There are not one but two versions of the 4th edition of Talisman: the blink and you've missed it Black Industries iteration and a Fantasy Flight published modified version published soon after.
Talisman is an old skool roll and move game adventure game set in a high fantasy world.
The players choose from one of many fantasy archetypes (wizard, priest, warrior etc) and some more unusual choices (ghoul, woodsman) on offer and sallies forth into the first of the game's three areas to begin their quest for the Crown of Command.
Gameplay is roll and move. You then either follow the instructions or more usually pick one or more adventure cards which might offer treasure, useful items, dastardly traps or anything from a boar to a dragon to fight. Players are hoping to increase their stats enough to be able to survive the trip through the middle and much harder inner regions.
The Fantasy Flight version looks nicer and has a much crisper look than the one put out by Black Industries. Evidentially FF have also rewritten the rules (although there was never anything difficult there anyway) and replaced the large cardboard character pieces with plastic minis. Personally I prefer the cardboard standups which make it much easier to see who is who on the board than unpainted plastic minis. Both versions include a standup/mini for the iconic toad if you are unlucky enough to upset the Enchantress.
The FF version also introduces the concept of Fate tokens. These are a number of one time only rerolls for any dice roll in the game .This goes some way to mitigating the huge luck factor always present in Talisman and is a way of balancing out some obviously unbalanced characters.
If you already have the BI game you can buy an upgrade kit to make it compatible with the many FF expansions that are on the way, the first of which, Talisman: The Reaper is already out.
