Fable NTSC
Lionhead
Big Blue Box
15 Sept 2004

Two words, F%#'n AWESOME

Now that i have played through the game a few time here is an update. I still love this game.

First off the graphics are amazing! From the wheat swaying in the grass to your berd swaying on your face everything is insanly detailed.

The combat in Fable is extremely simple yet it has the ability to be a great combat system. The two main weapons, a sword and a bow, are given to you in the training levels. Each weapon is automatically set to the white and black buttons. All you have to do is hit the appropriate button then attack, that’s it. Or is it....you can also block with each of the weapon, holding down the attack button longer for the bow allows the arrow to fly faster and with less of an arch causing more damage. While blocking you can roll around with the left thumb stick. This comes in handy to get behind an enemy and hit their unarmored backside.

Magic in the game also has a very accessible with the game pad. You hold down the left trigger and the a,b,x,y buttons become spells instead of melee or ranged attack buttons. Hold down the button with the spell of your choice and it is cast that’s it.

Targeting is very Zelda like. Hold down the left trigger and a red aura appears around your target. You can also hit the right thumb stick and the target get switched to the next, something that was missing and sorely needed in other games that utilized this kind of targeting system. Although you don’t need to target your victim to attack. Hostile can be swung at and hit quite easily with melee without targeting. Although trying to hit a moving scarecrow with out targeting is a challenge.

I enjoyed the leveling system. There are three main pools of experience. Strength, Skill, and will. You gain Xp in each of this pool by killing enemys with the weapon attached to the pool, melee for strength, bow for skill, and magic for will. In the leveling window it will explain what a boost on a certian attribute will do along with a sweet miniclip of the action.

The amount of action your character can do is extremely apparent right off the bat. I could walk around and beat people up on a whim. Finding small side quests is a snap. Just talk to random people and they will ask you to do something. Early examples are finding a teddy bear, exposing a cheating husband, beat up a bully, and buying a gift for your sister. Each mission allows you to accomplish it in varieties of ways. For example you can find the cheating husband and he will then ask you to keep quiet about his adultery. If you do he will give you a gold coin. You will also receive your first bad deed. But you can also turn around and tell the wife about the husband and receive more money and a good deed. But this came at a price. Everyone in town knew what i had done and started making comments like "A diliquent today and fiend tommorow" or "that boy is nothing but trouble". So it is true that everything you do will be watched and it will affect you.

Like Kotor you can pick your side in this game. You can be the knight in shining armor (complete with halo) or the evil bastard that kills little girls (complete with horn that spout from you head). But becoming one of this takes a lot of practice. There are many levels toward begin good or evil and everything you do will shift you one way the other.

The menu system is tied to the d pad and is extremely easy to use. Hit the up and you can access food, weapons, among other things. The d-pad is also home to your expressions from laughing to smiling to farting you can do it all.

The depth of this game is incredible. you can talk to anyone and actaully read most anything, or you can blow past all this and complete the task at hand.

On the down side this game has been extremely easy so far. The training was a snap and the "final test" to become a Hero is a meager test to see if you understand the combat system. Also there is no character customization in the beginning. You just start the game. But the ability to get tatto's and hairstyle is alot of fun.

I have found that I could get through the game in <20 hours. But i would miss a lot of what makes this game great. From finding the silver keys, making the demon doors open, owning shoping, marrying and killing women, getting waste and puking, finding the time triggered events. Yes the game is easy, yes you can breeze through it, yes you can go from pure evil to pure good in a snap, and yes the ending "cienmas" are a huge let down. But the gameplay, combat, customization, sidequests, and interaction witht he npcs make up a lot.

So in closing if you're looking for a Final Fantasy on xbox this is not the game and you will hate it. But if your looking for a fun ADVENTURE game with some RPG elemets this game is awesome if you are willing to take your time. If you want a game that will hand you unlimited hours of gameplay this is not it. You will have to work to get to the best parts of the game.

Edit : updated

well thats all well an good but the ending is shite dont beleive the hyype fable is a very ordainary game but if ur a sucker for lush graphics u will like it just dont expect it 2 b the ground breaking game u hoped for

I ahve heard that the story line is not the greastest but I can't really say cause i haven't seen them though. There are how ever multiple endings to the game. Or at least mutiple ending movies on the game disc. So if you dont like the ending you got maybe you should play a different way and get another ending.

