The Bard's Tale IV

About

"The Bard's Tale IV" is a heroic adventure game with 40+ hours of gameplay and over 100 pieces of music. Customize your experience with various sliders, and create your party of characters from 4 distinct classes, each with unique skills. Explore a rich world filled with quests, enemies, and items as you face an evil that has waited patiently in the shadows.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

68%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,147 reviews

music465 positive mentions

optimization155 negative mentions

The game captures the nostalgic feel of the original Bard's Tale series while introducing modern gameplay mechanics.
The music and voice acting are exceptional, adding depth and atmosphere to the game.
The combat system is engaging and tactical, requiring players to think strategically about their moves.

The game suffers from performance issues, including long loading times and occasional crashes.
The save system is frustrating, as players can only save at specific points and cannot respec characters.
There are too many puzzles, which can become tedious and detract from the overall gameplay experience.

music
811 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
42%
1%
The music in "Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep" is widely praised for its outstanding quality, featuring authentic Gaelic and Celtic folk tunes that enhance the game's atmosphere and immersion. Players appreciate the integration of music into gameplay, with songs playing a crucial role in puzzles and character interactions, although some find certain tracks repetitive. Overall, the soundtrack is considered one of the game's standout features, contributing significantly to the overall experience.
- “The music is absolutely fantastic, and I love how the story reflected upon the previous Bard's Tale games.”
- “The original Gaelic soundtrack is amazing and really adds to the experience.”
- “The music is a real treat if you like Celtic music and is well played and beautifully sung.”
- “One set is the epitome of torture as the sanctuary in the Inshriach insisted on playing its melody at an atrocious and arrogant, repetitive and I hate this music level of stupidity while you are trying to figure out what you are supposed to do next.”
- “The bard singing upon loading the game and at other points has turned the game into a personal horror and there does not appear to be any apparent way to disable singing music.”
- “I tried to drop the music volume to zero and there was no way to stop being greeted by this horrible singing upon loading the game and in the adventurer's guild.”
graphics
785 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
62%
11%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players noting that while the environmental design can be beautiful and immersive, character models often appear dated and lack polish. Performance issues, including frequent stuttering and low frame rates, detract from the overall experience, especially on mid-range systems. Despite these shortcomings, some players appreciate the nostalgic art style and atmospheric visuals, suggesting that the graphics, while not cutting-edge, serve the game's overall aesthetic and gameplay well.
- “But the graphics on Bard's Tale, story, sound are spectacular....and it took a minimum of 50+ hours to finish!!!”
- “The graphics are quite beautiful (better water than Skyrim, hah!), the dungeons are spooky and pretty, and while they are based on grids like the old Bard's Tale, there is actually a lot of verticality to them as well.”
- “Just enough nostalgia, plenty of build options, gorgeous graphics and animation for this style of game.”
- “It's quite buggy (there're no bugs that prevent you from finishing the game, but some of them weren't fixed since the release) and unoptimized, 'cause graphics aren't top level, but on my okayish rig I saw constant freezes and fps rarely was above 50.”
- “The graphics are poor for a top tier game like this... and while the mechanics are fairly faithful (turn-based stationary combat), that format has not aged well at all.”
- “The graphics are woeful for 2018 and it runs unbelievably terribly on my 1080 ti.”
story
764 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
64%
4%
The story of "Bard's Tale IV" is a nostalgic homage to the original series, featuring engaging characters, excellent voice acting, and a rich musical score. While some players appreciate its blend of exploration, puzzles, and combat, others find the narrative somewhat generic and linear, with a reliance on puzzles that can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the story is seen as entertaining, particularly for fans of the original games, but may not resonate as strongly with newcomers.
- “The story is good and kept me playing, and the music was excellent.”
- “The story is quite interesting and the gameplay is well thought out.”
- “The story is engaging and well written, the characters are interesting and have some great dialogue.”
- “This game is wearing a skinsuit of the already thin original Bard's Tale story and is mostly just references to the old games.”
- “Here, it seems they took a puzzle writer and a story writer, but made them work separately, never talking or considering if what they were doing was making a fun game.”
- “The weakest aspect of the game is the story, which to be honest never really grabbed me.”
gameplay
536 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
65%
6%
