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[bbnocrossing]

This is my first time reviewing a game, so please forgive me if it sucks.


9.0 Presentation
Fable's presentation is pretty darn impressive with great fresco-painting cut-scenes that really bring a genuine fairy tale feel to it. The menus are easy to use and they pack a lot of stuff in with ease. Overall Fable's presentation is very polished and there seems as though a lot of thought and effort went behind everything in this game.


9.5 Graphics
The environments in Fable are beautiful and there are great details on the character you decide to mold. The whole world of Fable feels and looks alive. The trees are the best in any game and the grass blow's pretty realistically in the wind as well. The water is the best I have seen in any game to date too and ripples even form as you walk through puddles of water or mini lakes. The clouds race across the sky as day changes into night and the whole day and night cycle is just gorgeous. The lighting is FANTASIC in all areas, and the caves really show this. The overall art style of Fable is what really makes the difference though. Everything has its own unique style and look to it that separates Fable from other games. Big Blue Box has made a visually stunning game. The only downside to the graphics is some low resolution textures here and there, most noticeably on some of the character models. Also, the NPC's are pretty repetitive but I can forgive this as there are a lot of them through out the world of Albion. There is also the occasional framerate drop when there are a lot of characters on screen, but nothing major. Overall I think Fable has the best OVERALL graphics on the Xbox.


9.5 Sound
I absolutely love the opening score from Danny Elfman in this game and the rest of the game has beautiful music. Fable just has a beautiful orchestral score that seamlessly changes to fit the mood of your situation and surroundings. Fable’s classical music is truly an achievement and I would have to say that it has the best music in any game ever. The game’s ambient sound effects are of the same high quality as the music; from the hustle and bustle of the town to the rustling of leaves in the trees above you. Fable does a wonderful job of engrossing the player in the world of Albion. Every line of dialogue features excellent voice acting that’s always delivered in a believable manner, and the British accents featured in the game do a nice job of portraying the fantasy setting. I did get pretty annoyed though with hearing repeated lines every now and then from the game’s towns people but that’s really the only negative thing to be said about the game’s audio.


9.0 Gameplay
It's not Project Ego anymore but the game is still a blast to play. Some of the NPC reactions are priceless and have great humor. The combat is like Zelda TOOT and that is a great thing. There is a lock on feature that works well, and the magic you can use is fun to play around with. You get a good variety of weapons that consist of either melee or ranged weapons such as the bow. You get to steal, kill innocents or baddies, and just really do as you please which makes Fable so fun to play. Most of the actions your character does affects the world around you and also how the rest of the world views you. There is just so much variety in how you can play Fable.


9.5 Lasting Appeal
You can beat Fable's main adventure in about 10 hours if you race through the main quest but you will likely miss out on a lot of what Fable has to offer. You can get married, play games at the local pub, rent and buy homes or even own a town if you are evil and powerful enough. There are so many secrets and Easter eggs in this game that is can last you a long time if you choose to play it like that. It took me 32 hours my first time through just to give you a perspective on how long Fable can last you if you really take advantage of what the game has to offer. Also, you will want to play through Fable at least twice, once as an evil character and once as a good character. I am currently starting a new game as a bad ass so we will see how that turns out.

Overall I give Fable a 9.4, and it is defiantly a classic game that I will always remember. It didn't live up to the hype that it had but I expected that. I am really happy that Fable is selling so well too because I can't wait to see what BBB will do with Fable 2 on Xbox 2. :O Maybe we will actually get Project Ego!!!

If you are interested in action adventure or RPG games, buy Fable.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

This is my first time reviewing a game, so please forgive me if it sucks.


9.0 Presentation
Fable's presentation is pretty darn impressive with great fresco-painting cut-scenes that really bring a genuine fairy tale feel to it. The menus are easy to use and they pack a lot of stuff in with ease. Overall Fable's presentation is very polished and there seems as though a lot of thought and effort went behind everything in this game.


