The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate

Moby ID: 2509
Commodore 64 Specs
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The warriors who have destroyed the evil wizard Mangar receive a letter while celebrating their victory. The letter informs them of a terrible disaster: Mangar's master, the Mad God Tarjan, has unleashed his wrath upon the town of Skara Brae, completely destroying in. The heroes visit a refugee camp nearby and embark on a quest to defeat Tarjan.

Thief of Fate is the third installment in the Bard's Tale series, and a sequel to The Destiny Knight. It is similar to its predecessors, being a first-person fantasy role-playing game in which the player explores maze-like pseudo-3D towns, dungeons, and wilderness areas. Two new character classes have been added: Geomancer and Chronomancer. There are more dungeons than in the previous games, and this installment also adds an auto-mapping feature. The game's world is divided into separate realms accessed by using time warps, each with its own theme and setting - including, among others, famous locations from Earth's history such as ancient Rome or Berlin during World War II.

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Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 23 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.1 out of 5 (based on 54 ratings with 2 reviews)

Not the best of the Bard's Tale series - made more for Die-Hard Bard's Tale fans.

The Good
I enjoyed the new additions: Now allowing Female characters to be created, no major difference from Male characters - just change of looks. TONS of new spells, and oh boy, even more new puzzles... easy ones and excruciatingly hard ones! Still NICE the feature allowing importing of characters made in Bard's Tale I, and Bard's Tale II, still further adding to the immersion.

This is a HARD game to complete. It is a successful sequel though.

The Bad
Some parts, some puzzles, seemed tooo dang hard LOL! I also kinda' disliked having to re-visit Skara Brae, after spending soo much time in Skara Brae in the first Bard's Tale. IMHO Bard's Tale III is not better than Bard's Tale II. And either as good as Bard's Tale I, or slightly worse. It IS still a nice, successful, game. Still a hit game.

The Bottom Line
Really made for die-hard Bard's Tale fans. I really wish it did not return back to Skara Brae. It could have made a new different mega-city that's in ruins. Or take place at a different part of the planet. Oh well... still a fun game, but more fun for die-hard Bard's Tale fans. It didn't do any new ground shaking features. First play either Bard's Tale I, or II, (doesn't matter which order, or if you play just one of them) before deciding to play Bard's Tale III.

DOS · by XplOrOrOr (14) · 2004

A bit of a challenge!

The Good
This game does not emphasize graphics. Nor does it care much for sound or presentation. But what it lacks in those departments is more than made up for in the puzzle category! Bard's Tale 3 is so unbelievably difficult at times it almost makes you want to cry. There are hundreds of riddles to solve, intricate maps to explore and nigh impossible battles to be won. I don't think I have ever spent so much time on one single game as I did before I finally beat this game. It's simply awesome!

The Bad
The graphics and the sound were sub par even when it was released. But that doesn't mater much since it's the story and the setting that's important in an RPG.

The Bottom Line
One of the most challenging RPG's ever created I would presume. There are so many problems and puzzles to solve in this one that it takes forever to complete. But the satisfactoin when you do.. Oh my.

DOS · by Mattias Kreku (413) · 2003

Trivia

Cancelled IIGS version

An Apple IIGS version was made by Rebecca Heineman but never released.

Awards

  • Zzap!
    • January 1990 (Issue 57) – 'The Best Games of the 80's Decade' (Robin Hogg)

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Belboz.

Apple II added by Droog. Amiga, PC-98 added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, General Error, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added October 14, 2000. Last modified March 27, 2024.