Fable I
I’m a huge fantasy fan and I also have a strange adoration for the period that this game was set in despite my hatred of history (for someone who hates history there is a weird amount of time periods which fascinate me).
This game is one of the most anticipated games on the market. Who doesn’t love a bit of sword play, fantasy, heroism and ale drinking?
Fable is a third person action RPG based around 1 main character and his dog which follows him everywhere, the character is called ‘The Hero of Oakvale’. The cool thing is, your character can either be good or evil depending on your actions. The game is set in Albion which is a patchwork collection of towns and cities that used to be called the Old Kingdom (you’d thing that would come later rather than sooner) when it lived in prosperity but as time went on the ruler became corrupt and now the hero lives in a lawless, country that is slowly deteriorating.
The Hero is sent on quests, some further the plot and some are merely for entertainment value and for gain. Some quests allow the player to pick which side they wish to help, good or evil, these choices lead to the characters over all popularity and reputation. If a player accepts a quest then they can boast and can have bets like doing the whole quest naked or without getting hurt they can then increase the money they get from the quest if this challenge is overcome (I think that’s pretty cool, how many games dare you to do a quest naked?).
Renown is the most important thing the hero needs. To get this they can boast about winnings and trophies, they can use gold from quests to buy it but they also need the gold to buy better weapons to make harder quests achievable which also gets them Renown.
Weapons range (see what I did there? I make myself laugh sometimes. Someone has to...laugh that is) from swords and maces to bows and arrows and that even includes magic. To increase magical ability the hero must kill enemies and collect their orbs. Different colours mean different things; there is general, strength, skill and will. General can be used to modify groups of attributes, strength is good for toughness, health etc, Skill, for speed and accuracy and such and Will is for upgrading your spells. Each spell upgrade will tell you how much of which one it needs.
The Fable map is riddled with towns and cities, full of life and activities for the hero. I good way to get gold is to buy houses and rent them out(if you are feeling malevolent you can raise the rent or even, if you are feeling extra vicious, kick our your tenants for new ones). If you want, although if you ask me it’s a bit strange, you can find a woman, or man (you can even be gay) and get married (I should warn you, all the towns folk are really ugly) and have children (unless you are in a gay relationship in which case you can’t have children).
A note on alignment
I mentioned this earlier. Your character has the ability to become good or evil based on actions you choose to take. Well here is a bit more about that.
I think most gamers like the evil looking ones (it might just be me and my weird observation) like me and Valhalla. Some I suppose may like being good, well this game takes them to the extreme. The good ones get halo’s and end up looking a bit like prince charming (retch) and butterfly’s follow them around and it’s all pretty and such and the evil ones grow horns and get red eyes and give of a glowing red aura as a warning to any who approach.
Other things that affect the hero
If you eat too much or drink too much you become irreversibly fat it can also make you throw up.
Clothes can make you appear scary or protect you in battle and they can also affect your alignment. Bright colours will make the townspeople like you and dark colours will make them fear you.
You can change your hair, facial features and even get tattoos. Attributes also affect aesthetics such as your strength increases brawn, skill affects your height, and spells make celestial patterns on your skin.
Plot
As a child the hero’s family is killed, on his sister’s birthday. The hero joins ‘The Hero’s Guild’ and trains to become a champion. The hero begins a journey to find out why his family were killed and eventually a friend tells him that there is a blind seeress in a bandit camp nearby who may be able to help. So the hero travels to find her and discovers that it is his sister and that she was taken by the bandit leader who the hero challenges. The hero can choose to let him live or kill him which marks the beginning of his choice of alignment.
When the hero is stronger he is invited to a battle arena where he meets Jack of Blades who challenges the hero to fight Whisper, a friend and rival. He then has to decide whether to kill or spare his friend.
The hero discovers that Jack of Blades is the one who killed his family and the whole of Oakvale (the hero’s childhood home). The hero tracks down his mother who has been a prisoner of Jack of Blades since ever since. The hero is captured and when he escapes and takes his mother the hero once again searches for Jack. The hero’s friend is revealed to be a traitor and kidnaps the hero’s sister when the hero defeats his friend he gets to fight Jack where is mother is killed.
It is discovered that the hero and his sister are the only remaining decedents of the king and so the only ones who can wield the sword. After killing Jack the hero can either keep the sword and kill his sister or cast away the sword (it’s kind of like Achilles’ decision in mythology where he had to decide between living a short and heroic life or a long and boring one).
There are 4 possible endings, you must decide.
There is a special edition where the story continues but I will leave you to discover that.
Have fun.
Btw this is a great game and I give it high ratings GGGGGGGGG (9/10 gamer points) because it is original and has interesting interpretation of storyline.
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