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[Kai Dracon]

Okay, now that it's been a week and a lot of people have beaten at least one pass in Fable, I had the strange though: Fable is one hell of a paradox. It feels like to me, at the same time the most overdeveloped (length) and underdeveloped (rushed) game in history.

I stand by my suspicion that Petey and co. had a massive mess of half-working game on their hands around the beginning of 2003, groaned, and began to hack the pieces together into a new game. It's not just that they cut a lot of features, they fundimentally changed the whole game. Even though they had a lot of work done by then, they still would have largely started over, and I believe Fable feels like it was that rushed. It seems as if there was no testing at all for things like game balance. It really doesn't have much in the way of puzzles and secrets by the standards of action-RPGs if you think about it. Sure, it's deep in terms of NPC interaction and some economic details, but aside from that, is actually somewhat barren.. fishing/digging/silver keys just doesn't seem like much, somehow. And finally, comments from the devs reveal a HUGE amont of content, including zones, bosses, and a tier of magic were ripped out just a couple of months before release. About when they had those interviews...

So it's like the world's most rushed game that was in development forever. Go figure!

Please note this is not Fable haterade. I LIKE Fable. I love certain elements of it. But I also feel a bit frustrated; it's not all those giant epic features promised four years ago I miss. It's the distinct and aching feeling in the final game, that there's a whole lot of stuff that -should- be there, and was just a bit ago... and now isn't. It's that which makes it feel incomplete to me, not years-old features that were never even close to completion.

Boy, I bet some people are going to be real mad, if a PC version of Fable comes out and has all that stuff put back in.

 

[Ghost]

Official thread, use it.

PS, everything you said was utter BS, and as you didnt qualify any of your statements with examples im not going to either.

 

[Seth C]

Official thread, use it.

PS, everything you said was utter BS, and as you didnt qualify any of your statements with examples im not going to either.

To be fair, I agree with everything he said. Way too many parts of the game, despite it taking forever to come out, simply feel rushed. It's hard to put my finger on it exactly. The game just doesn't feel done. It just sort of...ends.

 

[mrklaw]

If one good thing comes out of this, it'll be that less people think Peter Molyneux is the second coming of Christ, and maybe then peoples' expectations will be lowered to normal levels?

Of course, he doesn't help things by being so media friendly...

 

[pilonv1]

I hope everyone lets is into their insights into game design with every other RPG ever released. I'm really enjoying hearing everyone shit on this game, it never gets dull.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Only in the area of techincal polish does Fable seem rushed to me. Otherwise, this is as polished as any other game this gen, probably moreso than most. Taking the hype away from the game, it's a great one, IMO. One that could have been even greater had most of the things that got axed stayed. Still, pound for pound, this game is better than many of the so-called AAA titles this gen, IMHO. I guess it's more about one's perception of the game before it was released that affects the opinion of the finished game. Me, I can generally sweep the pre-release hype away from the game experience if it's good enough...and Fable is good enough.

 

[Seth C]

Only in the area of techincal polish does Fable seem rushed to me. Otherwise, this is as polished as any other game this gen, probably moreso than most. Taking the hype away from the game, it's a great one, IMO. One that could have been even greater had most of the things that got axed stayed. Still, pound for pound, this game is better than many of the so-called AAA titles this gen, IMHO. I guess it's more about one's perception of the game before it was released that affects the opinion of the finished game. Me, I can generally sweep the pre-release hype away from the game experience if it's good enough...and Fable is good enough.

I liked the game, a lot, and I didn't follow any of the hype (completely ignored the game at E3, even). Still, it's obvious from playing the game that they intended to to more. At least it was to me. It just ends far too abruptly to think otherwise.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Still, it's obvious from playing the game that they intended to to more. At least it was to me. It just ends far too abruptly to think otherwise.

