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I'm satisfied due to reasonable expectations.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 104 / 126
Date: September 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Title: Fable

Description: What path will you choose? The highly anticipated and arguably over-hyped fantasy/ adventure game from an extended Microsoft developer. This unique game claims to have extreme character versatility and game possibilities. Your appearance and skills will be altered by things you do in game. If you eat too much you get fat if you fight a lot you will get large and brawny and you also age. Fight the forces of evil or join them. You can adventure with thieves or settle into domesticity with your new wife (male or female.)

Platform: Xbox

Learning Curve: 7- With so much to do in the game expect to spend some time familiarizing yourself with the many skills and spells and also basic social interaction. I don't think you need to have "1337 g4/\/\3R" skills to fight and advance in the game, but the fighting system might take a bit of practice and the game gives you tutorials early in the game.

Replay Value: 9- The standard storyline will have the limitations of what it is, but if you stray from the intended path you can play the game many times altering your persona to be good or evil. Slaughter merchants or be a dastardly polygamous the possibilities can go on and on.

Difficulty: 5- This game has an average level of difficulty from what I can tell. With proper training and skill purchase most enemies shouldn't pose a problem.

Guide: Available through Prima publishers for $14.99. I'm surprisingly satisfied with this guide so far. The guide helps navigate the game easier and might help you get through some puzzles if you are stumped.

Pros: Versatile gameplay, awesome graphics, hilarious dialogue, addictive gameplay, and interesting follow through storyline.

Cons: Main character is as imagined "generic" to permit versatile play, camera angle with bow can get jumbled, D button controls are sloppy, and "noble" heroes will have to be careful for villagers wanting a part in battles with monsters and I often found myself accidentally hacking the occasional merchant.

Time Expected to Invest: As much time as you want, but I imagine most people will find a good month or so of solid play before they are off to another title. I think I will enjoy this title for a bit longer though.

Retail Value: $49.99

Suggested Purchase Price: worth over $40. Try to find it used if possible or wait until the price goes down.

Overall: 9- I admit I really like this game, but I'm trying to keep the casual gamer and expectations in mind when I rated this over all. I think some will be disappointed by the gameplay not being as "versatile" as many thought it would be, but really if there wasn't some kind of guided story involved for more "linear" gamers you'd just have a pet character on a game that would wonder around aimlessly with no direction. I like the option to do either in this game and I think many gamers will feel the same. Was this game too overly hyped? Perhaps, but I am still satisfied with the outcome. Is it a disappointment? No, disappointment is getting ready for the second time for a lunch date only to have the person inform you when they call that they are too "tired" to meet that commitment. I swear I had to get ready, drive into the city, and wait until she got off again and then... sorry off topic. Anyway, no I was satisfied by this game and that is enough for me to consider my purchase worthwhile. I recommend this title and I think while not "revolutionary" the game brings something new and fresh to gaming.

Prince Charming or Prince Alarming:You choose part1

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 90
Date: July 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

In this game you choose if you are a well respected admired by all that matter,women through themselves at you,little kids where their hair like you and dress like you,your cheered when you come into to towns and get all the deals,sounds nice being the hero,sounds realy good to an angelic hero,I'll get to that in a later.But why be good,good is boring for the most part.You could be an outlaw admired by the the deginerat scum,a rapeist,a man who steals candy from babies,people run and hide when you enter towns,and many merchents may hate you and over charge you.
Now if you chose the path of Righteousness(why you would I don't know) you will basicly save people on a quest to avenge your parents deaths.If you accidently kill an innocent first off congradulations there may still be a chance for you to be evil,second you can go to the Chapel of Light to redeem yourself.When you wanna settle down you'll be able to marry anyone of those damsel in destress types,then have kids that'll act like Beaver and Wally Cleaver.
Now onto the fun stuff:EVIL!Now all you light wieghts who think you'll be Darth Vader like that,it won't be that easy.To get to Vader status you have to be a souless menicle bastard.On your way to kill the SOB that killed your parents you'll marry an equaly hard chic and have kids that will remind you of Cain and Able,without the Able.And to be evil you have to creative.Anyone can be bad if you want to evil:do the bad thing,then do the right thing,which means you double crossed everyone,and when all is said and done kill em' all.

Annoyance @ power gamers

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: September 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Here's the deal, this game was not meant for gamers who want to see the final video as soon as humanly possible. This game is about building your character in both a statistical aspect and social aspect. I couldn't begin to tell you everything you can do in this game.

I think a LOT of the bad reviews on here are coming from power gamers who were expecting a game that was SO good that there was no hope for it to live up to the expectations. Granted I think this game could have been a bit longer, and I would have loved a totally open ended play style like Morrowind, but you know what? Morrowind has so many options that most people get lost and never see half the game. It's the difference between going to a playground and going to an amusement park. Both are fun, but at the playground you can go anywhere and do anything... the amusement park has controlled areas you can do stuff. Just different styles.

