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Is the Fable series worth playing?

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Anyway, I've played all three and liked the first two. Three should only be played if you're interested in the lore and running into a couple returning characters, and that goes double for Journey.

Something fucked up that Journey lets us in on:

Theresa. Oh man. She reveals in Fable: The Journey (that Kinect game), that she was the one who induced the mysterious ailment that killed the wife and daughter of Lucien, Fable II's main antagonist. Why? Because she read about the Spire, wanted it, and knew that he was the only person with enough resources and drive to build it if given a need. So she killed his family and left bread crumbs about the Spire being able to grant his wish. So everything Lucien does from then on out, the terrorism, mass killings and slavery, robbery, basically supervilain stuff is her fault. Including the events that ruined the life of Sparrow, Fable II's hero. Who she then adopted and pointed at Lucien with a 'Get'em'. He did so, and she got the Spire.


Now if this wasn't bad enough, it's revealed that the baddie of Fable III, the Crawler, was a subordinate of the Fable: Journey antagonist the Corruptor. Who was awakened with the building of the Spire. The Crawler, depending on your preparations over the course of Fable III, may have killed over 6,500,000 people. Millions. Even if we say that the Fable III hero raised the perfect army and held him off (Fable Journey allows imports of III saves), the Crawler still performed mass genocide in the land of Aurora before it came to Albion.



And then there is the entirety of Fable: Journey, where someone has to fight off the Corruptor and his other lieutenants. The events of Fable II, III and Journey are all trickle down from Theresa's actions. Innumerable people have died, and many times that suffered.



If the Hero of Oakvale (Fable 1 Hero) had simply been an evil dick and killed her for the Sword of Aeons, all of it could have been averted. He likely would have a kicked around for a century or so and then vanished when he got bored, just like the official good version did. And Albion would have had a peaceful stride into modernity, ignoring the Hobbes and Balverines and that douchebag Reaver.
 

Perkel

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Honestly i have probably the most controversial of opinions here on this franchize.
For me it is actually the opposite.

Fable III is the best, Fable II is worse and Fable 1 was the worst game. And i played all of them shortly after premiere. So it's not teh nostalgia or you should play it few years earlier becuase you don't get it.
People raise valid points about dumbing down game mechanics but mechanics NEVER were actually good in Fable games. Even Fable 1 was weak as fuck compared to almost any other game. And with each new game they instead focused on making those dumbed down mechanics at least more fun to player. By F3 combat was actually fun in action style sense (not mechanic sense as no fable was good).

Then what is left is quest design, story and so on.

Big story threaded in all of Fables is actually shit. Like already Genma posted in this thread.

So maybe sidequests and other mechanics ? Bingo. This is where with each new Fable games got progressively better. Fable 1 was full of weak quests and whole hero/bad guy was weak. Fable II improved a lot those aspect. But in Fable III is where finally those motives shine. And literally fucking your way to get swinging sword was hilarious.

To reach part when you are controlling city in F3 takes about 20-25hours alone. And that time is not filled with shit. Quite the opposite. Events, small quests, bigger ones, characterization and so on made F3 much better game than both of its predecessors. Twist was good and thanks to that you really were taken on emotional journey. Characters you met along your journey after that point devolve in their own agendas and you need to actually rule where there is no right answer as impending ending is looming in background and that takes priority.

Though biggest pro of F3 has also the biggest flaw. No matter what you do future is predefined and your choices simply didn't have enough consequence in that ending probably because of hand hold design of modern games where player should not get bad ending even if he is fucking moron.

All in all it is case where journey is actually better than story. Since mechanics were bad in first place playing it for replayability would be bad nor grinding end game content beside few funny quests.


Is series worth playing ? No.

Play Fable 3 even if ending isn't best thing ever, take a dump on overarching story and Theresa (don't read that stuff) and simply enjoy a ride.
 
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They really needed to go back and rejigger some things when it comes to Fable III's endgame choices, though. It is entirely possible to take all the humanitarian/money gobbling choices and yet still fund the army out of your pocket. Getting a perfect 'everyone is happy....except Reaver' consensus and not letting anyone die.


Or at the very least give me the option to lay down the law on the gypsy leader; "Look, an eldrich horror from another dimension plans on coming over here and killing everyone. After this is over we'll give you the land back and even help replanting and restoring it. Till then help us prepare or fuck off."
 

imweasel

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The first Fable is playable, Fable II and Fable III are complete garbage.
 

Zombra

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What this thread manages to do is separate PCers ('I only played Fable 1') and XBOX360ers ('I only played Fable 2'), not counting the few people who played all games in the series (and liked them).

Hey, if Dead Rising had been ported to PC I would never have bought that cursed thing.
 

Kaldurenik

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Fable 1 TLC (not the remake) is ok lighthearted action rpg with a good overall atmosphere with a few good ideas but many failed executions.

Fable 2,3 are... bad.

Ok if you have nothing else to play.
 

