bought an downloaded this because of the funny trailer and review of the pc port. It looks pretty good except for the opening movie. The quality of the opening movie is very low.
This game is so great. It's exactly what I thought it would be like a kick ass mini console game. It just needs a little tweaking with the menu. So nice to have funny voice overs too.
You get stat points as you level up, up to a max of 20 per stat. There are 3 IAP for that, in increments of up to 60 in the most expensive one. There are "extras" in the main menu that are unlocked as you play the game - things like artwork, maybe an interview or development video (if I remember correctly from the PS2 version). An instant unlock of all of these is $.99 . There's a $.99 upgrade that doubles all coins earned, similar to Jetpack Joyride. A bunch of IAP for in-game gold at varying amounts. More IAPs for Adderstones - if I remember right, these are for casting certain spells, but I don't remember. Haven't encountered these in game yet, not that far in. Another lot of IAPs for "talents" - basically perks to modify your character further. Basically it's stuff you can buy if you want to skip the character building part of the game. Also some good news - there's a "Synchronize" button in the menu, I think this is for iCloud. I don't use it though, so if anyone could confirm/deny, that would be appreciated.
I actually really like the game so far - it scratched an itch I didn't even know I had. Fits so well. My biggest gripe are the menus - often they are horrible*, small** and sometimes large***. *There is no way to differentiate between clickable buttons and listings. Maybe I just missed it before, but the only way I discovered some menu elements was by randomly tapping on the stat screen. **The menu buttons are small. Be warned. ***There's an option in the menu that extends right - to the point where you are left with a pixel to change to the next option before it runs out of space. Note: In-game buttons have been behaving well so far. Edit: Everything so far has been voice acted, even the first menu where you select stat points before starting the game itself. I like voice acting. More so when it's done awesomely well.
Come on, man. It's a full budget, non-casual, complete game with a Metacritic score of 7.0--on your iPhone. What more do you want, Mass Effect 3? Unless you're the type that gets offended by overstated, sexual innuendo-driven humour... I've also never understood why people complain about gameplay that "feels old." Gameplay is timeless.
Yeah think that response is a bit OTT. We're all adults here, the games taking the mick out of RPG games, yeah some of the jokes are a bit childish and theres plenty of women with big bossums kinda thing but its all a joke. I always thought who on earth was offended by Janet Jacksons boob slip at the Superbowl and i think i now know ! Same as all these 'busybodies' who think games such as Grand Theft Auto will corrupt all of us and these violent games are evil. As for 'old' gameplay i love a bit of retro gameplay, doesnt all have to be swipe up/down etc, some good old fashioned games are great. Reminds me back in the 80's of 'Bored of the Rings' which was an adventure game taking the mick out of Lord of the Rings which worked well. Buts its silly/funny humour, we all have different tastes when it comes to comedy, i'm enjoying this one so far
Could someone help with a 'build'? I'm mostly new to this. I'm down with a 'ranged/ninja' build or a Klingon build. I just need some advice on how to start. Thanks in advance!
I remember Bored of the Rings! That brings back a few memories. Downloading this now. Loved it on the Xbox but didn't get chance to play much of it. Now's my chance. Download really slow ATM. Must be a lot of people grabbing. It has been an expensive night, what with this, IB2 and CODBOZ.
When opening chests in the game, I've found several items, among them a couple of diaries, but I can't find anywhere to access my inventory and read them... All I can find is a weapons/armour inventory. Are those pickups just for show, have anyone found a way to access the inventory of found objects and books?
