So, Fable 2

[Nappi]

There was a vote?

[ThunderPeel2001]

No

[Nappi]

Ok.. Was it on the staff list?

[ThunderPeel2001]

No...

(Yes, I'm a total idiot.)

[Cigol]

The only list I've noticed Fable II in is Joystiq's and that's because it just so happens to be their number one choice of game for 2008. I'll freely admit I'm drawn to these lists like a moth to light, but once I've calmed down and wiped the tears from eyes I realise there's little point in getting upset or bent out of shape as the only opinion that matters anyway is mine.

[Nachimir]

Yeah, I enjoyed it.

Edit: oops, missed the new page. Meant to follow Thunder's post about it not being as bad as it sounds.

One thing I found with both this and the first one was that they both feel a bit bleak toward the end of the game. You're becoming incredibly powerful and rich, running out of missions and the NPCs are bascially pestering you to stop dicking around and just go and do the final quest already.

I did like the Glaswegian gargoyles that mock you.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Nachimir

[Thrik]

Just to even the balance a bit, I want to add that I got Fable 2 just before my Christmas holiday and having sank at least 20 hours into it thus far (and still having many quests left, including the main storyline) I can honestly say it's one of the most enjoyable games I've played all year.

In fact, the only game I can say I've been more happy I bought is Metal Gear Solid 4. I seriously love Fable 2, and have genuine difficulty empathising with the negative discourse about it on here in any way. I love the action (there is more depth to it than mashing buttons), I love the way the story and world unfolds, I love the atmosphere, I love the dialogue, I love the music, I love all the peripheral/social stuff.

I won't deny it does have some issues, for example the job mini-games really are as mundane as they sound. Also the dog can be a bit annoying with regards to how dumb it is sometimes, sometimes refusing to find the right way around an obstacle to a treasure spot or whatever and basically getting stuck until you help it out. But game breaking or even massively significant? Not at all. For me, the pros outweigh the cons so much there's not even a dispute.

I think the main thing that Fable 2 does to cuddle my happy side is the atmosphere. It has a very unique and quaint feel, yet is also significantly darker than Fable 1. It's made me literally jump a few times (That fucking winter lodge!), which is something the original didn't have a hope in hell of doing to me. Also good is that it has a quality sense of humour, which likewise has the dark touch applied to it.

My view? Don't let yourself be steered and not actually try it. I very nearly didn't buy it because of the various Idle Thumbs members' opinions, and that would have been a fucking mistake.

[Nachimir]

(That fucking winter lodge!)

Haha, yes!

I liked that a lot, and in a similar vein there's some pretty nice narrative level design near the end of the game. I'm surprised I find so much to gripe about when talking about this, because I liked the game and it had a pretty decent ending even if it does feel rushed.

I also really liked the dog. All its dumbness was completely excusable to me because it's not meant to be a person, and I think having it serve similar functions to what would otherwise be HUD is a good piece of design.

[toblix]

WTF winter lodge?

[Thrik]

Check out the demon door between Oakvale () and Bloodstone. It's probably the easiest door in the whole game to get through, requiring nothing more than one object from a general store.

[toblix]

Yeah, I just watched it on Youtube (I'm not starting up that game again unless it's to get some multiplayer achievements), and it was pretty awesome. It would be cool if they made the rest of the game like that. Awesome, I mean. BURN!

Was there a back story to it, though? I unlocked another one of the doors, and it was a weird path backwards in time ("Memory Lane" or something) and it was pretty cool, but it seemed only half-finished, like they didn't have the time to add more than a chest with some shit in it. To me it's just confirming my theory that the game suffers heavily from having too much stuff in it, and that the project manager was an idiot. There's different types of things everywhere, different concepts, mechanics, etc. but none of them are very good, none of them mesh, and they have this huge fucking side quest inside this huge fucking castle with a huge fucking dungeon underneath that you'll only ever see if you buy the million dollar property, but when you browse equipment in a shop, you can't fucking compare it to the equipment you're currently wielding. What the fuck, Lionhead?

edit:

• The voice work is fucking brilliant.
  
• The combat is fun and responsive.
  
• They experimented with a lot of things, which is cool.
  
• The music was beautiful.
  
• The mood in Oakvale was fantastic, just like Westfall.
  
• There was no ridiculously hard and tedious end boss.
  
• There's a lot of good jokes everywhere.
  

[ThunderPeel2001]

My view? Don't let yourself be steered and not actually try it. I very nearly didn't buy it because of the various Idle Thumbs members' opinions, and that would have been a fucking mistake.

You've intrigued me...

Considering I initially found Fable I to be pretty solid and enjoyable, but then on returning found it incredibly average (if polished)... I'm really not sure I could face Fable II if it was similar to the original.

How do you think Fable II compares to the first one? Is it a significant improvement, or do you not think that the original didn't need significant improvement?

[Nachimir]

I played The Lost Chapters, which may have given me a rosier view of the original.

I've found the two very similar, though Fable 2 isn't so awe inspiring, since the aesthetic was new to me when I played the first one. I really liked that they reused parts of the original soundtrack.

Melee doesn't feel that different, and context sensitive one button actions aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. The magic system seemed very odd at first (Stack five spells at five different power levels, charging progresses through them, letting go casts), but once used to it, found it okay.

