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Old school gamer here...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 32
Date: July 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Ok, I dont know if this version will be an cloned updated version with enhanced graphics of the original game. But this game on my apple 2c back in the day made me the gamer that I am now.... I spent many a night and day playing this game non-stop. I had all these dungeons mapped out on hex paper. Im drooling at the thought of this new version of the game capturing the feeling I had when i was young playing the original.

Lets hope they get it right!

what goes around...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 28
Date: October 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I too remember this game. but, sadly, I used to know the catacombs by heart. I can only hope they've done this game well.
it truly WAS one of the first and best. all sorts of abilities and huge maps.
of course, one of the things I remember most is.. near the very end.. the 4 groups of 99 berserkers. hehehe.
can't wait for thre new one!

-MockingBird

Bard's Tale

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 24 / 29
Date: October 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have been a fan of Bard's Tale from the beginning. And I also remember the catacombs. This game does not look or feel anything like the original, but I did expect that.

It has the same type of graphics as the latest Baldur's gate. It has cut animation in which you (the bard) will talk with other characters. You have little choices on the conversation. You may chose to be sarcastic or sincere.

Other choices are limited as well. When you kill the opponent, his objects go straight to you in the form of money. His armor, sword, pants, etc are all converted into money. Unless his armor or weapon is better than your current weapon, then you automatically receive it and your item is converted to money.

What I don't like about the game is that it limits your choices and tends to be very linear. Unlike a game like Morrowind where you are able to explore where and how you would like, you are stuck in a storyline in this game.

I gave it 4 stars because it is well made and is keeping my interest. The graphics are great and I like the music.

Very good game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 14
Date: November 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is wonderful! It is far different from typical RPGs. Although, I do wish it had a multiplayer mode, and I don't like how once you miss a chance to get a token, it's gone forevere.

Great witty version of an RPG classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 121 / 127
Date: November 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I remember playing the original Bard's Tale game - it was a game I loved and played for months and months. This new version features the brilliant acting of Cary Elwes of Priness Bride frame!

You get to create your bard character with the standard attributes - strength, dexterity and so on. But once you get into the game, you'll quickly discover the comic timing that makes this game so unique. You wander into a tavern and are promptly told to go search for rats. Your character asides that this is a rather cliche quest, but you'll do it for the (ahem) ample barmaid who smiles at you.

You head down into the dusty cellar, where you find your rat and slay him. Then, as you get your little scene of the Bard's Victory, a HUGE rat sneaks up behind you and breathes on you with a massive fire breath! When you hobble up to the tavern, everyone is laughing their fool heads off.

It's that sort of twist that makes the entire game hilarious, especially for RPG buffs. Every normal twist and turn of RPG campaigning is made fun of here. You are given the option of the "nice" or "naughty" option at every turn - and it's not always the "nice" option that you want to try! The game is very replayable, as you see what happens with various combinations of answers.

There's plenty of combinations of fighting, spellcasting, healing and so on - in traditional RPG fashion. I particularly like the wiggly little magic spiders myself, as they remind me of the Spirited Away anime. But really the wit is the key feature of this game. You fight through scenarios to get to hear what the witty comments will be at the end :)

Highly recommended for RPG fans - especially those who are fans of the Princess Bride style of dry wit!

Loved It!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: July 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've had it a week and cant stop playing it. Wonderful, funny RPG. I look forward to re-playing it to try out what I missed the first time around.

Very funny game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: July 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Great voice acting all around, especially from Cary Elwes, who plays the bard. He's done a bit of voice-acting these days, and I hope he continues to do so, because he is very good.
He is very funny in this game, and it's worth the hack 'n' slash bits that can get a bit boring to get to the funny bits. OK, I've said bit way too many times there, but you get my meaning.
edit - It would be obscene not to mention Tony Jay as the narrator, who does an incredible job with that unique voice of his. I dare say he steals a couple scenes from the bard IMHO.

The gameplay itself is standard fair. If you played hack and slash RPG type games, you already know the drill. Funny thing is the game itself makes fun of the very genre it's in. I don't like the camera controls that much, and it doesn't give a chase camera option, so it gets a bit annoying after awhile. Also the top down angle does get some getting used to as well. Graphics are nice to look at, but nothing super special.

It's really the dialogue and funny scenes that happen that make this game worth getting. There are some fun movie references/homages I've noticed as well, like Spinal Tap and Willy Wonka. No Princess Bride yet, though I'm still in the beginning of the game! (Or I missed it already) :)

Poor conversion of a console interface

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 19 / 21
Date: July 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I wanted to like this game... but could not get over the poorly designed interface and clunky gameplay.

This game was built for a console, and poorly ported to the PC - Controls are non-intuitive, the camera control is very limited, and you can only 'save' at specific locations. I would rate the graphics as only 'so-so' - I found them far less impressive than WoW, EQ2, GuildWars, or any other recent game on the PC.