I agree, but it didn't really take away from what the game did well, which was most everything, IMO. I'm already starting my 3rd playthrough. Very, very few games are compelling enough for me to even pop back into the system after the first time through. So, for me, this is a special game. I mean, yeah, we can keep tying this into the whole, 'Peter Molyneau (sp?) is a hype-fiend that didn't make good on all those promises from 2002 and 2003!!,' or just look at the game and its own merits. Anyway, I'm looking forward to playing more Fable and looking forward to every Lionhead Studios release going forward...as I was before Fable released. Anyway, I've said my bit.

 

[Redbeard]

It does look like they just cobbled together something at the last minute, discarding a huge amount of content. Looking at some of the screenshots from as late as 2003 and you see that more than half of the environments they had shown aren't in the game. All of the beautiful fields, forests, lakes, and mountains are nowhere to be found. Sad.

Where did they say they were chopping stuff out only months before release?

 

[Suerte]

Fable 1.5!

 

[belgurdo]

Fable 1.5!

Five more expressions, an extra sword, and we removed Lady Grey and the Guild of Heroes...all yours for $49.95!

 

[Redbeard]

Don't you mean Fable 1?

It would be an upgrade to the Fable 0.5 we have now.

 

[ManDudeChild]

If one good thing comes out of this, it'll be that less people think Peter Molyneux is the second coming of Christ, and maybe then peoples' expectations will be lowered to normal levels?

Of course, he doesn't help things by being so media friendly...

Peter Molyneux is WAYYYYYYY overrated, but Fable's technically speaking Big Blue Box's game. Just like BC is Intrepid's. I'm aware of the relationship between them all and Lionhead, i'm just saying is all.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I don't know. I've rarely seen any positive discussion of the features of the game or the experience it provides on here, because the same people who were interested in ripping the hype apart are dissapointed that it didn't provide some sort of all encompassing experience. Part of that I leave at the feet of Molyneux, part of it I blame on the stupid politics of this board which refuse to recognize what is still a fantastic game because it's on Xbox and western developed. Personally, I don't really care anymore. It's easily one of the better games I've played this year and far better than most games that escape any critical comment at all. Is it the perfect game? Far, far from it. Does it bring new features and experience to the action RPG table? Without doubt, and very succesfully at that. It could be smoother in many parts but it's very far from feeling like an extremely unpolished or unfinished game.

 

[pilonv1]

I don't know. I've rarely seen any positive discussion of the features of the game or the experience it provides on here, because the same people who were interested in ripping the hype apart are dissapointed that it didn't provide some sort of all encompassing experience. Part of that I leave at the feet of Molyneux, part of it I blame on the stupid politics of this board which refuse to recognize what is still a fantastic game because it's on Xbox and western developed. Personally, I don't really care anymore. It's easily one of the better games I've played this year and far better than most games that escape any critical comment at all. Is it the perfect game? Far, far from it. Does it bring new features and experience to the action RPG table? Without doubt, and very succesfully at that. It could be smoother in many parts but it's very far from feeling like an extremely unpolished or unfinished game.

You know why people aren't posting positive impressions? Probably because they're enjoying it too much to care about what some kid who hasn't played it, or played 20 minutes of it at a friends place thinks of it. The Western/Xbox/Molyneux trifecta sealed it's fate from the beginning, as it will for BC. For some stupid reaosn they're not able to enjoy a very good game without having an agenda.

 

[Razoric]

Got it last night and played it for 3 hours. How ANYONE can trash this game is beyond me. Something about it feel so pure and original. Maybe I need to play more of it, but from what I've seen so far, I'm lovin' it. Maybe some of you should put your biased hatred for Petey aside and enjoy it?

And I've played RPGs / Action RPGs that are far more unpolished than this. I don't get what the big deal is.

 

[Soul4ger]

I love this game. And I'll argue all night and day about it. Admittedly, though, I completely ignored the hype, don't know four-fifths of the stuff that was cut, and love the fact that it's more a Zelda-styled adventure than a Morrowind-esque RPG. Yay, Big Blue Box and Microsoft.