I like how they've implemented ranged combat, so that with higher targeting abilities you can get headshots, crotch shots, or shoot weapons out of hands, but using the button, trigger and stick to do it costs time, so you can't just headshot a large pack of enemies before some of them reach you.

Gameplay I found very close to Fable, though I was playing that on PC so am not the best person to compare. I thought what they did in F2 was well implemented on a 360 pad.

I liked the story in this one more too, it's darker, more dramatic, and I found the characters more rounded and likable. Theresa, voiced by Zoe Wanamaker, irked me a lot less than the guildmaster did in Fable.

[Garple]

Did anyone else think the time you spent as a guard at the spire was a pretty awesome little interlude? Something about it vaguely made it feel, to me, like a Bioware game (maybe that's just because the guy who's in charge of you looks like a powdery Darth Maul). And I can't remember the last time a game moved from one section to the next by basically saying "Ten Years Later..."

[Nachimir]

It did remind me a lot of Mass Effect, but I didn't particularly like the sequence. I thought the commandant was a poor and melodramatic bad guy.

They could have done better with it I think. Time spent at the spire was meant to add weight to the choice at the end, but the generic nature of all the characters in there didn't do it for me. I chose the dog without hesitation or regret.

[vimes]

I must admit I decided to play Fable 2 for its art design, because I really found the areas (mostly Bowerstone) utterly gorgeous... and I wasn't disappointed on this aspect. But on the core gameplay and story frontw, there really wasn't anything worthy of praise : if you're unlucky, you'd discover quickly that the combat can be mindlessly getting cared of and after its first chapter, the storyline find its way to dullness.

And yet, it doesn't really matter to me because Fable 2 world seemed an incredibly complete, coherent and believable one, which is something I hadn't felt in a while.

In fact, it's only after completing the main quest (and its awesome last third thanks to the Perfect World segment and Stephen Fry) that I discovered that Fable 2 was a comfy game that I enjoyed going back to for two hours a week ... if only to explore new areas for the archeologist, complete the remaining side quests and check on my family as well as my real estate empire. It's might seems really ridiculous, but it feels like checking on a relative and finding what's new.

My only grudge for the time being is that my daughter and wife aren't aging at all and remain happy no matter what.

On a related note, I kept on thinking about Discworld during the game (similar aesthetic and tone) so from now on, I'll be waiting for a game in a seamless Ankh Morpock in the style of Bowerstone/Westcliff; with all the simulation of Fable2 dropped from it. I know it's pretty unlikely, but I can dream, can't I ?

[Garple]

I'm thinking of trading this in after I get the castle. But what has been released for the 360 in the past couple months that's actually worth getting. I loved the demo for Sonic Unleashed...but it got horrible reviews across the board. I'm going to buy it eventually no matter what because I think the mechanics are solid and they managed to capture the classic sense of speed in the new format of 3D environments. Maybe I'm just missing what everyone is complaining about because I haven't played any of the previous 3D Sonic games.

I do like the fact that the game doesn't reset itself after you finish the main quest...so you can keep going with everything as it was. But there isn't much to do. They even stop having sales in the shops, permanently. Screw it, I think I'm gonna hold onto it and wait for the DLC.

Gah! I sound like a parody of a 15 year old commenting on gamespot, in this post.

PS...Did anyone get the dreadlocks?

[Thrik]

Yes, I had to get them to enter one of the demon doors — amongst other ridiculous things.

[Thrik]

http://www.lionhead.com/fable2/KnotholeIsland.aspx

[Garple]

http://www.lionhead.com/fable2/KnotholeIsland.aspx

That looks cool, Thrik; thanks for the link. It could be just a cheap cash-in and the full armor thing seems kinda dumb; but, I like the fact that they're trying to keep the "sense of wonder" thing going by creating an environment with more mystery and weird little details than any of the core game's locales.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Started playing Fable II just recently and I got to say: Really enjoying it so far. A vast step forward over the first one. Great stuff

[Murdoc]

Glad this came up as it tends to get a lot of shit from people and usually with good reason.

The main problem I found with it was what it did well, it didn't do enough of (Area changing based on your decisions and I thought the combat was done well, but they didn't set it up properly most of the time to make it shine)

The world was amazing, but lost a lot of the charm of the first one; which I hope they can try to get back in later iterations. I really enjoy the designs and the character style was getting to be pretty close to awesome.

The one thing it did that rises above the rest in its "genre"(making decisions that are "good" and "evil") is this odd grey area, which made things a bit bleak. Aside from an a grey area in parts, I really really liked what they did with the major good decisions near the end; it introduced the idea of sacrifice as a hero to do the right thing.

I thought that alone is a concept bioware really needs to take note of, because no longer was the altruistic idea of being good because its the right thing, this time around doing the right thing harmed your person and would be a better mark of a true hero.

It's odd, but things I'd really like to see this series do is really feeling the effects of your change in the world(sounds like thats what fable 3 is about) and I honestly liked the family ideal, they loved the hell out of me but I saw them once a year because I was too busy saving the world or something; would be nice if they expanded the dog concept onto the children. Like if your a jerk they grow up to be douchebags or something.