The gameplay of Bard's Tale IV is a mixed bag, featuring enjoyable and challenging puzzles alongside a tactical combat system that pays homage to the original trilogy. While many players appreciate the innovative mechanics and immersive atmosphere, they also note significant issues such as poor explanations of game mechanics, bugs, and performance problems that detract from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the game offers a unique blend of old-school charm and modern RPG elements, appealing to those who enjoy exploration and strategic combat.
- “The puzzles are fun and challenging, and the tactical combat system is well done and harks back to the mechanics of the original trilogy.”
- “The game itself is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. As RPGs go, it's got just about everything you could ask for: beautiful graphics, very immersive gameplay, relatable characters, and an interesting divergent storyline.”
- “Great puzzles, superb fighting mechanics, and the ability to take your time and explore as much as you dare.”
- “However, there were a lot of bugs, misspellings, and lots of mechanics issues -- and I actually didn't get around to playing it until over a year after it came out.”
- “These are extremely frustrating, add ---zero--- to the gameplay, and most definitely kill the mood and pace of the game.”
- “The gameplay isn't interesting.”
optimization
513 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
63%
30%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with many players reporting severe performance issues, including frequent crashes, long loading times, and low frame rates even on high-end systems. While some patches have improved stability and performance, significant optimization is still needed, and many users recommend waiting for further updates before purchasing. Overall, the game feels unpolished and poorly optimized, detracting from the overall experience.
- “There has been much improvement from the initial release (mostly performance related), which I believe is where most of the poor reviews came from.”
- “I suspect (perhaps optimistically) that optimization will be continuously addressed by the devs, if only to not alienate people from what I hope are future titles in the series.”
- “After a few patches, the game's performance has become quite a bit better.”
- “Very poorly optimized, crashes frequently, bad game.”
- “It's poorly optimized having poor load times and jerky running.”
- “The performance and load times are atrocious and the cutscenes are unskippable.”
atmosphere
144 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
32%
3%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive Scottish-inspired setting, enhanced by a brilliant soundtrack featuring Celtic folk music and strong voice acting. Players appreciate the detailed world design, which effectively conveys a sense of exploration and emotional depth, despite some criticisms regarding graphics quality. Overall, the atmosphere is described as captivating, with a blend of beauty and darkness that enriches the gameplay experience.
- “The atmosphere, the mesmerizing folk music in the background in the various worlds you enter while playing.”
- “Seeing the towering stone buildings and smaller homes side by side with elegant beauty only to then come across someone being burned alive at the stake brings home the shocking dark brutal atmosphere of this beautiful world.”
- “This game has something not a lot of other RPGs I played have, and that is a heart and soul; you can tell the devs really poured it all into the making of this and it shows in the level design, the puzzles, the music, atmosphere, and overall feel of the game.”
- “The first part of the game, which is designed to evoke atmosphere, does a poor job.”
- “(an 11 year old game) the atmosphere/environment feels dead, except for the continuous variety of ambient music.”
- “Character interaction, terrible lip syncing, lifeless atmosphere, my first reaction is that this was a forced game that does not have a soul on its own but tries to ride on the glory of its predecessors...”
stability
112 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
95%
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with many players reporting frequent bugs, crashes, and performance issues such as frame rate drops and long loading times. While some users noted improvements after patches, the overall consensus is that the game remains unoptimized and buggy, detracting from the overall experience. Despite these issues, a few players found enjoyment in the game, indicating that it has potential if the stability problems are addressed.
- “The game looks and runs great.”
- “It runs great!”
- “The game looks and runs great.”
- “It's quite buggy (there are no bugs that prevent you from finishing the game, but some of them weren't fixed since the release) and unoptimized, because graphics aren't top level, but on my okayish rig I saw constant freezes and FPS rarely was above 50.”
- “Buggy mess that freezes or crashes frequently and I have uninstalled and reinstalled a couple of times.”
- “It's been shipped with uncompressed files and lots of technical bugs leading to extremely long load times between levels (ironically worse on some systems with high-end GPUs), freezes, stutters, and crashes.”
humor
104 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as a mix of juvenile and clever, with engaging character interactions and witty banter that often enhances the overall experience. While some players feel that the humor lacks the charm of earlier titles in the series, many appreciate the well-written dialogue and atmospheric jokes that contribute to the game's charm. Overall, the humor is seen as a significant and enjoyable aspect, though opinions vary on its effectiveness compared to previous installments.
