Bandle Tale review: Losing magic to unnecessary complexity

Players often look for games that make them forget about time, and Bandle Tale does just that—but not in a good way. I played the game for a little over 30 hours, but the flat storytelling and repetitive tasks had me stuck in an infinite gameplay loop that made me increasingly frustrated I didn’t have a portal to escape Bandle City.

Crafting a friendship’s flat tale

Knowing the grandiose stories of the League of Legends universe and how magical the world of Yordles is, I went into Bandle Tale expecting the ultimate tale of crafting your way toward magical friendship. But the storytelling falls flat. The hours of crafting and organizing parties erode the sense of urgency and high stakes the main quest should have.

In Bandle Tale, the main character—your custom-made Yordle—looks to restore the magic in Bandle City and bring back their lost friend Clover from a void space. Exploring the five islands that make up Bandle City for the first time, you’ll encounter familiar faces like Veigar and Lulu, gather resources and craft new items, sell goodies and food, throw parties, and make new friends. But while helping countless Yordles with quests, the main objective often gets lost among various errands. And when I finally reached what was supposed to be “the last step” before saving my friend, the game snatched it away in a twist that made me see red.

I reassured myself that at least I had more time to delve into Bandle City and get to know its residents, but the NPC interactions failed to leave an impression. Most new characters lack depth, and the Yordles who already have lore outside Bandle Tale mostly felt obnoxious and monotone. 

Let’s take Teemo as an example. League players like to make fun of how devilish the scout is. He even has a skin embodying his mischievous spirit. But in Bandle Tale, he comes across as nothing but obnoxious as he lists rules and technicalities out of the Gunner’s rule book.

The absence of voice acting—aside from Tristana’s narration—hinders your interactions, making dialogue dull. The game’s attempt at humor occasionally succeeds, but its tone becomes repetitive and quickly loses impact. To make matters worse, the lack of variety in any NPCs’ dialogue when you aren’t working on their specific quests is like a barren desert for lore-thirsty players walking into Bandle Tale.

Capturing the magical essence of Bandle City

Emerging like a lush oasis is Bandle Tale’s captivating pixel art that mixes 2D visuals with 3D design elements to great effect. Every element of Bandle City’s landscape is beautifully curated, and every colorful pixel helps bring a perfect home for the Yordles to life. Dark caves lit by crystals, winds caressing the tall grass and fruit trees, glowing vines, and strange-looking creatures fill the land to the brim, creating a beautiful piece of art that inescapably catches your attention. 

Bandle Tale’s cheerful and tranquil music further brightens the experience, but hearing the same track looping ad nauseam will make you wish you could change the tune. Above all, though, the repetitive nature of Bandle Tale’s gameplay makes the game lose its charm.

The endless grindfest cycle that is restoring Bandle City’s magic

While the quests are ever-changing in Bandle Tale, the way you complete them is monotonous, and the lack of directions made me question whether I’d missed a crucial tutorial or picked the wrong quest to start with altogether. While I’m not a fan of games that hold your hands, I appreciate being guided in the right direction—especially in the early stages. But in Bandle Tale, your journey mandates that you figure things out on your own most of the time, resulting in a struggle to work out your next steps due to the game’s complexity.

This complexity isn’t immediate. Instead, mechanics that seem simple become unnecessarily convoluted as you progress. For example, looking for materials and processing them into items isn’t particularly challenging early on. But as your technology advances, you must do increasingly menial tasks to make that new item you need while working out how to efficiently use crafting stations and organize your workspace.

Similarly, cooking and hosting parties in Bandle Tale posed challenges that were initially fun to complete. But my enjoyment quickly waned as the process became more demanding: gather supplies, craft items, return to the designated spot, and then cook—assuming you have everything you need.

This convolution applies to Bandle Tale‘s skill system, too. Throughout the game, you unlock new skills, divided into four trees: Knitting, Engineering, Nature, and Magic. Fill up your Emotion Orbs (aka experience points), and when you have an average of 15, you can unlock one of 150 skills. Filling up Emotion Orbs is a time-consuming task involving foraging resources, crafting new items, and boosting parties with your presence on the dance floor over and over again. But it’s necessary because most quests require you to have a specific skill unlocked.

While this complexity can be a bit of a brain-teaser (in a good way), it’s often overwhelming and makes you want to quit in frustration. Once you figure it out, it becomes easier to hit your working rhythm, with the variegation in items and skills keeping your attention, but with the risk of losing track of what you were originally meant to craft or do.

It needed more glamor

Bandle Tale can become your safe space, a cozy crafting game to play every now and then when you need a magical escape from other fast-paced games. With its captivating visuals and catchy music, Riot Forge’s RPG offers a relaxing environment for you to unwind. Still, its repetitive gameplay, lack of character depth, and frustrating elements hinder its overall appeal, making it difficult to play for more than an hour or two in one go.

Bandle Tale is a grindfest that demands a huge time investment. While initially compelling, it quickly becomes frustrating and lacks the polish needed for long-term fun.