If you remember, Brian Fargo revealed back in January that his next game would be a sequel to the old Bard’s Tale series. Known for being one of the original first person dungeon crawlers, Bard’s Tale is yet another old-school CRPG that Fargo’s company, inXile, plan to bring back from the dead.
At the time, we knew it was going the crowdfunding route but didn’t know exactly when. Thanks to a recent interview, that little detail has now been revealed. The date of its launch will be June 2nd, the 30th anniversary of the series’ debut. An official press release from inXile reiterates this:
- inXile Entertainment is proud to return to Kickstarter for their next big cRPG project, The Bard’s Tale IV, launching Monday June 2nd at 6 AM PST/13:00 UTC. Return to Skara Brae for a true dungeon-crawling sequel to the original The Bard’s Tale trilogy that helped define the cRPG genre!
- On the 30th anniversary of the original Bard’s Tale, what better time than now to go on an adventure worthy of song? The Bard’s Tale IV will feature challenging maze-like dungeons with devious puzzles and riddles to explore in the first-person dungeon crawler style of the original trilogy. inXile has the full rights to use everything from the original trilogy, so the game will be rich with callbacks and old favorites such as teleporter zones and magic mouths.
- Utilizing the Unreal 4 engine, The Bard’s Tale IV will also represent a graphical leap forward in the genre, immersing you in a highly detailed and lush world you’ll want to map to is farthest reaches. inXile plans to use photogrammetry to create in-game 3D objects from photos of architecture, taken right in Scotland.
- With the Bard leading the way, the game has a strong focus on music and sound design. Inspired by and involving Gaelic musicians, the soundtrack and lyrics of The Bard’s Tale IV take cues from Scottish culture, which will be used to enrich the existing setting from the original games.
- Of course, you’ll need to contend with all matter of hostile beasts, monsters and brigands as you explore the world. The Bard’s Tale IV will feature a dynamic phase based combat system, utilizing the complex decision making opportunities of traditional phase based combat, but with a constantly evolving enemy strategy and a pacing that keeps you on your toes.
- Check The Bard’s Tale IV website to follow along as we count down to the Kickstarter launch, or sign up to receive news and info directly from inXile!
Until the Kickstarter begins, you can keep tabs on the game through its official site. Though admittedly, there isn’t much to see.