Fable

As young Xbox teen, I was among many that where hyped about this game. The creators of Fable promised the moon on a stick and certainly did not deliver. Initially, we where a bit dissapointed. Ultimately though, we had quite a lot of fun playing it. Overall, we where quite pleased with Fable, even if it didn'y quite live up to the expectations. Playing it back then was a pleasant experience. I recently replayed it and I still had a pleasant experience with it. However, it is showing signs of age.

After the Hype

Back in the day when I first obtained this game (I still refuse to believe it's been over 20 years ago), I was already deeply enamored with Morrowind. That's another game that's showing its age, but it's an obvious point of comparison before playing Fable. To my teenage brain, Morrowind was a sprawling world with numerous locations, diverse peoples, engaging quests, and decisions to be made that affected the world. I was fully expecting Fable to be much like that, but with a facelift, especially in the combat department. These where things that where promised by the main creator. Alas, I didn't quite receive any of that. And so, I was dissappointed.

A Satisfying Disappointment

Indeed, this isn't quite an open world. It's nothing like Morrowind. It's got connected areas that are segmented upon one another that you can traverse. Navigating from one area to an adjacent one launches a loading screen. Already, we can see a sign of age with these loading screens. The areas themselves are fairly limited in size. While you are in the area, you can perform the usual action RPG actions: attack enemies, open treasure chests, fish, dig for buried items, trade with merchants, and say "Hi" to NPCs. And I do mean merely saying "Hi". There's a handful of NPCs that will provide hints on your current quests as well as initiate them. You don't exactly get to engage in dialogue like you would in Morrowind.

Fighting in Albion

One mechanic that I did feel was an improvement over Morrowind was the combat. I hate to say it because it's one of my absolute favorite games ever, but the combat in Morrowind didn't exactly age well. There is no dodging. Blocking anything with a shield was totally random. Even preparing a magic spell was a chore.

Improved From Older Games

The combat in Fable is definitely better. You are allowed to roll for a dodge and block doesn't occur randomly. You actually control both by single button. You initiate rolls by holding the block button and pushing the left analog. Magic, or "Will", as it's called in the game, is prepared by holding the right trigger and pressing one of the face buttons except for "Y", which scrolls to the next selection of spells. It's actually fairly intuitive. However, playing this game over two decades later is also showing its age.

Still Dated

For the most part, the combat is fluid. But I can't help but feel a bit slogged by it. You frequently find yourself surrounded by enemies and the only real option is to hit them with an area attack like force push. If you find yourself with a small number of opponents, you could easily take advantage of stun-lock. Wack them with a power attack, await for the exact moment they rise back up, and wack them again. This could happen to you, too, if you're not careful. I've always hated stun lock. It's presence here is not the most egregious, but I still don't like it.

World of Albion

The story is nothing particularly special. It's the usual story of your entire village and family getting massacred, an elder warrior finds you in the aftermath, and then him and his heroic guild train you for, not only revenge, put to prevent evil from ruling over the world. What is special here is the world itself and the art direction. Fable is often described as whimsical. There's definitely an element of that. The world is bright and colorful and the characters are overwhermingly English in a charming way.

Shadows in the Bright

In the face of all this whimsy, however, is total morbidity. I mean, you're entire village is slaughtered right in front of you. Not to mention the tragic fate of your sister and mother. I haven't even discussed the obviously wicked and corrupt characters such as Lady Grey and a certain final boss. Hell, you have the option to engage in this wickedness yourself.

Limited Choices Have a Modicum of Consequence

But you can also promote all that is good in this world. You do have the option to take down bandits and topple Lady Grey. Fable was hyped up with the phrase "For every choice, a consequence." It doesn't live up to that hype, but there are choices to make. For the most part, they're pretty binary; good or evil. Your character will take on his appearance accordingly. So, even though the world is bright, colorful, and goofy looking, there's definitely some dark shadows being casted over it. It is up to the player to join the shadows or be a lightbearer of hope.

Slightly Dated, but Recommended

I think I can put Fable in the same league as the Warriors and Jade Empire. For their time, they where definitely top notch games and an absolute blast to playthrough. However, revisiting both of them twenty years later is revealing the cracks of age. Even though they're a bit dated, they're still a lot of fun to play. I still recommend a least an honest try.

Epilogue

I played the "Lost Chapters" version of Fable. It's basically DLC on a whole seperate disc that includes the original game. It's a bit amusing watching people complain about money grabbing DLC. It's fair to complain, but back in my day, you had to repurchase the entire freaking game just to obtain the "DLC". And would you know it? The DLC for Fable is pretty much a cash grab. It doesn't add anything exceptional; just a new location and a surprise twist in which the final boss is revealed to be an eternal demon. Honestly, it's not very interesting. You can definitely live without it. The story reaches a more satisfying closure without the DLC.