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The Bard's Tale 4 Interview: 'Doing Something That People Have Never Seen Before'

After thirty years of hibernation, The Bard’s Tale is ready wow RPG fans all over again.

Chris Jarrard

July 6, 2018 12:20 PM

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The Bard’s Tale franchise has been floating around in one form or another since it debuted way back in 1985 for the Apple II. The turn-based RPG series saw its last mainline entry in the series nearly thirty years ago in the form of The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate. Thanks to the folks at InXile Entertainment, famous for Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, the Bard’s Tale franchise is making a triumphant return. Development was launched back in 2015 on the back of a successful Kickstarter campaign and now that the game is nearing completion, the folks at InXile are ready to talk about the rebirth of one of gaming’s storied RPG franchises. We got the chance to sit down with David Rogers, Lead Designer on Bard’s Tale 4, at the Shacknews Indie Heaven booth during E3 2018.

During the interview, Rogers explains the basics of the game’s design and the development team’s goals for the end product. The Bard’s Tale 4 hopes to bridge the gap between the complex RPGs of yesteryear and the expectations of the modern gamer. Rogers details character selection and the depth of the character building systems while touting a novel new weapon forging system.

Built on Unreal Engine 4, The Bard’s Tale also intends to bring modern looks to the franchise. The team wants fans of the older game to recognize famous landmarks, but built the game to encourage new players to explore and buy in to the game’s world. The Bard’s Tale 4: Barrows Deep is expected to release for PC, Mac, and Linux sometime before the end of 2018. For those who did not purchase the game through the Kickstarter campaign, the game can be purchased for $39.99.

For more great videos, including developer interviews and convention coverage for events like E3 or PAX, be sure to check out both Shacknews and GamerHub.tv over on YouTube.

Chris Jarrard

Contributing Tech Editor

Chris Jarrard likes playing games, crankin' tunes, and looking for fights on obscure online message boards. He understands that breakfast food is the only true food. Don't @ him.