This game is definitely a rental for people. Personally I don't regret playing this game, the possibilities are amazing. Haircuts that make you more attractive or scarier, gifts you can give to women (or men if you want to swing that way), boasting about how well you are going to do on quests to boost the renown you get for completing them.

They say the devil is in the details. I think that they set the bar at a great level in the details catergory. A little refinement on the length and openness of the game would make this one HELL of a title. I would LOVE for them to bang out a sequel to this. Don't listen to all the nay-sayers here... try it out yourself, but realize that all the hype that people got going here might taint your opinion. Take the game for what it is and enjoy the hell out of it.

Prince Charming or Prince Alarming:You choose part2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 22
Date: July 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The coolest part however,is the changing procsess.If you eat to much you'll get fat like me,now that's fat:D.You can get tatoos or get in malee battles to get scars.If your in the sun alot you'll get a tan,and if your in the moonlight it'll bleach your skin white(that's Michel Jacksons excuse anyway).And If your good you'll get blond hair,high cheeck bones,sparkeling teeth,and a clear complection.If your a bigger boy scout than Superman(gag me) you'll get a halo and butterflys will follow you around and an angelic glow.Sickening ain't it.If your bad you you'll get red eye's and little bumps on your head.If your the Son of Satan you'll get a fire to burn around you,full on fire eyes and horns,and flies follow you around.Cool huh.
Finally for you goodie goodies who wise up or for you sell out,can't take it weaklings you can always turn on your people.If you were good,had a wife and kids then went off on an adventure and came back bad,well,your wife would leave you and take the kids,but that's alright cause you are know free and on the market.So forget the halo and get the horns.The same goes with evil.You've been out plundering and you accedently help someone,any decent heroic villan would kill the guy and go to the Chaple of Evil to touture some saps and redeam yourself.But this time you enjoyed it.So you go home,no longer dawning horns,now you have blond hair and pearly whites,and of corse you went soft.
So when it all is said and done all that matters is this question:Fable:Who are you?

Beautiful and Unique

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: October 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Fable is a wonderfully implemented and impressively beautiful game. The game engine, character interactions, fighting with weapons, magic, everything - works really well, generally just how it should. And the graphics are beautiful leaving little if anything to be desired. I guess it doesn't have the advanced lighting, shadowing, etc. of a game like Splinter Cell but they are certainly nice enough.

I've not finished the game yet but I've already gotten my money's worth. I can see how a 12 year old game maniac who plays continuously might finish Fable quickly and feel like $50 is a lot of money for just a few days of solid play. But for a busy adult, whose game skills are not olympic, and $50 is not noticible, you WILL get your money's worth. I think I'll be playing this game in my spare moments for weeks and then I'll periodically return to it over years to play a bit more.

With regard to the freedom factor - its true that this game is not as free-form as Morrowind or Baldur's Gate. You can wander around, but mostly over a relatively small set of paths and towns. Its not a gigantic unexplored world to get lost within. I think this game's freedom is a different type. The freedom in this game revolves around what type of hero you want to become and I think in this case the game does a great job of allowing you to select what you want to be. And there look to be many acceptable, fun answers. In this way I think this game is a step above Morrowind or Baldur's Gate.

Overall, Fable is amazingly well built. Balanced, smooth, fun, without excess frustration, and a pleasure to play.

Hopefully the creators will use the same technology to build a sequal with even greater flexibility and world size to satisfy all the RPGers.

Fable Doesn't Deliver on Hype but is still a Great RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: September 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you paid attention in the last few years about all the things that Fable was supposed to allow you to do, a good majority of it was taken out at the last minute or somewhere along the way (but hey, there's always Fable 2!).

For example, you can no longer have children, there are no longer really a bunch of other heroes competing with you for renown. There is also not a completely open-ended storyline and you are not followed from birth to death like was originally imagined.

Instead, you pass through childhood and your teenage years in about 30 minutes game time and then are a young adult hero entering the world and ready to fight some evil (or be evil).

The thing that I find most fun about this game compared to others such as Knights of the Old Republic and Morrowind is that compared to KOTOR, the combat system is much more fun. It actually requires some skill, instead of just queuing up actions for your Jedi to own with. Fable has most of the cooler "Force" powers such as Force Lightning and Force Push - except even nicer graphics. There is also one called Battle Charge that looks like the Back to the Future car disappearing into time except it is your character smashing into someone else. Compared to Morrowind, in Fable you cannot just run anywhere, you have to stay on the paths and go into defined areas. There are also a lot more loading screens than in Morrowind, maybe slightly more than KOTOR as well.

Overall 5/5

Graphics 5/5

Sound 5/5 - with a score by Danny Elfman - what can go wrong?

Gameplay 4/5 - some initial awkwardness in combat and camera control

Replayability 5/5 - you can probably play through this game several times with different characters to see how cool you can make them. Plus you can own shops, buy towns, or be evil and kill tons of people by luring them into the woods - and then steal their houses.