9.5 Graphics
The environments in Fable are beautiful and there are great details on the character you decide to mold. The whole world of Fable feels and looks alive. The trees are the best in any game and the grass blow's pretty realistically in the wind as well. The water is the best I have seen in any game to date too and ripples even form as you walk through puddles of water or mini lakes. The clouds race across the sky as day changes into night and the whole day and night cycle is just gorgeous. The lighting is FANTASIC in all areas, and the caves really show this. The overall art style of Fable is what really makes the difference though. Everything has its own unique style and look to it that separates Fable from other games. Big Blue Box has made a visually stunning game. The only downside to the graphics is some low resolution textures here and there, most noticeably on some of the character models. Also, the NPC's are pretty repetitive but I can forgive this as there are a lot of them through out the world of Albion. There is also the occasional framerate drop when there are a lot of characters on screen, but nothing major. Overall I think Fable has the best OVERALL graphics on the Xbox.


9.5 Sound
I absolutely love the opening score from Danny Elfman in this game and the rest of the game has beautiful music. Fable just has a beautiful orchestral score that seamlessly changes to fit the mood of your situation and surroundings. Fable’s classical music is truly an achievement and I would have to say that it has the best music in any game ever. The game’s ambient sound effects are of the same high quality as the music; from the hustle and bustle of the town to the rustling of leaves in the trees above you. Fable does a wonderful job of engrossing the player in the world of Albion. Every line of dialogue features excellent voice acting that’s always delivered in a believable manner, and the British accents featured in the game do a nice job of portraying the fantasy setting. I did get pretty annoyed though with hearing repeated lines every now and then from the game’s towns people but that’s really the only negative thing to be said about the game’s audio.


9.0 Gameplay
It's not Project Ego anymore but the game is still a blast to play. Some of the NPC reactions are priceless and have great humor. The combat is like Zelda TOOT and that is a great thing. There is a lock on feature that works well, and the magic you can use is fun to play around with. You get a good variety of weapons that consist of either melee or ranged weapons such as the bow. You get to steal, kill innocents or baddies, and just really do as you please which makes Fable so fun to play. Most of the actions your character does affects the world around you and also how the rest of the world views you. There is just so much variety in how you can play Fable.


9.5 Lasting Appeal
You can beat Fable's main adventure in about 10 hours if you race through the main quest but you will likely miss out on a lot of what Fable has to offer. You can get married, play games at the local pub, rent and buy homes or even own a town if you are evil and powerful enough. There are so many secrets and Easter eggs in this game that is can last you a long time if you choose to play it like that. It took me 32 hours my first time through just to give you a perspective on how long Fable can last you if you really take advantage of what the game has to offer. Also, you will want to play through Fable at least twice, once as an evil character and once as a good character. I am currently starting a new game as a bad ass so we will see how that turns out.

Overall I give Fable a 9.4, and it is defiantly a classic game that I will always remember. It didn't live up to the hype that it had but I expected that. I am really happy that Fable is selling so well too because I can't wait to see what BBB will do with Fable 2 on Xbox 2. :O Maybe we will actually get Project Ego!!!

If you are interested in action adventure or RPG games, buy Fable.

my review of your review.

c-

 

[Fifty]

IGN format? Boooooo

Otherwise, it's words.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Good review, you write pretty well and conveyed how much you loved it clearly. However.....

As a counterpoint - I just beat the game for the first time a few minutes ago, so here are my thoughts in brief on the game's many shortcomings. I should point out that overall I enjoyed the game, and would give it about, oh, a 7.9 were I scoring it. But here's with the bad:

For every great design choice, there was a poor one to undo it. For example, I loved how your reputation impacted what people called you. I garnered the name "Chicken Chaser" because so many people saw me doing just that (and punting them). It's a cool touch. But of course, you can just buy a new name at a shop, which utterly defeats the purpose and effect.

Likewise, you spend a great deal of time shaping the alignment of your character and observing the impact that has on the world around you. But you can just go to a temple and pay enough gold to have all good or bad alignment points purged from you, undoing the entire effect of living with the consequences of your actions.

Speaking of which, for a game about becoming a legend and shaping the world, your impact on it is awfully temporary. People respawn after just a day, townsfolk just stand there while I murder everyone in sight, and guards forget that I racked up over 100,000 gold in crime fees after one day. I never felt anything I did had consequence.

