Arguably one of Bard's Tale's greatest pleasures lies in the party creation: making a diverse range of characters to explore Skara Brae and meet its challenges. The rich party design gives these games a fantastic longevity and I can vividly recall experimenting with many combinations of Paladins, Warriors, Hunters, Bards, Rogues and the spellcasting classes, seeking that “perfect” party balance.

A distinctive aspect to the Bard's Tale character system is the array of magic classes at the disposal of the player. In addition to the classic Bard class, who can weave a limited number of magical songs in and out of combat to influence proceedings before requiring a stiff drink, the player can also take advantage of the tiered magical class system. Whilst Magicians and Conjurers are the only two spell-casting classes initially available in character creation, after some levelling, players can choose to change the classes of their spellcasters to Sorcerer (Illusions) and Wizard (Summoning), adding depth to combat.

During the early phases of the game, Bard's Tale is an intensely demanding experience as players have to familiarise themselves with Skara Brae's important locations relatively quickly, else suffer the wrath of one of the many random encounters which could easily send low-level characters to their collective doom. The incredible sense of danger one has when simply making one's way to Garth's Shoppe, exploring a new dungeon for the first time, or the sense of dread when making one's way back to the stairs with low magic points to the sanctuary of the Adventurer's Guild and the safety of a well-saved game, are memorable highlights of this wonderful trilogy.

Thus, a slow careful approach in nurturing and managing one's characters in the beginning pays off as the group progressively becomes stronger and moves with greater assurance through the wintery streets and dungeons: to finally face Mangar himself!