inXile is keenly aware of the RPG landscape on which it treads, so the studio developed a game that follows the age-old adage "If you can't beat 'em, mock 'em." Literally every cliché in the RPG book is satirized in The Bard's Tale, each to good effect: the first quest involves a stereotypical rat-slaying adventure. The narrator has a grand voice and poetic, omnipresent script. Nearly every pub has a buxom bartender. There's even a trapped princess, for crying out loud.But The Bard's Tale never takes itself too seriously, consistently acknowledging that gamers are tired of the clichés and want a fresh breath, which is precisely where the game interjects its humor. In the rat-slaying quest, the Bard kills a rat, looks toward the camera, raises his hands triumphantly and declares "quest complete!" The narrator tries desperately to follow his script, but both he and the Bard (yes, they interact) question the writing. The bleach-blonde bartenders feign helplessness, only to have the Bard look incessantly at their chest rather than their eyes. inXile knows the genre, and by poking fun at itself, the developer clearly hopes to win over those who know the genre just as well.