The class design offers tons of interesting options to build your party, too. It felt appropriately challenging from beginning to end – rarely did I face a fight that was a total cakewalk, and only a few times did the difficulty spike to the point that it felt irritating. All of these considerations turn battles into exciting puzzles to be solved, using clever movement and making the most of my limited action points. If an ogrish brute was winding up for a powerful attack, I could levitate him to a space where the blow would fall on an empty square or even the back of a buddy’s head. I could, for instance, levitate a weak caster hiding behind his tankier friends right into range of my berserker’s highest-damage abilities. Everything is laid out on a grid, and specific abilities can only target specific opposing squares based on where the attacking character is standing.Īll of these considerations turn battles into exciting puzzles to be solved.It all really clicked for me when I realized my spellcaster’s levitation spell, which can relocate any friend or foe to any other square for only one spell point, was actually one of the most powerful abilities I had. The turn-based combat system is deep and dynamic, with a strong focus on positioning and room for all kinds of different party builds. When the cornucopia of fiends, skeletons, forest spirits and sorcerers comes for your blood, though, you’re in for a treat. I liked them better when they were just 2D portraits popping up at the bottom of my screen. Unfortunately, the character models look a bit dead-eyed and doll-like up close, and their lips are often poorly synced with dialogue, which detracted a bit from the cast’s charm. Those help break up dour dungeon crawls that take you to various dark pits where bones stick out of the walls and everything wants to kill you.
Your adventure is accompanied by great voice acting and an excellent soundtrack.Banter between the handful of recruitable party members is plentiful and often pretty funny, reinforcing the welcome, light-hearted undertones. Even many of the abilities you use in the overworld to do things like remove vines blocking your path or activate teleportation stones have a catchy musical component. Breakneck fiddle rills help to get your blood pumping for tough boss fights. Soulful ballads offer more than a backdrop, as listening closely to them introduces you to elements of the history and culture of the world you may have missed otherwise. Music is a central element of both the story and the world, as you’d expect in a tale about a bard, and it very effectively unifies and accentuates every cavern and town. The load times on my 7200 RPM HDD also seem almost preposterously long for what you get – the world is definitely stylish, but it’s not winning any awards for visual detail that might justify me freeing up SSD space for it.Īll along the way, your adventure is accompanied by great voice acting and an excellent soundtrack featuring some very talented vocalists.
THE BARDS TALE BARRELS FULL
One sprawling castle, in particular, was full of minimap quest markers that led to nothing, requiring me to stumble around until I figured out the way forward. It’s often unclear where you can and can’t walk or where you’re supposed to go next. The attempt to replicate old-school first-person dungeon crawlers often makes navigation frustrating in dungeons and outdoor areas. Navigating them wasn’t always as fun as taking in the scenery, though. Each area you visit has a strong personality and visual style, from the murk and mud of the Skara Brae Below to the wild and snow-covered peaks of the Stennish Isles.
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