On of the reasons I love RPG's is the sense of exploration - a sense totally absent from Fable for a few reasons. First, the game is on linear paths - you never stray from them. Exporing the woods, fields, swamps etc all boil down to just running from point A to point B. Which is easy to do, since the game marks where you need to go next on the map with a big throbbing gold blob. If you want to follow the main quest, just play a game of virtual connect the dots.

Compoinding this was the fact that you could just beam around the world any time you wanted at not cost or penalty - but with the benefit of skipping the dozens of huge loading screens it takes to run from one town to the next. More on that in a minute.

I had read that the Demon Door all lead to sub-quests, which is a simple lie: they all lead to tiny areas the size of my apartment (I have a small apartment) with a treasure chest in it. Boring and disappointing to say the least.

Two last gripes: In a game about the consequences of your actions, did it really make any sense to force you to repeat optional side quests if you failed them? It was maddening.

The load times are murderous, the worst I've ever seen this gen. On one optional quest, it begins with one conversation, which takes about six seconds to load. Then another five to ten second loading for another conversation, then another one at the end of that. Finally you got to the objective, which boiled down to running through four zones, each of which had nearly ten second loads between them. I'm a pretty patient guy, but spending about seven minutes of every hour or so staring at loading screens was maddening.

Anyway, I'm debating keeping Fable for another run through, or just doing all the things I wanted to do in the gameworld they let to roam in after the last guy is defeated. Doing the treasure hunt and opening all the reast of the silver chests and Demon Doors is all I really want to do. I've only returned a handful of games in my life, but I can still fetch a good chunk of change in store credit towards my pre-order on Halo 2 LE, and I'm pretty sure once that comes out I won't go back to the world of Albion anyway.

On the plus side, the music was simply wonderful.

 

[bbnocrossing]

^^^ you make great points. The loading is pretty bad and does take you away from the game but I learned to deal with it. I also agree that the environments are on the small side but there is still plenty to see and discover if you ask me. But like I said, you make great points and I can see where you are coming from.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

Good review, you write pretty well and conveyed how much you loved it clearly. However.....

As a counterpoint - I just beat the game for the first time a few minutes ago, so here are my thoughts in brief on the game's many shortcomings. I should point out that overall I enjoyed the game, and would give it about, oh, a 7.9 were I scoring it. But here's with the bad:

For every great design choice, there was a poor one to undo it. For example, I loved how your reputation impacted what people called you. I garnered the name "Chicken Chaser" because so many people saw me doing just that (and punting them). It's a cool touch. But of course, you can just buy a new name at a shop, which utterly defeats the purpose and effect.

Likewise, you spend a great deal of time shaping the alignment of your character and observing the impact that has on the world around you. But you can just go to a temple and pay enough gold to have all good or bad alignment points purged from you, undoing the entire effect of living with the consequences of your actions.

Speaking of which, for a game about becoming a legend and shaping the world, your impact on it is awfully temporary. People respawn after just a day, townsfolk just stand there while I murder everyone in sight, and guards forget that I racked up over 100,000 gold in crime fees after one day. I never felt anything I did had consequence.

On of the reasons I love RPG's is the sense of exploration - a sense totally absent from Fable for a few reasons. First, the game is on linear paths - you never stray from them. Exporing the woods, fields, swamps etc all boil down to just running from point A to point B. Which is easy to do, since the game marks where you need to go next on the map with a big throbbing gold blob. If you want to follow the main quest, just play a game of virtual connect the dots.

Compoinding this was the fact that you could just beam around the world any time you wanted at not cost or penalty - but with the benefit of skipping the dozens of huge loading screens it takes to run from one town to the next. More on that in a minute.

I had read that the Demon Door all lead to sub-quests, which is a simple lie: they all lead to tiny areas the size of my apartment (I have a small apartment) with a treasure chest in it. Boring and disappointing to say the least.

Two last gripes: In a game about the consequences of your actions, did it really make any sense to force you to repeat optional side quests if you failed them? It was maddening.

The load times are murderous, the worst I've ever seen this gen. On one optional quest, it begins with one conversation, which takes about six seconds to load. Then another five to ten second loading for another conversation, then another one at the end of that. Finally you got to the objective, which boiled down to running through four zones, each of which had nearly ten second loads between them. I'm a pretty patient guy, but spending about seven minutes of every hour or so staring at loading screens was maddening.

