> # Welcome to GameGrinOS v1.01 > # How can I help you? > # Press ` again to close
>
Hello… | Log in or sign up
A Bastard's Tale

A Bastard's Tale

Games should grab our attention as powerfully and as quickly as possible to get us hooked. Some games do it as early as the opening screen – inFamous' tragic press-start scene comes to mind. However, a great way to gain some interest is via the title – there's thousands of games out there on Steam, and a title that can make a player double-take will inevitably lead to sales. No Pest Productions certainly raised a few eyebrows with A Bastard's Tale – or A ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 's Tale for Steam users – as swear words are shockingly uncommon in video game titles. However, the big question here: is the game as interesting as its title?

A Bastard's Tale is a story with a medieval flavour. You play as a knight in shining armour carrying a longsword (otherwise known as a bastard sword) whose goal is to hack his way through a horde of oncoming enemies before squaring up to a boss at the end of each level. This may sound like a generic old school hack-and-slash, but to call it old, generic, or even simple would do the game a grave injustice.

a-bastards-tale-screenshot-0Where this game stands out from other side-scrolling hack-and-slashers is its control scheme, which turns out to be its defining feature. A Bastard's Tale offers unparalleled depth of control – in other games like this, one button is simply used for attack and another for block. Here, we use three apiece. A lets you swing your sword from the right, S lets you swing it overhead, and D lets it come in from the right. Z, X and C respectively let you block in those directions, allowing for a deeper sword fighting experience, in 2D, no less! However, while this configuration does allow for more choice and strategy instead of just mindlessly tapping one button, the set-up is initially more confusing than it is intuitive, leading to a lot of cheap and painful deaths.

A Bastard's Tale is a very short game – 5 levels at last count – but where it compensates is with difficulty. Mainly due to the fact that the new and dazzling control scheme it offers turns out to be rather cumbersome – in the time I've spent with the game, I've racked up about 70 deaths, a statistic that the game 'helpfully' flashes at you periodically. These controls are cumbersome in that because the controls are so tightly bunched together (look at your keyboard) that a game requiring the finesse that one would expect from a sword fight results in many wrong buttons pressed in the heat of battle. This means a steep difficulty curve that may scare off players who don't want to put in a time investment just to get good.

a-bastards-tale-screenshot-1However, the controls aren't solely what make A Bastard's Tale the challenge that it is. The game is one of the most clearly retro-inspired games out there today, especially in design. This game is hard as a diamond, and could easily be dismissed as too difficult, but to do so would be to ignore its true nature. This is a game where you can't stand to take many hits, where you have to know your controls inside out, where you have to have enemy strategies and movements learned inside out. A Bastard’s Tale will accept nothing less than pure mastery to play it, and anything less will be dismissed as a feeble effort. If you want to beat this game and see the end of it, you need to put the hours in. The low amount of levels is a veneer hiding a deeper challenge that many gamers should ultimately appreciate.

The retro charm of the game extends to the graphics. Presented in gorgeous 16-bit pixel-art, A Bastard's Tale hits the mark like a sword in the heart of a blackguard. Everything looks sleek and shiny, bringing the medieval setting to life with colour, great visual detail, and also a range of clever visual effects. For instance, one of the enemies that can come at you is an angry villager wielding a pitchfork. When you deflect it in the right way, it will fly towards the screen in faux-3D, which not only looks great, but also asserts A Bastard's Tale as one of the prettiest pixel-art games on Steam today.

a-bastards-tale-screenshot-5A Bastard's Tale doesn't sound too bad, either. Strictly speaking, the sound is the weakest part of the game – the music is passable but nothing to write home about; however, there are some lovely pieces of sound engineering to be found here. For instance, when your sword hits solid steel, it produces a satisfying metalling twing sound – the lack of which would make the game seem more flimsy. It also experiments with different audio levels – for instance, the sound of clinking footsteps gradually getting louder, creating the impression of being snuck up on. It's neat little ideas like this that make A Bastard's Tale a rounder and more satisfying package.

Make no mistake; A Bastard's Tale is difficult, and will leave you wondering if the eponymous bastard is the person who made this game. You will die a lot, no question, and the initial experience is likely to be rife with frustration, but this game will provide you genuine challenge matched only by 8-bit era games. If you're willing to give this game the respect it deserves, you'll find one of the best indie titles of the year.

8.00/10 8

A Bastard's Tale (Reviewed on Windows)

This game is great, with minimal or no negatives.

Hard but satisfying – if you put in the time to get good, that is.

This game was supplied by the publisher or relevant PR company for the purposes of review
Ben McCurry

Ben McCurry

Mobile Writer

Writes about videogames. Hopelessly incompetent at making his own, he has settled for criticising others people's games instead

Share this:

COMMENTS