Is the bards tale (1) really hard or am not good?

Submitted ⁨⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨worhui@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨retrogaming@lemmy.world⁩

I’ve recapped an Apple 2e and started playing what was one of my first games, the bards tale.

I distinctly recall I beat the game, but I can hardly get 1/2 through the first floor of the first dungeon.

I started grinding near a temple where I can heal my party but the rng encounters make a very hard battle every 4-5 battles that wipe party members.

Reviving a party member cost 900 gold a level so if I do get them leveled up to 2 or 3 it’s too expensive to get a raise.

Anyone else remember this game?

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Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
The OG or the remake on Xbox?

The OG is as difficult as similar dungeon crawlers of the time, maybe a bit more so. It really was brutal at times.

The Xbox one, tho? It was made in that era before Dark Souls where everything was super hand-holdy. It leaned more into being humorous than a good RPG, imo.

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yaroto98@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I remember this game. I got pretty far in it. It’s super grindy. I remember there’s a part of the city near the starting tavern where there’s a little alcove with two doors facing each other. I spent a long time holding down the forward button and it would auto go in one door, out, into the other one, and back. Opening doors can randomly spawn mobs.

I’d go there fight a battle or two and heal up at the tavern, save, and go back. It’s close enough I wouldn’t normally random encounter before getting back.

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leave_it_blank@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I played it on the Amstrad CPC, from cassette/tape. Saving/loading from tape took ages, so did the loading for dungeons. I have no idea how I managed to beat this game.

Do yourself a favour. Get the remastered version from gog. It’s the same game, with auto mapping and the ability to save and load whenever you want.

Or… draw maps and go to the adventurer’s guild every few minutes to save your game. And then grind, grind, grind, and grind :) Don’t bother reviving party members in the beginning, it’s too expensive!

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- worhui@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I think I’m settled on using the apple to play since I bothered to recap it.
  
  what you are saying is what I came up with, but I figured that there had to be a better way.
  
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  - leave_it_blank@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Have fun! I sure did back then, and when I replayed the remaster.
    
    One tip: Somewhere in the sewers (I don’t remember which level) is a field where you encounter lots of enemies (20 or more?). They respawn when you change levels. I used that particular spot to farm, saves you at least some time! And don’t forget the fire horn, it’s extremely powerful and can be bought usually at Garth’s!
    
    Good memories! Thank your for this post! It put a smile on my face!
    
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JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

Anyone else remember this game?

I remember the series (about 3-4 games I think?), which was a major jump past Wizardry and other games that tried to be more realistic, but wound up being more bloated and slow-playing.

Bard’s Tale was great because it reimagined some elements (like the Bard), used really snappy, fun animations, played efficiently, and had interesting writing.

If you’re having trouble with BT1, why not just take a peek at a walkthrough or help guide to get past wherever you’re stuck?

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- worhui@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I have the printed help guide , but it seems to assume some kind of basic competence. The version on my floppy emu is cracked, but I think the game may just be hard, not altered
  
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  - JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Yeah, again– I’d just look at a walkthrough or online help guide at this point. When I get stuck on a game I’ll often use those to get past an unsolvable point, then put them away so as not to spoil the rest of the game.
    
    Plenty of games like BT1 I solved in the day by myself, but sometimes with later replays I just don’t have the drive and energy to do it all over again. I just want to experience the fun of the game again and move on.
    
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GMac@feddit.org ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I think i remember getting money for each party member so instead of just rerolling stats, create, pool gold, then delete. Gives you a good start and you get something for all the poor stat rolls.

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- SamuraiBeandog@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Oh wow I remember doing this too, now that you’ve mentioned it.
  
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HubertManne@piefed.social ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
its been way to long and don’t remember.

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jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I remember cheating.

Create a party of x characters.

Give all the starting gold and equipment to one of them.

Kill the others.

Create new characters to replace them.

Repeat as needed.
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- worhui@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I had been doing that
  
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DmMacniel@feddit.org ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
does The Bards Tale have a savegame system?

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- worhui@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Yes. It auto saves as you adventure…
  
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  - DmMacniel@feddit.org ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Oh okay, so no save scumming then :D
    
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