Bard's Tale Bard's Tale 4: DC is Mint

[Falksi]

It's fucking brilliant and deserves a LOT more love.

I get that it may be seen as decline to some, but honestly I don't know how a modern dev could take an old formula and blend it with modern QoL elements better to also make it work today.

It's funny, the TB combat is fucking brilliant, the exploration is well crafted, the sense of discovery awesome, the puzzles are fun and well paced, the music is delicious etc. etc.

This is easily a 9/10 game for me, possibly a 9.5/10, and a prime example of how to keep old games alive and relevant in a modern era of decline.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Does it have bear sex?

Does every male companion including the squidman in your pocket try to seduce you, constantly and aggressively?

These are the things I look for in a great RPG in the current year.

 

[Sentinel]

I too enjoy puzzles in my dungeon crawlers.

 

[Infinitron]

the puzzles are fun and well paced

Rare opinion. Did you ever skip them?

 

[Falksi]

the puzzles are fun and well paced

Rare opinion. Did you ever skip them?

Nope, I think they're great. Really well designed and placed pretty evenly between combat and exploration.

 

[Decado]

I liked BT4 but the itemization is a low point. I have no idea why they went from a classic equipment and armor based gear system to the goofy set up they have in this game, where weapons are basically trinkets that just increase your attack power and/or grant perks. It is my biggest complaint with the game, but that said I also liked the combat. I realize that "liking the combat" means I have to take the goofy equipment mechanic but I feel like there was a way to split the difference.

Everything else I agree with -- good exploration, very good puzzles. It's a Brian Fargo game which means it is 30% longer than it needs to be, but I'm not going to complain about content. I would play a BT5 if they fixed the equipment thing and brought back some some of the original classes.

 

[Mortmal]

the puzzles are fun and well paced

Rare opinion. Did you ever skip them?

Yes, I don't believe there are more than a few Codex members who appreciate it, and that's for valid reasons. It was marketed as a new installment in the Bard's Tale series, yet it's a completely different experience. The game leans more towards being a puzzle game with some RPG elements, bearing little resemblance to the old and comparatively primitive Bard's Tale games. While it's a good game in its own right, I can understand why some people might feel frustrated by this significant departure from the original concept.

 

[anvi]

I loved it too. Completed it and didn't skip anything. I liked the first half more because it was hard. Once the team was built and I figured out the combat, the second half was repetitive and dragged on a bit. But I still liked it. I also love M&M X Legacy.

 

[agris]

It's fucking brilliant and deserves a LOT more love.

I get that it may be seen as decline to some, but honestly I don't know how a modern dev could take an old formula and blend it with modern QoL elements better to also make it work today.

It's funny, the TB combat is fucking brilliant, the exploration is well crafted, the sense of discovery awesome, the puzzles are fun and well paced, the music is delicious etc. etc.

This is easily a 9/10 game for me, possibly a 9.5/10, and a prime example of how to keep old games alive and relevant in a modern era of decline.

Did you beat it? This reads like you’re 1/4 to 1/3 into the game and haven’t realized yet how monotonous it is

 

[Falksi]

It's fucking brilliant and deserves a LOT more love.

I get that it may be seen as decline to some, but honestly I don't know how a modern dev could take an old formula and blend it with modern QoL elements better to also make it work today.

It's funny, the TB combat is fucking brilliant, the exploration is well crafted, the sense of discovery awesome, the puzzles are fun and well paced, the music is delicious etc. etc.

This is easily a 9/10 game for me, possibly a 9.5/10, and a prime example of how to keep old games alive and relevant in a modern era of decline.

Did you beat it? This reads like you’re 1/4 to 1/3 into the game and haven’t realized yet how monotonous it is

I've beat it before and I'm just replaying it on a harder setting. I also break up these games by playing arcade style games such as Revenge of Shinobi, Atomic Runner, Hellfire etc. every few hours to keep things fresh. Always done that with all RPGs.

 

[agris]

Well, more power to you for liking it. I didn’t play DC, but I did play the patched original and found it monotonous, with brain-dead puzzles that only served to draw out the tedious maps.

As Decado said, the itemization is also a drag as you hit the deep end of the loot pool about 1/2 to 2/3 into the game. After that, you stop finding better items and just find different versions of bad. Combine that with the combat and encounter system that, while promising at the beginning, turns rote by mid-game, there just isn’t much that kept me playing. And I played on the hardest difficulty and did all the optional fights the moment I found them, not over leveling and then returning to them later.

