Opinion Don't sleep on The Bard's Tale IV

[Kurt Russell]

So, The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep was released on Steam yesterday, and since it's got a myriad of performance issues, it took a beating on the Steam reviews aggregate thing. I've been playing it all day, and while the performance issues are a bother, the game is far too good to be ignored because of them.
If you like first person dungeon crawlers, you owe to yourself to check the game out. So far (I've played like eight hours because I'm a crazy person) I've had a blast with the combat, puzzles and exploration (you move in real time, without grid based restrictions, but once combat kicks in you get the old turn based with grid approach).
The graphics are pretty nice, the soundtrack is simply magnificent, and there's full voice acting for every new character you meet (no "hear the first two lines, then long text without voices" here).




The developers are already working on patches (the first one drops on Friday) and they also have a roadmap:
The Bard's Tale IV :: The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep Patch Road Map

For US$35, I think the game is a steal if the quality that I experienced during the first eight hours keeps up. Don't sleep on it!

 

[pahamrick]

I've heard nothing but good things about it, but damn -- I have so much other stuff I want to pick up. The list is just getting bigger.

 

[Kurt Russell]

I've heard nothing but good things about it, but damn -- I have so much other stuff I want to pick up. The list is just getting bigger.

Well, if you want to hear bad things, you can check out Rock, Paper, Shotgun's review (John Walker hated it for some reason, the weirdest part is that most of his points aren't exactly true, so I wonder if we played the same game or if it gets really bad near the end).

 

[NingenJanai]

Looks good, backlog am cry.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

I backed this KS and ashamed I havent started it yet. I will make a point to this weekend

 

[lashman]

oh man ... i REALLY want to play it ... but it's 50GB ... and apparently doesn't run all that well even on a 1080, so my 750Ti doesn't stand a sliver of a chance ;(

 

[chobel]

It was this or Pathfinder for my day 1 September game, and ACG review almost sold me on the game, but when I read Steam reviews and the myriad of performance issues I had to reconsider. I'm still interested but I'm now waiting for Pathfinder impressions/reviews before I make a decision.

 

[SpikeHitman]

I KS'd it but haven't had a chance to jump in yet. How do you think it compares to something like M&M X?

 

[Kurt Russell]

I KS'd it but haven't had a chance to jump in yet. How do you think it compares to something like M&M X?

It's less "classic" in a way (the real time movement when out of combat, etc) but I prefer it just because of that. The voice acting and music also really set it apart from other dungeon crawlers, they generate a very different atmosphere. I also prefer the exploration in this one, as it kinda feels more organic.

 

[SpikeHitman]

Sounds a little more like the M&M6-8 games. I'm interested to check it out when I have some time.

 

[bobnowhere]

I kind of want to support it but with the performance issues and the fact that I don't really have the same nostalgia for blobber style RPGs that I do for Isometric ones makes Pathfinder the one for me.

 

[lashman]

yeah, you might as well wait for the Director's Cut version ... you know it's coming

 

[Nahkapukki]

Didn't the maker say he'll buy back Interplay if it sells millions? Definitely a good reason to get the game.

 

[lashman]

yeah, he did .... 2 million copies, i believe

 

[Kurt Russell]

First patch is out (4.9gb)
The Bard's Tale IV :: The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep Patch 1

• Added FOV slider to the options menu
• Added ability to delete each save independently
• Updated ordering of PAK files to improve loading times up through Skyhenge
• Tweaks to volumetric fog in many areas to reduce load on the GPU
• Optimization of Kael’s Rudiment VFX to improve performance issues in combat
• Fix for puzzle weapons not saving their puzzle state if they were equipped when solved
• Fix to puzzle weapon crafting icons to remove stretching issues
• Updated materials on some puzzle weapons handles not displaying properly on high, medium, low quality settings
• Increased speed of Rain of Arrows enemy animations to reduce slowdown
• Fix to a crash when pressing End Turn when the player has an exploding arrow on that would kill them after the turn
• Added skill tree icons in subterfuge for lockpick and mastery
• Raised FPS cap on smoothing to 260
• Fixes to Inner Peace, Mindful, and Quick Thinking to not activate only once
• Added windowed mode drop down to replace checkbox
• Fix for game softlocking if a tutorial popped up right as a note was read
• Fix for electric boon line crash with certain abilities proccing out of combat
• Fix for a combatants kill action that could be triggered multiple times and after the end of combat screen which could cause a soft lock, notably with conjurers mark
• Fix for activating a standing stone right as combat starts causing a soft lock
• Fix for 2 handed weapons with 2 skills that were losing the first skill when level loading or training skills
• Fix for issue where combat statuses weren’t being removed after combat
• Removed the ability to destroy ink recipes in Mangar’s Tower
• Updated Mangar’s horde fight in Mangar’s Tower so traps go away when defeated after save/load
• Fix for a fairy golf collision issue in Baedish Lowlands
• Audio improvements to final game scene
• Removed code that auto sets controller functionality if a gamepad is connected. Gamepad functionality will be added in patch 3
• Updated Blessing of Mathan VFX to remove untextured squares
• Drunk tutorial should no longer fire off when stepping into a trap
• Added aspect ratio adjustments when resolution is changed
• Fix for changing between resolution, language, and fullscreen in the options menu causing the game resolution to revert to 1 x 1
• Switched Sybale’s background VFX to the rogues set instead of the bards set
• Fix for issue where pausing the game in certain (spoilers removed) cutscenes could cause the game to be unresponsive
• Updates to floating damage text for readability
• Fix for Rabbie’s FaceFX for Snow in Summer song.
• Fix for issue where level transitions while dual wielding two main hand weapons would destroy the main hand weapon and dupe the offhand weapon
• Fix for Elven wine tooltip to show amount of spell points you generate on use
• Small walkability fix in Fichti forest
• Fighter’s mana bar shows up now if they have the Veteran passive
• Updated traps in base of Song of the Sentry to deal damage to the whole party
• Updated text on skill points tutorials
• Fix to Harkyn’s Castle and logic puzzle quests to properly complete
• Fix to secret doors in Iwon Reg that became impassable after save/load
• Fix for an issue where an equipped trinket would duplicate if a consumable trinket was swapped with it
• Made the Torr Fion key a quest item
• Can no longer spam a lever in Mangar’s tower that would restrict the skulls
• Fix for Show North so it’s not useable in combat
• Fix for bug where mana was using the current mana value and not the max mana value with certain items
• Fix for wraith sub-abilities not respecting mana costs
• Update to a combat space in Iwon Reg that was on top of spikes
• Fix for an issue in Baedish Forest where there was a chance to get stuck in a combat space

Hotfix:

• Fix for a possible sequence break in the Isle of Stronsea where the player could speak with the selkie sisters before they should be able to.

Downloading right now, will update if this patch improves performance for me.

 

[Nahkapukki]

Is it bug riddled?

 

[Kurt Russell]

Is it bug riddled?

The patch? I don't know yet

The game, kinda. I experienced exactly one bug in 16 hours (an enemy removed itself from the fight, party was still in combat mode and couldn't get out so I had to surrender and load). Other people report far more bugs (I've seen complaints about crashes for instance, which I didn't experience).
Performance is the big killer, with weird framedrops all over the place, high load times, etc.

Post automatically merged: Sep 23, 2018

Well, the patch improved my fps quite a bit, though there's still stuttering here and there. Load times were also improved, but not massively. There's a FOV slider now, too.