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56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
Fable 2 Limited Edition Under Delivers
I picked up this game because I enjoyed the first Fable and found it to be an easy to play game. The gameplay mechanics work for me and the easy controls make playing an RPG a good experience. But my review is not about the game. It's about the Limited Edition.
You get a card with a Code you can enter and get some Halo clothes and a weapon. You also get a...
Published 22 months ago by Tristan Pipo
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45 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
Still an Action RPG?
Before I begin this review, I would like to say that I have made my first run through the game (completed, from beginning to end), own and have played both the first Fable and Fable: TLC from beginning to end, and that my review may or may not contain some minor spoilers. I won't give away particular happenings, but I may hint at some events. This review will focus on...
Published 22 months ago by P. Billingsley
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56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
Fable 2 Limited Edition Under Delivers, November 3, 2008
Fun:
I picked up this game because I enjoyed the first Fable and found it to be an easy to play game. The gameplay mechanics work for me and the easy controls make playing an RPG a good experience. But my review is not about the game. It's about the Limited Edition.
You get a card with a Code you can enter and get some Halo clothes and a weapon. You also get a bonus disc that comes with a 30 minute making of documentary that really doesn't go into the experience of making the game. Some video of a troll looking character in different places the artwork gallery.
I have picked up other Limited Editions. Halo 3 for example had a great making of that was fun to watch. Seemed like they had great production value.
I recommend buying the game but the limited edition extra's are not really worth the extra $10 to me. I was reading in a few reviews you can get them for free. So pick up the regular Fable.
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
Your Health Is Low, October 26, 2008
Fun:
This review is from: Fable II (Video Game)
I didn't have a problem with the game freezing up my XBOX, and I'm sorry to hear it happened to (seemingly so many) others. The story isn't the best, and the inventory system is clunkier than the original. But a lot of improvement has been made. And you have to play it for a while to notice the better differences.
The good
There is no Mana bar anymore. If you are a primary Will user, this will be a godsend. No more having to worry about how much juice you have left. If you have the spell, you can use it as much and often as you want. I loved that. To extend on this, Magic is better balanced against melee weapons, so you don't feel like I did in the first one, that the spells were a nice addition, but not typically too practical in a difficult fight.
The game has a fairly complex economy system. Much more complex than I've seen in any other game. You can buy nearly every building in every city. There are exceptions...but not many. And when I say that, I mean it. You could probably count the buildings/structures you cannot buy on one hand. Which leads to the next thing I liked: When you rent out houses or buy vendor stalls and shops, you accumulate wealth without having to work for it. And, as is normal, you can regulate how much you charge. More than the town average will corrupt you, less with make you more pure.
After the main quest, there are still jobs and quests available that take a while to complete. I've probably put a good 30 hours into the game, and I still have a lot that can be done.
You four-legged friend. I think it's the coolest addition to the game. He will help you somewhat in fights, he will sniff out treasure for you to dig up, and he will growl when you approach an enemy, before you see them. As well, he/she has a number of expressions to compliment your own...which are adorable.
The graphics are really great. They are similar to the first game in terms of coloration and...well, Fableness. It's colorful and there are lots of ambient noises out in the open.
The leveling system is improved by default. Since in this world 500 years after the first, the Heroes Guild is utterly destroyed. The Chamber of Fate is the most intact piece that us left. But this means that there are no experience portals for Skill, Will, and Strength. So as soon as you build up enough experience, you can immediately go to the Abilities section in your options and upgrade you skills.
The music is pretty, and similar to the first. It's a perfect compliment to the environment. No long explanation needed. It's just well used.
The Okay
To be honest, I was disappointed in the guns. The rifles/pistols/crossbows. I didn't find them as evenly balanced against all of the others. They are nice from long range, but I didn't find them as useful as I found the bows in the original game. Not bad by any means, but I think if they caused more damage in relation to the other types of skills you possess, I would have used them more.
The "free roaming." On the back of the box it's said that "Roads are for suckers" accompanied by a picture of someone hopping a fence. Well yes, this is possible. However, what is not possible is multiple paths to the same destination. There is more substance -around- the roads, and there are more caves, but you cannot, for instance, leave the road and go up and over the mountain to get somewhere faster.
The new mapping system. I remember about a year ago, Peter Molyneux told us all that the original Fable was too easy. You could play the game by looking only at the displayed Mini Map. And he was right. But their solution? Now instead of a Mini Map, you have a glowing golden trail to follow. You -can- turn it off, but to be honest, I didn't really see this as a solution. It's just a different version of the same thing.
