The Bard's Tale is a spoof of RPGs, while still being an RPG itself. That means you can expect an epic story, a variety of terrain (lava will be there as will a snow area) and a send-up of just about every RPG convention. Proof of this came quite early for me as I went smashing some barrels in front of a non-descript house. The owner of the house came running at me shouting about how I am costing him money by breaking his barrels.
Turns out, he is a barrel-maker, pretty much the barrel maker for the entire world. While he doesn't want me busting the barrels in front of his home, he comes up with a wicked business proposal: I'm to smash everyone else's barrels. All of them. Because if their barrels are broken, he'll make a fortune since he's the only one who makes barrels. For my due-diligence, I get a small cut of the profits, plus the joy of breaking barrels. Pure genius.
I went to highschool with a guy who finished all 3 on the C64, mapped every inch of it on graph paper, and didn't cheat once, even when he was attacked by the swarm of nazi's in the first one.
I told him he needed to get out more.
"When you dance with the devil, the devil don't change, the devil changes you."
inXile Entertainment is proud to announce an unprecedented crowdfunding offer: anyone who backs The Bard’s Tale IV on Kickstarter in the first 24 hours of the campaign will receive a FREE copy of inXile’s Wasteland 2, or CD Projekt Red's The Witcher, or The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. (until 6/3 at 6am, PST)
For all backers of The Bard’s Tale IV at the $20 Reward Tier and above. Wasteland 2 will be delivered on Steam or DRM-Free on GOG.com after the Kickstarter campaign. The Witcher and The Witcher 2 will be delivered on GOG.com.
8ish hours to go for that! Seems like a good deal if you don't mind waiting two years on the second game.