There is no menu based options; use of the mouse is limited. Context sensitive help is non-existant. All of the controls are based on a keypad layout - but mapping I,J,K,M to random functions is completely unintuitive on the PC (where it makes sense to have them mapped to a diamond layout of keys on a keypad). Truly, this is one of the worst PC interfaces ever. The interface makes sense for a gamepad controller, but does not take advantage of any PC based tools (keyboard & mouse). At best, support for keyboard and mouse is a badly done kludge. At worst, what they did is criminal destruction of an otherwise good game.

The dialog is amusing; the voice acting is excellent.... but I just can't get over how clunky the game is to play. I really would like to recommend the game, but I just can't quite do it. To me, the gameplay is ruined by the interface. They should have taken another couple of months and designed a reasonable PC interface.

If you have a choice, get the game on a console or skip it altogether.

Oh, it's bad luck to be you.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 31 / 40
Date: July 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I wonder if the people who have so far reviewed "The Bard's Tale" (PC) on the web actually played it or the demo, or if they are relying on the reputation of previous games with the same name to make a judgment call about this game. I do not believe many did play it, because if they did, they would have seen how frustrating and how little fun the game becomes as it drags on. Yes, the voice acting is funny and enjoyable, but a cute and quirky story cannot make up for the game's overall poor design.

During certain animations (and more importantly during battle) the game will slow to a crawl comparable to the lag you might experience playing a newly released MMORPG on a dial-up connection. The slow down is a known problem for users of certain models of GeForce and Radeon cards, but not all users will be affected. As of the date of this review, there is no support for this issue and no official forum for discussion of such tech problems.

Don't rely on the game box and screenshots as a judge of the game environment. Basically we are dealing with a slightly modified, old fashioned top-down view with the added bonus of trees and other structures that must become transparent to allow you to see your character as you move under them. Due to the limited field of view, the minimap becomes essential to know what is a few feet away from you, either because you will not be able to actually see monsters until they are practically right on top of you or because they will be obscured if they move under trees that you are not under at the same moment.

Yes, you have companions that have cool powers that will be helpful in different situations. But no matter what you do, if you are ganged up on by more than three monsters at once, you may as well give up and load your game. This is because most of the monsters you fight have a tendency to knock you down or stun you for some time when they hit. Basically, if you cannot block perfectly, you will be round-robined to death as you enemy takes turns knocking you down and doing damage to you while you cannot stand up and recover. Meanwhile your companions will do whatever would be most illogical in such a situation: Healers will run forward and fight monsters with their fists, warriors will stop fighting in the middle of a battle and simply stand still, ranged weapon users will fire at monsters offscreen, drawing them into the battle.

Forget about the claim "less A, more I", the monsters aren't any better than most games...you will simply be overwhelmed with numbers in most cases.

Overall, the game is sub par...the price at release is low for a reason.

Very Amusing, Interesting Game Marred by Interface

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 62 / 64
Date: July 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The plotline of this game and the way in which it's "acted" are excellent: very witty, very interesting (though predictable), and very well done. I enjoyed that immensely. Unfortunately, the way the publisher implemented the gameplay reduces the overall enjoyability... A lot. My biggest gripes:

- I didn't care much for the top-down viewpoint which this game uses. I'd much rather have a first person point of view. This is especially true since you can't change the vertical angle (azimuth) that you're looking through. It's always almost directly overhead. You can't see what's in front of you and you can't really see what's on the walls around you.
- The game gives you only a very limited view of the area. I ran it at 1280x1024 and could only see the various monsters as they were about to pounce on me. Theoretically, you can zoom the camera in and out, but the amount of difference is insignificant. This is especially bad when using a bow: throughout the game you end up focused on the small "radar screen" and firing blindly in the approximate direction of some red dots (your bow range far exceeds your view). You hardly ever get to see what you're shooting. Since I used the bow almost exclusively, that really reduced the enjoyment of the gameplay.
- The controls are very awkward. You move by right-clicking where you want to go. Fire/Strike by left-clicking. Block with the space bar. Rotate the view clockwise/counterclockwise with the A and D keys. Change your radar with the X key. And, most awkwardly, change weapons/party members with 2-level combinations of the 1, 2, 3, and 4 keys (1st "menu" level) and the A, S, D, and W keys (2nd "menu" level). Because of the difficulty of the keystrokes, this last "control" makes it very tough to make changes during combat. So, essentially, what you start a combat round with is what you're going to be stuck with (unless you can find a corner to hide in while you make changes).

I've got some other complaints, but compared to the above, they're minor. For the most part, the game is enjoyable and fairly easy. There are a couple of areas that are pretty hard. But, they're workable. Without those three major gripes I listed above, I'd highly recommend the game. As it is, though, I rate it as just 3 stars out of 3: it's OK.

Update: This game comes on 6 CDs. If your computer has a DVD reader, I highly recommend you hunt out the DVD version of the game (just for the sake of ease of loading). One other thing: in my case, CD 5 wouldn't read during installation on my computer. On my wife's and son's computers, it read fine, so I was able to make a copy of that CD to install with. If you run into the same problem, see if you can make a copy of the troublesome CD somewhere else.

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