The Bard's Tale 4: Barrows Deep

The Bard's Tale 4: Barrows Deep — a classic role-playing game with a first-person perspective and turn-based combat set in the universe of The Bard's Tale. You will gather a party of six heroes to explore dungeons, solve puzzles that will become more challenging as you progress, and engage in turn-based battles.

Barrows Deep is a single-player tactical turn-based RPG in the richly developed fantasy universe of The Bard's Tale. It is a direct continuation of Bard's Tale 3: Thief of Fate. The studio inXile reworked the game's concept in such an unusual way that the fourth installment has strayed far from both the original trilogy and modern role-playing games.

Development became possible thanks to generous funding on Kickstarter, but players were dissatisfied with the final result. The announcement was made by the franchise's creator Brian Fargo.

The events of The Bard's Tale 4: Barrows Deep unfold in a fantasy Kingdom inhabited by a variety of creatures — humans, elves, dwarves, undead, sorcerers, and many others, both good and evil.

The game's plot begins 100 years after the events of the trilogy. The population of the Kingdom has lived in peace and tranquility for many years, with many terrible events of the past forgotten. This was exploited by the adepts of a dark cult, who seized power in the Capital and declared the Guild of Adventurers illegal.

The Kingdom needs a true hero, not just some ordinary bard, so donning a royal crown, we set out to fight enemies. Along the way, you will encounter many interesting secondary characters, some of whom can join your party.

In reality, the player travels through stereotypical medieval fantasy towns, divided by dense forests, fertile fields, and villages, with dark dungeons and strange catacombs that one often has to descend into.

The player can choose from four character archetypes:

In Barrows Deep, character parameters are determined by their culture: humans are represented by four different clans, and there are also dwarves, elves, and trolls. Each culture defines the strengths and weaknesses of the character; for example, a dwarf warrior can create chaos in the enemy ranks and simply strangle each foe with his hands, while an elf will offer a completely different, more tactical, and complex gameplay.

Skills are divided into four categories: attack, defense, squad command, and crafting. Some skills are unlocked only if lower-order abilities are fully mastered. Skills can also be combined between characters; for instance, an archer wounds, and a warrior finishes off.

The gameplay of Barrows Deep is quite simple. In normal mode, the player explores the game world in real-time from a first-person perspective and looks for hints from other characters. This way, one can disarm traps, solve interesting puzzles, find hidden places, trade, and complete quests.

Everything changes when combat begins. The screen splits into two parts, with allied characters in their "positions" at the bottom, and enemies at the top. Battles are turn-based; after performing all available actions, the player hands over control to the computer, which commands the enemies and attempts to kill the player's characters.

There can be up to six characters in a squad at the same time, but experienced players can manage with four. The game takes into account the position of each character, so sometimes it is more advantageous to move them to another cell or, conversely, to attack the nearest enemy for critical damage.

By planning actions and positioning correctly, as well as the order of attacks and defenses, one can handle even formidable opponents, but the cost of a mistake is high — a squad member can be lost forever. By completing tasks, killing monsters, and achieving victories, the hero accumulates experience that unlocks new levels, abilities, and equipment.