The bad
The story, I have to say. It's not that great, and it's not actually that long. But, I suppose I couldn't expect something on the scale of Oblivion or Lost Odyssey after the first one was so short as well. There were really no twists. The beginning really had me intrigued, with the box and such. But then it kind of went exactly how I expected it to go. There was no...substance, to any of the characters. Except between you and your dog. At the end of the game one of the characters calls your characters the best friend she ever had...and it's meaningless. You don't spend that much time together, and are absent for a long time. You don't know that much about them.
The Inventory system. Like the last game it is nicely divided into subsections. Weapons, Clothing, Food, Potions, Trophies, Books/Documents, etc. However, when you choose, for instance, to consume a potion that will give you more Strength Experience, it closes the menu and you go back to the game. So if I want to lose weight by eating celery, I have to press Stars>Items>Food>Celery. And then repeat it. It just gets to be a hassle. I wish you could do what you need to do, and then unpause the game yourself.
Weight. If it's your first playthrough, you will probably, like me, end up overweight. I didn't even realize it was happening, because when you first play through you probably don't have that much money, so you buy whatever will heal you. This seems necessary because, 1. If you get knocked out (killed), you get a new scar, and 2. Potions and Food are a lot less plentiful than in the last game. So when you get badly injured, you eat whatever comes up on the D-Pad. There are lots and lots of things that can make you fat. Cheese, meat, pie, some beers. The only normal item that makes you lose weight is celery. The ONLY. It took me about 5 hours of interactive game play to finally get back to even with my weight. Sleeping for weeks at a time to give the produce vendors time to restock on celery, buying and eating it, sleeping again. It got tiring, very fast. So my recommendation to you if you haven't bought the game yet and are reading this...stick with potions, apples, and carrots.
(Too long didn't read? The game is worth your $60.)
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45 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
Still an Action RPG?, October 23, 2008
Fun:
Before I begin this review, I would like to say that I have made my first run through the game (completed, from beginning to end), own and have played both the first Fable and Fable: TLC from beginning to end, and that my review may or may not contain some minor spoilers. I won't give away particular happenings, but I may hint at some events. This review will focus on some aspects of Fable II, but will mostly be a comparison between both Fables I and II and made for those who have played both.
I am a dedicated fan of Fable, and have been avidly awaiting this title ever since I finished with The Lost Chapters. And perhaps I hyped myself up far too much for this game because I loved the last so much, but I somehow felt very unsettled and disappointed after completing the game. I have done quite a bit of exploring, though perhaps not as much as I should have (I'm not certain yet, though I have done a fair few quests). And in regards to the storyline itself, I didn't like it that much. I found that while they repeated some aspects of the original Fable, which can only be expected, it really did fall short. I wasn't as interested in the events, and after a while going about the storyline just wasn't really that enlightening. The characters seemed hollow to me, and while interesting and eccentric in their own ways I just didn't connect to them, though the voice-acting was once again brilliant. The villain was the biggest disappointment of all to me. The previous villain was a mystery, and while his motives remained uncertain that was what gave him his charm and made him memorable. With the Fable II villain I kept expecting something interesting. I understood his motives, yes, but instead of that giving him depth (which had so much potential) he ended up seeming bland and cliche in the wrong sort of way. And the ending felt very anti-climatic to me. For anyone who plans on playing Fable II due to the grandness of the original Fable, don't expect too much here.
As far as the options for clothing and weaponry goes, I found that while there was plenty, none of it really appealed to me that much, and the items that did appeal to me were much too expensive for me to afford when I was focusing on gathering up a stock of potions when I found that perhaps I'd need them more than I expected. It's great that you can have jobs in this game and such, becuse earning gold in the original Fable was a bit too easy and therefore a bit boring, but I found that earning gold in Fable II was just as boring and more a hassle than an 'enlightening' experience. I enjoyed the simple repetitive activity of working when I found I'd rather wait around for shops to open, but when I'm playing a video game I don't want to sit there for seemingly endless amounts of time. The lack of making gold on quests also seemed to make it less exciting when I finished running around to do whatever task had to be done, and this leaves me feeling that an aspect of the good/evil thing was lost. What about a hero who doesn't necessarily care about renown, but would rather do quests for the gold? While that was never an actual moral issue when it came to the game, it was also a reason to do more quests and that thought just makes it more realistic. Quests weren't as fun anymore, and I didn't feel the need to go about fulfilling them just for renown. And rather than seem fun, they were just another chore. They had a repetitive feel that I didn't always experience when playing the original (and yes, I am well aware that Fables I and II are different games and a grown up world, but I am also dicussing improvement). It's wonderful that you can own so many buildings and buy so many new things, but where, pray tell, is this gold coming from? I found that I had an abundance in the original Fable with nothing to spend it on, and quite a lack in Fable II with much more available to purchase. I also don't have Xbox Live as I don't enjoy online play, so while I preordered I did not have the option to play any pub games, and felt no desire to play them when I actually owned the game. There's an augment you can get for your weapons that allows you to earn gold for every kill, but I didn't encounter that until much further into the game. And to be honest, I didn't find a point in doing quests unless I wanted to get through the storyline. Just about everything in Fable II requires gold, which you cannot earn by completeing quests... a bad decision there, I think.
