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The Bard's Tale

The Bard's Tale Game Cover
73%Game Brain Score
humor, story
graphics, stability
73% User Score Based on 1,016 reviews
Critic Score 74%Based on 2 reviews

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The Bard's Tale Game Cover

About

The Bard's Tale is a single player hack and slash game with fantasy, comedy, medieval and historical themes. It was developed by inXile Entertainment and was released on December 11, 2009. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Completely unlike the classic Bard's Tale games, this game is in a 3D environment with the player watching his only controllable character from an overhead vantage point, and it is better described as an action-adventure game than a traditional role-playing video game (i.e. there are no character classes or inventory management). The player's character, The Bard, has magic and weaponry at his d…

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The Bard's Tale screenshot
The Bard's Tale screenshot
The Bard's Tale screenshot
The Bard's Tale screenshot
The Bard's Tale screenshot
The Bard's Tale screenshot
The Bard's Tale screenshot
The Bard's Tale screenshot
The Bard's Tale screenshot
The Bard's Tale screenshot
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73%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,016 reviews
humor441 positive mentions
graphics23 negative mentions
  • The Bard's Tale features sharp writing, witty humor, and excellent voice acting by Cary Elwes and Tony Jay that make it highly entertaining.
  • Unique summoning mechanics and songs add a distinctive layer of gameplay that complements the comedic and adventurous tone.
  • The game is a nostalgic and charming parody of classic fantasy RPG tropes, offering memorable characters, amusing dialogue, and sing-along musical numbers.
  • Combat is generally clunky, repetitive, and can become a slog due to overly tanky enemies and awkward controls.
  • Technical issues such as frequent crashes, poor controller support, slow load times, and bugs affect playability, especially on modern systems and Linux.
  • The game’s dated graphics, limited exploration, and linear design along with tedious backtracking and spawn-heavy areas sometimes detract from the overall experience.
  • humor
    446 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The Bard’s Tale is widely praised for its sharp, self-aware, and often irreverent humor, driven by witty banter between the snarky bard and a contemptuous narrator, alongside clever writing, memorable voice acting, and catchy musical numbers. While many find the comedic tone and satire of RPG tropes genuinely funny and charming, some feel the humor becomes repetitive or cringeworthy over time, with jokes that may not appeal to all tastes. Overall, the game’s humor remains its standout feature, making it a recommended play for fans of British wit, parody, and humorous storytelling in the RPG genre.

    • “The Bard's Tale is a genuinely funny action-RPG that earns its laughs through sharp writing, excellent voice acting from Cary Elwes and Tony Jay, and a refreshingly self-aware take on fantasy RPG tropes — the dynamic between the snarky bard and the contemptuous narrator alone is worth the price of admission.”
    • “Between the spot-on genre parody, the musical numbers (such as the oompa-loompa goblin squad and the zombie/skeleton dance-off), the constant bickering between the bard and the narrator, and so many other humorous moments, this game will have you literally laughing out loud from start to finish.”
    • “The interplay between these two characters forms the backbone of the game’s humor: the narrator condemns the bard’s selfishness, while the bard fires back with witty retorts, creating a constant comedic tension.”
    • “It became kind of charming in the last 2-3 hours, but previously it was just incredibly dull, repetitive and unfunny.”
    • “The bard is unfunny and obnoxious, and he is written in a 'witty' way that he keeps responding with unfunny things after every single NPC line just to mock how traditional RPGs are.”
    • “It's not funny, in fact it's often cringy, and while the characters are mostly tolerable the dialogue certainly isn't clever.”
  • story
    309 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of The Bard’s Tale is a humorous and irreverent parody of classic fantasy RPG tropes, featuring a sarcastic, self-centered bard on a quest motivated by women, wine, and coin rather than heroism. Praised for its witty dialogue, strong voice acting (notably Tony Jay and Cary Elwes), musical numbers, and clever fourth-wall-breaking narration, the narrative is often considered the game’s highlight despite a rather predictable and straightforward main plot. While mission pacing and repetitive combat may frustrate some, the story’s playful satire and comedic tone keep it engaging and entertaining for players who appreciate quirky, tongue-in-cheek storytelling.

    • “The Bard’s Tale is best enjoyed as a comedic adventure—a spirited romp through the clichés of fantasy storytelling, carried by clever writing, entertaining performances, and the playful chaos of a hero who cares more about his next pint than the fate of the world.”
    • “The story is the highlight of this game; it's sarcastic, funny, and clever.”
    • “The Bard's Tale has a rich story with the Bard as the hero (or just the only person dumb enough to take on the quest), keeping with the personality of a bard.”
    • “The missions often rely on indeterminably long sections filled with frustrating set pieces, such as an NPC escort mission through a field of instantly respawning enemies; the NPC moves at about one-quarter of the player's walking speed and stops every few feet to deliver annoying lines, causing long delays.”
    • “I've experienced missions breaking, achievements not triggering, crashes to desktop, freezing, summons spawning in unreachable locations, bosses stuck in animation loops, enemy AI dying mid-fight, and boss AI freezing during combat.”
    • “The plot is garbage, a hacked-together excuse to keep you moving from one location to another.”
  • gameplay
    237 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay in The Bard's Tale is generally considered basic, clunky, and repetitive, with dated mechanics and occasional frustrating design choices such as slow pacing and awkward controls. While combat and summoning systems offer some variety, many find the experience monotonous, lacking depth, and sometimes buggy, making it less appealing for players seeking modern or intricate RPG gameplay. However, the gameplay's simplicity and humor complement the game's strong writing, satire, and atmosphere, making it enjoyable primarily for those who appreciate its comedic tone over mechanical complexity.