- “Characters are mostly great, the 'team banter' is often hilarious and totally on point, great both in writing and voice acting.”
- “The game rewards you for poking about (where you probably don't belong) with regularity, and often with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.”
- “What remains is an engrossing adventure in a high fantasy world with plenty of humor, well thought out tactical combat, great sights to see, and of course, loads of music.”
grinding
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
Overall, the game's approach to grinding has shifted significantly from its predecessors, with many players noting a lack of traditional grinding mechanics. Instead, character progression feels more natural, though some found the combat and puzzle-solving aspects to be tedious and repetitive. While the game offers opportunities for exploration and encounters, it does not provide the endless grinding experience typical of classic dungeon crawlers, which some players appreciated while others missed.
- “There is no grinding in the game, just a natural progression of power.”
- “Grinding is pretty much impossible if you're stuck at a boss battle as enemies don't respawn in areas you've cleared until you advance the story.”
- “Unfortunately, I found the combat tedious, so I uninstalled the game after 4 hours.”
- “If you want to play Bard's Tales 1-3 with boring grinding and a 5-minute story to experience, you have to run forwards and backwards through the same corridors for 100 hours, just with better graphics. If you think this is fun, this game is not for you.”
character development
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
43%
10%
Character development in the game is generally perceived as limited and becomes less relevant after the initial levels, with players quickly mastering useful abilities and finding little incentive to continue developing their characters. While the early stages offer interesting choices and strategies, the mechanics are criticized for being repetitive and overly streamlined, leading to a lack of depth and engagement in later gameplay. Overall, while the character generation options and combat are praised, the character development system is seen as a missed opportunity for deeper engagement.
- “I enjoyed the unique combat and the team strategy that relied on the skills chosen in character development and items/gear.”
- “The character development is interesting enough that you often wonder how some other build choices would play out in your current group or even a completely different party.”
- “Fun and intricate combat, interesting character development, charming dialogue and stories, and more secrets and exploration than I expected.”
- “Character development feels limited; you can make any character a healer through quests, even a rogue.”
- “They definitely suffer a tad from repetitiveness on some of the puzzles, and the character development mechanics are a mess.”
- “This streamlining feels needlessly restrictive, and it trickles down into character development.”
replayability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
77%
12%
The game exhibits very limited replayability due to its linear storyline and lack of meaningful variation in gameplay, with many players noting that replaying with different characters feels like a chore rather than a fresh experience. While some aspects like crafting may appeal to certain players, the overall consensus is that the game does not offer enough depth or incentive for multiple playthroughs. Many reviewers suggest that the static nature of quests and abilities significantly detracts from the potential for replay value.
- “Generally, I hate crafting in RPGs, but many people don't, and it adds to the replayability of many games.”
- “Don't know about the replay value since the quests will be the same, but I might give it a replay from scratch when the director's cut comes out with the new DLC, playing with different characters.”
- “I already know the replay value is limited; yeah, you can have new characters, but the game is too linear to really get much variation; you'd just be playing the same game with your characters in different positions.”
- “This appears to have very limited replayability.”
- “I already know the replay value is limited; yeah, you can have new characters, but the game is too linear to really get much variation. You'd just be playing the same game with your characters in different positions.”
- “Replay value: zero.”
monetization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
Reviews indicate a mixed perception of the game's monetization, with some players appreciating the absence of aggressive in-game purchases and cheats, while others feel misled by the lack of promised bonuses for higher-tier purchases, labeling it a cash grab that exploits the game's legacy. Overall, there is a sentiment that the monetization strategy may detract from the game's integrity and player experience.
- “Early days but this cluster f$%k is one of the worst releases of a game ever. Paid for a higher tier of the game but have none of the promised bonuses, etc. Feels like a cash grab.”
- “This is pure and simple a cash grab abusing the Bard's Tale name.”
- “Seems they put their heart into this; it's not some fast cash grab or scam, but it required a lot more testing.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express a lack of emotional or nostalgic connection to the game, highlighting that the save system, which requires players to reach specific save towers, detracts from their overall experience. This feature is viewed as a significant drawback, contributing to a disconnection from the game's emotional impact.