Unfortunately, that tactical element completely wears off once you realise enemies always make the same choices. You often need to think ahead and make the choice between attack and defence, cleverly managing your cooldown periods between the members of your party, too. Every action has a cool-down period some attacks and buffs require a charging period first.Īt first, it’s a nice tactical challenge to decide on your actions for each turn. In each round you have fixed number of opportunity points to spend between all characters. Characters can stand in the front or in the back, and each grid has several columns you can move to. The round-based combat takes place on a grid layout. So, depending on the strength of your opponent – visible by a coloured icon above their head – it’s important you get the drop on them first to avoid immediately being wiped out. Once they spot you, they’ll attack immediately. Of course, you also run into enemies on your travels. If you’ve just learnt a new song, the part of the dungeon you’re in is going to be all about you using it, giving you colourful runes to sing at in order to activate something. Unfortunately, there’s hardly any trial and error involved in using a song. Over the course of the game you’ll learn different songs that help you solve puzzles by moving objects, restoring or destroying them, and even making the hidden visible. Using songs is also a viable game mechanic. Not only does The Bard’s Tale IV have a beautiful Gaelic folk soundtrack accompany it, many NPCs sing, too. In practice, this means that – unexpectedly – you have a very musical game on your hands. If not, short and unobtrusive tutorials show you how to use any skill you need to advance.Īs the name suggests, The Bard’s Tale IV is all about bards – the most-beloved or hated character class in pen and paper RPGs, depending on who you ask. You unlock new environments in a very organic manner, so once you’ve found a key or learnt a spell to rid yourself of an obstacle, you likely already know where to use it. In addition to these access points, various items – magic or just good old keys – can also open new paths. The game’s main setting is the town of Skara Brae, which is designed almost like a hub world it provides access to several different parts of the main dungeon from several points in the city. It’s likely you’ll get lost, but you almost always find something when that happens, such as treasure or new pathways and quests to discover later. Every place you enter is laid out on an intricate map that’s revealed while you walk. The Bard’s Tale IV is a first-person dungeon crawler. Whether it’s direct sequels to a gaming franchise such as Wastelands II or spiritual successors such as Torment: Tides of Numenera, the studio creates modern versions of classic RPGs, trying to preserve what made them so enjoyable in the first place. InXile has become a bit of a specialist in resurrecting old CRPG favourites. Now, older and wiser, and hardened by my own experiences, I know that a decade is nothing.įans of The Bard’s Tale have waited a whopping 30 years for a sequel to the last instalment in the franchise, The Bard’s Tale III: Thief of Fate, and now InXile Entertainment has answered their prayers. ![]() Had you asked me a decade ago who waits more than a few years on a video game sequel, I might have shrugged.
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