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| Game: |
The Bards Tale |
| Genre: |
RPG |
| Developer: |
inXile |
| Publisher: |
Acclaim Entertainment |
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| Related Links: |
Coming Soon. |
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The Bards Tale Preview: |
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Now it’s possible that for some of you, the name, “Bard’s Tale strikes up fond past memories of the classic RPG. However, I was born in 1986, and so the original was a year old already when I was born. Also, as much as they’ve talked up the original during the release of this game, it never really achieved classic status; hence I didn’t hear about the game for about a decade and a half and certainly haven’t played it. However, something tells me that this new game will have little to do with the first.
One thing it does share is the creator, Brian Fargo, father of games such as Fallout and Baldur’s gate, as well as the original Bard’s Tale. Bard’s Tale uses the Everquest: Champions of Norrath engine to power the game. It does not look like the game’s purpose is just to piggy back on the name and the overused game engine, Bard’s Tale uses something that’s all too rare in RPGs these days, humor.
The Bard is our reluctant and seemingly downright unwilling hero whose main interest is really in “coin and cleavage” as the developers put it. The quest to save the world is only in the back of the hero’s mind, if it’s even there. From the impressions I’ve gathered, Bard’s Tale looks to be some funny stuff. I can assure you that if it’s really that funny, I’ll be singing it’s praises for days. But not only is it funny, it actually has gameplay innovations!
While being a humorous game may be just a nice touch, what really seems exciting about this game is its Snarkom system. Throughout the game, you will get the chance to respond to NPCs in either a nice or “snarky” way. The choices that you make will open up side quests and allow you to recruit characters and the like. However it’s not all about being nice, sometimes a mean answer will get you a better result than a nice one.
Bard’s Tale is supposed to be an RPG parody of RPGs. So I expect that many of the RPG conventions (like kleptomania, for instance) will be at the butt of many jokes, and that alone should make the game entertaining. We are also promised excellent graphics, bustling environments (complete with many townsfolk), original musical score including singing and a wide variety of birds animals. Trees will rustle, grass will wave in the wind and water will trickle to create an immersive game play experience. Bard’s Tale has a lot of potential, but how much of it will be realized is anyone’s guess.
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