The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep Reviews

The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is ranked in the 28th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
7.5 / 10.0
Sep 18, 2018

The Bard's Tale IV isn't a game for everyone. Brian Fargo's new production is very old-school, but not archaic or outdated. It respects its heritage and the genre's rules. Still, the fans of modern RPGs could be unimpressed if they don't keep their expectations in check.

Review in Polish | Read full review

8 / 10
Sep 18, 2018

The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is a surprisingly deep and rich role-playing game steeped in some old lore. It has some big shoes to fill given the history of the series, and while I'm not familiar with it, I enjoyed what I played. Aside from the stuttering and short learning curve, I was impressed by the game and its overall gameplay. Although, even the learning curve is softened immensely by the excellent tutorial. I'm itching to try more and more of the game and see just what Skara Brae has to offer, and I suggest others do the same.

Read full review

5 / 10.0
Oct 8, 2018

The Bard's Tale 4 has some positives and a whole lot of potential but it's also dragged down by a number of design and technical issues. Hopefully, a revamp and optimization helps it realize the full extent of its charm.

Read full review

4 / 10.0
Oct 1, 2018

The poor save system and technical issues combine to create something more frustrating than the sum of its parts. Combat is decent and the music is fantastic, but overall not worth the time spent in the rest of the game. You can instead just listen to the OST.

Read full review

7 / 10.0
Sep 27, 2018

The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is not a perfect game by any respect. It's the first mainline sequel to a franchise that is over thirty years old, and this iteration certainly stumbles. However, what is here is a solid game with clever writing, strong characters, and a wonderful world of misfits and misadventures. The game needs patches, and an overall layer of polish, making it feel rushed and shoddy. If you're on the fence, give it some time to get its ducks in a row before you commit to a purchase.

Read full review

7.9 / 10.0
Jun 13, 2018

With The Bard's Tale 4: Barrows Deep, developer inXile does a great job of taking all the elements of a 30-year-old series and mixing it up with some modern era mechanics.

Read full review

6 / 10.0
Nov 24, 2018

I've been underwhelmed by inXile's previous nod to nostalgia, Wasteland 2, and everyone else in the universe seemed to adore it, so maybe it's me. Your mileage, as always, may vary. But if you're looking for a rock-solid, incredibly challenging nuts-and-bolts RPG with all of the quirky flair of the original trilogy, this isn't quite it.

Read full review

7 / 10
Oct 11, 2018

The Bard's Tale IV is a mixed potion that can offer a very fun gameplay experience as well as seriously damaging your nerves! It offers more than 30 hours of gameplay for just 35 dollars, and when all elements are working, it can be fun and enjoyable. But then technical issues kick in and along with a very strange save mechanism, ruin your day! The Bard' Tale IV is surely a charismatic title and if you can cope with its flaws, you can have great fun; but it still has a lot of issues to address in order to be considered one of the elite titles of the genre.

Review in Persian | Read full review

Ofisil
Top Critic
4 / 10
Oct 9, 2018

Without the problems that stem from the, evidently, rushed production, The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is a mediocre-to-good dungeon crawling RPG that's reminiscent of the genre's humble beginnings. With those problems added, however, this is downright annoying, and even unplayable.

Read full review

PS4Blog.net
Dusk Fox
8 / 10
Oct 9, 2018

The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is certainly a game awaited by many of those who loved the original trilogy, and truly wants to keep the identity of the series in its core while making it modern and welcoming to all the people who have never heard of the saga, or even the genre. Whether or not they have succeeded at keeping the core of The Bard's Tale in this title is still up to debate for veterans, but it cannot be denied that at is price, it's an enjoyable experience that will bring you 40+ hours of entertainment.

Read full review

Simon Brown
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
Sep 18, 2018

The Bard's Tale IV revisits the classic dungeon-crawling formula from years past, simultaneously showing reverence for its history whilst not being afraid to change it up mechanically. Visually stunning with a wonderful Gaelic folk soundtrack to go with it.

Read full review

65%
Sep 29, 2018

The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep couldn't escape the shadow of its predecessors and it also has some unnecessary technical flaws. Ultimately not just younger players that are used to modern games, but also the older players, won't be completely satisfied.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

Not Yet
Oct 20, 2018

Despite taking place in a marvellously detailed, humorous, and lively world, the story of The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep is rather by-the-numbers, and a lot of the game’s design harkens back to the old games in the series in the worst, most rigid ways possible. Further to this, even after a few updates, the game is still fraught with technical issues, but it is slowly being patched, and inXile has a good track record for working on their games to improve them. And the good things that are still present in this game are excellent, like the fantastic writing, refreshing approach to puzzle designs, and beautiful music present throughout. The design could also be tweaked to remove the sting of a lot of the older design tropes that cause the most grief. As it stands, the game in its current state is rough as guts, but there’s a lot of room for improvement, and I’ve faith that it will improve. It will just take time.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Oct 19, 2018

Overall The Bard’s Tale IV is a great title. Well drawn environments, dialog and an awesome accompaniment of bardic music make it worth playing for long stints at a time. Adding in elements such as a customizable leveling up system in order to style your characters just right, and the rest of the adventure is simply waiting for you to explore it the way you want to.

Read full review

B-
Dec 11, 2018

Overall, The Bard's Tale IV, after a few updates, is a solid game. A well-done story backed by amazing voice acting and soundtrack makes this game a must for The Bard's Tale fans. Newcomers to the series should enjoy their time as well. Finding it on sale should help seal the deal.

Read full review

Oct 1, 2018

Overly linear and with a lackluster combat, Bard’s Tale IV is anything but an “old-school” RPG. Worth it if you’re deeply interested in puzzles.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

7 / 10
Oct 26, 2018

Overall, The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep gets a 7/10, it is an enjoyable adventure with engaging turn-based combat and puzzle solving but fails too harshly in other areas. Combat can become repetitive at certain points where you fight the same setup of enemies 5 times in a row when it doesn’t glitch out. Some puzzles are overly easy, while others are overtly vague without reason. The difficulty is great throughout, aside from some areas that take a drastic leap. The long list of glitches and bugs ruin an otherwise amazing experience as they plague every corner.

Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Oct 25, 2018

The Bard's Tale IV is a game that puts "fantasy" in fantastic. With its rich atmosphere, charming visuals and medieval aesthetic, it affords a deep gaming experience.

Read full review

4.5 / 5.0
Sep 25, 2018

Ultimately, The Bard’s Tale IV is a very good game, but it’s an old school launch in both senses.

Read full review

Unscored
Sep 24, 2018

It’s not a game that I can easily recommend to the average gamer as you really do have to put up with a lot of issues and a lack of polish, and so I’d probably say this is only worth a by for dedicated RPG fans or if you spot it on sale. However, if the developers do manage to get the game properly patched this could be a solid RPG with some neat ideas.

Read full review