InXiles latest game, The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep, released September 18 to a mostly favorable response. Our first impressions of the game however mentioned the large amount of technical issues: crashes, frame rate problems, long loading times, and a veritable cornucopia of bugs. InXile has now released the first large patch addressing these concerns.
Besides the fixes to crashes and performance issues, one of the most welcome additions is no doubt an FOV slider, as the game could at times feel somewhat claustrophobic.
The most severe issues have been bandaged, but the update feels a bit like a quick and dirty stemming of the bleeding, so to speak. InXile mentions a follow-up patch aimed for September 28 that aims to get to the root of the problems.
"As already stated in the road map we released earlier this week, some of these points are not easy to resolve and require in-depth changes to the game (and subsequent testing). This applies especially to stabilizing frame rates, improving loading times, and taking care of resolution issues. Today's patch lays the overall groundwork for fixing these, and you will see more improvements with patch 2, currently targeting Friday 9/28."The roadmap sets out a rough plan of what InXile aim to address in the next three patches. The third patch doesn't have an estimated release date yet, but has some of the most interesting new features. Better inventory management and speeding up combat animations will be huge quality of life improvements.
A Legacy Mode will also be added, which sounds pretty brutal, especially considering The Bard's Tale IV is far from an easy game as it is. This mode will let you activate permanent death for your characters, and turn off the mini-map.
Our review of The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep hit some speed bumps (or roadblocks) due to bugs, but is on its merry way to completion.
