Fable II, In Review
For those who hate casual RPGs, this game will not appeal. Fable is not like Final Fantasy - there are no truly epic boss fights, nothing to agonize over. Each major fight is only a moderate challenge along the main quest line, and it is very easy to become lost in side-quests, working at being a virtual real-estate mogul and dabbling in fashion.
However, this is the type of thing that greatly appeals to me. I love this “sandbox” approach to RPGs, the simple fact that I can choose to spend my time “grinding” for gold, for the sole purpose of buying houses and every book that exists. Ahh, yes, the OCD collector side of me rules supreme for this game! It was vaguely reminiscent of the chocobo breeding in FF VII, a vast timesink that never advanced you in the story, yet something you were compelled to do.
The game didn’t feel like a sequel, despite storyline elements intended to do so, but more like a remake. Molyneux made grand statements about the first one that didn’t come to light, although he was slightly less hype-happy for F2, and it feels as if elements that weren’t put into the first game were ready in time for the second. The simple change of letting you choose whether to be a boy or girl is a vast improvement, especially for a girl who gets very tired of playing Link when she’d rather be Zelda. (And no, do not even talk to me about the Princess Peach ‘girl games’, or you’re dead).
There are some camera control issues, and it’s frustrating how easy your character packs on the pounds after a run through the Crucible (think F1 Arena). Celery becomes the Holy Grail, as it’s the only thing that thins you back down, and vendors never have very much of it.
Plenty of people have griped about the camera issues when you join a pal as a henchman in their game. Solution is easy - one of you takes on the role of camera controller, one doesn’t. I enjoyed running around with the Bear in his world, killing stuff together, but we only did it a few times. We already play WoW and Warhammer together, so we didn’t need a joint-RPG on the Xbox, too.
The “choose the of your adventure’ ending has been complained about by many others as well, but again, this is not intended to be an epic, “impossible to beat” type game. Bear went for the noble ending, and didn’t seem too pleased by what he got in exchange for all his Goodness. I went the selfish route, though not the one that would probably be considered evil.
My only complaint is that being an Evil character, I kept trying to have multiple marriages - and it is a lot of work to keep 3 spouses happy. I got divorced a horrific number of times, and only occasionally prevented it by giving lavish presents. Then, in a fit of spite, I’d usually get them to follow me to the Temple and, um, sacrifice them. I’m so Evil…
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