Fable 3 - Mass Murder and Gay Marriage and Regicide, Oh My.

[Morfiend]

Fable 3 releases tomorrow. Figured I would get us started off here.

I wont lie, I'm pretty excited for it, anyone else?

I know Fable has been the franchise of under delivery and over hype-idness, but I have always found quite a bit of fun with the series. I am hoping that the multiplayer is better than last time.

[MrHat]

Fable 3 releases tomorrow. Figured I would get us started off here.

I wont lie, I'm pretty excited for it, anyone else?

I know Fable has been the franchise of under delivery and over hype-idness, but I have always found quite a bit of fun with the series. I am hoping that the multiplayer is better than last time.

You pretty much nailed it.

So much hype around them, but I always, always, find them fun.  They're at least the price of admission to me.

I will admit I didn't finish the last one, but I put probably 20-30 hours into it.  I didn't get to see the whole children thingy.

So what's 'new' in this one supposedly?

[Morfiend]

I haven't really been following this one to closely, as I knew I would buy it, so I didn't really need to. The one thing I did pick up is that in this one:

Very very mild spoilers below.


As to what has changed, from the wiki:

Molyneux has promised to remove traditional RPG mechanics from Fable III, the emphasis being on removing "clunkiness" and making the game more accessible. One of the most striking changes in Fable III is the menu system, or, rather, the absence of one. Citing the distaste of lists, the game lacks any semblance of a traditional 2D menu, instead relying solely on the game universe from the moment the player hits the start button. Upon hitting the start button the player is transported to the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is inhabited by the player character's personal butler, Jasper, who makes in-game suggestions and advice. Changing clothes is now accomplished by using a changing room that features all of the wardrobe possibilities. Magic is now cast by gauntlets kept in the Sanctuary instead of changing them through the HUD, and shops contain their inventories on the shelves instead of in purchase screens

[Sky]

What I've seen of the Sanctuary is what I'd thought Windows would be like by now. 3D interfaces for everything with John Cleese as your personal advisor.

[Murgos]

I'm going to wait until it's out on the PC. 

I've pretty much sworn off buying console games for a while.

[Yoru]

I'm going to wait until it's out on the PC. 

I've pretty much sworn off buying console games for a while.

I'm pretty much guaranteed to buy this when it comes out for PC in December. I enjoyed Fable 1 a lot despite its flaws and I was sorely disappointed that F2 never made it over the moat around 360-land.

[Lantyssa]

I want to play it on PC, but I'd really, really like to continue off my existing save.

[MisterNoisy]

Already have my copy paid for at the local GS.  I'd love to finish my Fallout NV playthrough, but it's going to have to wait.

[Samwise]

The "3D menu" shit has been done and it's always annoying as fuck after the first five minutes.  Sometimes you just want to hit a couple of buttons and have shit happen in one second rather than take fifteen seconds to walk around a fucking building and dig through a closet or whatever.

[Morfiend]

The "3D menu" shit has been done and it's always annoying as fuck after the first five minutes.  Sometimes you just want to hit a couple of buttons and have shit happen in one second rather than take fifteen seconds to walk around a fucking building and dig through a closet or whatever.

I totally agree with this. I mean, some times you just want to quickly change your pants, or sword.

[Sky]

Oh, I agree completely. I saw the walkthrough of that and thought it was a giant pain in the ass. Not sure Cleese can save it.

If it's a GFWL-exclusive, hopefully they learn from the school of Gabe and have it on the 2011 xmas sale. Otherwise it's GFWLfail.

[AcidCat]

I dunno, I seem to remember Fable II's menus taking some time to navigate whenever I'd want to do anything, maybe this will be an improvement.

But yeah, I enjoyed the first two games and am looking forward to the third.

[Koyasha]

The "3D menu" shit has been done and it's always annoying as fuck after the first five minutes.  Sometimes you just want to hit a couple of buttons and have shit happen in one second rather than take fifteen seconds to walk around a fucking building and dig through a closet or whatever.