Also I have also heard that the story line be it lacking on the stright forward quest, the story line and the extras in the side quests and the history of the land is quite interesting.

i have seen all the endings man it is crap i wouldn't waste money on it

This game has really saddened me as I was really hoping for something special.

A very very ordinary game , way too easy , lost interest big time with the side quests and cant be arsed to finish it really just to see the movies.
Final fantasy series aint in danger

Looks like I may have to disembark to the PS2 again for decent rpg , such a wasted opertunity again and is getting to be the expected story on xbox of late.

If only they could do a deal with squaresoft , Peter Molineaux (sic) has done great stuff in the past and I loved black and white but this is pure trash .

Rent first before you buy , its not the long lasting rpg you may have been expecting , and is definately not "Two words, F%#'n AWESOME"
Im very very disapointed as you can probably gather

i think its sad how somebody can beat a game soo many times to see all the endings within a few days....douche

actually, i don't think that guy actually beat the game, or even has played it. He says

Is it a challenging game or one i can get through in like a week? Also, do they have a 2 player on fable?

Ya its challenging. Its about as challenging as tying your shoes after a couple beers. I played the game for like 20mins then went and drank two beers and tied my shoes and it was about as difficult, thats how I know.

*I love the "lush graphics" comment.

well... ********spoiler**********






















i have seen all the endings, all 2 of them, and they are both about 5 seconds long containing 5 words and no cgi or anything... real disappointment... but the game is fun to play at least

edit: and how the fuck is this guy gonna post a review after playing the training levels that last 20 minutes and have shit to do with anything? lol

this game is very disapointing and VERY VERY VERY overhyped

It makes me wonder how much the company paid ign for those big arse previews

Dont get me wrong I dont hate it

If you want a nice lengthed xbox rpg with some cool features and over all good play then you will like it

but dont think it is some incredible mind blowing life experience in anyway

hmmm i dont know what is more sad
the fact they you guys are braggin about beating this game so fast
or ripping on it cause its not your "ideal" rpg...

Talk about lame...Lionhead used to be my fav. game co. back in the days of Black and White...Dropping innocents with Godhand... Anyway, so far all comments about Fable I heard are disappointing. Luckily I still have my PS2 so more Star Ocean and Final Fantasies for me.

we all must be playing a different game.

I'm about 10 hours in and it's the best action-rpg I've ever played, bar none.

Those who expected the second coming in the form of an RPG will be disappointed. It's a shame what the hype did to this game, but playing through it has been VERY enjoyable for me, one of the best game experiences I've ever had, and I've had alot.

To each their own, if you think the game sucks thats fine, but I for one haven't had this much fun since KOTOR, and I like this game more than KOTOR.

yes i played kotor, an alright game, but still cant be compared to fable, and the person who wrote that final fantasy cant be compared is absolutly correct, its a totally different game alltogether!

think abou it, fable has sum nice little features that ALOT of games do not have (the scaring system is a nice start in a direction, the way they programmed the ai in remembering all certain things is a nice step forward)

just wait sicne they did this, they now what to do for the next one even better, so if there is a FABLE 2 (i hope to god there is)

it will take the few flaws fable had and fix them (i for one luv fable, its a great game, i wasnt anticipating a ground breaking game, cuzz EVERYGAME is overhyped (just like halo 2 prob will be)

i just beat it, but the beauty of it isn't the quests but all the little shit you can do, now i'm trading, got a wife and kid (i can have a kid in my MIND, he's at school)and am trying to buy up everything, there's lots more to do than beat jack blade, guess all you ff fanboys arn't used to there being a whole world outside the missions which is prolly as big a deal as the storyline
i am dissapointed that the story was so short, they couldve made you do more extracurricular stuff, but for the time that the story lasted, it was great, if not a hair oversimplified, anywasy, it IS a awesome ame and i hope lionhead can make a little harder much longer followup before xbox next shows up

Fable is a good game, but it was rushed out the door. The plan for the game was going to take FOREVER to complete. We got 10 hours of story and a good bit of sidequests. If you look in the code though, there are a lot of things that point to stuff that's not in the game, like a dragon and a lot of quests that don't really exist. Expect a patch to come from XBL to complete the game.