Best RPG I have ever experienced

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: October 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have been a gamer my whole life, starting with the Intellivision in the 80s (Burger Time, anyone?). Never before has a game been so addictive and has had me coming back to it when I swore I'd go out and interact with the real world for a while. It took me about 15 hours to complete (I only did 6 side-quests, there are many many more I'm told).

Fable is designed to allow you to be whoever and whatever you want your character to be. You first start off as a child and you grow into an old man as the game progresses. Every move you make changes the way your character turns out. As a result of everything you do you can be evil and make children run from you and villagers fear you, or you can be good and have people clap for you and cheer at you everywhere you go. Also, the way you prefer to do battle will determine your class. If you use your sword a lot you'll end up a warrior; if you use your spells most of the time you may end up a caster; or you can use your bow and become a ranger. You can combine them as well. I beleive the stats menu said I was an "Arcane-warrior" or something to that nature.

The graphics are very detailed. The story is captivating and deep. And the sounds and music are very well done. Despite my giving it 5 stars it does have its flaws. The villagers get annoying very quickly, the game is rather short for an RPG and another 10 to 20 hours more would have been great (I did ignore a lot of quest cards toward the end which may have made it longer, and I didn't do all the demon doors), and there is a small amount of spells and equipment (which is understandable since the game is so short).

After wasting a well spent 15 hours of my life on this game trying to be on the side of good. I think I'll waste another 15 or so and try to be evil next time around. I highly recommend this game to any gamer, whether you like RPGs or not.

Join the dark side!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 18
Date: June 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Fable looks cool. Its rated mature because you can cut off heads. If you are good everyone will love you and you will have an angelic glow. But if you are evil you sprout devil horns and people will flee from your mighty empire. You will have a tan if you are always out at day but if you stay out at night you be as pale as a ghost. You can buy houses and castles and even get married and have kids! This will be the ultimate rpg.

An excellent RPG for mature gamers

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: September 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Fable is the latest RPG by Peter Molyneux, creator of Populous and Black & White. As in the previous games, your actions determine your look and the look of the world around you.

You start out as a lad in a village, doing random quests for your village. You can choose to do those quests nicely or cruelly, changing your reputation as you go. The townspeople react to your new reputation. The village is soon torched by bandits and you go off to a guild hall to become a Hero, to get revenge.

The game is very open ended, letting you choose which quests you wish, roam around slaying beasts, hang out in the pubs playing pub games, getting drunk. You can get married, get divorced and slay people. As you set your course in life, and choose clothing and armor, people react to you with pleasure, fear, appreciation, laughter, and more.

The graphics are stellar in this game. Trees have leaves of different types. Smoke rises from the glowing forge, the game cycles from day to night as you adventure. Your character can wear hairstyles and tattoos, changing clothes to suit the occasion. The sounds are great as well. You hear hoot-owls at night, sparrows during the day. People sleep and snore at night, while kids arond during the day. Amongst it all, a gentle classical musical score puts you into the medieval frame of mind.

There are the traditional elements of an RPG here - you slay creatures, solve quests, earn money and reputation. You use experience to build up the skills in the area you enjoy - magic, ranged weapons, hand to hand combat. If you choose good things to do, the people love you and your look and atmosphere is one of joy. If you choose evil things, the townspeople run in fear, you sprout horns and even get a bug-swarm near you.

But the true joy of this game is where it lets you pretty much do whatever you want. You can marry a girl - then kill her off for her inheritance. Or kill off her parents. Or divorce her and marry another one. The choices are pretty much endless, and since every person in the game related to each other one and to you, you never know what the various combinations will cause to happen.

This is NOT a quick game to win. It will take you some time to get through the intro / tutorial areas and really learn the basics. Once you do, the gameplay itself can easily take weeks to months to try out everything, if it is even possible to try everything. You'll want to create several characters to be able to try the world as good, evil and everything in between.

Also note this is a MATURE title and lists in its "things you've done" items like "getting drunk" and "having sex" and so on. You run into situations with cheating husbands, cheating wives, etc. This isn't meant for the younger set. Still, for adults it can be great fun.

Highly recommended, 10/10!!

I won't be surprised if this game is better than Halo 2.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 17
Date: July 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a totally new franchise but it's gotten a lot of hype and looks interesting. It's hyped to be the second best game on XBOX behind Halo 2, but Halo 2 has been delayed forever and it looks a lot like the original Halo to me.

That dude that gave this game 1 star is probably just pissed because he only has a GameCube or something. Who cares about XBOX live, XBOX is getting enough games with muti-player death matches already. Sorry to say but not all of us care about that. That's another problem with Halo 2, all the talk is about online play, what about the campaign mode? Watch it be the second hand focus of the game and turn into a clone of the original. Kinda like... I don't know... Splinter Cell 2?

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