The Bard's Tale (2004)

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I've just started playing that remake of the original Bard's Tale. I must say my (short) experience of playing it has proved most rewarding, it's funny and it has a great atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the tutorial was dealt with. Man that was funny. And the songs... Couldn't help but sing along.
Has anybody played it? Please no spoilers!

 

I've played it and liked it. It has some hilarious moments.

The songs get even better.

Tbh, I liked some of the songs so much that I can still sing them... and it's been years since I've played.

 

Oh yes, the songs are great. Did you know that you can download them or listen to them online? Link.

The game itself is a bit on the hack and slash side. But it sure is funny.

 

Heh, yeah, it's hack and slash. The funny part makes it up for me, tbh.
Bard/Narrator exchanges get quite hillarious.

Thanks for the link. I didn't know about it.

I don't think this is a spoiler, (not sure)... but make sure to try all the endings.

 

Thanks for the tip Loreseeker.

I noticed there were bloopers in the game folder. Couldn't resist and had to watch some of it.

What game has bloopers in it??! Hilarious.

 

It's hard work slogging through enemy after enemy but the dialogue is great fun.

 

Oh well, I just ordered it. 5 €. I hope, strongly hope, it's in english.

PS: Caradhras, oh god, those songs really made my day

 

It should be in English. I bought my game in the shop next door (for 10 euros so Ragusa you got a better deal) and I was like WTH let's hope it's in English. I've seen it a few times before that and I didn't buy it because I didn't want to play a badly translated game with shoddy voice acting when the English version has actors doing the voicing. It turns out the game can be installed in several languages so it shouldn't be a problem for you either. Game pads are supported (it makes the hack and slash drudgery more bearable).

I started over because I made bad decisions regarding my character development (it allowed me to enjoy some dialogues and songs a second time).

Minor spoiler regarding character creation:

Spoiler

It turns out putting more than 17 points in a stat is a bad idea since you can get items that boost your stats. Also Charisma seems to affect shop prices only and therefore is really not a priority.

I also picked the Easy difficulty instead of Old School since it made the game way too hard and the hack and slash sessions are way too boring when you have to reload after a long fight and start over from your last save point (the existence of save points is the MAJOR inconvenient of the game).

@The Kilted Crusader: since you're a Scot I'd be interested in having your opinion about the voicing, I used to live in Scotland and the voice acting didn't strike me as being overtly caricatural or contrived which is often the case when a Scottish accent is used in a game (I only wish the Bard sounded a little bit more Scottish though).

I started to fiddle with the idea of making an IWD2 character based on the Bard. I'll have to finish the game first: time for more "Coin, cleavage and carnage!"

 

I haven't played it in a long while but I don't think I noticed anything particularly terrible when I played it. I think it's set in Orkney so it's quite surprising to see it has masses of forests, mountains, castles, massive cave networks and fields when Orkney just has a couple of bushes for scenery

 

Thanks for the quick reply Kilted Crusader.

Good point about the location! Truth be told, I haven't considered that.

Found a link: http://www.orkneyjar.com/

 

Fun game! Started playing it myself, the other day. One of the few games I have played in years, that actually has heart and charm. Gave me abit of an old-school feel to it, actually. Average gameplay though, but that is forgivable, in this case.

 

Yeh, this game is hilarious, I borrowed it from KC and couldn't stop laughing at first.

 

and you still haven't given it back