Anyway, I'm debating keeping Fable for another run through, or just doing all the things I wanted to do in the gameworld they let to roam in after the last guy is defeated. Doing the treasure hunt and opening all the reast of the silver chests and Demon Doors is all I really want to do. I've only returned a handful of games in my life, but I can still fetch a good chunk of change in store credit towards my pre-order on Halo 2 LE, and I'm pretty sure once that comes out I won't go back to the world of Albion anyway.

On the plus side, the music was simply wonderful.

good review GhaleonEB; I haven't played Fable but it went from my XBOX shining hope of goodness to meh-will pick up when I have time/dirt cheap title; and for the reasons listed too - the more I read about this; the less I think I care about Fable. Hopefully; with my diminshed optimisim, I will find this game to be fun/good. How long did it take you to finish though?

 

[GhaleonEB]

I should reiterate that I was focusing on the negative. I loved the visuals, music and combat system (for the most part). I felt the game had a great sense of style, atmosphere and a decent story to move it along. I wanted to just love the game, but all the things I mentioned above just kept kicking me.

And in answer to the above, it took about seventeen hours. Remember, though, that this is an action RPG. I would compare it more to something like Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance than KotOR, though it has a more robust NPC interaction and character development system than either.

 

[op_ivy]

i'm not about to write up anything of worth right now, but i think fable is a let down. a low 8 at very best. the world is too confinning, travel is dull, and combat sucks. there is some cool ideas, and quite a few of them even work pretty well, but there is a LOT of negatives as well. now that they have this out and can get feed back, hopefully the enivetable sequel will be considerably better.

 

[Cloudy]

and combat sucks.

I personally love the combat. It does get a bit clunky cycling through spells though.

PS: I think it's an excellent game. Then again, I started playing it expecting it to suck balls

 

[GhaleonEB]

I personally love the combat. It does get a bit clunky cycling through spells though.

PS: I think it's an excellent game. Then again, I started playing it expecting it to suck balls

I had fun with the combat, but I did't touch spells at all. (My guy was a melee monster - I'm surprised he didn't tip over.)

The bow implimentation was pretty weak, though; the autotargeting system was wank and you could not target enemies above you, such as guards on a balcony. You hand to run up there yourself.

 

[bbnocrossing]

Here are some more of the negative aspects of Fable.

1) Environments are too small IMO. There really aren’t any big areas for you to go out and explore as there are linear paths made up for you to travel on.

2) Its not seamless enough because of the loading that you encounter for every section you visit. That was pretty disappointing to me because BBB once said that they were aiming for no loading at all except for the beginning of the game!!!

3) The story was ok, not great. It didn't feel epic to me at all, but the gameplay really made up for that. I just didn't feel any emotion in this game in the slightest.

Aside from those complaints, I really loved Fable. I can see that some people won’t like this game just for the reasons I listed above. It has flaws and has a lot of room for improvement. I have faith in BBB though to really clean up Fable 2 and make it the game they wanted Fable to be.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

The bow implimentation was pretty weak, though; the autotargeting system was wank and you could not target enemies above you, such as guards on a balcony. You hand to run up there yourself.

That's what first-person aiming is for.

 

[GhaleonEB]

That's what first-person aiming is for.

You know, I thought of that right after I got done typing it. Still, it would have been nice if the auto-aiming feature would detect enemies not at ground level.

 

[totoro'd]

As i'm only about 5 1/2 hours into the game right now, i'm in no way able to make a judgment, but so far I think the game is amazing.

I know people here argue about the use of the word "original" when it comes to Fable, but I can honestly say i've never played anything like it. It does remind me a bit of playing Legend of Zelda:OoT.

It's just so---atmospheric. I actually expected to be let down after all the mixed reviews and all the previous features left out, but i'm not disappointed at all so far.

"Cool" is the best word i'd use to describe the game actually

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

I hope it sells enough to warrant a sequel. And I whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment that the game would be much better if the overworld was completely streamed. Next generation had better do away with the pitiful load times we've been subjected to since the dawn of CD-ROM.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I hope it sells enough to warrant a sequel. And I whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment that the game would be much better if the overworld was completely streamed. Next generation had better do away with the pitiful load times we've been subjected to since the dawn of CD-ROM.