Trash

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Fable I enjoyed for being cute while also letting me wave around severed heads to a woo-ed audience. Fable II is a game that feels both less and more than the original. Better gameplay but it is missing the originality of the first game. Love the atmosphere though.

Never tried the third.
 

Zombra

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Another way of putting it: you know how you have a bunch of games in your Steam library because you bought them on sale, but you've never bothered to actually play them? The Fable games are like that. Buy them for $2 each if you must, but just let them sit there if you do. You already have better games to play.

*Disclaimer: I only played F2, so I don't know first hand, but it still seems like an apt comparison.
 

RandomAccount

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I get the feeling that the OP has made their decision by now...

But what the heck...

Fable: The Lost Chapters felt like a good thing to do at the time (God, that was some years back) and it made lots of people happy. I quite liked it for a bit but didn't complete it and have had no lingering desire to complete it for completionist sake. I wasn't displeased with it, I wasn't enamored by it.

Hence I never bothered with any sequels. I wasn't even aware that The Lost Chapters was the first one, I always thought it was some kind of expansion/sequel thing.

I'd recommend The Lost Chapters, mainly for the originality of the concept and the experience of finding out that too much originality isn't always as exciting as a bit of originality in something established.
 
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Hence I never bothered with any sequels. I wasn't even aware that The Lost Chapters was the first one, I always thought it was some kind of expansion/sequel thing.

Well it kinda was. The original version of Fable lacked the bordello, secondary path to resolve the Lady Grey quest, a great many side-quests, weapons, clothes and items. And it ended with the human Jack of Blades showdown, instead of continuing on to the snow areas and his dragon form. That was the first version released on Xbox.


You could liken Lost Chapters to Deus Ex: Human Revolution's Definitive Edition. All the add-on content integrated into the main game in the best way possible, with a great number of tweaks and nudges. That was released on PC and re-released on Xbox.
 

RandomAccount

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Ah, so it was a bit like Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, only for Fable all the new crap actually made the game better rather than worse.
 

Dreaad

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Fable 1 is ok, not that I ever finished it.

Seriously though just play this instead:
3467_front.jpg


A point and click adventure game that will most likely entertain you far more.
 
Unwanted

a Goat

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1st was decent. We're not talking about groundbreaking game but fun little shit.
You've got old, if you've packed points to "strength" bookmarked abilities your character became a big guy for you and when you're a dick for others you're getting a nice pair of horns on your head. Oh and you can get fat and fart at people. What I really liked was character customisation(even though protagonist was set!) and well... that's the thing that bought me over it.

It also has characteristic, fairytale charm which is kinda screwed by cliché story.
I think that Molyliar played The Sims before he went to the drawing board because the game whispers(not even screams) "this incompetent cunt wanted to make this game centred on what *adventurers* do after they get back to home from their adventures, as can be guessed from a huge faggot he is - he failed".

Didn't played 2. Maybe I'll borrow x360 from my friend to try it but I don't see a reason why.

3rd... I've played maybe 10 hours and I completely hated one single thing that made me play 1st one. Just don't laugh. Please.

Ready?

Very limited "dressing up". There aren't many outfits and I think that they have no stats at all(minor issue when looking at the game as a whole). I fucking love when my character replaces parts of his/her armour while I'm playing - one of the reasons I liked Morrowind - seriously it kinda kills the fun. On top of that moral choices don't change the way you look. Outrageous. And the golden trail... Was minimap really that hard to make? Or at least compass with quest marker, I can live with it.


My opinion might be caused by not being hyped about the first game and I don't absolutely need the deepest and most demanding mechanics in the world. I've liked the 1st, 3rd repelled me completely because of being babymode(up to the point when it's not fun anymore) and fucking up things I loved in 1.

@down: I've didn't made it to that part to be fair.
 
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taxalot

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The biggest problem with the third game is that it all leads up to nothing.

The game was announced as a two part game : first the revolution, then the kingdom management. I think you spend a whole thirty minutes in the kingdom management act before getting to the end sequence. This was downright ridiculous. Had they expanded on that and made it an integral part of the game, it would have fared much better.

Especially since the base idea was not too bad and involved cornelian choices between justice and strengthening your defense against the coming invasion.

Think about this ? How about an Ultima game where you do not play as the Avatar, but as Lord British, actually doing something for a change, visiting the various towns, upholding virtues yet also needing to run a kingdom and defend it against ultrapowerful extradimensional beings from hell. That could make a good game.

But they ruined by making it look like an afterthought
 

DalekFlay

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I'm a pretty forgiving modern game console port slut at times, but I could never finish any Fable game. They're all briefly amusing due to style and then quickly terrible and boring.
 

Metro

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Fable is basically an arpg for children. Got the first one for $2 (lol @ the $40 HD remake they're selling). Not bad but nothing I'd replay. As I mentioned earlier in this thread it's overly-generic and directed at the young adult age group. Or mentally impaired adults.
 

DragoFireheart

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Fable is crap. It's an forgettable waste of time that I wish I didn't waste my time on.
 

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