The Bard's Tale

Instead of following the tried-but-not-always-true formulas often found in fantasy RPGs, it manages to save itself by being nothing but irreverent and just a little bit rude.

Ultimately, setting out to critique and parody so studiously such a hidebound genre has brought The Bard's Tale too close to what it was trying to distance itself from. This is a conventional, likeable dungeon crawl whose flashes of brilliance distract you from its accomplishments by hinting at how much more it could have been. [Christmas 2004, p.93]

Humor is this game's selling point-not battle systems or graphics or game engines-and gamers who value a smart and entertaining tale well told will certainly be able to look past the game's other problems.

If the thin plot of games with similar mechanics bothers you, this could end up as your favorite in the genre.

A light-hearted romp through different RPG clichés and worlds that delivers just what it promises. It's fun, funny, and probably one of the best dungeon crawling action RPGs in our current generation. Of course, it's a tired genre, so coming out on top of it's predecessors is not a huge accomplishment.

If there were a more advanced game behind the excellent writing, The Bard's Tale could have been one of the highest rated RPGs this year. The Bard's sarky one-liners, foul mouth, and rampant chauvinism make every cutscene and conversation entertaining and frequently laugh-out-loud funny.

The story and dialogue never cease to entertain. Objectives include rescuing prisoners, killing fearsome scarecrows and playing Cupid. But, although the developers want to ridicule, the action remains conventional.

Possibly a rentable game; only if you enjoy beer, dancing, and funny accents that is.

A decent dungeon crawler that invests some energy into lampooning RPGs and high fantasy in general, but like a stand-up act about airline food or the line at the post office, its perspective isn't very interesting, and it lacks any real follow-through.

A moderately solid action RPG that fails to live up to its peers in this generation. It just isn't as solid, gameplay wise, as games like "Baldur's Gate" and its humor is way too hit or miss to make up the difference.

Unfortunately, most – especially pure RPG fans – will find the game is incredibly simplistic, with the actual gameplay being far too shallow, containing a basic fighting mechanic, an innovative 'magic' system and... Well, not much else.

But while dumbing down the RPG premise for the casual console gamer might work for some people, it ultimately fell down for us by making the main action portion of the game really quite tiresome.

Could've been a great game, but focuses more on being funny and irreverent than being a solid action/RPG and ends up being pretty average.

So if you've always been put off by the micromanagement inherent in most RPG's, Bard's Tale may be just your ticket. If those aspects are part of what draws you in, the game will feel very shallow.