A Fabled Review

My brother recently bought the the Fable video games for XBOX.  We owned the original Fable when it first came out, but after an unfortunate incident we lost both the game and his old system so we had to repurchase it.  Because I have had a crazy amount of free time on my hands lately, I have been playing through the games and I completed the third one last night.  After I completed it, I decided to check to see if there would be any more of them being released and I found that they were thinking about it but weren't sure if people were interested.  So, here is my take on that idea:

Fable and Fable: The Lost Chapters:

These are actually the same game, one is just an expanded version so I am going to review them both at the same time.  I first played this game back in 2004 when it was released.  I bought it immediately after it was released because I knew the company's old game Black and White, which as an awesome game however, full of bugs.  I loved the original Fable when I first played it and I still do.  I like the Medieval, Fantasy story line and the way you chose to be good or evil.  Most of my issues with the game were fixed in the second, but I still wish that the game had taken longer.  As a little extra note in this, I found it much easier to be evil in this version of the game because the quests were not as moral and the character was not as developed through the game.

 Fable II

Finally, I get to get a female character! The Second game in the series began to fill in all the problems I had with the first game, and they gave you a puppy to follow you around.  I love the expanded free play areas and the number of extra side quests.  It took my awhile to adjust to the way you cast magic in this game but after I adjusted I actually preferred it to the original game.  The storyline is a continuation of the first game, which is probably my favorite part of the game, and I really liked that I didn't have to do as many silly races to get through the game.  I also liked that you had the option of working to get money rather than just finding it or getting it from quests or stealing it.  Overall, I thought it was a big improvment to the original game.

Fable III

This is the latest game and I think they took some major steps backward in this one.  I liked the storyline and the continuation of the story, but I really hate what they did with other things in the game.  One of the biggest things I can't stand is how they changed up buying things from stores.  I don't mind haggling, but I really wish it went back to a list system.  Also, I like the idea of the "Sanctuary," but I Can't find half the items I own and I miss the old list of my stuff.  The way to cast magic was also completely backwards.  instead of giving us more spells and more ways to cast them.  we have to choose between one or two spells and they are the same ones we always had... less actually.  I like the way we level up, but there needs to be more side quests in the game, and the main storyline needs to be longer again.  I do need to add here that I was really excited that the main character actually talked back to the others in the game finally.  That was a big plus.

Overall, I love these games.  Not all that surprising, since I am a Fantasy nut.  I will probably play the next game when it comes out, however I won't buy it if they keep the crappy changes they made to it in the last one.  I really do recommend people try out these games though.  They are a lot of fun and even thought they aren't all that hard to play, a good time.  If it comes down to deciding if they should continue the series for another two games... I say go for it.  there are enough of us out there with addictive personalities who, even if we aren't in love with the game any more, will have to know what happens next in the story.  And if they decided not to continue the game, I recommend starting up another game like Gun, and taking it to the next step and let us build our own world in the old west.