It's just a damn shame I won't be able to get it because I don't/can't get xbl. I'd have to find a copy of the original bios and then rehack my box with a switch or something.

off topic - @tester123 - is that a staffy in yr avatar? (ive got a blue )

i am really looking forward to this game. i didn't read your posts in fear of rewening the game for myself but is there anything you can't do lol ???

the story behind the game is awesome, along the same lines as kotor. you can become good or evil. the graphics are great and so is the game engine. the only problem i have with the game is it is way too easy. i was able to beat the game in about 10 hours of playing time. i could go back in and instead of beating the last quest do more side quests, but thats not goin to be fun because the ending is too easy to get to. it's also a small game to 2.4gb the next one should be a more difficult and last at least 30 hours of playing time before you get to the end.

i give it a 6.5

this game isnt a traditional rpg and i think thats why all you rpg fan boys are soooo peved.
if you are angry about fable...then you might be a rpg fan boy.
the game is tons of fun
it plays alot like zelda from n64.
its more of anadventure game not some borring rpg...and for that im glad cause this game was actually fun and still is...the fact that when the game is over you can still do stuff is awesome and i havent seen that in many rpg's

Word of advice, I got this game and I have to admit it is extremely fun. The only problem is that they originally said it would take you 80 hours to finish it, then it was 30 now they dont say. Well I can, I beat it last night, it was a good story. It only took me SEVEN hours!! not 80, so I was disapointed by that. All I have to say is as soon as they ask you to investigate the cullis gate, do other quests if you dont want it to end. I dont know if I just made my character great or what but I was able to kill everyone and everything on the first try. I need some resurection viles but I never actually died. Great game but too short, now im going to go back and be evil.

lol, i used one res. vile, and it was something i coulda avioded in the beginning... you can continue after you beat the game, just cant do missions... just finish watching the creds without skipping them.. i mean, once you beat it, just run around killing people and getting married and killing the wives... or just beat it, have your stats maxed, and realize theres nothing left to do after a total of 10 hours

First, how can you review this game after only playing the training missions?

Second, "i just beat it, but the beauty of it isn't the quests but all the little shit you can do, now i'm trading, got a wife and kid " You don't have a KID and you can't trade in this game either. Just buy and sell. Selling is pointless because you can't even sell your most valueable and useless(at the same time) weapons.

This game was fun while it lasted. Unfortunatly, even if the hype for this game never existed its still a 7/10 game. Its funny how reviewers look past the terrible story, short length, and relatively zero replay value.

Everything that is possible in Fable can seriously be done in 15 hours. You can go from being a totally Evil to totally Good char in 30 minutes or less. Also things like scarring, aging, and what not have absolutely nothing to do with the core game and effect nothing. I also don't understand why people are raving about the graphics for this game... There are seriously better games out there you know?

Also, people have the right to be pissed to if they followed the hype. Only within a few months of the games release so many things were cut. In many gamesite previews there were TONS of things that don't even exist now. Aswell as trailers that have things that the game doesn't have.... Last thing the damn strategy guide has quests in it, yet they aren't even in the game. OH yeah thats not hype.. thats factual information that people were led to believe was going to be in the game.

So, yes, people did get screwed and they got half of a game.

we have a nice little debate here.

if anyone wants to make a counter review of this game, feel free, I'd love read your thoughts on it.

hmm...I honestly think that Fable is a fantastic game and I am enjoying every minute of it. I think the developers should be commended for their efforts in the creation of something truly enjoyable.

I'm not sure about everyone else on this forum but I enjoy my xbox games whether they are short or long, as long as they are fun and I enjoy playing with them. A game that takes 'only' 7 or 8 hours to finish for some of you here would take me a couple of months to finish. I play my xbox when I don't have university, work or I am too tired to get out of the house. Then i settle down in front of the television for a couple of hours of games to unwind.

I just like to express my view that to people who only play games on a 'moderate' basis will find this game extremely worthwhile...

Of course i respect others' views on the length of the game, perhaps you should look elsewhere and find a tougher challenge : )

i agree.
i dont have much time for a long ass game.
and while this game is a bit too short compared to most others it was still fun to play...
to think...the main complaints are difficulty and legnth though...
they have a great oportunity to make a great fable 2.
maybe for xbox 2
i do think that it wasnt lion head studios fault that it was cut short...
its been worked on for a while and i think M$ was feeling the pinch of
loss and had it cut for a release...
either way
it s still a fun gam its just sad that were missing some game play elements...

i absolutly loved this game but, as it has been said before, it was way to short but all the little things that were in there help make up for it. such as the dialogue and the way ur guy changes and aquires scars and such.

