A Hero is Needed... to Earn Money

Fable is a game that's hard for some people to appreciate. That's not a reflections so much on the game itself, as much as the hype that surrounded it and what everyone expected of the game before it came out. I remember hearing about Fable for the better part of two years, although I didn't read too much about it. I didn't have an Xbox at the time, so to me it was just a cool looking RPG. That was about it.

For those, like me, that didn't pay much attention, Fable was supposed to be the biggest, best-est RPG ever. It was supposed to allow you to do anything. Be any kind of hero you like. Interact realistically with everyone you meet. Journey around with or against other heroes. Fight fights, be cool, make fondue. Anything was possible. Or, at least, it was supposed to be.

Two years later, many of the features got scaled back so they could instead actually release the game before the system it was intended for went off the market. So many of the hyped features were kinda not present. If you read all about it and were excited, that's a big deal. To not get the game you wanted is a crime many of us have experienced too many times before.

If you were like me, though, you didn't really notice this. Fable, to me anyway, is a great game. Not perfect, no, but great indeed. There's a lot to like in the game, and I'm gonna do a basic breakdown, cause I feel like it:

The fighting system is solid. You get a sword, a bow, and magic. You can find other swords and bows, and earn more magic, and use all of it in real time. Have your sword out, go swing it, want the bow instead, switch to it with little time lost. Use your magic anywhere, for any reason (even on townspeople). There's a lot of action to be had, and the character controls very well as he has it.

The graphics are gorgeous. The screen at times is awash with lush colors. The frame rate is always solid. There's plenty of pretty effects and eye-candy all around in the game. About the only thing I'm not entirely keen on with the graphics are the people, who look at times a little off, especially when they are talking.

I like the plot, and the fact that you don't always have to pay attention to it. There is some hand holding when you only have on major quest you can follow, and eventually you do have to take the quest to get better stuff opened up. The game isn't the most linear beast imaginable, which, considering just how linear most RPGs are, is nice.

Those are the major areas of good. some other aspects could have used some work. As far as looking at the game as a potential start to a series, these things can be overlooked in general, although when you consider the original scope, they are kinda depressing.

For starters, there just aren't enough side quests. The game is supposed to be fairly open in style, allowing you to do as you please almost totally when you please. Sadly, you only usually get a quest or two after each major plot point, and then you have to advance the plot again to get the next side quest or two. Add to that the fact that the people you meet around town aren't the deepest of characters. You can have a wife, or a bunch of wives, but they all pretty well act the same. They are just random villagers.

The villagers cause another problem as well. You can be good or evil in the game. Steal or killing are, of course, evil acts. But you really don't feel bad running around killing lame, 1D personality characters. It's not like they did anything to make you care about them. Couple that with the fact that there doesn't seem to be much penalty for being good or bad. Nothing really different happens, and you can easily go from good to bad with the change of an outfit (outfits has alignment scores). There is so little in the way of penalty, you can go from saving a village at one moment to killing everyone it the next.

The game is also rather short. Won't take more than 25 hours to complete. It's fun, don't get me wrong, and there's things I'd do differently the second time. But, if there was more to it just to do, more quests or a longer main adventure, or more reason to explore and do other non-linear story activities, the game would have a much longer shelf-life.

The game is great. Not perfect, no, but great. There's a lot to love, and a bit to look forward to in the (hopefully) eventual sequel. Here's hoping the next one corrects the few issues I at least had with the game.