As far as family goes, I found the courtship process to be very similar to the previous Fable, as well as the marriage process. Having a child was no large feat and not all exciting, and I found that the family became a bit of an annoyance. They repeated the same dialogue while I roamed around the house, and both the husband and son nagged at me about having an even nicer house (their's was mediocre; not poor not rich) everytime I came around. I can only imagine the headache I'd have if I'd decided to have more children or have another family (well, there's the realism for you, but I do mean this negatively and not in a cliche manner). Also keep in mind that now when you marry and have children, you are expected to give gold to them daily (it will be automatically drained once you set the amount to give them), and I'm pretty sure that for each member of your household the amount of gold you are expected to give goes up. I found this to be irritating when I had to make a large drain on my funds in order to upgrade my equipment.
The good or evil aspects that Fable is so well known have seemed to remain the same, so I'll spend no time focusing on that. What I do want to mention is the dog. I found this to be a unique and enjoyable aspect of the game, though it did sometimes get in the way (not so as to slow you down too much or prevent you from doing something, but he did get in the way when you are in a tight space and wish to get out). This dog will show you where to dig and where to find treasure chests, and while that is also a good thing it also is a bad thing. I found that because of the dog telling me where to find items I didn't feel as much of a need to go out and explore things. However, I did enjoy the dog. And when he wasn't around because he got stuck somewhere (another slight glitch) or was off for whatever reason, I discovered that I (being a little nerd) missed having the dog running alongside my hero. That is an accomplishment in itself. But I also must mention that while you can train your dog, teach him to fight, and get him to find better items for you (oh yes, see, those nice items aren't going to be that easy to find) it will likely cost you money. You need books to train your dog to do these things, and unless you can find them you'll need to buy them.
What I do wish to say here is that I believe that the developers spent far too much time focussing on expanding the amount of items available to you and enlarging the world rather than focussing on the storyline, which really needed improvement in my opinion. I also found it to be very depressing, and again, anti-climatic. I was stunned when the storyline ended, and sat there through the credits wondering "is it over? is that really it?" I can't get over my disappointment there. It seemed even shorter than the original Fable, and to be honest I never had a problem with what was available there and felt that they delivered exactly what was promised. I expected a more enhanced storyline, and I was also irked that I didn't get to know more about the characters. And while there is much more available to purchase and to explore, you really need to work at it, and now it seems to me that Fable is becoming more of a Sims game (sorry Sims fans, but I like action RPGs and I find the Sims to be horrendously annoying) than an action RPG which is the genre it is supposed to be part of. For people who don't enjoy repetitive tasks, I suggest you think carefully about purchasing this title.
In the category of the creatures you face, I found that there wasn't a large improvement here, and that they brought back most of the old creatures with little variations (not a negative thing). But I also found that it seemed like they had less creatures to fight than in the previous title, and while I don't care either way I did expect something new and more creatures to face. The change in the troll creatures was annoying (a good idea, but annoying) as you have to attack certain tendril-like parts of the troll, and I did this with a gun and found that I'd be there for ages trying to get rid of the troll while I was being smacked around with rocks and the like. I enjoyed the combat much more in the previous title.
I hope this assisted any readers in some ways, and that my thoughts weren't too all over the place. I personally find that this title falls short of the original Fable, and wasn't exactly an improvement. The graphics are beautiful and the world is quite intruiging, but I found that the action aspect of this RPG title was lost somewhere and became just another aspect of the game. Because of this, I give Fable II a 3.5/5 rating.
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76 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
Refreshingly Promising, October 22, 2008
Fun:
This review is from: Fable II (Video Game)
I never played the original Fable because I was living Warcraft 7-days-a-week :) I heard the original was pretty good though it was short (content-wise) and might have been a little over-hyped? Well this time around I completely ignored the hype and early reviews and just bought the game. So far, I am not disappointed. I'm out of the training area, have my first spell, beat my first mini-boss, and showed off my first trophy. This is a really good game so far.
The combat system flows really nice once your get used to it and it's super simple - one button for Melee, one for Ranged, one for Magic.
