One playable character doesn't mean there is only one kind of gameplay. Our anti-hero can use several weapons and is able to cast a spell from time to time. When you determine his statistics at the beginning of the game it's good to know which way you really wanna go. Putting a lot of points in Strength will obviously put you closer to melee combat rather than magic. Next to that you can choose a first talent like Critical Strike or Dual Wielding. As you advance through more areas and quests you'll achieve a higher level and also more talents.

You kick off in a small inn with lewd waitress and a complete choir of drunks. The Scottish accent already gets you in the mood and it only gets better when the narrator makes a joke here and there. Developer inXile Entertainment opted to create a loose atmosphere in which a lot fantasy-clichés are getting a funny treatment. The drunk song which even encourages you to sing along, says a lot. After you've solved a 'small' rat problem in the inn basement you can finally explore the rest of the village and as it is common in this kind of games you're running from one location to the other where you explore, bash some beast's skull or fetch an object in order to find a solution to the villagers' annoyances. During your wanderings across the small town it's pretty hilarious that you can just push cows on the ground or chase after chickens. The npc's walking around won't react to it though. In some conversations there is an option to act as the greedy bastard or as the reincarnated pope which brings with it each time a different outcome (playing it rude against the waitress means you'll have a whole more pleasant night). But don't expect too much of it, dialogue-options are mostly limited to these two choices but they remain funny.

The graphical side is not suprising nor bad. At least not for a consoleport, the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance engine delivers just enough, nothing more. Lighting effects, detailed models and the right animations are all present. It's of course not on the same level as f.e. Guild Wars. And sometimes the console-influences clearly shine through with the loading times but it doesn't get too disturbing. A top down view isn't always the right way to show the gameworld and with how it's implemented here I have that same feeling, especially with the limited zoom option. This perspective also isn't that easy to handle it with a keyboard but The Bard's Tale manages just fine. The controls ask some time to get used to, and if that might not work for everyone there will still be extensive support for gamepads in the final version.

While you are adventuring you can jump, block attacks, kick some butt yourself and activate spells. Most things don't come as a surprise and that's the general feeling I had about the combat mechanics; pretty 'standard'. Like in the demo you'll often have/need companions by your side. Much control over these compadres isn't given so they mostly act as punching bag/the first line of defence. That was the case with the Thunder Spider I summoned and the little dog that kept following me, they took the hits so I could hit back without worrying too much about myself. When the Bard still got hurt it was time for the Caleigh-artifact, let's call it the healing potion eaquivalent. It's limited in use but you can also wait a while since you regenerate health automatically. When even that doesn't help and you are killed you'll have to reload. Saving is only possible at certain savepoints. Not the kind of system most PC gamers will like but the spread of these points is well chosen so it doesn't irritate too much.