I'm wondering if they used the hard disc to cache anything? Halo loads the entire level to the hard drive between levels, then just does fast loads during the level. I was really surprised BBB didn't do that.

 

[Kai Dracon]

The constant loading is one of the rough edges that makes Fable seem like a game still deep in beta state. Which, overall, it could be argued Fable -is- a game still deep in beta state.

Having said that, I didn't actually mind the loading that much. It just made it seem a bit last-gen (PSOne) smoothness of presentation, or, to be honest, a bit PC-ish. (Sorry to say I seem to notice a lot of PC games have pretty long load times when they stop to load.)

 

[Great Wasabi Man]

Fable was a fun game an 8 IMO. I too am not going to write up long review just point out that stuff that bothered me:

Fiirst let me say I had a lot of fun with this very short game, the enviroments are great the music is awsome and some of the battle are pretty cool but....

THe Good/Evil Thing:

Something was way wrong with it. Is an evil person not supposed to defend themselves form monsters? why else would you get Good points for just killing a monster? Not a big problem except in the Hobbies Cave and The Grave Yard Prison route where after I was done I was half way back to the middle of good and evil just for playing the game the way I was supposed to. Then theres Twinbaldes, I do the evil thing and kill him but get good points for his kill and his band then evil points for the mission?!? I was uber good, slaughters Knot Hole twice to do the real Estate thing and what happened to my alliance...not a damn thing. Good guy slaughter town folk?! The missions started out cool the first 2 anyway one good way one evil to the same mission, then it's what ever. what Evil person would give a shit to save hostages or children or what good guy would help the bandits?! After a certian point it was the same damn game good or evil.

Evil Magis is SOOO Much stronger then good. One spell in particular Beserk. In the arena I bosted to do it nakid, and ran out of heals. I had Besek at level 2 and more Wil potions then god so I stayed beserked for the last 3 rounds with no health and didn't die..got knocked around but stayed at 0 or 1 hp and survived in Beserk mode.

Good Armor VS Evil Armor

Playing Evil I had no problem finding armor at shops in town playing good from Bright Chain Mail on I couldn't find a top. I read that theres a wandering trader that has them. Yet seeing I had no trouble going through the game topless so it's not worth the annoiance of hunting him down.

The Endings

Evil

Spoiler

Like Kotor the evil ending was...your evil...good for you.

Gee thanks Capitan obvious

Good

Spoiler

You save your sister, destroy the sword and you sister tells you.."good job, your good and I have to go...ummm I have let the cats out, cable guys coming ya know. So ummm yeah....I guess I see ya around...yeah" then the game says your a good guy who has a cape eventhough you couldn't get one in the game...good for you

I have this odd feeling

Spoiler

if you keep the sword as a good guy you get the evil ending and visa versa

which kills the little replay value the game has.

Loading time.

WTF...I falied a mission cause I sniped a hostage eventhough the arrow went clearly over her head. I went through 3 loading screens and an auto save at 10 seconds each. Odd if a gaem that wasn't hyped out the ass for 4 years, and came out of no where by a no name company multi platform just that would have gotten it a 5 or LOWER rating.

Yet over all the game is WAY to freaking easy, especially for a game so short.

Heh so much for keeping this short

 

[Redbeard]

For example, I loved how your reputation impacted what people called you. I garnered the name "Chicken Chaser" because so many people saw me doing just that (and punting them).

Actually, "Chicken Chaser" is just the default title you have. You'll be called that whether or not you even look at a chicken.

And fuck the world being all roads. For years they show us beautiful forests, lakes, and fields, only to throw it all away in favor of what are probably the most needlessly constrictive environments possible.

 

[COCKLES]

Actually Fable is a good example of what Peter was saying in Edge a few years back..that consoles are reaching the plateu of how good the graphics need to be...and that the added power of consoles in the future will be used for AI / computational needs rather then the graphics. I think his ambition for Fable was a bit too much for the Xbox's Processor to handle.

Or put simply...

What would you rather have for Halo 3?