Yep, this is what that sounds like to me.  It's like Fable's stupid 'emotes instead of talking' thing.  Some things don't need changing.  Good odds that this 3d interface crap is just an annoyance instead of something fun, and it probably makes performing simple tasks like changing your spell selection and changing your clothes take considerably longer.  Not that Fable II's menus were particularly well designed, but the answer is a better-designed menu interface, not eliminating it entirely in favor of some weird 3d thing.

But, I expect the overall game to still be fun and entertaining.  For me, Fable was ok, Fable II was very good, so I expect Fable 3 to be worth it.  I might even go out and buy it tomorrow.

[Azazel]

The "3D menu" shit has been done and it's always annoying as fuck after the first five minutes.  Sometimes you just want to hit a couple of buttons and have shit happen in one second rather than take fifteen seconds to walk around a fucking building and dig through a closet or whatever.

I totally agree with this. I mean, some times you just want to quickly change your pants, or sword.

I'll third it. I'm pretty sure this has been done before, at least in part, and the result, was, well, what Samwise describes.

[Yoru]

You remember the Black & White UI, right? Seems like something similar, but applied to a 3D action/adventure instead of a god game.

[Bunk]

Well, I have tomorrow booked off work so that I can play this one, so yea, I'm excited. Just finished up my Fable 2 run to have a save game to use. I wonder if the game will tell me which of my seven children I'm decended from?

From what I've found, new things include:
 - emotes actually fully interact with other actors, rather than you just dancing in front of them
 - all families can adopt children
 - players can marry one another in multiplayer
 - lead character is actually voiced this time

[Paelos]

You remember the Black & White UI, right? Seems like something similar, but applied to a 3D action/adventure instead of a god game.

No, we don't. And let us never remember it in the hopes that it never comes back ever again. Ever. Stupid hands. 

[Morfiend]

Wouldn't you know it. I haven't been excited for a console game for quite a while now, and of corse the day before it comes out the lamp in my TV dies.

Guess I won't be playing this until Thursday or Friday.

[LK]

I'm in the middle of Fallout 3 but I guess I'll go pick this up today and give it a cursory whirl.

At least there's nothing else coming until Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood... right?

You know with these games I miss entire swaths of content because I don't want to do things like get married and have kids and don't want to run through with multiple characters.

[NiX]

Lots of stores were breaking streetdate. Grabbed one yesterday. From the beginning to middle, it's Fable 2 with enough fixes and tweaks to make it feel a bit fresh and more fun. Once you start the Kingdom running business, well, it falls flat on its face. I expected so much more when it came to taking over Albion and running the Kingdom. I didn't even have high expectations, just like a small kingdom running section, nothing hard. I'll try not to spoil anything, but the Kingdom section boils down to checklists of people asking you to do stuff with a Yes or No / Good or Bad answer for each. That's it.

I'll try to finish it to see if it gets any better, but it's not looking good.

[Morfiend]

I found this little tidbit at the bottom of the Kotaku review.

Regarding playing Co-op over Xbox Live:

did some two-player co-op in which an attempt to have a threesome resulted in a divorce and the loss of my house. But at least I got the other player (virtually) pregnant over Xbox Live

[LK]

mod edit: SPOILER TAG, GODDAMNIT.

[NiX]

Seriously? Spoilers? It's the first 10 minutes of gameplay. The worst part is that it's never referenced to again.

[Rasix]

Hey, I'll let you know when you can ruin my first 10 minutes of game play.  

How the hell would I even know this?

[NiX]

Now you know and knowing is half the battle.

God, this game makes me sad and I have a hard time picking it up now unless I find out you can play past the end.

[Koyasha]

- lead character is actually voiced this time

You can actually SAY things instead of just farting at people or something?  Do you actually have a choice in what to say or is it all automatic?  Or is it completely obtuse in informing you just what you're choosing?

[UnSub]

I found this little tidbit at the bottom of the Kotaku review.

Regarding playing Co-op over Xbox Live:

did some two-player co-op in which an attempt to have a threesome resulted in a divorce and the loss of my house. But at least I got the other player (virtually) pregnant over Xbox Live

That'll be less awesome when the other player starts taking gold for virtual child support.

[Azazel]

.... it's Fable ... well, it falls flat on its face. I expected so much more ... I didn't even have high expectations ...
I'll try to finish it to see if it gets any better, but it's not looking good.

Peter Molyneaux. 

[LK]

The game just FEELS womky. Control, animation, being in the world... there is this feeling I can't pinpoint, a nagging sensation about this thing I'm playing. I don't remember feeling it in Fable 2.

There are a multitude of immersion breaking elements and flow problems. Plot moving too fast and unnaturally, the pause menu teleporting me instantly to the Sanctuary and back to exactly where I was before. Chests in the middle of nowhere, dig spots slowing me down. I know it's classic Fable world design and game setting but after Dead Rising, Fallout, and Assassin's Creed, just feels bad.

The setting is strong, at least, and I may not have reached the main game proper (just made it to Brightwall).

The Save Menu also felt weird. "Game Management" struck me as a weird term. Seeing myself two clicks away from starting a new game felt weird as well.

[lesion]

How long does it take to get to the kingdom-running-letdown part?

[Cyrrex]

A couple of the reviews I read mentioned that the kingdom running parts were some of the best bits in the game, but criticized for being over with too quickly.  Anybody who has reached this part of the game agree?

[NiX]

How long does it take to get to the kingdom-running-letdown part?

~5 hours.

A couple of the reviews I read mentioned that the kingdom running parts were some of the best bits in the game, but criticized for being over with too quickly.  Anybody who has reached this part of the game agree?

I haven't finished them, but I wouldn't agree it's the best part. Not even close. I just can't see why it would entertain anyone as it's probably the crudest most simple way you could implement "running" a Kingdom. Might as well have been QTEs and some mini-games.

[NiX]

Alright, so I beat the game and here's my spoilertastic review of the second half of the game:


No spoiler version:

Probably 2-3 hours worth of "Kingdom" game play, which boils down to a bunch of morality questions and gold grinding. If you were expecting: SimCity, Sims, My Life as a King or anything that resembles running a Kingdom, you will be sorely disappointed.

Edited: Cleaned up spoilered review and added non spoiler version.

[Khaldun]

Yes, seriously, after reading this account of the ruling part here and in other reviews, the only thing I can say is that Molyneux is brilliant at finding new ways to fail badly in delivering what he's promising, and the thing that's so aggravating is that each time most of his players can see EXACTLY what should have been done instead, and that is frequently not requiring magic-nonexistent-tech or insane quadrillions of dollars in content development instead but quite plausible instead with the development resources used to make his game. Like, Black & White: you built a really amusing creature, a fun AI, an interesting environment: don't shoehorn in an absolutely shitastic 'game' as if that somehow makes it a complete product. Just make something more loose and sandboxy, the folks who like the creature part will be fine with that.

[Bunk]

- lead character is actually voiced this time

You can actually SAY things instead of just farting at people or something?  Do you actually have a choice in what to say or is it all automatic?  Or is it completely obtuse in informing you just what you're choosing?

Yea, no. Pretty much, it means you have a voice in the cutscenes now. As far as the emotes go, you make a few generic noises when you dance, but you don't even say anything when you select "chat". It was a bit of a letdown.

I do appreciate the cut scenes not being one sided like they were in 2 though.

I'm enjoying the game right now, but there are certainly a number of little things that irk me - none enough to make me dislike the game, but enough to make me wish for better. Not a fan of some of the spots they "simplified" the game, but suprisingly some things like the "Sanctuary" menu system, actually work well. Not happy that they left in the exagerated character model changes based on which weapon you use. If you want to use a melee weapon in the game, be prepared to look like the Hulk (male or female).

Found two bugged quests so far, one of which required a reload. Most annoyingly though, is that my wife died in a freak "now that your wife has died" pop-up accident. Apparently moving your family in to the castle immediately after taking it is a bad idea. One second my wife is amongst the crowd in a cut scene, next moment I'm being told I can pick up my kid at the orphanage.

I'm seriously considering restarting and playing an over the top evil character, just because the "good" choices in kingdom running appear to be all along the lines of "doing something to make people like you - and doom the kingdom to ruin". If I'm going to doom the kingdom, I might as well have fun doing it.