Bandle Tale Analysis
End of Riot Games ‘ adventure as an independent video game publisher. Riot Forge, the initiative that brought together indie studios to produce titles based on their powerful IP, League of Legends , has ended. In these little more than four years since Forge’s announcement, a total of six video games have been released. The latest of these is Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story , and we’ve already played it.
The idea, as the then head of Riot Forge , Leanne Loomb , told me, was to look for synergies with studios with a recognizable way of making games and immerse users in “completeable” experiences, charismatic and that expanded the limits of the license. . And, with greater or lesser success, that has been the way.
Perhaps the ceiling was reached very soon with Ruined King , a more than good turn-based RPG from Joe Madureira’s Airship Syndicate , making it necessary to wait until just a few months ago to have a title that could be at least equal in charisma, as happened with Song of Nunu from the Spanish Tequila Works .
But the finishing touch is Bandle Tale, a ” cuqui ” game, as defined in official communications. That is, a title that adheres to the trend of calm titles, with a sweet aesthetic and that many people associate with “farm games.” However, looking for the latter may be a mistake here.
The studio in charge of Bandle Tale is none other than Lazy Bear , creators of the indie hit Graveyard Keeper . With that game they demonstrated mastery of issues such as management, inventories full of objects and social relations within a town… All of this seasoned with the black humor necessary to be able to carry a title that goes from being the head of a cemetery.
More factories than farms
Paradoxically, relaxed pixelated “farming games”, whose exponent is surely Stardew Valley , have an “anxiety” component. I mean that either we have calendars that limit what we can do per season, and even per day, or it rests on interrelated systems that require a lot of planning from the player, resembling their cousins: Factorio-style conveyor belt games .
And I could save several paragraphs by summarizing the situation that is possibly going to arise with Bandle Tale: players who are looking for a farming game and end up stumbling upon a Dyson Sphere Program with a cute aesthetic. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and we don’t have anxiety-catalyzing issues within video games like time requirements, but it is a game based more on systems, skill trees, and resource management than admiring pretty pixelart scenery .
For those who are confused, we will put ourselves in the shoes of a weaver , a discipline highly appreciated in the flying city of the yordle for its versatility and ability to create portals between the different islands. After a disaster that occurred at the beginning of the adventure, we will have to go all over Bandle solving problems among its citizens, learn more about our job, and ultimately, solve the ballot and connect all the areas together.
As is often the case with Riot Forge games, you don’t need to know anything about Runeterra lore to get into them. There are a thousand cameos of League of Legends champions , and some with a very important role in the plot; but you won’t miss much if you know about Summoner’s Rift by hearsay. In that sense it is a title that is quite grateful to the new ones.
It is not necessary to know anything about Runeterra lore
In the aspect where it is not so much is when it comes to specifically explaining what the playable loop is like; That is, how we are supposed to play a correct game and progress in a more or less direct way. And it’s not because Lazy Bear doesn’t dare to answer several key questions of the genre.
In fact, Bandle Tale has several good ideas , which are also integrated into basic game mechanics. To begin with, a basic point of these games is the house, and the progression involved in improving it, expanding its land or its capabilities. With a magical touch, the house will now be a backpack that we can deploy in many places, and that houses all kinds of carpets with machinery and furniture suitable for different tasks.
In its multiple folding rugs we can have our work area, sale of items to the public, restaurant or even party room. All of them will be necessary to progress in the game, and their objectives, requirements and rewards intertwine relentlessly during our game. In this way, with the portable house, the problem of exploration in a game of this type is solved and how tiring it can be to always return to the same place.
Although the progression has another great idea, and that is the use of inspiration points . Practically any action within Bandle Tale will give you inspiration points that will fill orbs in the upper left part of the screen, which are transformed into skill points when sleeping in our bed.
The point is that each repeated action will give fewer points until it ends up being harmless for this purpose. In this way, you are encouraged to play all the styles and try anything that Bandle Tale proposes. It won’t do you any good to plant beets like crazy , because it will end up being completely useless.
Returning to experience points, here we find one of the problems of the game. Although there is a tutorial on the first island that explains how to get experience points and their usefulness within four (huge) skill trees, as well as teaching you how to organize parties and open your restaurants, the game does not respond well to how to all these systems relate .
None of them are tremendously complex, don’t get me wrong, but it is normal that at a certain point you find yourself without satisfied hunger points to organize a party, without the right vibes for that party or the resources to build a drinks table, or far from meet the friendship requirements to get started. There are so many things and so related, that it is enough for one to choke you .
And what happens when we choke? Well, it’s time to take trips. Bandle Tale is possibly one of the games in which I have done the most “back and forth” work. Perhaps it is because of the topic he was commenting on about experience points, skill trees, and their relationship with crafting new items.
The dialogues are hilarious.
There are several occasions, especially after the first third of the game, in which you will see that you need a specific object. Although at the top right and in the quest log it tells you what specific skill you have to unlock to achieve it, not as much is said about what prerequisites you need.
If you pass clay, it’s your game
The first big check that the title makes is with the clay . To get it, you have to build extraction machines in clay pits. However, to make it work, you need enchanted rubber rings, those rings are loaded into a specific machine that needs a movement aura; but to find the unloaded hoop, you have to weave a rubber ball, also with a certain aura. Not to mention that rubber balls have to be crafted in a certain way.
We are talking about a handful of unlocks in different skill trees , several trips throughout the map to get the base objects to build the machinery and also those required to start the crafting chain. Not to mention the large amount of experience points to open those trees, which will make you find yourself grinding for a while to get started. And this would be appreciated if the trees were even clearer, since in the case of machines it tells you what it requires to be built, but not what “gasoline” it needs to work.
IN 3D GAMES
“The game will change forever in 2025.” The director of League of Legends announces a great transformation that will begin in just a few weeks
But you know what? When you complete that loop for which half an hour ago you had no answer, you feel as powerful as when you just defeated that Souls boss that you resisted so much . And that may be why many people, including myself, developed an obsession with making mass machines in titles like Satisfactory.
“cuquis” crafts
Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story
By: José A. Mateo Albuerne
Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story could be the Trojan horse that gets you into the factory genre, or a disappointment if you’re looking for a farming game to pass the time. He has very good ideas, but he also lacks finesse when it comes to explaining all the systems he has and how they relate to each other.
Buy Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story
5 things you should know:
- Based on League of Legends, but anyone can play.
- A very nice aesthetic.
- Dialogues and good translation.
- Don’t expect an undemanding experience.
- More factory than farm.