SAN FRANCISCO—When it was published as Tales of the Unknown: Volume I in 1985, The Bard’s Tale was the most popular PC RPG yet released. It spawned two sequels, but disputes over contracts and more prevented further development. The series went dormant for 30 years, apart from a comedy action RPG in the early 2000s that bore little resemblance to the original game.

Now, a Kickstarter has given life to The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep. Developed by Interplay alum-founded inXile Entertainment (Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera), it’s the first game in decades to follow the basic mold of the original series of RPGs, though it takes a few liberties of its own to modernize the franchise (most of them are welcome).

I played a work-in-progress version at the 2018 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, guided by lead designer David Rogers. While I had a few small complaints as a classic CRPG player, I walked away from the demo with the impression that inXile has struck a reasonable balance between the spirit of the hardcore originals and the new, more modern expectations of today’s players.