Everything you expect in a good RPG is there : XP, Levels, Skills, Weapons Upgrades, Socketed Items, Gold, Loot Drops, Condoms, and Babies.... Umm. Yes, did I forget to mention it's rated M for mature. So make sure the receiver of this game is mature enough. It's all in good spirit and there aren't any secret nude cut scenes that I'm aware of. Of course this can lead to the responsibilities of a family, having children, buying houses, providing for them which sounds like a ton of fun but I'll save this part to the end after I defeat the world and wave fireballs in the air first!
Otherwise, one of things I like about this game is that there are so many different types of content. Talking statues, random items, magic books, treasure chests, treasures to dig up, you have a pet dog that you can train, you can swim above water, you can even buy and rent houses as well as own shops for income; or head down to the pub and gamble your way to riches.
There just seems to be a good amount of things you can do in the game - and of course the graphics and storyline are pretty darn good.
I think they did a good job with no bad surprises so far. So if you think you might like this game - there is a very good chance that you will.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Entertaining, but falls shy of excellence., July 8, 2009
Fun:
This review is from: Fable II (Video Game)
If you enjoy casually playing games you will likely find Fable 2 to be worth the money. If you tend to be professional or "serious" about your gaming habits you will find Fable 2 too easy and would be better off renting it and completing it within the day or less it will take you.
The game itself is a stunning display of modern graphics, interesting story, entertaining combat mechanics and amazing freedom of player choices that have different effects on the outcome of the game.
The game also adds a multiplayer feature which is useful if like mine your spouse gets very tired of watching you play RPGs without any option to join in.
But... the game has enough balance issues to keep it out of the category of the truly great. For starters the game essentially has no death penalty. If you die you get temporarily knocked out and then get right back up to vanquish the threat. You do get a permanent scar if this happens which detracts from your beauty but as you can easily buy attractive clothing the villagers you attempt to woo will never know the difference.
Another significant problem is that amassing gold is absurdly easy and the best items in the game are proportionately absurdly inexpensive.
Even with these gritty flaws pulling the game off the pedestal of gaming greatness this game is still highly enjoyable if you don't take it to seriously. Instead of rushing the story give yourself limitations. Make it your goal to never die or to win without ever upgrading weapons or skills. Or see how benevolent you can be and then see how long it takes you to go completely evil.
Bottom line: With a little imagination on the part of the player this game is superb, unfortunately as it is traditionally the developers responsibility to provide the imagination this game cannot be considered the final word in RPGs.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
from a non-gamer, March 22, 2009
Fun:
I admit it; I am a non-gamer in a sense; I have a DS but tend to play solitaire and word games. RPG's are usually d--- boring to me, but when my spouse bought this game, I decided to try it. I'm now hooked on it, with two saved characters and probably more to come because of the different choices you can make. I enjoy the fighting and especially being able to control the pace. If I feel like fighting, I go to the Bandit Coast, if I feel like zoning, I go buy some clothes or interact with townspeople. Anyway, it hooked me with lots of gameplay and fun.
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35 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
"What is history but a Fable agreed upon?", October 21, 2008
Fun:
This review is from: Fable II (Video Game)
The 2008 season of great games has officially begun.
Fable 2, as it has been advertised, is all about choices and the repercussions of those choices. From the start of the game, these choices shape the very world around you, whether a town turns into a slum or a glorious economic stronghold.
The combat system is remarkably simple, and remarkably fun. It's simple in that 3 buttons control sword, pistols(and crossbows,etc), and magic. But it turns out to be an amazing amount of fun and flows rather fluidly between the three.
The overall feel of the game is excellent, much better than the original fable. The graphics, as you can see if you look at any gameplay videos, is top shelf. The music is also great, and really sets the mood of the game.
The only downfalls of this game are in co-op and expressions. Co-op doesn't allow for you to drop your character's weapons or looks into your friends game, only your experience and skills (hopefully this will be fixed in an update). The expressions wheels, while interesting and simple, are strange since it makes for zero words said for your character (just a lot of farts).
All and all though, excellent game, definitely worth the wait. Pick this one up.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Better than the first!, February 27, 2009
Fun:
This review is from: Fable II (Video Game)
Fable II, the aptly-named sequel to Fable, hit the markets a while back. I didn't have a way to play it then, but I do now, so even if this review isn't terribly timely, I hope you'll find it helpful.
The game takes place in the world of Albion, a beautiful, lovely world somewhere between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. In that it quickly differentiates itself from most fantasy worlds.
