As a gamer there are specific types of games I am drawn towards and then there are some that absolutely avoid. For a very long time I would not play anything that required stealth or any kind of RPG. I hate stealth games because I tend to enjoy the run and gun style of games. I like to head into battle screaming instead of hiding in the shadows. To this day if a game has stealth in it's title I will not purchase the game. I used to feel the exact same way about RPGs until I played Fable on the original Xbox.

My experience with RPGs had been very limited before the Xbox. For the most part I knew they tended to be very long games with turn based action that felt more like reading a book than playing a game. The cut scenes were often the best part and to me that means the best part of your game is the worst part of games. I'm not sure what drove me to play Fable but I think it was probably all they press the game received prior to it's release.

Fable was touted as the best RPG ever by it's creator. It was going to do things no other RPG had ever tired to do before. It was an Action RPG so all battles occurred in real time instead of in turns. In the end the hard core RPG fans tore this game apart because it did not meet the promises made by it's creator. Yet it was one of the highest rated games released and the second highest selling franchise on the Xbox. The narrative of a boy saved by a sorcerer as his family and village where destroyed was compelling to most and a fulfilling adventure. The game was made for the casual audience but had enough re-playability to keep the hard core content. The entire adventure could be completed in 14 hours but I found myself playing the game twice as your decisions early on changed how the game treated you.

The sequel to Fable is now in development and I expect the game to be coming out in Fall of 2008. We have seen some glimpses of the game and recently a developer diary has been released to Xbox Marketplace for download. This game is my most anticipated game on the Xbox 360. I am looking forward to this game more than Halo 3, Assassin's Creed or the inevitable Gears of War sequel. I just really want to play Fable 2 and enjoy the world the game will provide. I've been holding out on playing Fable again until the release of Fable 2 so that I can be thoroughly prepared for the next game. I highly recommend picking up the Fable if you have not played the game. It was one of the gems that the original Xbox produced. This might surprise some but Fable was my favorite game on the Xbox, not Halo.