The Bard’s Tale II: The Destiny Knight for the Commodore 64 is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) developed by Interplay Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1986. It’s the sequel to the highly acclaimed The Bard’s Tale: Tales of the Unknown, and it expanded the series with a much larger world, deeper mechanics, and more complex dungeons.

Here’s a complete overview:

 GENERAL INFORMATION

• Title: The Bard’s Tale II: The Destiny Knight

• Developer: Interplay Productions

• Publisher: Electronic Arts

• Release Year: 1986

• Platform: Commodore 64

• Genre: Role-Playing Game (RPG)

• Series: The Bard’s Tale (2nd entry in the trilogy)

 STORY

The land of Skara Brae is again in peril — this time from an evil Archmage named Lagoth Zanta, who has stolen the powerful magical artifact known as the Destiny Wand and broken it into seven pieces.

Your mission is to assemble a party of adventurers, journey across multiple cities and dungeons, recover the seven fragments, and reforge the Destiny Wand to defeat Lagoth Zanta and restore balance to the realm.

 GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW

The Bard’s Tale II builds upon the classic first-person dungeon-crawling gameplay of the original but with major improvements and new systems:

1. Party System

   • Up to seven characters in your party.

   • Choose from multiple races (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, Half-Orc, Gnome) and classes (Warrior, Rogue, Bard, Hunter, Monk, Conjurer, Magician, Sorcerer, Wizard).

   • Characters can be imported from the first Bard’s Tale game.

2. Exploration

   • Navigate in first-person 3D-style grid movement.

   • Explore seven cities, wilderness zones, and massive dungeons with mazes, puzzles, traps, and random encounters.

   • The world is non-linear — you can travel freely between towns by mapping the overworld.

3. Combat

   • Turn-based battles against groups of monsters.

   • Use physical attacks, spells, and bard songs for support.

   • Combat takes place in text-based menus with animated monster portraits.

4. Magic System

   • Features seven spellcaster classes, each with unique spell sets.

   • Over 80 spells in total, ranging from healing and summoning to teleportation.

5. New Features

   • Auto-mapping spell (“Scry Site”) — a huge help compared to hand-drawing maps.

   • Wilderness exploration between towns (a first for the series).

   • Dynamic quest structure with clues hidden across multiple regions.

   • The Snare of Death puzzles — complex, multi-step traps in major dungeons.

 BARD SONGS

The Bard class remains a signature element:

• Bards can sing magical songs that boost attack, defense, resistance, or illumination.

• Each song uses a “bard’s breath” system, meaning the Bard must drink at a tavern to “recharge.”

• Music and sound effects on the C64 were produced using the SID chip, giving the Bard’s songs rich, melodic tones.

 GRAPHICS AND SOUND (C64 VERSION)

• Graphics: Colorful but minimalist first-person dungeon corridors with animated enemy portraits.

• Sound: Rich SID-based music and battle effects, including distinct Bard tunes.

• Interface: Keyboard-driven menus with some joystick navigation options.

 RECEPTION

• Highly praised for its depth, difficulty, and expanded world.

• Critics in 1986–87 called it one of the most ambitious RPGs on the Commodore 64.

• Its puzzle-heavy dungeons and massive scope earned it a reputation as both brilliant and brutal.

 LEGACY

• Considered one of the great classic RPGs of the 1980s.

• Influenced later dungeon crawlers and helped cement the Bard’s Tale series as a cornerstone of Western RPG history.

• The trilogy was later remastered as part of The Bard’s Tale Remastered and Resnarkled (2018).