Well, I really tried to keep myself optimistic and enjoy the game. There were so many short comings it makes me sick to think about how hyped the game was. In the video previews they show you running through the woods as a kid. and talked about how you could choose your own paths, and how nobodys paths would be the same or some bs.

in my opinion all the paths are set. I thought of a game that would have multiple endings. Oh well, thats got to be difficult task even for years of development.

my top 5 complaints are.(but not limited to)
1. INVISABLE WALLS!! haha your kidding me right, its all paths.
2. you can't see whats in a box or whats on a shelf without taking it.
3. the barter system sucks, take 10 steps back from anything you've played since nes rpgs.
4. story just ends after jake blade get his a** handed to him.
5. the sword you earn in the end is basically hyped up worthless piece of junk stained with blood. No more quests...

The bottomline is don't let the hype ruin the game for you. I really tried hard to not be let down. But, in the end when your let down this much you might as well not play the game and just think about how good it could be if you did. HAHA like the guys over at ign would like you to believe.

very few things i did like the scenery its truely amazing!! some music scenes were pretty cool. and it did keep me playing until the end.

that said, I know theres alot of hard work put into a games. Thanks to all the people who made it possible. And as for the 14 hours i will never get back of my life, the bill is in the mail. see you in hell.. evil bastards!

I had my first go at it last night and am pretty disappointed.
It's all a bit 'kiddy' for my liking, I'm 27 and the plot so far seems more suited ot a 7 year old. I didn't seem to be able to do much in the first chapter, I'm going to invest more time in it yet so we'll wait see.

There's a lot of scripted stuff and cut scenes at the moment and it was a struggle to sit through them. Hopefully it gets better.

Maybe I'm getting too old for this.

Hi,I'm new here and there are some *spoilers* in my post

Project Ego a fable after all......

Project Ego (fable) was one of the reasons I bought my xbox. I had been following since the beginning of the xbox but after delays I just reserved my copy and expected the best rpg ever. When you wait for a game for four years to come out (yes, I know I have no life) and looking forward to it even after delay after delay etc... you tend to think fable is just an average rpg that even sudeki could compete with.

My friends say my expectations were way to high on this game and that I shouldn't be dissapointed in the game hardly at all and I'm considered an idiot for calling the game an average rpg. My reasons are valid however and here they are as to why I think fable should have been so much better. First off when I left Heroe's guild I noticed this game was very very linear, set paths to walk on in the new areas I went to. My idea was that the world was going to open like Morrowind, where I could go anywhere I pleased. There was an article quoting Peter M. where he said "anywhere you see you can go to" and "in this world we're creating you can see for miles" so after that I just assumed the world was open. The next reason was getting married and having kids. I was supposed to be able to have a kid and if I neglected my child he/she would grow up to hate me. Also, if I scarred a little kid and came back to the village later on I would find out that he/she would hate me and want to kill me. Neither one of those were in the game and yes I got married and I married Lady Gray but it still seemed rather worthless though. Another problem with the game was the way my character seem to age, I spent a total of 16 days in the world of fable and my character went from 21 to 63, very confusing, I was older than my mother when I went to jail.

Probably the last problem I had was with the storyline. It wasn't very original-my dad gets killed and I'm off for revenge-okay, I can deal with that. So I'm off trying to find out who killed my dad while doing all these quests for the hero guild and I don't even have an option to ask any of the npc's who led the raid on my village when I was little and none of the npc's seem to really be of any help at all actually. So anyways my sis and mother finally find me and tell me of the horrors of this guy Jack who led the raid on my village. After that still nothing from any npc's about Jack and none of them seem to care or know who he is. There are no stories, myths, or even rumors about Jack from anyone. So finally, 20 hrs into the game I decide to start the last quest (which I had no clue it was actually the LAST quest in the game), I was thinking after this that the storyline's going to pick up and I'm in for some real surprises. So I start it up and 20 minutes later I beat the game. I was surprised thats for sure, so after I watched all the credits (yes, I wathced them). I got to go back into the world after I saved it from the evil terrors of Jack. I go and talk to everyone I could think of and noone seems to care, no one even knew that the world was full of demons at one point in time. So, I felt very empty after that and deicided that this game at its best was just an average rpg.

The most annoying thing in the game was the fact that my mother was some bad chick that could fight but ended up getting kidnapped four times throught the whole storyine of the game and each time I go to find/save her and at the end Jack slits her throat and all that time going to save my mom was a waste of time. Probably the best part of the storyline didn't even have to deal with my character, it was his sister, I loved how they made her blind and taken in by a bandit, that was really cool-props to that person who thought of that one.