It was the best inXile game I’ve played, which is really damning them with faint praise.

(haven’t played WL3 or Attack Chopter HD)

 

[BruceVC]

It's fucking brilliant and deserves a LOT more love.

I get that it may be seen as decline to some, but honestly I don't know how a modern dev could take an old formula and blend it with modern QoL elements better to also make it work today.

It's funny, the TB combat is fucking brilliant, the exploration is well crafted, the sense of discovery awesome, the puzzles are fun and well paced, the music is delicious etc. etc.

This is easily a 9/10 game for me, possibly a 9.5/10, and a prime example of how to keep old games alive and relevant in a modern era of decline.

I loved it, the puzzles were tough and I had to use guides for some of them like the ones with the blood\liquid and how you had to get it to flow in a certain direction but I was comfortable with the fairy golf and most other puzzles

And the combat was strategic and worthwhile

 

[0sacred]

the races, the itemization, and the character progression all sucked donkey balls. Combat was ok, puzzle density was ok.

It didn't play like a Bard's Tale game (forgivable) and wasn't an oldschool game in spirit and execution (unforgivable). One of my most regretted purchases.

 

[agris]

anvi while we seem to be of opposite mind in this thread, you should check out dark souls 1 if you haven’t. Actually gives me real strong OG EverQuest vibes, I’m surprised

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Falksi , don't you also think Witcha 2 is the best Witcha game?

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Well, more power to you for liking it. I didn’t play DC, but I did play the patched original and found it monotonous, with brain-dead puzzles that only served to draw out the tedious maps.

So it's a TBT game after all

 

[Falksi]

Falksi , don't you also think Witcha 2 is the best Witcha game?

Yep, I was right about that too.

 

[Falksi]

It's fucking brilliant and deserves a LOT more love.

I get that it may be seen as decline to some, but honestly I don't know how a modern dev could take an old formula and blend it with modern QoL elements better to also make it work today.

It's funny, the TB combat is fucking brilliant, the exploration is well crafted, the sense of discovery awesome, the puzzles are fun and well paced, the music is delicious etc. etc.

This is easily a 9/10 game for me, possibly a 9.5/10, and a prime example of how to keep old games alive and relevant in a modern era of decline.

I loved it, the puzzles were tough and I had to use guides for some of them like the ones with the blood\liquid and how you had to get it to flow in a certain direction but I was comfortable with the fairy golf and most other puzzles

And the combat was strategic and worthwhile

It's just so enjoyable to be playing an adventure based game where I actually feel like I'm on an old-school adventure. Riddles & puzzles are far too sparse in modern RPG gaming.

BT4:DC is the kind of game us 'Dexers need more of, AAA production values (well, almost), modern QoL features, but all built around old-school gaming philosophies.

 

[cvv]

It's a Brian Fargo game which means it is 30% longer than it needs to be

50%.

Also yes, puzzles are great but. There's. Too. Fucking. Many. Of. Them. Shit stopped being fun half-way through.

Also the writing was irritatingly fanfic.

Also music pretty but repetitive.

Also loot utterly retarded. A healing potion and a handful of coins at the end of an epic dungeon. How is Jesus not punishing developers for this shit?

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

So no playing these?

Or


Ahem…

I kid on the last one…. Although, if gog did have it I might play it.

 

[Darkozric]

with brain-dead puzzles

Also yes, puzzles are great

 

[cvv]

with brain-dead puzzles

Also yes, puzzles are great

Puzzles are p. gud, but there are too many of them plus they get repetitive half-way through. Having to solve your 397th dwarven cog puzzle tends to sap the fun out of the mid game and later.

 

[Darkozric]

Puzzles are p. gud, but there are too many of them plus they get repetitive half-way through. Having to solve your 397th dwarven cog puzzle tends to sap the fun out of the mid game and later.

Having many is not a problem, so they're good but there's no variety?

 

[cvv]

Puzzles are p. gud, but there are too many of them plus they get repetitive half-way through. Having to solve your 397th dwarven cog puzzle tends to sap the fun out of the mid game and later.

Having many is not a problem, so they're good but there's no variety?

Plenty of variety for 20+ hours but not for the 50 that it took me on my first run. Without the DLC.

And yes, quality-wise they are good.

 

[agris]

let’s agree to disagree on the puzzle quality

from my perspective, there are far too many of them *and* they are too easy