Graphics that are fantastically better then Halo 2 with same style of enemy count. Or graphic that are marginally better, but with the extra horse power going into providing smarter more numerous enemies. Imagine fighting the flood where in the distance the ground appears to be crawling...because their are thousands of Flood all converging on your position. Doom 3 is probably the best example. The graphics may be better, but the game isn't - I want the shit-ton of enemies I battled through with Doom, not 2 or 3 creatures popping out at one time.

 

[Prine]

Im about 20 hours in and just finished the Arena. I, loving every second of it, im taking my time and ejoying the world, interaction and exploration. There are some rough spots, but overall im having a blast.

Just discovered the sword in the stone and Lady Greys secret. It just keeps getting better and better.

The arena sequece is extremly well executed, you get a real sense of fear as they build up the event, the crowd cheering as you wait for your turn, stories of legends conquring the Arena and those who died trying.

Combat is well done too, i thought it was quite shallow and boring at first, after the Arena, im really enjoying it, im mowing down any that oppose me, its really satisfying striking the walkingdead and watching them shatter from a single blow. Makes you feel like a bad ass. Im mixing magic into my combat, its fun, but at times a little easy.

But then, i absolutly LOVED shenmue 1 and 2, the load times dont really bother me, im used to it from KOTOR.

Im still playing good, planing to reply the game as evil once i complete it. Im just overwhelmed with the things you can get up to in Albion.

Grear revew btw

 

[Prine]

You know, I thought of that right after I got done typing it. Still, it would have been nice if the auto-aiming feature would detect enemies not at ground level.

Nah, Fable's pretty easy as it is. You should have used the first person view. It was your mistake, not Fables

 

[TheUnknownForce]

My friend beat it in a weekend. A WEEKEND. I don't care how much they worked on it, I expected longer of a title for several years of work. It has its good points, but when he beat it in 7 hours with a good number of things done (including getting married three times, vandalising some houses and doing a few annoying side quests), I can't seem to understand why it took them forever to do.

Maybe Fable 1.5 won't dissapoint.

 

[belgurdo]

I bought it last week, finished about 75% of it within the span of ten hours and got tired/disappointed, and now I can't get rid of it on Ebay because everyone has apparently finished and gotten tired of it, and there are a billion copies on the auction block

 

[Miburou]

The game is technically sound. Pretty graphics (although some of the monster models are a bit of a let down), beautiful music, lots of places to visit, and the length isn't too bad (10 hours to finish). The controls serve their purpose, and I like how you can customize your stats, and how your style of play affects that.

The problem is that the main quests are far too simple and easy. Usually it amounts to nothing more than teleporting to the nearest point, and then following the yellow mark on the map while holding the run button and dodging any enemies. Then you'll find some boss that requires pretty much no skill at all to beat, and you're done. I actually had more trouble looking for tatooists than finishing 90% of the quests.

In addition to the usual side-quests and mini-games that are found in other games of its type, there are things you can do such as being evil or good, getting married and buying, renovating, and renting houses. The problem is that the last two aren't integrated into the main quest, and because of the low level of difficulty, you don't need to do them. In fact, money was never an issue with me. After finishing the game, I had too much money left. I think I only bought one weapon the entire game, some armor and a dozen or two healing items. Most of the rest of the stuff I'd get just from killing enemies.

Being evil or good also didn't have much impact on the game. Sure, your appearance changes, and supposedly some of the spells you can use are affected, too, but the quests don't change. It would've been cool if being evil meant you can have bandits and other bad guys help you, or that the guild would disown you.

Story and characters is another thing that wasn't fleshed out too much, which wouldn't be that much of a problem if the rest of the game didn't have those flaws.

In the end, Fable has a lot of good stuff going for it, but the cool components are not put together too well, and the end result is a game that is less than the sum of its parts.

I still enjoyed playing the game, and if I had to give it a score, I'd say 6.5 or even 7 out of 10. But I think it could've so much better.

 

[Anyanka]

The aging makes no sense. There is no real sense of time. With the exception of the opening and the prison scenario there's never a feeling that you're actually on this huge adventure that is taking years and years. You do a mission, then immediatly go home and start up another. Nothing ages with you either. It's like you're growing old but the world is stuck in time. It's like the opposite of James Bond. If you ignore the aging the whole story appears to take place in a matter of days.

 

[ced]

I would probably give the game a 7 or so. It just has so many problems.

My biggest gripe has been covered, your supposed to be in a totally free and living world, yet you load every 2-5 minutes when traveling, and it has to be the most linear game world ever created. Those two combined really ruined it for me.

Other gripe is the targeting system, good god it is NOT archer friendly. I might play again with a melee, but this game had me swearing. The target switching was so difficult to pull off, the half pull of a trigger is way too precise to do for me, why not just let it all the way off to cycle targets. Oh and the best parts, It targets innocents, and get this, there is NO indication of what you have targeted, everyone glows red even when not locked on. I shot so many allies and just plain wasted shots that went right over heads or into the ground, it sucks.

Next complaint, the gestures and reputation system. Whats the freaking point? I spent a good bit of time trying it out, but there was no reason to, the npc just responds with a cookie cutter dialog and well, thats it. Maybe I just missed something. They come up and cheer for you if your good, or run if your evil, whoopidy doo, I just found it to be silly.

Ok so now I want to totally ransack a village. I kill people, kill guards who are just as weak, now its mine! No wait its not, its the property of the ENDLESS respawns of guards, my god, again whats the point.

I guess all in all alot of work went into it and it shows, the music , visuals and voice work, humor are top notch. Deep down inside I cant help but to see its just a plain old beat em up, and not that great of one.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

I really enjoy playing it as well. It has some flaws, and could have been deeper in terms of the main storyline. However, I think they deserve some major kudos for pulling off Fable on a console.

I'd give it a 9 out of 10. The sound is absolutely amazing in this game. My favorite of this gen. The graphics are nice for the environments and weapons. They could have done more with the characters though.

Can't wait for Fable 2 on the Xbox 2.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

"yet you load every 2-5 minutes when traveling"

Welcome to the world of console gaming.

 

[ced]

"yet you load every 2-5 minutes when traveling"

Welcome to the world of console gaming.

Thats not true.

I know it had a ton of stuff to pull off in one given area, but as linear as each was, I think we have a right to complain. I mean serious you were confined to a road or trail, thats it.

So having to load very frequently and be very restricted in exploration was in trade off to having npc's react differently towards you?

I just dont get it, this was supposed to be a open, free living world, the towns were all that qualified there.

 

[evilromero]

The combat is like Zelda TOOT

Well, Wind Waker improved tremendously over the OoT engine, so I'd say this is a step back. And I would say, while you are enthusiastic to point out your love for the game, your review is poorly written.

 

[B E N K E]

I enjoyed my Fable. I finished it yesterday for a review I'm just about to write up. However, after having played Knights of the Old Republic last year Fable doesn't strike me as a milestone. There is plenty of slowdown (as in SW:Kotor) and is pretty easy to run through it as it doesn't seem to be very balanced (slow time magic combined with strong physique and multi strike took me through the more challenging bits without much trouble. Having blinking yellow dots and green dots cuts down on frustration and also saves having th eplayer try and talk to NPC's that aren't associated with the quest, but it also adds to the feeling that they were aiming to make a RPG for those who don't want to invest time and effort into solving more complex tasks. RPG for dummies if you like. Having said this I really enjoyed my 15 hours and I have started on a bad guy hero...

 

[evilromero]

Actually Fable is a good example of what Peter was saying in Edge a few years back..that consoles are reaching the plateu of how good the graphics need to be...

Well, Iwata and Miyamoto have been saying this for a long while now. And I think any level-headed gamer would realize visuals are reaching a point not where there is little desire for improvement. Rather, the more interesting games like Katamari Damashii, Pikmin 2 and Wanda and the Colossus emphasize substance over the style (although the style is still aesthetically pleasing).

Personally I'm fine with consoles staying the way they are. I like to the think that there are slight limitations to the hardware that require creative developers to work around.

 

[sprsk]

yes my pretties, hate! hate more!

 

[Ghost]

I can accept the length complaints, personally ive played over 30 hours of it and im still loving it, i love changing things about my character and seeing how different people react (yes there is a difference) theres something addicitive about the home ownership portion of the game aswell, that might just be me though. I can also accept the difficulty complaints, though i dont think its overly easy, its just the contstant supply of health supplies that makes it seem so (no amount of difficult enemies would have been able to kill me, i just had millions of potions all the time, even without buying any), so its not unrewarding, it just doesnt punish you, and sometimes everyone wants a good spanking.