The great things in this game could not even slightly make up for the disspapointments I endured throughout the whole game but this wouldn't make a decent review if I didn't mention them. First off, the battle system was done superbly, I mean I enjoyed getting into fight and using my magic, sword and bow. I never really liked one over the other. It was very easy to use which made it enjoyable to pretty much perfection. I tend to think that the only reason I beat the game was because I enjoyed getting into fights, where for most rpg's its tedious and annoying. Graphics, I have to say my character was done very well and since I don't block much my charatcters face was more beat up than a new kids on the block fan that was a guy. I liked being able to have tattoos and getting ink poisoning (well he should have after all the one's he had haha). Also, being able to get different haircuts was a bonus as well. I didn't, however, like digging up haircuts and tattoos that the barbers or I already had. As far as character graphics went on this game, Morrowind didn't even hold a candle to fable in that department.

I know it was a game that had alot of hard work and time put into it but seeing the ending results, I would think that the makers would be just a little dissapointed at a game that should have been as to the game they put out. I've never made a game before so I don't know how hard it is to actually do it but I do play games pretty religously and this game was a definite dissapointment for me who was waiting patiently and following up on it since the release of the xbox.

As for those of you who might have think I didn't do all the quests, I completed all but one and opened up all the demon doors except the one in the heroe's guild. I also saved up the money (which was annoying as well) to buy a house in each of the villages. The rent doesn't make up for the thousands of dollars I put into each house. Also, I got every single legendary weapon I could and was dissapointed that the sword I bought was better than all of them. I completed in the game in less than 25 hrs.

So as to the end remarks, this was a great fable but where is project ego?

A game about morality, what a waste!

I wasn't looking forward to fable that much until about three weeks before it came out, and was not expecting the best RPG ever. And, I got what I expected. While the game was disappointingly short, I still loved playing through it, and it was the most fun I've had in an action/rpg/adventure/shooter game (meaning any of those genres, not all), since KOTOR. The game's a lot of fun. It's not an action-rpg on the level of, say Zelda (But no game has ever been ) but its still a lot of fun. And, hey, Fable 2 (which they sort of have to make, after all the time put into fable) will be able to have a better story, and be longer, because they already have the system, etc. down. So something to look forward to.

I give the game a 9 out of 10 and i liked the storyline for some reason it wasnt that bad like others are saying

First of all, I think fable is an great game. The graphic, sound, gameply are some of the best I've ever seen. However, that game is too easy and way too dammm short. Perhaps people shouldn't consider that game to be an rpg. RPG games are known for it's longevity. I would call fable an action adventure game. Look at it that way Metal Gear solid for psx can be beaten in 12 hours, and it's still one of the greatest game, so can fable. Although, that game is a waste money to buy it since i think most people can beat it couple of days if you play a few hours per day.
About that dude that wrote a review about it took him 20 hours to beat it, and he's still missing a lot of hidden secrets. Stop lying, i wonder how long would it takes you to beat morrowind; 2000 hours.

I actually think Fable's a pretty good game, I reckon it's at least on a level playing field with KOTOR. The only real cause for complaint is the fact that Peter Molyneux talked it up so much, mentioning a shedload of features that never appeared. I remember one particular claim (from Molyneux) that there was only one loading screen in the whole game... clearly a lie.

So it's a bit disappointing thanks to the over-hype, but that doesn't really detract from its genuine qualities. And although you can finish it in about 10 hours or so, it's much more fun if you let yourself get distracted and push for a 20/25 hour run-through with multiple wives and all that malarkey. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and like KOTOR, it will defintiely get a second run through.

And to make up for the silly fibbing (a bit), Molneux has made an actual apology, promising that he'll stop lying about his games in the future

You can check the story here if you want:
http://news.spong.com/x?art=7740

I dont even know why people still talk about final fantasy. it is a worthless series. zelda by far kills it and turn base fighting is a joke. cuz u kno realastically your aggressor is going to wait for you to hit him after he hits you i kno ppl who would say final fantasy X is better than morrowind ocarina and kotor. i played about five minutes of final fantasy 7 and X and i was bored as hell. ocarina of time is the most absorbing game ever. morrowind is difficult and very time consuming (nevermind fun) and kotor i liked since i started... maybe its like a habit playing final fantasy. or maybe they keep making them cuz they kno ppl will buy them just because they are fanboys i dunno but im going to judge fable after i beat it and do everything i can. and if it sucks it will join the ranks of final fantasy and all those other gay ass jap-aneese nes rgps.