The Bard's Tale

The Bard's Tale for mobile phones follows on from the humorous 2004 action RPG in which a nameless, cynical bard travels through a fantasy land full of parodied genre clichés. The mobile version carries over the basic framework of the game - the combat system, gold collecting, and character upgrades - into a simplified form with more modest text and visuals suited to button phones, while retaining the ironic tone and the singer-songwriter RPG theme, in which the player's character literally summons help by playing the lute. The game's humor takes aim at well-worn fantasy conventions and dialogue full of self-deprecating remarks, setting it apart from most seriously toned mobile RPGs of the time.

On Java, the game relied on smaller but clear combat screens and a simple command system through which the player chose the bard's attacks, spells, and special abilities. Progression between locations was rather linear, with emphasis on dialogue and light textual jokes referencing classic fantasy clichés, which helped keep memory requirements low while preserving the character of the original game. Character upgrades were handled through simple menus, where the player added points to a few basic attributes and bought new equipment with gold they had collected.

The mobile Bard's Tale was primarily an attempt by the publisher to offer fans of the console game a pocket-sized alternative and to expand the brand among phone owners who didn't own a console. Today it stands as an interesting example of how, in the middle of the decade, publishers tackled converting humorous, dialogue-heavy RPGs into an environment with minimal memory and without the graphical and audio accompaniment players were used to from the television screen. As a lighter mobile spin-off of the console original, it retains its own charm and still serves as a reminder of how publishers, back in the pre-smartphone era, managed to carry over distinctive humor into a minimalist format.

Why play it: For fans of the console original and curious players who want to see how the mobile version managed to carry over its distinctive humor into a minimalist format without graphics or sound.