Stories: The Path of Destinies vs The Bard's Tale
Stories: The Path of Destinies is an action-adventure action-RPG game from Spearhead Games (2016) while The Bard's Tale is an action-RPG RPG game from Interplay Entertainment (1985).
What each one is
Steam files Stories: The Path of Destinies under Action-Adventure and Action-RPG. In contrast, it files The Bard's Tale under Action-RPG and RPG.
Stories: The Path of Destinies is an Action RPG, an enchanted storybook filled with madcap fantasy tales, each told by a zippy narrator attuned to the player’s choices and actions.
You are the Bard, a selfish rogue weary of pointless sub-quests and rat-infested cellars. Now includes original classic games The Bard’s Tale 1, 2 & 3!
At a glance
| Stories: The Path of Destinies | The Bard's Tale | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.3/10 | 6.2/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (88%, 6,598) | Mostly Positive (75%, 1,453) |
| Critic aggregate | 74/100 | 70/100 |
| Price | $14.99 | $19.99 |
| Install size | 2 GB | — |
| Steam Deck | verified | playable |
| Released | 2016 | 1985 |
| Developer | Spearhead Games | Interplay Entertainment |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Stories: The Path of Destinies vs The Bard's Tale, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Stories: The Path of DestiniesAction-adventure action-RPG gameThe Bard's TaleAction-RPG RPG gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Stories: The Path of DestiniesAdventure, RPG, ActionThe Bard's TaleRPG, Adventure, ComedyThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Stories: The Path of Destinies ✓Score 7.3 · 88% on Steam · 74 criticThe Bard's TaleScore 6.2 · 75% on Steam · 70 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Stories: The Path of Destinies6,598 reviews · 2 add-ons · 2 GBThe Bard's Tale1,453 reviewsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Stories: The Path of Destinies ✓$14.99The Bard's Tale$19.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Stories: The Path of Destinies ✓VerifiedThe Bard's TalePlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Stories: The Path of Destinies takes 3 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueStories: The Path of Destinies and The Bard's Tale on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Nintendo
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Stories: The Path of Destinies (GamingPickz Score 7.3)
- The cheaper right now: Stories: The Path of Destinies ($14.99)
- Better on a Steam Deck: Stories: The Path of Destinies (verified)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Stories: The Path of Destinies (6,598 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
AdventureRPGActionFantasyHack and SlashAction RPGSingleplayerIsometric
Where they differ
Choices MatterIndieDynamic NarrationMultiple EndingsColorfulSwordplay
Parody ClassicMedieval
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Stories: The Path of Destinies is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. The Bard's Tale is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Stories: The Path of Destinies | The Bard's Tale | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | GeForce 8800 GTX | — |
| Minimum CPU | Intel CPU Core i3-2500K 2.0GHz+ / AMD CPU Phenom II 570 | — |
| Minimum RAM | 4 GB | — |
| Install size | 2 GB | — |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Stories: The Path of Destinies · The Bard's Tale.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for Stories: The Path of Destinies and 1 for The Bard's Tale. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Stories: The Path of Destinies and The Bard's Tale in scope?
Stories: The Path of Destinies has drawn 6,598 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 2 GB. The Bard's Tale has drawn 1,453 Steam reviews.
Is Stories: The Path of Destinies or The Bard's Tale better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Stories: The Path of Destinies rates higher (7.3 to 6.2). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Stories: The Path of Destinies or The Bard's Tale?
Stories: The Path of Destinies is cheaper right now at $14.99, against $19.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.