The Bard's Tale is an action-adventure video game developed by InXile Entertainment and published by Vivendi Universal Games. It was released for the PlayStation 2 gaming console and for the Xbox in October 2004. Later, a PC version was developed and, in July 2005, it reached gamers worldwide. It was conceived and marketed as being the successor of the defining role-playing game A Bard's Tale, which was released in the 80s.

It is very tongue in cheek in its approach to the RPG genre. The main character is an unnamed bard who does what he does not for glory, nobility or to make the world a better place but rather because of the promise of cleavage and money. The entire story of the bard is recounted by an unseen narrator who is clearly biased against the Bard.

The plot is standard for the role-playing genre, with a bizarre cult promising reward to the bard in exchange for him freeing a princess. Another cult is against such an idea and attacks the bard. So battle and adventure ensue in the game. It's all weirder than the player might expect, with such encounters as loot dropping wolves, trainable fighting dogs, singing tribes of goblins and corpses that like music.

Even if the game is a parody at its core, it has similar mechanics to other role-playing games, with skills and spells that improve as the character gains experience and levels.

GAMEPLAY HINTS

The Highlander reference

Talk to the crier in The Tup Pub in West Dounby and agree to be in the talent show. You will get the Boots of Quickening as a reward. If you read about these boots in the menu to learn that they were made for the Highland warrior Connor McLaihd. This is an obvious reference to Connor McCloud from the Highlander movies. Also, all the other quickening boots have been lost, and the narrator says there surely can be only "one" pair left.

Little Red Riding Hood reference

Sometimes when you kill a wolf, you will get a red cloak or a picnic basket.

Star Wars reference

If you choose to be snarky to the elder after defeating Silkbeard, he will say "May the queen of the Sith take you".

Here's the famous Beer Song from the PS2 version of the game: