Fable 2 Impressions
First off, Fable 2 is incredible and should be picked up by anyone who owns an Xbox 360. I have always felt that the Fable games were Microsoft's version of Legend of Zelda games without the overwhelming commitment. Since the main story can be completed in about 15 hours, it's no where near the 40-60 it takes to complete a Zelda game. What makes Fable and Fable 2 great is the game is made for replay and has tons of side quests to fill out the experience for those that want more than a 15 hours experience. So far I'm about 3/4 through the game I think and I'm about 13 hours in. I've ignored the main quest as much as I could and spent time on the other things you can do in the game like explore caves and take a job as a blacksmith.
The main game feature mostly remembered from Fable was that you had the option to play as good or evil. Often your choices didn't have much recourse in the world. Maybe people wouldn't like you or stated you shouldn't of done something but it had no effect on the world. You might have grown some horns or maybe had some butterflies fly around your head but that was all. In Fable 2 you have some more significant changes based on your decisions. Some of your earliest decision can determine if cities will thrive or fail.
There are some quests that are just plain evil and some are just plain good. It's clear that by choosing one or the other that you will be doing good or evil. That is why no only is there a good vs evil meter but there is a corruption vs purity meter as well. Maybe you are rich and you buy of shops or homes and you increase the prices for goods and rent? This will make you more corrupt while lowering the prices will make you more pure. Since you can marry and have kids in Fable 2 you can also set their allowance and decide how nice their home is. Maybe you live high on the hog while you make your family live off scraps? These are options some players can choose to make.
From a pure game play comparison to the original it is clear that Fable 2's world is much larger with more areas to explore. The combat system is almost identical to the first game with melee mapped to the X button, range mapped to Y and magic mapped to the B button. Unlike the original you can not map items to your d-pad which I think is a mistake. If you want to use an item you must pause the game to go to the menu system.
The significant changes in game play is you can play a a woman, have a child and you have a dog as your companion. Since the original Fable allowed you to have homo-sexual relationships it's not to surprising you can have a woman hero. You can play as a woman, meet a man, marry and have him raise your kids. I have also heard that female-female relationships can lead to pregnancy as well. Your child will run to see you when you come to town and praise you as long as you treat him/her well. This relationship is a very interesting one to explore and so far I've been very find to this family (I have another wife in different town....pro trip: you don't want them to ever meet).
The one lasting relationship in the game is to your dog. He will be with you thick or thin. You can praise your dog or punish him as well. Your appearance, social acceptance and behavior will reflect upon him. If you are evil, your dog will be just as evil. In battle he will fight with you and if he gets hurt you can choose to heal him or let him limp and whine as he tries to keep up.
I think Fable 2 is an incredible game that will push the boundaries on what we expect from games of this genera. Fable 2 will pull at the heart strings and use your relationships in the game to care about the non-playable characters. The game's actual story may be a bit of rehash for seasoned gamers but the choices you make and the feels the game evokes make it a instant classic.
The main game feature mostly remembered from Fable was that you had the option to play as good or evil. Often your choices didn't have much recourse in the world. Maybe people wouldn't like you or stated you shouldn't of done something but it had no effect on the world. You might have grown some horns or maybe had some butterflies fly around your head but that was all. In Fable 2 you have some more significant changes based on your decisions. Some of your earliest decision can determine if cities will thrive or fail.
There are some quests that are just plain evil and some are just plain good. It's clear that by choosing one or the other that you will be doing good or evil. That is why no only is there a good vs evil meter but there is a corruption vs purity meter as well. Maybe you are rich and you buy of shops or homes and you increase the prices for goods and rent? This will make you more corrupt while lowering the prices will make you more pure. Since you can marry and have kids in Fable 2 you can also set their allowance and decide how nice their home is. Maybe you live high on the hog while you make your family live off scraps? These are options some players can choose to make.
From a pure game play comparison to the original it is clear that Fable 2's world is much larger with more areas to explore. The combat system is almost identical to the first game with melee mapped to the X button, range mapped to Y and magic mapped to the B button. Unlike the original you can not map items to your d-pad which I think is a mistake. If you want to use an item you must pause the game to go to the menu system.
The significant changes in game play is you can play a a woman, have a child and you have a dog as your companion. Since the original Fable allowed you to have homo-sexual relationships it's not to surprising you can have a woman hero. You can play as a woman, meet a man, marry and have him raise your kids. I have also heard that female-female relationships can lead to pregnancy as well. Your child will run to see you when you come to town and praise you as long as you treat him/her well. This relationship is a very interesting one to explore and so far I've been very find to this family (I have another wife in different town....pro trip: you don't want them to ever meet).
The one lasting relationship in the game is to your dog. He will be with you thick or thin. You can praise your dog or punish him as well. Your appearance, social acceptance and behavior will reflect upon him. If you are evil, your dog will be just as evil. In battle he will fight with you and if he gets hurt you can choose to heal him or let him limp and whine as he tries to keep up.
I think Fable 2 is an incredible game that will push the boundaries on what we expect from games of this genera. Fable 2 will pull at the heart strings and use your relationships in the game to care about the non-playable characters. The game's actual story may be a bit of rehash for seasoned gamers but the choices you make and the feels the game evokes make it a instant classic.
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