G-pinions

So, since Tom the jerk factory posted about Fable even though I bought it (twice, no less), I have no choice but to bore you with more stuff about Fable. It is most certainly a great game, as Tom's posts will attest to. It's great-looking, it's fun, and you really do see the consequences of your actions and all that jazz. However, it's not perfect. In fact, I would go so far as to call it unpolished. Even though it's nowhere near as ambitious in scope as when it began pre-production, it's still a bit too ambitious for it's own good. Lionhead and Big Blue Box obviously spent a hell of a long time on the world of the game, the character interaction dynamics, and designing interesting quests. However, there are still some fairly general problems I have with the design, as well as a few minor ones. And anyhow, you know what's great about the game, so I'd rather get out some frustrations than regale you with the obvious overall coolness.

The first problem I have is that it's too hard to be good. Call me a flaccid wang, but I want to be known for my kindness rather than my cruelty. I mean, I don't take shit from people (like when they assume they can use my services and then not pay me - dead asshole), but I'm not going to go out of my way to be a jerk to someone. Sure, I smash the odd barrel, but I do it when the guard's not looking so I don't have to kill him when he tries to fine me. Trouble is, the game makes it really hard to play it completely straight. If you accidentally smash an upstairs window while admiring somebody's house, you'll have a dozen guards on your ass in no time. Either you have to pay a huge fine, or leave town until things have settled down. Both of those are a hassle and a waste of money and time, and it makes it very tempting to just rob everyone blind before I leave or take down a handful of guards and not have to leave at all. And I can understand the game tempting you on both sides, but when a farmer whose stones I'm protecting is going out of his way to tell me how valuable they are over and over, well, it seems like it would be to my benefit to slaughter him and his wife, take their damn stones, and possible fart a couple times in their house. Now that I've chosen the path of good, I'd just like it to be a bit easier to experiment with things without having to leave the area afterwards.

Another problem I noticed is that while Fable is surely epic in scope, and completely free-form in structure, it seems to try to keep things a lot more linear than you'd like them. It's always pushing you back on the path of the next mission, whether it's your guild master blabbing in the narration about where to go, wandering people you talk to constantly saying you're needed in such and such area, or the general feeling of unaccomplishment if you're not on a mission. The whole idea was to encourage people to go off the beaten path and find their own quests and callings and mistresses, but as much as I try I'm rewarded a hell of a lot more by defending an apple orchard against some trolls because the game asked me to. It's tough to earn money for fun, dating, and upgrades when you're just wandering around, and while playing the various traders like a stock market can net you good amounts, it's a bit too laborious to be worth it.

While those are my main problems, a slew of little ones exists. There's obviously a shitload of things to do in the game, but rarely does any single game mechanic work flawlessly. For one, the map and the menus both have their problems - the former being too general at times and constantly confusing to navigate (why the hell didn't they just make it player-centric?), while the latter is just redundant in places and generally not nicely organized. Fighting is certainly varied for what is basically a hack n' slash game, and usually pretty rewarding, but there are some spotty collision detection and balance issues once in a while. That, and blocking is just very badly incorporated into the mix. Messing with your inventory is damn near impossible while fighting if you need more than eight items at your disposal, so make sure you go into battle prepared to swap items and spells like a pro; why wouldn't they just have the game pause when you do these things?

So those are some issues I've had with Fable so far. It's a great game, and I'd still recommend it to every Xbox owner, but it has it's share of problems. Once again, read Tom's post if you want straight praise, I just figured I'd speak from the other side of the coin, even if said coin is still wonderful.