There are bards (of course), hunters, monks, paladins, magicians, rogues, and conjurers. ![]() In fact, you can consider this the prototypical CRPG.Ī good number of the systems would be adapted or lifted directly from this game, allowing players who were familiar with The Bard’s Tale a chance to jump into other games with a bit more comfort.Īt the beginning of the game, players are allowed to create six characters from fairly standard role-playing classes. There are no particularly unique mechanics here, nor are there any systems that would surprise today’s players. The gameplay of The Bard’s Tale is incredibly straight forward. ![]() Most roadblocks are in terms of either difficulty or finding particular hidden items that can let the party pass. There are no major twists or turns in the plot, with most of the story being driven by the necessity of leveling up the adventuring party. The game sends players through the wine cellar of a tavern (which would grow to be a gaming cliche), then to the sewers, the city’s catacombs, and ultimately through a castle, tower, and the villain’s lair. There’s an overworld town, but most of the game takes place in the dungeons. Beyond that, everything is basically the game world of Skara Brae. The only place where the game can be saved is in the Adventurer’s Guild. Unlike many games in the genre, the plot of The Bard’s Tale takes players through an interconnected series of dungeons. Of course, this is really just an excuse for said adventurers to gallivant through a series of dungeons, level up, and take on more and more powerful foes as the game goes on. The characters are a band of freedom fighters attempting to overthrow the dark wizard Mangar the Dark. The plot, such as it was, concerned the player forming a party of Adventurers in the town of Skara Brae. Given that most of the games that would become competition for the series were still a few years away from reaching truly useful iterations, it’s fair to consider the plot of this game foundational. While the plot itself is relatively light, it is still incredibly engaging for the time in which it was released. It feels this way, though, because this is truly one of the games that established the conceits of the genre. ![]() In many ways, The Bard’s Tale has a plot that seems almost trite by this point. This is game was quietly revolutionary, and deserves its spot as one of the most important PC games ever released. It was the culmination of years of development, but it was also the first step along the way to a better type of RPG gaming. The Bard’s Tale was definitely influenced by other games, but it did its own thing in many ways. It boasted a unique graphical interface and a compelling main character – both things that weren’t par for the course in the 1980s. The Bard’s Tale was one of the earliest true RPGs released on the PC, greatly pushing forward the boundaries of what people could consider a game to be. Let’s dig in, shall we? The Original Game (1985) The universe of the game is fantastically constructed, though, extending past video games and into the realm of novels. While it shared space with games like Wizardry and Ultima, it never seems to be mentioned in the same breath. One game series that really did revolutionize video games is The Bard’s Tale, an early RPG series. Other games, however, don’t get quite the same amount of love. Some of these games are still in the spotlight, lauded on best-of lists and the subjects of remakes and documentaries. ![]() There are certain games that helped to define how computer games would be perceived for decades to come.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |