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Official Fable! (released tomorrow)
- Thread starter neptunes
- Start date
Got my copy last night from EB. I'm glad I pre-ordered. My advice to everyone still searching is to hit up the WalMarts, Circuit Cities, etc. Stay away from the game stores because you won't find it.
Only had time to play through the tutorial. I was also blown away by the graphics. The screens we've been getting don't do the game justice. Presentation was great. I loved the storyboard transitions. The monotone narrator could have been a little more personable, but I know BBB did it like that to give each player there own experience and not the emotions of the narrator's.
One thing I truly wished while playing is that I wouldn't have watched so many damn videos of the game. I knew exactly what to do in the tutorial, which took some of the fun out of it. I ratted on the cheater and enjoyed going back only to find his wife chewing his ass.
Can't wait to play some more!
Only had time to play through the tutorial. I was also blown away by the graphics. The screens we've been getting don't do the game justice. Presentation was great. I loved the storyboard transitions. The monotone narrator could have been a little more personable, but I know BBB did it like that to give each player there own experience and not the emotions of the narrator's.
One thing I truly wished while playing is that I wouldn't have watched so many damn videos of the game. I knew exactly what to do in the tutorial, which took some of the fun out of it. I ratted on the cheater and enjoyed going back only to find his wife chewing his ass.
Can't wait to play some more!
Cmdr. Solrak
Member
I'm picking mine up in about 15 minutes.
I gotta say, the game really is soooo beautiful at times...
Wandering around through the world is a real treat here. The lighting and general scene design is truly outstanding and the day/night cycles are handled beautifully. Really, I just wish they could have rendered the game at a higher color depth. Like Voodoo Vince and the Galleon demo (and likely the full version), the game is very very grainy looking. The color variation is so high, though, and the lower palette really hurts.
I wonder how large the world is? While it is very linear in terms of path design, there are a lot of individual areas to walk through (even though each one is kinda small).
Wandering around through the world is a real treat here. The lighting and general scene design is truly outstanding and the day/night cycles are handled beautifully. Really, I just wish they could have rendered the game at a higher color depth. Like Voodoo Vince and the Galleon demo (and likely the full version), the game is very very grainy looking. The color variation is so high, though, and the lower palette really hurts.
I wonder how large the world is? While it is very linear in terms of path design, there are a lot of individual areas to walk through (even though each one is kinda small).
I didn't notice any graininess... but I was playing on my 27" in my room vice my 65" downstairs. I did notice some intentional "blooming" effects... where the white looked overdriven. It was during the tutorial and I noticed it whenever a light source was reflected off the main character. I think they did it for a storybook type effect.
I also noticed some screen tearing. At least, that's what I think it's called. In some scenes when you turned quickly, you'd see "glitches" on the screen.
This is just nitpicky crap though. Nothing that anyone would consider a distraction... just stuff that people would talk about on a gaming forum. Really, the game is quite beautiful and 100% playable.
edit: just to add... my upstairs Xbox is a launch console and it had zero problems reading the game on my Thompson drive. Other games have given me fits in the past, but I think this game is safe from the DDE's... at least so far.
I also noticed some screen tearing. At least, that's what I think it's called. In some scenes when you turned quickly, you'd see "glitches" on the screen.
This is just nitpicky crap though. Nothing that anyone would consider a distraction... just stuff that people would talk about on a gaming forum. Really, the game is quite beautiful and 100% playable.
edit: just to add... my upstairs Xbox is a launch console and it had zero problems reading the game on my Thompson drive. Other games have given me fits in the past, but I think this game is safe from the DDE's... at least so far.
jedimike said:
Is your bedroom TV a regular analog set? That might be it. It looks ultra grainy in 480p mode, I must say, but I'd imagine that playing on an older TV with composite or something would remove a lot of those visual artifacts. I'd say the bigger you get, the worse it will get...so playing on your 65" may give you some nasty grain. I remember people wondering about the lack of black folks in Fable (there are a few, BTW), and the best reason for the low number of them is that darker colors == horrible color dithering. Whisper is incredibly grainy looking, for example, whenever they show her up close.
I feel for anyone using a VGA box. This is even worse than a lot of Dreamcast games (though DC games never attempted such broad color palettes in a low color depth).The bloom lighting is obviously intentional and is absolutely beautiful looking. I believe the lighting is what gives Fable its unique look, as everything has a very artistic glow to it (the effects were used very well).
There is screen tearing here, that's for sure. Tearing isn't a huge issue in Fable, though, but I did notice that in big towns...the framerate is locked at like 20 fps. It is constant, at least, but damn...it feels pretty jerky when walking around in those towns.
Still, the BIGGEST problem is the load zones. I mean, the loading isn't too bad...but you encounter loading points SO often that it starts to break up the world. If only they could have streamed the world data and removed the barriers that keep you from wandering off too far. That's my biggest problem with it thus far...
As for the audio, it runs in DD5.1...but that doesn't mean the usage of that 5.1 is very good. I mean, Silent Hill 2 on XBOX supports DD5.1...but the surround aspect is WORSE on XBOX than the virtual "S-Force" used on PS2.
I'm playing on a widescreen 57' screen and i cannot believe how bad the graphics look. But it's ok, i'll get used to it
Yay so its not just me. I was about to give people benefit of the doubt and get overpriced component cables just to make sure it wasn't that.
Aside from the jags the game looks 'ok' during the day,.. but at night the dithering is friggin' horrible
Yay so its not just me. I was about to give people benefit of the doubt and get overpriced component cables just to make sure it wasn't that.
Aside from the jags the game looks 'ok' during the day,.. but at night the dithering is friggin' horrible
Man, this game is awesome.
First time I went to Bowerstone I went upstairs in a shop and punched a window out. Then I get a notice telling me it's illegal to destroy others' property, and I think "Big deal. It's not like a guard standing outside is going to go in the shop and come up the stairs to kick my ass." That's exactly what happened.
First time I went to Bowerstone I went upstairs in a shop and punched a window out. Then I get a notice telling me it's illegal to destroy others' property, and I think "Big deal. It's not like a guard standing outside is going to go in the shop and come up the stairs to kick my ass." That's exactly what happened.
WTF? I played this last night before going to sleep and I thought I saved it, but when I loaded it up today it took me back to when the character is throwing up in front of "Maze". I just lost an hour of play, I think. Blah. What's the right way to save? Are there save points or something?
Late Stage Marxist
Member
Just picked up my copy at EB just now. Back with impressions much, much later.
Musashi Wins!
FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
Akira said:
Did you check your auto-save since you didn't do a world save?
distantmantra
Member
I totally forgot I had a $25 giftcard at Best Buy, so I went over on my lunch break and picked it up and along with the $5 gamer coupon, only cost me $23 or so.
The Northgate Seattle BB had at least 10 copies of the game if you didn't preorder.
The Northgate Seattle BB had at least 10 copies of the game if you didn't preorder.
Yeah, the game looks really grainy, but at least you guys can get it to run in progressive scan. It won't work on my TV unless I turn off 480p at the dash board. I wonder (and wouldn't be able to believe) if they have compatibility issues with certain HDTVs. I don't know how you could, thought it was a pretty standard signal, especially from the XBox.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
...bloody hell guys, is anyone going to give combat impressions? Or control impressions maybe? How are the enemies, how are the bosses? What about difficulty levels?
Seems this whole thread has been about graphics, sounds and worldly interaction.
Seems this whole thread has been about graphics, sounds and worldly interaction.
The fighting is exactly like the 3d zeldas. It's the xbox's answer to Zelda with Morrowind-type freedom. You hit ennemies than when you reach a certain amounts of direct hits, you can do a fatality type power move where you decapitate the ennemy or just slash him so far he flies back
Mama Smurf said:
OK, it's like this...
You obviously move with the left analog stick, right? OK, hold down the left trigger to lock onto an enemy. If you briefly let up and press again immediately afterward, you will switch targets (very easy). "X" uses whichever weapon you have equipped. If you are using a sword, "X" will obviously swing that sword. After you've hit an enemy a few times, your sword will eventually glow. At this point, as long as you don't take damage or stop combat, you can hit "B" to unleash an unblockable attack. This can range from stabbing, to an overhead swing, to a Link-style 360 degree slash. It just depends on your location and how many enemies you are fighting.
"Y" is the guard button. If you hold down "Y", you will obviously go into a guard stance. While standing still, you should be able to block many attacks. However, if you press any direction while guarding...you will roll. So, you can roll in 360 degrees around your enemy with easy. This makes for easy dodging. If an enemy attempts a powerful overhead attack, for example, you simply hold "Y" and press a direction to roll out of the way. From there, you can take a counter swing. Very simple.
Enemies can come at you in large groups and those enemies can be of many different classes. The combat manages to work well in large groups, as the lock-on doesn't focus solely on one character (ie - if another enemy jumps in front of your target, you'll be able to attack them without unlocking the other guy). The action is responsive and quick. Believe it or not, it's actually even fun.
There's more, however. That covers melee, but normal combat is best when you mix it up (at least from what I've found). The "black" button will draw your melee weapon, but the white button will draw your long distance weapon (pressing either again will put that weapon away). Let's say we have a long bow equipped. Once again, you lock on with the L-Trigger and attack with "X". This time, however, the longer you hold down the "X" button...the further back you can pull the string. Longer hold == more power. While locked on, you can move and roll in the same fashion as normal combat. I've often found myself starting off large offensives by taking out guys with my bow before they can even arrive at my position. You can actually charge up your bow attack and roll simultaniously, which feels great (you can let go in mid roll and immediately fire an arrow as you come out of a roll, for example). If you like, you can also click in the left analog stick a couple times for two levels of zoom (which employ manual aiming).
Finally, there is magic. While locked on, you can also hold the right trigger. This highlights the X,Y,A and B buttons. You can use your quick menu (prior to combat) to assign spells to these buttons. So, with the right trigger firmly held down, pressing any of those 4 face buttons will cast the equipped spell. Many of them can be held down (while consuming mana) for a constant attack. This also works just fine, but it seems that if your focus is magic you will be forced to visit the menu often in order to equip vairous spells (unless you are happy with those specific four).
The d-pad also allows for quick item usage. In particular, you'll need to use this for healing items. Luckily, these items will always activate immediately after pressing the button.
When you get right down to it, the combat in Fable is nothing particularly unique...but it does function very well and is fun to play. THe difficulty level is moderate, at this point. It isn't overly challenging, BUT you can get bogged down if you rush into things.
As for boss fights, I've had a limited number of them. The last fight involved a large, dual-bladed fellow who packed quite a punch. As you might have heard, he was based on simple pattern exploitation (as are most of the bosses, it would seem). His attacks were quite strong, so dodging was the only option. At certain points, he would pull back and go for a powerful stab...which would cause his sword to lodge itself in the ground for a few second. That would give you the chance to dodge around behind him and slice him up. Do this a few times, and you win (though there is more to it afterwards...but you'll find out for yourself). The thing was impressive was the crowd. There was a group of 20-25 men all surrounding you during the fight. They were mostly jumping around and cheering, but if you got near the edge of the area (next to them), they would pull out their own swords and slash at you to push you back into the ring. Large crowds always impress in a game, for some reason.
Oh, and the crowd is fully interactive too (yes, you can kick their asses).There ya go, hopefully that shed some light on the combat mechanics. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
Thanks, sounds good.
I'm still gonna wait for more impressions though. No offence to anyone who's given impressions, but unless I recognise you and know your posting history, I'm never sure who to trust with early impressions. Especially on such hyped exclusive games (I remember reading quite a lot of glowing DK64 impressions right after it came out, and we all know how that turned out).
Plus things could change as you go through the quest. Maybe the difficulty will shoot up to a ridiculous level, or perhaps through learning spells etc it'll actually get too easy. Maybe people will find the game shorter than they expect and it'll ruin the experience for them, maybe the interaction with NPCs will get boring.
Normally the impressions I've read and review scores would be enough for me to get the game, but not this year. Too much potentially awesome stuff to waste money on anything else.
I'm still gonna wait for more impressions though. No offence to anyone who's given impressions, but unless I recognise you and know your posting history, I'm never sure who to trust with early impressions. Especially on such hyped exclusive games (I remember reading quite a lot of glowing DK64 impressions right after it came out, and we all know how that turned out).
Plus things could change as you go through the quest. Maybe the difficulty will shoot up to a ridiculous level, or perhaps through learning spells etc it'll actually get too easy. Maybe people will find the game shorter than they expect and it'll ruin the experience for them, maybe the interaction with NPCs will get boring.
Normally the impressions I've read and review scores would be enough for me to get the game, but not this year. Too much potentially awesome stuff to waste money on anything else.
Alex
Member
I've sunk a few hours in, and I'm enjoying myself. Just finished the childhood, which is a drop in the bucket I'd suppose, but I have a few minutes to give some early notes.
The visuals are quite stunning, not at all grainy for me, but I'm on a 27 inch with S-video. The lighting is great, and the camera has been good for me. The ammount of vantage points are nice as well, but I wish there was a first person view.
The soundtrack has been very pretty, super high quality fare, but it lacks in variety. I appreciate a all/mostly orchestral OST, and granted I'm so early into the game, but I've only really heard two tracks of in-game music thus far.
I'm quite impressed with the detail, and neat side bits, silly small side quests, random comments passing people by (a few of which really cracked me up, solid sense of humor in the game), reading books off the shelves that are interesting, but also very brief and don't become a chore like Morrowind's literature.
The menu system is very clean, very organized, and you always have a massive ammount of information on your quest, history and amassed items, etc available, which is VERY handy. But it's also a little clunky, although that's just nit-picking.
Early game, pure melee combat is watered down Zelda. Not bad, but nothing special. Basic combo feels nice though. Evading/rolling, IMO, does not.
The expression system is fairly, well, silly at this point and I never really bother with it given my meager few expressions anyway.
The mini-map, at least at this point, and which I haven't even seen mentioned is VERY helpful, detailing entrances/exits, quest info, main quest info, etc on it. Plus you can blow it up ala the R3 button, er, I mean by pushing in the analog stick.
I think I took about two hours, maybe more, simply to explore the meager childhood half-tutorial. Not sure what kinda person would rush through this in 9 hours, but I can see it lasting a fair bit with me.
The first few areas have been very cool, fairly large, and just fun to explore. Fable kept a lot more exploration in it than I had expected.
At this superficial point, I'm pretty entertained, and find myself more smitten with the side bits than I expected. I'll get a lot more demanding when it comes down to what I bought the game for: big quests/heavy character building/designing.
Question! Can I simply refuse to distribute EXP, resulting in a higher difficulty level? Yeah, I'm that kinda guy.
The visuals are quite stunning, not at all grainy for me, but I'm on a 27 inch with S-video. The lighting is great, and the camera has been good for me. The ammount of vantage points are nice as well, but I wish there was a first person view.
The soundtrack has been very pretty, super high quality fare, but it lacks in variety. I appreciate a all/mostly orchestral OST, and granted I'm so early into the game, but I've only really heard two tracks of in-game music thus far.
I'm quite impressed with the detail, and neat side bits, silly small side quests, random comments passing people by (a few of which really cracked me up, solid sense of humor in the game), reading books off the shelves that are interesting, but also very brief and don't become a chore like Morrowind's literature.
The menu system is very clean, very organized, and you always have a massive ammount of information on your quest, history and amassed items, etc available, which is VERY handy. But it's also a little clunky, although that's just nit-picking.
Early game, pure melee combat is watered down Zelda. Not bad, but nothing special. Basic combo feels nice though. Evading/rolling, IMO, does not.
The expression system is fairly, well, silly at this point and I never really bother with it given my meager few expressions anyway.
The mini-map, at least at this point, and which I haven't even seen mentioned is VERY helpful, detailing entrances/exits, quest info, main quest info, etc on it. Plus you can blow it up ala the R3 button, er, I mean by pushing in the analog stick.
I think I took about two hours, maybe more, simply to explore the meager childhood half-tutorial. Not sure what kinda person would rush through this in 9 hours, but I can see it lasting a fair bit with me.