    • “In terms of gameplay, The Bard’s Tale functions as a real-time action RPG with an isometric viewpoint reminiscent of titles like Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance or Champions: Return to Arms.”
    • “While the mechanics are relatively simple compared to deeper RPG systems, they complement the game’s humorous tone by keeping the focus on fast-paced action and witty banter rather than intricate stat management.”
    • “The gameplay utilized an interesting summon mechanic where the bard could call warriors, mages, mystical monsters, and the odd rat to his disposal with a high degree of abilities such as the heroine’s flurry of arrows to the knocker’s wide range lightning rods.”
    • “Mechanics of the missions are varied, but often rely on indeterminably long sections filled with frustrating set pieces. For example: an NPC escort mission through a field of respawning enemies, where the respawn time is instantaneous and the NPC moves at about 1/4 your walking speed, stopping every few feet to throw out an annoying line. Until they finish that line, they won't start walking again.”
    • “The gameplay is clunky, dated, and can be very frustrating.”
    • “Sadly, the gameplay can be a little monotonous over time, and the controls and combat feel unresponsive.”
  • music
    180 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is a standout feature, with catchy, humorous, and well-performed songs—especially the recurring "bad luck" tune and lively tavern numbers—that perfectly complement its satirical RPG tone. While the musical performances and vocal work receive high praise, many reviewers note a surprising lack of ambient or background music during gameplay, which some find disappointing given the game's focus on a musical bard. Overall, the songs and musical interludes are memorable and add charm and humor, even though the in-game soundtrack outside these moments can feel sparse.

    • “The soundtrack deserves special mention, blending traditional folk-inspired melodies with humorous vocal numbers that perfectly match the game’s irreverent spirit.”
    • “The musical numbers, especially the recurring 'bad luck' song sung by the Trow Trio, are catchy enough to stick with you long after you've put the game down.”
    • “The songs that play throughout the game are not only hilarious but also very catchy; you'll no doubt find yourself singing at least one of them at some point after playing.”
    • “For a game with a musical hero who literally wields an instrument, the music is surprisingly absent.”
    • “Aside from a few catchy songs that are sung in a "sing-a-long" format during a few cutscenes, the game's music is pretty much non-existent, which is quite ironic.”
    • “Overall, for a game that has an emphasis on music, the game has very little emphasis on music, which boggles my mind and leaves me very disappointed.”
  • graphics
    120 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are widely considered dated and clunky by modern standards, reflecting its early 2000s origin and original PS2/Xbox quality. Though some remastered versions offer slight improvements, issues like low resolution, outdated textures, and occasional glitches persist, which may detract from the experience for those expecting contemporary visuals. However, many reviewers find the graphics adequate for a nostalgic or retro RPG experience, especially when appreciated alongside the game's strong humor and storytelling.

    • “The graphics have aged surprisingly well, and given a slight upgrade that they've been given the game passes very well for something that you could buy as a cheaply priced "arcade" title today.”
    • “The bard’s tale developed by inxile entertainment – headed up by Brian Fargo, the same mind behind the original Fallout games – features top quality level design, satisfying gameplay and hilarious writing with even a few musical numbers making an appearance and thanks to the remastered edition for the 15th anniversary the bard’s tale sports all new HD graphics.”
    • “It looks good, even for a 2004/2005 game (I wouldn't say it is even a stretch to say it feels 2007), and either way, its artstyle, writing and gameplay hold up extremely well today.”
    • “Terrible graphics, terrible controller adaptation, runs like crap, essentially unplayable.”
    • “Horrendous controls, graphics that look about 4 or 5 years out of date (even for 2005), and a clunky combat system with little depth.”
    • “The combat was bad, the interface was bad, the graphics were bad.”
  • stability
    30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game’s Linux port is widely criticized for severe stability issues, including frequent freezes, buggy controls, graphical glitches, and crashes, making it largely unplayable. Despite being marketed as a remastered edition, many longstanding bugs remain unresolved, resulting in a frustrating and unstable experience for Linux users.

    • “Linux port of the game is a terrible, buggy mess.”
    • “Character freezes all the time, summons don't work, traps get activated and cause you damage even if you aren't on them etc. Shame on whoever ported this game for linux.”
    • “Controls are buggy and can lock your character into a loop forcing you to quit the game.”
  • grinding
    25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is frequently described as tedious and repetitive, with prolonged backtracking and slow, sometimes unresponsive combat contributing to the frustration. While some players appreciate the game's charm and storytelling enough to overlook the grind, others find it frustrating and monotonous, especially toward the later stages. Overall, grinding can feel like a necessary but tiresome aspect that may diminish enjoyment for some.

