt und tyrannisiert. Schnell bekommt man aber mit, dass mehr dahinter steckt und loooooos gehts.
    Ich will nicht spoilern deswegen... gleich zum Fazit: Nett, nicht mehr aber auch nicht weniger.
    Interssanter ist die Spielmechanik:
    -Elfenwaffen die, wenn man ihre Rätsel löst, zusätzliche Bonusfähigkeiten freischalten.
    -Tolle Anspruchsvolle Rätsel, zum Teil seeeehr anspruchsvoll (ich habe 2 mal in ein Walkthrough gucken müssen und bis heute nicht verstanden warum man von einem Bild mit Krähen auf ein Glockenspiel schließen kann, Notiz an mich: viellicht bin auch einfach zu blöd???)
    -Taktische Rundenkämpfe die gerade anfangs recht fordernd sind, nachher aber fast ein bisschen zu einfach, wenn man die richtige Allround Taktik gefunden hat. Ein Wechsel der Skillung ist bei meinem Durchlauf nur ein mal notwendig gewesen (Schwierikgeitsgrad Normal ohne Permadeath),
    Die Atmosphäre ist meist recht gelungen. Sehr liebevoll gestaltete Musik. Obwohl ich kein Fan irisch oder schottischer Volklore bin ist es hier, wo es doch im Kern um den Barden an sich geht, sehr passend und gelungen. Vor allem steckt viel arbeit drin, und das merkt man! Die Grafik hat sehr schöne Glanz und Lichteffekte, allerdings sind die Animationen teilweise recht hölzern. Außerdem gibt es auch in der DR Cut Version teilweise in den Kämfen fehlende Animationsphasen und das ist wirklich nicht das was ich von einer DR Cut Version erwarte. Die Sprecher sind ausnahmslos gut (alles Englisch mit häufig starkem schottischem Akzent und deutschem Untertitel (sehr empfehlenswert, wie gesagt schottischer Akzent))

    Insgesamt hatte ich viel Spass, wenn auch gleich das Spiel zum Ende hin (die letzten 4 Stunden Spielzeit) teilweise Qualvolle Rätsel beinhaltete. Am Ende war man aber dann doch froh und stolz wenn man sie gelöst hatte.
    Kurzum: Ich bin froh dieses Experiment gewagt zu haben und werde irgendwann nächstes Jahr dann auch mal zu einem anderen Rollenspiel dieser Art linsen,,, evlt auch Operencia, es erscheint dann ja auch bei Steam, Nachtrag: Operencia wird aktuell gerade von mir gespielt    … Expand
  29. jseph1234
    Apr 1, 2020
    3
    I ALMOST Pre-purchase this and I'm glad I didn't. The 4 Square combat is just poorly implemented and the world looks and feels cheap. Also, the encounters are ok but not worth spending $50 on this.
  30. Jabati
    Apr 3, 2019
    3
    I didnt like it sorry. Reminds me of a card game which I think is better than that. Movement around the world sucks, combat sucks, hell till the moment I've been playing the story sucked too... Lets face it... This game sucks... like bad...

Awards & Rankings

83
#83 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018
32
#32 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 42 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 42
  3. Negative: 4 out of 42
  1. CD-Action
    Feb 13, 2019
    80
    The Bard’s Tale IV is like a beautifully composed song performed on out of tunes instruments. There are moments when it borders on genius, other times it actively encouraged me to uninstall and forget it. For every strength it has a weakness. Good writing, superb puzzles, great music, outstanding voice-overs and solid mechanics are counterbalanced by quite awful visuals (how can Unreal Engine 4 look so bad?), some examples of bad design, a truckload of bugs (how about skills that don’t work or the ability to loot a chest through a ceiling?) and frequent crashes. For me the advantages were what mattered more, but I completely understand scores in the region of 4/10. [12/2018, p.58]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Dec 31, 2018
    80
    An adventure in which lute is played and songs are sung just can’t let you down. Bard's Tale has a lot of flaws, but it finds a way to the player's heart. However, the game is pretty far from its original trilogy. [Issue#290]
  3. RPG Site
    Dec 4, 2018
    70
    The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep has a satisfyingly deep and flexible battle system, surrounded by heavy puzzle exploration and a narrative that doesn't manage to stay interesting. There are some really neat systems at play here for those looking for intricate combat, but performance issues and a lacking storyline make it a hard sell to a larger audience.
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