The first few areas have been very cool, fairly large, and just fun to explore. Fable kept a lot more exploration in it than I had expected.
At this superficial point, I'm pretty entertained, and find myself more smitten with the side bits than I expected. I'll get a lot more demanding when it comes down to what I bought the game for: big quests/heavy character building/designing.
Question! Can I simply refuse to distribute EXP, resulting in a higher difficulty level? Yeah, I'm that kinda guy.
Yeah im pretty sure you can forgo leveling up. Not sure if this'll handicap you later on or not though in terms of area progress.
And I must be a puss ass gamer since i've died twice already..
I think the map is a little TOO friendly myself. Its nice that it helps you out, but i'd prefer for my hand not to be held throughout the entire game. It would lead to more exploration and leading to a better sense of reward when you figure out something on your own. Game remains fun as shit regardless.
And I must be a puss ass gamer since i've died twice already.
.I think the map is a little TOO friendly myself. Its nice that it helps you out, but i'd prefer for my hand not to be held throughout the entire game. It would lead to more exploration and leading to a better sense of reward when you figure out something on your own. Game remains fun as shit regardless.
CrimsonSkies
Member
If they took the hero / villian aspect, put it in a world like Morrowind, and made the melee combat similiar to Ninja Gaiden then I'd be in heaven. However this game is what it is. A great experience.
Alex
Member
The "where to go" points in games are always pretty obvious, but I can see your point. Either way, marking activated quests and exits helps a forgetful person like me. And is so much more comfortable than popping open menus if I idle them.
Edit: Morrowind, quite frankly, bored me. I found the world to be fairly stale, and the mythos to be dolled up with an unneeded mass of dialogue and books, etc, but that's just IMO, but I'm a person who's more about function than immersion. I could write pages of complaints with Morrowind, so let's just say it's a novel concept that simply didn't click with me. (Boring character raising, crappy dungeons, and abysmal combat didn't help)
Edit: Morrowind, quite frankly, bored me. I found the world to be fairly stale, and the mythos to be dolled up with an unneeded mass of dialogue and books, etc, but that's just IMO, but I'm a person who's more about function than immersion. I could write pages of complaints with Morrowind, so let's just say it's a novel concept that simply didn't click with me. (Boring character raising, crappy dungeons, and abysmal combat didn't help)
DIrtyWeasel
Member
I found an error on this game. Whisper's brother told Whisper something like "You need to practice more," but "Practice" was spelled "Practise"...
Is it just my copy, or has anybody else seen this?
The game has been pretty good so far. Better than I thought it would be.
Is it just my copy, or has anybody else seen this?
The game has been pretty good so far. Better than I thought it would be.
I've hardly had time to play this game since I got it. I finally chose to become an adult earlier today and I'm happy the adult model's running animation is much better than the child and teenager models. It's really fun so far just from exploring the world. The graphics are fine. It could be really stunning, if only the textures were of a higher resolution and the framerate higher. The music is really the standout in this game. I love the Tim Burton movie sound of the score. Really fitting. Very good game so far, but I just hope the difficulty gets tougher a bit. I got the same feeling playing Fable for the first few hours as playing OoT several years ago. I hope the whole game(all 9 hours of it will retain that feeling.
Oh, and watching Big Blue Box' intro video, was anyone else reminded of Pixar's lamp?
will retain that feeling.Oh, and watching Big Blue Box' intro video, was anyone else reminded of Pixar's lamp?
MightyHedgehog
Member
DIrtyWeasel said:
It's because the game is British. English there has different spellings...color=colour, practice=practise...etc.
DIrtyWeasel
Member
I feel like an idiot. I didn't even know "practise" was a word.
But "practice" can be used as a verb the same way, no?
edit: MightyHedgehog, thanks for clarifying that for me.
But "practice" can be used as a verb the same way, no?
edit: MightyHedgehog, thanks for clarifying that for me.
Outdoor Miner
Member
Got it today, sunk in about 2 hours and am enjoying the game very much.
chocoholic
Banned
I have to buy an Xbox soon
Fixed2BeBroken
Member
Alex said:
for some reason i couldnt read the books...i could get them but i just couldnt read them...dont know why.