    • “For instance, in both first two towers you have to backtrack the whole way back again after clearing them... the game at least bothers to spawn different enemies, but it was still super tedious.”
    • “[*] You are required to revisit several maps at least twice (this doesn't seem bad, but backtracking takes so long it becomes extremely tedious).”
    • “The only downside of this game is that you can't get through some game progress without grinding and, by the way, you can easily level your bard badly so the game will become unplayable; better use auto-leveling.”
  • optimization
    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from significant optimization issues, including frequent crashes, stuttering during cutscenes, and poor overall performance even on high-end hardware. While some enhanced performance improvements help, persistent slowdowns and audio-video sync problems detract from the experience. Despite these technical flaws, the game’s comedic charm and voice acting remain highlights.

    • “It's also very well optimized.”
    • “Poor optimization aside, it's quite a fun game, with the ability to surprise you should you give it a chance.”
    • “>enhanced performance but even with 60 fps it still feels like the game has some kind of constant stuttering and slowdowns.”
    • “Crashes (save often!) and poor performance noted above.”
    • “Performance is utterly dire and not worth anyone's time or energy.”
    • “Only recommended if you can find the game for 1-2 dollars, mainly as it's over 10 years old, not optimized for lower resolution screens, and lags with a 1080 Ti card in 2017!”
  • replayability
    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's replayability is generally limited, with many users noting minimal to no replay value due to its straightforward nature and lack of depth. However, its humor, dialogue variations, and multiple endings offer some players enough incentive for occasional replays, providing modest but not extensive replay potential.

    • “The comedy, replayability, and the twists are, for me, worth all the frustrating parts of this otherwise great game.”
    • “Tremendous replay value.”
    • “The game has replay value because almost every interaction you have has a different outcome on the path you take to completing the game.”
    • “This is a one trick pony game with no replayability.”
    • “Replay value: virtually none.”
    • “There isn't any crafting, not many secrets, not a huge store variety to buy stuff (you are given most of your gear as you play), and absolutely no replay value to the game at all.”
  • atmosphere
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is praised for its unique, humorous, and magical medieval atmosphere, enhanced by perfect dialogue, quirky characters, and atmospheric music. Its lighthearted and nostalgic tone is a key appeal, though enjoyment heavily depends on appreciation of its humor and style. While visually improved in the remaster, the atmospheric charm remains consistent despite somewhat dated mechanics.

    • “Perfect dialogue, perfect atmosphere, perfect gameplay.”
    • “The remastered version is visually better than the original, while keeping the same feel and atmosphere as it originally had.”
    • “The music while sparse is atmospheric and incredible to listen to, the game remains challenging over time, and is very liberal with save points.”
    • “If the jokes aren't funny to you or you don't like the atmosphere the title tries to establish then the gameplay will not be enough to hold your attention.”
    • “Of music, which does take away from the atmosphere somewhat.”
    • “In a magical medieval atmosphere, you play the adventures of a misogynist bon vivant that can get only a little better when you choose to be nice with others, which is not always the best choice in a miserable world filled with mischievous characters.”
  • character development
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is straightforward and simple, focusing mainly on weapon choice without much depth or branching narrative. While character designs remain visually appealing, the overall development may feel shallow to those seeking a richer, more complex experience.

    • “Character development is meager, choose sword or bow and then max it out.”
    • “Those seeking a rich, branching narrative or complex character development may find the experience somewhat shallow.”
    • “Character development is meager; you simply choose sword or bow and then max it out.”
    • “Intuitive, simple character development.”
  • emotional
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game is a mix of dramatic and heartfelt storytelling with humor and memorable banter, enhanced by engaging narration. However, some users report frustrating technical issues that can disrupt immersion during combat. Overall, it offers a rich, epic RPG experience with strong emotional impact despite occasional glitches.

    • “A dramatic, heartbreaking, humorous and truly epic RPG full of twists, women, banter and music based on an old school classic.”
    • “Narrated by the sultry Tony Jay, this snarky, heart-warming tale of adventure will have you singing in bloody stitches.”
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74%Critics’ scoreBased on 2 critic reviews
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14h Median play time
16h Average play time
12-25h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

The Bard's Tale is a hack and slash game with fantasy, comedy, medieval and historical themes.

The Bard's Tale is available on iPhone, Windows, PC, Mac OS and others.

On average players spend around 16 hours playing The Bard's Tale.

The Bard's Tale was released on December 11, 2009.

The Bard's Tale was developed by inXile Entertainment.

The Bard's Tale has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its humor but disliked it for its graphics.

The Bard's Tale is a single player game.

Similar games include Risen, Divinity II: Developer's Cut, Divinity II: Ego Draconis, Divine Divinity, Sudeki and others.