Fable II

when a game makes you think, “i might have liked it if i didn’t play fallout first,” it comes as a surprise that joystiq.com’s best of 2008 list(link) gave it the top recommendation. the firstfable was hyped as the greatest rpg ever to be sold, a huge world built upon promises that ended up failing to deliver. i never got a chance to play the first, and i don’t have an opinion of it to write anything here. i did finish the second, and i’m sure this feeling i have is the one many felt after playing the first one.

i’m a sucker for rpgs. where else can i be rewarded for my obsessive tendencies — scouring less beaten paths for treasure chests, hunting for legendary weapons by doing monotonous quests that don’t further the story, and talking to every villager in case i miss something minutely important. when someone promises innovation in the genre, i get excited. peter molyneux, game designer for lionhead studios, talked up the first fable promising an environment where every choice would have a consequence. i imagined world of warcraft: the console version with epic quests, game altering decisions, and an artificial intelligence that could emulate human behavior. when the game shipped, it seemed as if the gaming community let out a sigh of disappointment. with a lot of the promised features missing from the game, fable felt like fable lite.

fable 2 might have been the game to deliver the promise of its predecessor and redeem the franchise. the graphics are pretty, the production values are solid, and the world is expansive. from the get-go, you’re given a choice: male or female. after a quick tutorial, the introduction ends with your sister murdered and your body hurled from the castle’s tower by the game’s main antagonist.

your character from that point begins to age. to defeat lord lucien, your character must become stronger by killing, questing, and working. abilities give you more power in melee, shooting or casting. a player can focus on one area of expertise or spread their abilities throughout. since there is no mana necessary to cast spells, one can go through the entire game raising the dead and casting aoe inferno spells. low health can be fixed with a press of a button that instantly uses up the highest health potion in your inventory. i died once during the entire game, and death became a non factor after i augmented a weapon with a stone that drained the life from enemies with every hit.

when you’re not out saving/destroying the world of albion, you can indulge in a little bit of self-absorption. the game’s world changes with you as you become morally pure/corrupt or evil pure/corrupt. each decision will affect how npcs react to your presence. feeding my female hero a staple of vegetables and balancing her leveling in all of the skills earned me a big bodied woman that towered over the average citizen. for every ability you purchase within the melee set, your character buffs up. skill abilities make your character taller, and casting abilities mark your skin with glowing veins. after i finished the game, i deleveled myself and learned: if you want to be pretty, you have to be weak.

all in all, i was very underwhelmed. i played a moral character throughout, but i didn’t feel like it earned me anything. in order to get the rest of the achievements, i had to start killing off citizens, but they all came back to life eventually filling up the town i decimated. it started to feel like freedom wasn’t very free

your approach to beating the game may be different entirely different than mine, but it will end the same — you kill lord lucien and live to quest again or create some havoc. on the flip side, no one is so evil that they can’t pay a fine and be let go. life goes on after your main quest, but i wish it were more entertaining. apart from quests that move the story along, you’ll spend the rest of your time going here, attacking this, going there, attacking that, and so on and so forth. a golden trail that loads whenever it wants to will lead you to your destination, though you’re encouraged to go off the beaten path and find treasure chests. the entire time, between being lead by sparklies and having a voice tell me what i should do next — i felt like i had no choice but hold the hand that leads. because of that, i know that freedom doesn’t always feel free.

graphics:
lighting is used well. character models are similar and clothing for your character is unnattractive. spell effects are nicely done. nothing extraordinary.

soundtrack:
music is nicely done except for the battle track. imagine the sound of someone constantly plucking a string and changing notes whenever they feel like it.

playability:
multiplayer and downloadable content. for solo play, starting a new character will probably get you more of the same.

overall:
hack and slash your way through mundane quests in order to get revenge on the one who killed your family. you can choose to be evil or good, but it doesn’t really matter because all can be forgiven and forgotten.

rating:
2/5

for a list of 10 reasons why f2 wasn’t as good as i hoped: 10 reasons why fable 2 sucks(link)