Game Impressions My early impressions are rather similar to my sentiments on Final Fantasy Tactics for iOS: the game itself is qualitative, a full desktop/console experience, with massive amounts of content and playtime, but the port is not. The game is still very playable, but it has the telltale signs of a desktop/console port with little additional work beyond controls and achievements: menus are small, not as easy to select as most iOS-optimized GUIs, and occasionally hard to read, partly thanks to the small text (which is a strange design choice, as there is PLENTY of unused screen left in the pause menu), but mostly due to the low resolution and odd color of some already selected menu choices. Also, like some other ports, the Bard's Tale is not Retina-enabled (EDIT: on devices older than the 4S). It does look very good still once in-game, but far from Retina, the intro cinematic and the pause menu take me back to the early 3GS titles, and even the in-game graphics can sometimes be a tad hard to discern with greater detail. As a result, The Bard's Tale is showing signs of not having aged very well, signs that could have been hidden with Retina graphics (EDIT: or at least slightly more optimized graphics for the iPhone 4 and possibly 3GS), iOS-optimized GUI, etc. Ironically, perhaps, since the game was not even made for iOS in the first place, but for desktop platforms. However, the game still plays reasonably well, and the controls are good. A Diablo/Dungeon Hunter-like, gameplay-wise, but with a more engrossing world, greater focus on story, dialogue and NPCs, active blocking, more interactivity, a world that is, if not open, then at least slightly ajar, far less focus on looting and exchanging gear, and a simple but pleasant summoning system. My overall impression is closer to Dungeon Siege/Sacred/Titan Quest/Silverfall, with small, subtle hints of Baldur's Gate and Summoner. As for the story, I can't say I'm impressed at all. I'm glad there is so much of it, but the wit is nowhere near as sharp as reviews of the original game would have players believe. The cleavage and innuendo aspects of the game's comedy are clumsy, overt, and very in-yer-face. Let me add that I actually like sexual comedy and references, sexual content, a little (or tons of) naughtiness, have absolutely no moral concerns over a game based on unscrupulous sexuality, and am only offended by sexual acts that are lethal and/or not reciprocal. But, like Gabrien puts it, in The Bard's Tale, all this stuff is overstated and juvenile (and not in the good way ). The rather frequent attacks on the fourth wall and meta references are almost equally clumsy, and the interplay between the narrator and the Bard mostly, once broken down and purified of the silly accents that tries to disguise stage scottish and overacting as comedy, consists of the game proudly proclaiming "Look, we are addressing the audience AGAIN, we bold, sly rogues, we!". (A quick summary of the quality of port versus quality of original game argument, recalling the FF:T comparison above, would be that I find FF:T a better game, but The Bard's Tale a slightly less sloppy port.) Once yer in-game, however, all these doubts might be whisked away on the wind like the bard's forgettable lute notes: you are playing a full console experience, with 35-40 hours, full (and reasonably competent, if overacted for often dubious comedic effect) voice acting, good production values for its time, and a sense of scale and grandiose adventure rarely experienced on iOS, even in these days of near-desktop like mobile game development. For that last reason, but certainly not for the story or innuendo, I'll probably keep playing it. But I will be most disapproving as I do so
I can see how the menus would be cramped on the riduclously puny iPhone screen, but the Telltale games on the iPad 2 runs well (unlike on the clunky original iPad) and doesn't have issues with words being too small or anything. Has anyone played Bard's Tale on the 2nd generation iPad? How well does it run on the device, and I take it the words and menu system is fine on the bigger screen? And I take it that it looks much better on the iPad 2 cuz the description says it's HD for iPad 2 with the battery saving settings turned off. Been contiplating wheather to get this or IB2 on the iPad 2. I think if I knew it ran well on the iPad 2, I might end up getting BT as I've always wanted to play it.
What is the actual size of this massive game? Apple list it as 1.3gig but the unpacked size is probably closer to 2gig. I wish they would list the real size of apps as this would be so much more useful in deciding whether it will fit on my device or not. Stating the unpacked size is not helpful.
Nope, the lack of readability is not mainly due to small or cramped menus (there is actually quite a lot of space, more than half the screen, left for GUI elements in the pause menu. Strange choice not to use all the spare room. They probably ported the original menus with any adaptation work.There is no GUI that can not be successfully adapted to the iPhone is designed cleverly enough). The problem is that menus are so low-res and oddly colored when selected that they are occasionally hard to read. You might. I wouldn't know But considering that there is plenty of unused space left to expand the GUI in both the pause and the character menus, I would not be surprised if the iPad GUI of these menus had equally strange layout and design.
God no. That would probably take up even more space and be just as pointless. I get offended by "overstated." "Great" gameplay might be timeless, but even that's debatable based on context and definition. Yours is a very odd and meaningless statement. Look, I get it, you enjoy the game. More power to you. I just don't fancy the idea of more mediocre ports of mediocre titles flooding the app store and being lauded on the "but it's a console game on your iPhone!" grounds. I don't subscribe to that point of view. I don't want console games on my iPhone; at any rate definitely not mediocre or second rate console games. I like the iOS just fine for what it is, see its strengths in relation to consoles as well as its weaknesses, and believe it is those strengths that should be focused on and developed. Chasing after the strengths of console gaming is a losing proposition and would only weaken the platform, not enhance it. If you want console gaming buy a console.
This game is great. The graphics are good and sharp. If you own a 4s or iPad 2 just turn battery option off and the screen is much smoother. Some textures do blow and the opening cut scene sucked the life outta me but the rest are good. I think the comedy level is still great and it really pokes fun of RPGs. It's rough around the edges, I'm not happy about the port completely but there is sooooo much to this game I believe it's totally worth a buy. But the menu does suck. Buy it.
Translation: "Get off my yard!!!!" I tell you what I find offensive: the idea that one person's conception about what the iOS platform is should be the guiding principle for everything that gets released on it. You don't want console ports? Don't buy them. It's not like you don't have other choices. And BTW, I assume that you have no idea whether this is a mediocre port or not, at least from direct experience.
^Exactly if you dont want console ports dont buy them. I cant stand the 90 million Angry Birds clones so i ignore those As an older gamer i LOVE all these ports of really old classic games from the 80's or later ones such as this which i can carry around with me on this device and dont have to use another handheld for them. Love the variety of iOS, i've got brand new built for iOS type games, i've got ports re-done with some nice changes and then i've got some old classics which in my view have stood the test of time.
