The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep

[Atomkilla]

Can't say I ever was a fan or cared much about TBT games, but I found it weird we lack a thread about this.
Apparently, the game is out and the fans aren't very happy with it. From tech issues to some poor design, it seems this game won't have an easy time on the market.

Then again, it did flow under the radar for the most part. InXile didn't seem to capitalize much on it (at least to me) when compared to Wasteland or Torment.

Which brings me to the main point of this thread - current state of inXile. Torment wasn't a big success (IIRC I read somewhere that it sold okay on PCs, but reception was mixed, whereas console releases were just a huge failure), and general consensus of WL2 is that it was an okay but flawed game - one from which inXile should have learned how to avoid some pitfalls and dangers of design.

Looking at TBT reviews, doesn't seem like they did. Which makes the prospect of WL3 being a great title all the more unlikely to me (don't forget that WL3 is far more ambitious than its predecessor).

So what do you guys think? About TBT 4 and upcoming inXile works?

 

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Personally, I liked Wasteland 2. It wasn't a lot to write home about, but I think the game did well, it provided two fun and long playthroughs and it felt honest with its humour, which I appreciate a lot.

The second Torment I could barely stand... I did beat the game, but that is not a lot to go by.

I am going through Bard's Tale Trilogy right now and it's quite good. Old school status effects>new school status effects where a lich means a gods-dammed lich.

And of course, will buy Wasteland 3 as soon as it comes out.

What do I think of inXile?...

Not much, to be honest. I wish their titles were more polished and they weren't trying to go by newer trends on the market. Just focus on making a good game for it's own sake. Look at Underrail, for instance. It has received more post-launch attention then Wasteland 2, and if you were to ask me which game is better in the end, I'd say it's Underrail. Big and flashy is just not inXhile's territory. But you know... I would still play Deadfire if it were fully 2d, so perhaps that's only me.

 

[Mr Fish]

I enjoyed Wasteland 2 but it did not live up to my expectations at all and I judged it as a Wasteland game and not a Fallout game.
I've yet to play Torment nor Bards Tale so I can't comment on those.

So I have to go off of blind speculation when it comes to those.

Wasteland 2 felt like more of a big deal to me. It was all over the place as the next big thing coming out of their studio but Torment felt wonky and I can't remember seeing much of any reports of TBT. Seems like they just desperately wanted to do more games that aren't Wasteland because they don't want their player base to burn out so they jumped onto the next thing without thinking carefully about the logistics and just trying to get it our the door.

I think InXile needs to calm its shit down and actually 'think' about what they want to do next after WL3 and carefully construct it. I know it's a business and all and they need to make the moolah but to me it feels like they are either too idealistic and ideas end up cut which results in a poor product or they feel pressured to just get it out which results in a poor product.

You have the engine, you have the resources; After Wasteland 3, just do a spiritual successor to Fallout in the Wasteland universe that is a Wasteland spin-off. Focus on what matters to RPG players and explore ideas carefully than just jumping from vastly different idea to another vastly different idea naively thinking it'll "just work". That's Todd Howard's line, not yours.

 

[valcik]

Focus on what matters to RPG players and explore ideas carefully ...

inXile doesn't have any old school developer left in their team anymore, seems to me they are more focused on what matters to youngest gamers now. Haven't played TBT since downloading and installing almost 60 GiB of a flashy new game on my drive is out of question, according to the RPS review there's couple of unskippable cut-scenes followed by a boss fight in this one tho. Which means after failing in boss fight you have to watch whole 3D cut-scene once more before trying the fight again, and if you manage to fail twice, the unskippable cut-scene is still there for you to watch. That's not something I would expect in PC exclusive title based on DOS game targeted at grown up audience.. Devs have to learn to treat their customers as intelligent educated bunch expecting practical and subtle piece of software instead of bloated unresponsive clog.

 

[Mr Fish]

That's why those still left got to learn.

 

[SquidWard]

I liked Wasteland 2 enough, I hope 3 is only a step up from that and nothing back or sideways.

I've not heard anything good about BT4. Oh well, never interested me much anyway.

 

[SuAside]

I think the best thing about Bard's Tale IV are the setting and the silly nature of some of the dialogue.

Much of the combat mechanics are quite unbalanced, exploration tedious, and much of the puzzles are meh. The game certainly could have used more polishing, but I'm still giving it a shot.

 

[The_Proletarian]

I've played it for about three hours and you know what? It's fun!

However, I had a crash where I lost a lot of progression which made me uninstall the game. Not in anger though, I'm a very happy backer of this. I'm definitely going to give it another spin once it's more stable.

I believe you can have loads of fun with it, that's my impression at least.

 

[Gizmojunk]

inXile doesn't have any old school developer left in their team anymore, seems to me they are more focused on what matters to youngest gamers now.

... And that has been the problem.



Collectively, their forum (of which I am a part) gave them a trove of advice; and many pleaded with them to remove the 'butt waggling' from the enemy animations... but they knew what they wanted to make, and ignored us all, on nearly all suggestions.

I am a 1st-day backer for WL2, Torment, and BT4. Sadly (for me), WL2 was nothing like Wasteland—it actually would have made a decent Fallout 3 with a change of world setting; but nothing like Wasteland. BT4 suffers this same issue: It's nothing (and I do mean ~nothing~) like BT1 ,2, or 3.

As others have stated, the one good thing to come of the whole fiasco, is that they at least they got a studio to start the remastering of the original series... They have reimplemented Bards Tale 1 in Unity3D. It's not truly accurate yet; but they (Krome Studios) are actively patching it—and DO listen to suggestions.

 

[SuAside]

Well, the butt waggling works with their funny take of the setting as a whole. Almost everything in the game is meant to be humorous and tongue-in-cheek.
You're right that it's a bit tough to swallow sometimes and I have to admit I can only take it a few hours at a time before I need a break. Certainly not a game that makes me want to pull all-nighters.

 

[Gizmojunk]

Well, the butt waggling works with their funny take of the setting as a whole.

Their funny take on it is part of the problem; it's a hold-over from their (intentional) spin-off from 2005—which was a deliberate RPG parody. It had the name "The Bard's Tale", because the name was the only thing they could secure the rights to use. Not a bad game, but it had practically nothing to do with the Bard's Tale series, and its whole point was to push the humor and slapstick angle, and make fun of clichés. Notice that that game started out with just one PC (it its case, the Bard), and slowly builds up the player's party; it's the same in their new game; but of course the Bard's Tale series allows the player to make their entire party from the start.