Theres a lot of great stuff in fable that gets no mention, the HUD especially, the way you can set up your sets of 3 spells so you can have one if you just want to fireball people, another if you want to make some ghost swords to keep the enemies back, then multiarrow and slow time to 0wn the enemy, etc etc. Its a much better system than having to go to the menus every time you want something different.

I hate the way so many people complain because they cant BREAK the game and make it not work, like killing an entire town...what are you gonna do when theres somewhere there you need to speak to? Same thing for punishments not being permenant, you'd hate it more if they were.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Excellent game. Will always receive blind hate on GA though. Can't wait for it to Efraown Pikmin 2 in numbers for the month.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

I hate the way so many people complain because they cant BREAK the game and make it not work, like killing an entire town...what are you gonna do when theres somewhere there you need to speak to? Same thing for punishments not being permenant, you'd hate it more if they were.

well, I don't have the game yet but I read an article/post by one of the lead people at BBB and they were talking about how some teen playtester; fucked with the game by killing his fiances parent.. or something elaborate to get his aim (something about inheriting a house)- it sounded like the game engine was superb; that it allowed all sort of interactions with REAL consquences and resolutions.

Excellent game. Will always receive blind hate on GA though. Can't wait for it to Efraown Pikmin 2 in numbers for the month.

why bring in Pikmin2? If the talk about returns on this title is true; I wonder how the NPD handles this. Does someone know? Anihawk or CVXfreak?

 

[COCKLES]

10 - 15 hours is all I want to put into one game these days.

The days of me wanting to spend 30-40 hours on one game like Secret of Mana on SNES are long past.

 

[Miburou]

Excellent game. Will always receive blind hate on GA though. Can't wait for it to Efraown Pikmin 2 in numbers for the month.

Yeah, everyone who has complaints about the game is a blind hater.

 

[GhaleonEB]

10 - 15 hours is all I want to put into one game these days.

The days of me wanting to spend 30-40 hours on one game like Secret of Mana on SNES are long past.

For me, it depends on the game. I liked KotOR's length, but that was because of the story and game mechanics. For an action RPG, about 15 hours is just right for me. I can hack'n slash only so long before it gets boring - especially when the game is this easy.

 

[sprsk]

"yet you load every 2-5 minutes when traveling"

Welcome to the world of console gaming.

hello GTA3 and wind waker.

 

[thorns]

Actually Fable is a good example of what Peter was saying in Edge a few years back..that consoles are reaching the plateu of how good the graphics need to be...

Well, Iwata and Miyamoto have been saying this for a long while now. And I think any level-headed gamer would realize visuals are reaching a point not where there is little desire for improvement. Rather, the more interesting games like Katamari Damashii, Pikmin 2 and Wanda and the Colossus emphasize substance over the style (although the style is still aesthetically pleasing).

Personally I'm fine with consoles staying the way they are. I like to the think that there are slight limitations to the hardware that require creative developers to work around.

If anything the gap between this gen and next gen will be a larger gap than this gen and last gen..

 

[Prine]

oh yeah. 9/10 for me/

God damn magical game

 

[CrimsonSkies]

"hello GTA3 and wind waker."

Hello pop up and cel shading.

 

[LukeSmith]

hello GTA3 and wind waker.

Hello overrated and tits.

 

[xsarien]

Hello pop up and cel shading.

Better than waiting for everything to load, which probably kills the experience a hell of a lot more.

(Also, the Midnight Club games, and if you want to start bringing in games that just hide the loading times, Metroid Prime.)

 

[LAMBO]

Fable is the rpg for people that don't like them.

 

[Blacklion]

Got it yesterday
Taking my time and lovin it.
Kinda easy but the journey is still good n fun
Combat can have it's intense moments.

I've just been walking the country side and kicking ass. (I'm a murderous bastard)
I havent even touched the 1st quest after adulthood. So far I'm 8 hours in.
I use a bow mostly so I'm built skinny and fast.