The Bard's Tale Preview
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Aside from its combat and summoned enemies, it's The Bard's Tale's sense of style that seems most memorable. Designer Fargo has already stated that the purpose of the game is to deliver a deep but fun role-playing game with "as much personality as possible," especially when it comes to satirizing tired old RPG conventions. You'll see this when the bard triumphantly raises his sword aloft after killing a tiny cellar rat and receiving accolades from the narrator, shortly before getting roasted by the "real" rat in the basement. You'll also see this when the bard uncovers another RPG convention--that of generic monsters dropping fabulous piles of loot from out of nowhere. The bard kills a nondescript wolf in the forest that drops a new sword, a new bow, and a whole pile of gold pieces and furniture, and narrator Tony Jay actually has to stop himself to see if he read that right--no, that wolf really did drop several piles of gold and various household items. The game has a slightly dark and gothic look, different from the brighter colors of Champions of Norrath or Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Its musical score, which makes liberal use of the bagpipe, and its spirited voice acting and humor seem to recall some of the best movies that parody high fantasy, like The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