You play the Hero. You don't get a name, but you can get titles (like Lionheart, Executioner or the NAMBLA-friendly, Chicken Chaser). You can be male or female, good or evil. You can marry the opposite sex or the same sex. You can customize your looks with new hair styles, tattoos, facial hair and hair dye. You get all sorts of different clothes to pick from, and get scars when you die. You also age.
In addition, you get a whole slew of skills. You can learn how to chop wood, for example. If that's not exciting enough, you can also tend bar! Blacksmithing, bounty hunting and a couple other jobs round things out.
If jobs aren't your thing, you can go on a whole series of quests, though not very many. During these quests, you can earn gold which you can use to buy all the usual stuff, plus real estate. Yes, if you want you can become the next Donald Trump! One of my friends has done this and basically owns every bit of property that can be owned.
This is an action RPG, which is different from regular RPGs in that you don't select options from a menu screen. No, instead you bash, smash and crush your enemies by repeated button-mashing. Think of the Zelda games. You have both melee weapons and ranged weapons as well as a series of spells, some of which can be lots of fun!
Along the way, you have a dog acting as your faithful companion. Allegedly he helps in fights, but not so you'd notice. What he mostly does is sniff out treasure, and that's a damn nice thing, given how well-hidden some of the treasure chests are.
Graphics wise, this is one of the most beautiful games on any system. Everything looks gorgeous, even the darker and more unpleasant spots.
If it seems like I'm focusing overly much on the non-story aspects of the game, it's cause the story, well, kind of falls short. It's the usual "fight against someone who killed your sister" kind of plot. Nothing memorable. It's also rather brief. There's nothing wrong with it, per se, but it's not very original.
Still, the joy is in the journey, and this is one of the best games of its kind out there. Highly recommended!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Great Game, February 9, 2009
Fun:
This review is from: Fable II (Video Game)
A great game, but once you beat it, there's not much point playing afterward, unless of course you're trying to get achievements.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Not bad, but missing that Fable feel, March 15, 2010
Fun:
This review is from: Fable II (Video Game)
I would've rated this a 3.5, but since you can't I rounded down.
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
What I liked:
- Less scarring. In the original it was much too easy to get scarred up early on
- Buying real estate (and not having to keep running back to collect your profit)
- The option to be a woman
- Having kids (although I could've lived without seeing them pick their noses and rear ends)
- More expressions
- Naming my family... too bad they were just "nicknames"
- Everyone having names and their own likes/dislikes. Made it more personal
- No more aging when leveling up (Not enjoyable to have to decide to be old and strong or young and wimpy)
- The "loose" citizens. Yes, my character was a ho
- Graphics
- The slo-mo shots in battle
- Gargoyle hunting
- Ties to the past/original
- Dying clothes/hair
- The jobs and sidequests
- Missions involved more work, often sending you to several different places
- Experience potions
- The women's voices didn't sound like old hags when they asked for wedding rings, ala Fable
- More variety in people. Although most of them weren't exactly lookers
- Stealing. My favorite hobby
- The dog. I had more of an attachment to my dog than to my family
What I did *not* like:
- The aiming system with guns/bows sucks. In Fable 1 it was so easy, just double click to zoom in and decapitate bandits. Another favorite hobby, and missed it here
- I much preferred the medieval setting in the original
- Playing as a woman was fun...until you leveled up and she became a hideous Amazonian she-beast. I ended up concentrating on Will so as not to look so much like a transvestite. But then the glowing Will lines all over weren't pretty either
- Stolen items were mostly junk, and you didn't know what it was until you took it. There was no way to drop something worthless. Who wants a rotten apple?
- Missed the old lightning spell where you could zap several enemies at once
- Inability to hurt or kill Reaver. I so wanted to
- Kicking animals is not funny
- You never got to see Rose again
- Your kids constantly on your a** so you can't get a moment alone with your spouse
- Trying to gain the affection of just one person draws a crowd, and they're all affected by your actions
- And the absolute **WORST** thing in the entire game: you're followed EVERYWHERE. I cannot say enough how much I **HATED** that. It actually took a lot of enjoyment out of the game for me. When you're well-known you have mobs following you down the street, all asking to marry you. Sometimes the crowd is so thick you can't get through and they repeat the same things in unison until you want to rip your hair out. They even follow you into your house like they own the place. Out on the streets is bad enough, but in your BEDROOM? Ridiculous. I wanted some quiet time with my family; next thing I know there are strange kids dancing around the room along with a few adults chatting me up. Wtf, go away! There's no way to get rid of them. Trying to scare them also scares your family. They really need to let you shut your front door to keep these idiots out
..Okay, rant over
By the way, what does it say about a game that, while playing it, you yearn for the original?
All in all though, this game has its problems but is still worth a playthrough if you liked Fable.
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