Fable

[hukarez]

Regardless of the reviews that popped out a week or so ago, I had already pre-ordered this game weeks in advance. I suppose I kind of bought into the hype of it all, but at the same time...with the release of the Sims 2 this week also, I figure it'll be a win-win situation (if not an expensive one!)

I got a call last night on my cell phone from GameStop...seems they now have some kind of automated service, telling me to call the GameStop I pre-ordered Fable in this afternoon. At first, I thought it was some phone sex line...kind of tripped me out, as I didn't know anyone in the 817 area code.

Anyone still curious about this game? Or has the 'magic' faded since those reviews? If there was any 'magic' for some folks to begin with, that is.

[Qwikshot]

I read the reviews, and they read like the first reviews for Black and White.

Glorious, fabulous, awe-inspiring...

however,

upon further review, the most pressing issues noted in the reviews were:

a)very short
b)very easy
c)limited interaction

When I first read of Fable, it was supposed to be immersive, and that you would compete against other heroes for the glory and reward.

Later on, it was gutted, it is simply you on your own.

Also, while the initial startup is about your moral choices, it seems later on, not be as critical. There aren't as many moral choices (of course you can go destroy a village) but there aren't many actual quests in the game where you have to make a decision that will change your character's viewpoint.

Reviews also noted that if you failed a quest, you had to do it over, thus no real consequence of failure, you can simply tackle a quest until you beat it. Your hero never really fails (hence the easy part).

It is still supposed to be quite visual spectacualaaaaaar (to quote South Park) but not enough for me to spring for it (and an X-box).

This game should have been platformed for PC, at least then you could add further immersion (or patches). But with it only for X-box, it is just not going to overcome the hype.

Sorry, but I do hope that when you get it, you feel differently...

[hukarez]

Yep. I'm going to try going into this one open minded and all. My buddy was able to get it earlier today, yet the place I pre-ordered at hasn't received their shipment yet. Supposedly in an hour or so...from what I've heard, he's really liking it. Of course, he's only played it for an hour. Guess I should give him a call after 19 more hours, eh?

[hukarez]

Well, played a good 30 minutes so far.

Presentation's nice and all. It seems kind of linear to me for the most part, choosing to do good deeds or bad. I guess this is the first 'quest' of some kind, not too sure.

In any case, I like Danny Elfman's efforts. It seems, when you've finished a main event or what not (in my case, the first one), things are represented through portraits and the like, as if you were playing through a story of sorts.

Still, I've been enjoying it so far. Trying to keep that 'open mind' and what not.

EDIT: Had to force myself away for awhile, before I pass it.

In any case, it does seem rather easy. Don't get me wrong - I like the gameplay, the concept and all. Some of the cutscenes...seem a bit too 'quick' to me. Or perhaps, the word is 'sudden'. More along the lines of, the transition of it all. I haven't really done much in the game - basically, I think I'm still participating in the whole tutorial bit. It was rather easy for me to score A+ on 3 tests and all.

I like the Hero Save bit. Quest progress won't be saved, but everything else will...not that I'm really in a major 'quest' or anything at this stage. Hmm...well, the game's nice. I could see how it could be polished a bit more. It's not too shabby so far. Keeping an open mind kind of helps, I admit - especially after having already paid the full price weeks well before the whole 'official revelations' in the forms of reviews.

Then again, I'll have that Sims 2 and my FOF2K4 universe to explore on occasion. I just have this weird fear, that if I continue playing this game, I'm going to run into the ending. Maybe I'm taking that "20 hour longevity" bit too literally. Still, I'll probably keep this one.

[Pumpy Tudors]

While I'm in Memphis (away from New Orleans and Hurricane Ivan), I'm going to grab Fable at one of the local malls just so I'll have something new to play with this week. I brought my Xbox with me, so this'll keep me occupied. I'm not going to go into the game with any big expectations. I'm just looking for something new to play. We'll see.

[hukarez]

Just playing it as I would any new game, I suppose:

Really, really, curious.

So far, I've been enjoying the game. Going back and forth between Sims 2 and this, I think I'll be rather busy for awhile.

[Eaglesfan27]

I bought Fable upon my return to New Orleans today. Unfortunately, I've been busy catching up on things and dealing with being on call. I'm still hoping to get to play some either tonight or later this weekend. I'm going into this game with an open mind too, looking to enjoy it.

[dubb93]

Just got this game to give me a break from MGS 3(which i feel is the least fun in the whole series) but this game blows it away. I'm currently 9 hours in and while not being what I thought it would be when it was annouced the gameplay is just soo fun. This one is definately more fun than MGS 3 IMHO, for what thats worth.

[dubb93]

Upon further review this game was way too short(I did every sidequest, collected 20 silver keys and backtracked the entire game map to fish and dig @ weird looking spots).

As soon as the story really gets interesting the game just ends out of nowhere. It took me a little over 15 hours to beat the game, and that was with HEAVY backtracking, maintaining 5 wives, doing every sidequest and taking my sweet ass time doing it. Also the game was easier than I was to believe. After beating the final boss the 1st time(only getting hit twice) I reloaded it to beat him the 2nd time and see the other ending. This time I beat him only getting hit once(he has a really lame attack where he drains your energy and you can't get away from it.)

The endings are very lame. Each of them are about 2 or 3 sentences from the narrorator.

All in all I would reccomend this game for the gameplay, which is great, but its just too short.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I've had this game for four months and still haven't played it yet.