TITANS OF ETHER

[Corv]

Did you look at Fable?? I mean, I expected alot of that game and now its nothing more than a children game with a superficialy implemented good and evil "system". I am very dissapointed and this from PM who is claimed to be a star designer.... Take a look at that system and think twice about what you expect from us
But seriously, how can you announce an epic RPG and then release a cheap Zelda clone?
I didnt expect too much from the game - my expectations weren't too high after Black and White, but this is really a big (negative) suprise.
_________________
Corv Dragon
-=(UDIC)=-
Leader of Titans of Ether
Lead Designer, Scripter and Worldbuilder of Redemption

[Xodus]

KOTOR II > Fable, 'nuff said.

[Nymeria]

(Lifts her right eyebrow)
Errm...what's Fable?
_________________
What would this world be without Nutella?

Visit Tad and Nimmy's homepage:
http://www.tadnan-hideout.com/MW/main.html

[Corv]

Its a "RPG" (it at least claims to be one) for the XBox. But your better off if keep not knowing it
_________________
Corv Dragon
-=(UDIC)=-
Leader of Titans of Ether
Lead Designer, Scripter and Worldbuilder of Redemption

[Antagonist]

Fable may be the biggest hype ever created concerning a computer game. PM, formerly star designer and currently sellout, advertised it as the "ONE TRUE ONLY RPG EVAH!". It was supposed to be a large world where everything happens dynamically instead of using scripts, competitors in the hero line of business, aging trees etc. Read the articles from the last 2 years and you will get a pretty good picture. Now, I don't even own a XBox but from the negativ backlash towards PM I learned that most of the promised features were cut without telling the potentiol customers. They even showed scenes from Fable at the E3 with features which were cut and never bothered to update their FAQ.

I can only speculate about the reasoning behind it but I believe it was done to prevent lower initial sales until the disappointed customers start to complain about it throughout the internet.

[Break Man]

[Thepal]

[Van Hailm]

Remember the hype surrounding Ascension
No dragonflight, no companion return, no slasher of veils, no civil war,no alternate ending...

Trailers even used cut out videos and and gameplay footage showed models that were change ingame (brutes were giant-sized at one time, you can see it in one videos)

Same thing here... Big promises but not everything is in...

[Break Man]

I just played Fable, and I am truly amazed at this game. It's really great. Though it still suffers from console style physics. (Like the inability to walk out of a certain location once on some types of quests.)

Great things about the game:
-Non-linear city physics. People eat, drink, sleep, and tend their shops. The poor wander about town while others carry supplies between shops. I've even seen these two people fall in love with one another at one point.
-Criminal justice. Never, since Ultima 7, have I seen a system that allowed a realistic theivery interface. Not only that, they include laws such as vandalism and trespassing, things not covered in any other game. They have a penal system similar to Morrowind, in that you can pay off the guards to ignore/let you off.
-Romance. Any female in the game can be wooed in one way or another. In fact... Any male in the game can also be wooed. Making your character personality twice as flexible, allowing him to be homo/bi sexual. Once married, you can even have sex... Which is always a plus in my book.
-Combat physics. Think of the fighting system in the game "Rune". It's very much the same, except not vitals. I don't mind the lack of vitals, since damage is caused due to character skills and not how fast you can mash buttons.
-Personal Character development. It's much more in depth than a simple "Good to Evil" variety. There is always the choice of being a shade of grey by remaining neutral or something. (Personally, I made my guy as "good" as physically possible.) There are four factors to your character personality that may be customized through deeds, clothing, hair, and even tattoos. Alignment (Morality), Attractiveness, Scariness (Intimidation), and Renown (Fame). Which is a bit more than I ever saw on any review.

Bad things about the game:
-Can't have kids. I've tried banging my wife forever. I've banged several, in fact. It seems the world is rather barren, or something's wrong with my junk. Aw well... At least I have an excuse to get her in bed...
-Experience. Fable follows an experience system akin to Quest 64. The more you practice a certain skill type, the more points you recieve in that category. (Meaning, the more you use a sword the more skills you can buy in the Strength category.) This isn't too much of a problem, it's less linear than most console RPGs are.
-Quests. Strange thing here... Some quests forbid the player from leaving a certain set of locations. If you force yourself to, you go back in time to before you started the quest so you can do what you wanted to leave for before going on it. This kinda pisses me off, but it's not so bad, since this usually only happens when quests are needed to be done with haste. (Kinda unrealistic, when the local monsters are holding a child captive for dinner while you wander off to the nearest tavern to drink, only to come back days later and the kid's still there. So it's kinda excusable. I'd rather the kid be killed if I am too late though.)
-Odd Storytelling technique. It seems that Fable has an excellent premise, but the way it's portrayed can get strange at times. The main character barely says a word, which is good because his tone becomes whatever you want it to be, but it causes some awkward moments. For example:

"Great hero! What shall you do, now that you've defeated the bandit king?"

"..."

"Ah, so you say you're going to Disny Land? How exciting! Tell me, what was it like to be the one to have saved our city?"

"..."

"Haha! Yes, I bet it felt that way!"

This conversation doesn't exist in the game, obviously, I'm just making an example. For the most part it's barely noticable, but there are times where the bumpy cutscenes can seem rushed due to one half of the dialogue being imaginary.

And finally, what I dislike the most, would be how the main character ages at such an extraordinary rate. I mean seriously... <Spoiler> In the beginning, the character's sister is at least a few years older than him as a child. As time went on, my character got into his early fifties, while his sister barely aged a day since last meeting her. (It also said it had only been about 15 "Game Days" in my personality log.)</Spoiler> So yeah, the aging system should've been slowed a bit, but it's an attractive enough idea that I still like it to a degree. (I just wish the game had hair dye. I've already lost all my color. )

I suggest you all at least try it out. It looks like there's a good deal of Ultima influence on it, and that's always appealing to me.