The Bard is a cynical, opportunistic musician who roams the country in search of carnal pleasures. However, this impatient and selfish fellow is compelled to accept the greatest quest of his life: save the princess Caleigh from a demonic cult that has kidnapped her. The unlikely hero must now explore the land in search of the princess, accompanied by the omnipresent Narrator who obviously can't stand the Bard and uses every opportunity to sarcastically comment on his actions. Furthermore, Fionnaoch, the mysterious abductor of the princess, does everything he can to stop the Bard, sending his minions after him.

A self-proclaimed "quest for coin and cleavage", The Bard's Tale is an action RPG that is more of a whimsical take on role-playing games than a remake of the classic series. As the Bard, players can fight off hordes of foes with blade and bow, and summon companions through magical Bard Songs. Leveling up allows the player to raise the character's main attributes and invest specialization points in the different types of weapons he can use. Magical companions must be sought out and then summoned during battles. After being summoned, they act pretty much like AI-controlled party members; some of them specialize in physical attacks and offensive spells, while others can heal the hero.

During conversations the player can choose "nice" or "snarky" responses for the protagonist. While mostly used for humorous effect, some of these responses may affect subsequent events. The game uses the Dark Alliance engine and has a similar camera and control scheme.

[edit description | view history]

Alternate Titles

"新冰城傳奇" -- Chinese spelling (traditional)
"冰城传奇" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
"Похождения Барда" -- Russian spelling
"The Bard's Tale: Song of the Bard" -- Working title
"The Bard's Tale: Opowiesci Barda" -- Polish title
"The Bard's Tale (2004)" -- Common title
"Bingcheng Zhuanqi" -- Chinese title

[add alternate title]

Part of the Following Groups

Merchant	Title	Platform	Price
	The Bard's Tale	Windows	$2.95
	The Bards Tale	Xbox	$2.33
	Bards Tale	PlayStation 2	$2.93
	The Bard's Tale
Please select your country: Not an American user?

User Reviews

To hell with traditions! Long live humor!	Xbox	YID YANG (162353)
Even mediocre endings don't lower the game's black "humour" level	Windows	POMAH (27692)
Playing a "music man" is pretty darned refreshing, not to mention hilarious!	Windows	Jeanne (75626)
There's a difference between pointing out clichés and avoiding them all together.	PlayStation 2	Terrence Bosky (5238)
Right Script and Acting, Wrong Game	PlayStation 2	Indra was here (14900)

[review game]

The Press Says

Game Chronicles	PlayStation 2	Dec 14, 2004	9 out of 10	90
Worth Playing	PlayStation 2	Nov 13, 2004	8 out of 10	80
Digital Press - Classic Video Games	Xbox	Jul 07, 2005	8 out of 10	80
X-Power	Xbox	May 16, 2005	8 out of 10	80
Worth Playing	Windows	Aug 15, 2005	7.9 out of 10	79
PC Games (Germany)	Windows	Jul 04, 2005	79 out of 100	79
Yahoo! Games	PlayStation 2	Oct 26, 2004		70
Jeuxvideo.com	PlayStation 2	Mar 24, 2005	14 out of 20	70
GameSpot	Xbox	Oct 25, 2004	6.7 out of 10	67
PC Gameplay (Benelux)	Windows	Jul, 2005	67 out of 100	67

[see more rankings | add ranking]

Forums

There are currently no topics for this game.

[new thread]

Trivia

Extras

The Polish version contains the first three Bard's Tale games as a bonus, just like the US one, but apparently unlike any other European release.

Information also contributed by JRK

[add trivia]

This entry was contributed by Terrence Bosky

(5238), Kabushi (104305) and Jeanne

(75626)