The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut is the triumphant return of one of the most iconic RPG series of all-time. Delve into a tactically rich combat system that rewards creativity, solve puzzles to gain treasure and advantages, and discover a beautifully crafted world.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut is a rpg, turn-based and dungeon crawler game
developed and published by inXile Entertainment.
Released on August 27th 2019 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux
in 6 languages: English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Polish and Russian.
It has received 1,235 reviews of which 954 were positive and 281 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.4 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 6.99€ on Steam with a 80% discount, but you can find it for less on Gamivo.
The Steam community has classified The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (64 bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i5 2500K or equivalent
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or Radeon HD 7970
- Storage: 29 GB available space
MacOS
- OS: OS X (10.13)
- Processor: Intel Core i5 3.7Ghz or equivalent
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or Radeon HD 7970
- Storage: 60 GB available space
Linux
- OS: Ubuntu 18.04 or equivalent
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K or equivalent
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or Radeon HD 7970
- Storage: 43 GB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
this is one of THE MOST underrated games ive ever played, hands down. no debate. the soundtrack is my will to live. i LOVE it so much, captures the vibe perfectly, even if you're just exploring or fighting an interdimensional mage. the gameplay is amazing, too- a bit jank at times but not game breaking at all. i'm usually more of a fan of open-world games, but this game still gives you plenty of secret exploration opportunities. also, it has turn-based combat, so instant W. i also love how thought-out the puzzles are, they've made me rage many times. very fun! wringneck is my goat forever and i will NEVER get rid of him.
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Bard's Tale is a mostly linear first person rpg with turn based combat. As far as i know the game had performance issues back when it released and still in some places (even though) rarely i still get some stutters. That said for me personally the game was a great experience. Combat was very engaging, Atmosphere and especially the songs imo were great. Story was nothing to write home about but it was so well done for me that i enjoyed the game up until the end. Pros: *Nice soundtrack/music *Different party setups *Combat *Atmosphere Cons: *For me this wasn't a deal breaker or anything but ofc gfx are dated but for me it still looked beautiful. *FMVs are cheap which for me added to the charm but it's clear that they didn't have a high budget. *Some minor bugs *rare Stutters *Gfx are dated (still looked beautiful to me) *My biggest criticism: The loottable especially end game seems horrible. Sometimes you fight through somewhere and clear a hard puzzle to reach a chest that has a carrot or other worthless stuff in it or you get low lvl gear in many areas etc. More variety in gear would have helped aswell. The game additionally has a lot of puzzles which you might hate or like but the devs implemented a mechanic that you can activate with a new game that let's you almost skip all puzzles in the game. All in all i enjoyed the game alot and I wish there would be a sequel in sight but that doesn't seem very likely (Devs work on a different game called "Clockwork Revolution".) 8.5/10
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SHORT REVIEW This review is for the Bards Tale IV: Directors Cut. Make sure you buy the directors cut version and not the original Bards Tale IV: Barrows Deep. The Directors Cut is the "bigger, improved and (very importantly) much less buggy" version of the game, it has more content, fewer bugs and it seems to run smoother on newer computers. The game is enjoyable for the first 20-25 hours but outstays its welcome as it is apparently a 60+ hour game so this is one of those games I really wish steam had a “neutral” rating for. PLOT: This is a 4th installant of the The Bards Tale series set two centuries after the events of the original three games. The main plot is okay but not great and is actually extremely linear. COMBAT: The combat uses a turn based combat system on a 4x4 grid. It gets extremely repetitive after a while and is badly balanced with some horrendous difficulty spikes. GRAPHICS & SOUND: The graphics are nice but not exceptional, this was not an AAA game at the time of production and it is six years old at the time of writing this review as well. The sound on the other hand is very nice and atmospheric but the voice acting isn't the greatest if I'm honest. REPLAY VALUE: Average. As a party based RPG there is some replay value in trying different character and party builds but plot wise the game is actually very linear so there are no real choices that affect the outcome. Its a long game and as I've already said it out stay its welcome so whilst there is some replay value the question of whether you want to replay it might be a different matter. For achievement hunters it can all be done in a single play through. ISSUES AND BUGS: The game runs “straight out of the box”. The directors cut has far fewer bugs than the original but it does occasionally crash to desktop (probably once about every 10-15 hours of play?). ACHIEVEMENTS AND TRADING CARDS: Full integration with the Steam platform. VALUE FOR MONEY: Poor. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad game but it is several years old and is, in my opinion, overpriced. Look out for discounts in sales and keep an eye on the price as the sale prices seem to be completely messed up with the directors cut (which is usually more expensive) being cheaper than the base game. LONG REVIEW This is a 4th instalment of the The Bards Tale series set two centuries after the events of the original three games. The problem with this game is that whilst it is for the most part enjoyable for the first 20-25 hours it becomes very repetitive after a while and outstays its welcome. Other than the combat getting stale the overuse of some of the puzzle mechanics also get tedious with the “faerie golf” puzzles being a particular offender. In this instance it definitely would have been a case of “less is more” as it feels like unnecessarily padding the game at times. There are also some really bad game balance issues. You can go through a number of fights pretty easily and then run into something ridiculously tough. In the end I got completely bogged down with one fight I just couldn't get past. The answer seemed to be I needed to use weapons which drain spell points. Great, I haven't found any and the equipment drops are random so I can't get any! Basically okay for a while but overly long and bloated with serious game balance issues.
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A great game: Combat system is fun. Great voice acting. World and story are good. Brilliant, diverse and entertaining puzzles. What most stands out is the music, they really put lots of effort into it; I use one of their track for meditation sessions: "Iain Ghlinn Cuaich (Extended Version)", check it out great stuff.
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40/40/20 Combat / Puzzle / Conversation-n-Questing Outstanding voicework and a truly unique soundtrack that compelled me to, more than once, set down the controller and turn up the stereo. Game is boring and 0ff-putting until you finish first dungeon and get out of the city (maybe 4 hrs)? Once there were min. 3 people in the party, combat really opened up into its truly unique and fun potential. Seriously combat is a blast here, fights are fast and furious with a gamepad. I wouldn't want to kb+m this game. Outstanding environmental design. Polygon count might not set your gpu on fire but d**m those outdoor areas and dungeons are gorgeous. Lovely character animation too - the monster animations at least. Game has good pacing and the story is interesting enough. It benefits from a unique take on classic fantasy (its own Elves and Dwarves, etc) and the game has some interesting lore sprinkled here and there which I bet would be cool to fans of the OG games way back when. Gotta be honest, in the last two areas I was puzzled out so I switched on the option to 'sing' past them. I feel bad about this, as the puzzles in the final area and optional Dwarven ruins were visually stunning. Long game, but I'd replay it. I hope Clockwork Revolution is a success, as inXile is a talented studio with a great catalog of underselling gems.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut is currently priced at 6.99€ on Steam.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut is currently available at a 80% discount. You can purchase it for 6.99€ on Steam.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut received 954 positive votes out of a total of 1,235 achieving a rating of 7.41.
😊
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut was developed and published by inXile Entertainment.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut is playable and fully supported on Windows.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut is playable and fully supported on Linux.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut is a single-player game.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut does not currently offer any DLC.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut does not support Steam Remote Play.
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut.
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 16 January 2026 14:26 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 26 January 2026 05:42 |
| Steam price | 28 January 2026 20:27 |
| Steam reviews | 26 January 2026 17:50 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut
- SteamCharts - Analysis of The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
14
Developer
inXile Entertainment
Publisher
inXile Entertainment
Release
27 Aug 2019
Platforms
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