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Anyone who's played Fable knows that it fell short of these amazing claims and there's a good chance they felt disappointed when they saw it failed to live up to everything it was supposed to be if they pre-ordered. This is unfortunate, because once we get past Molyneux's grandiose claims for what Fable will be and just accept it for what it actually is, Fable turned out to be a rather impressive final product. Raising children wasn't an option in the first Fable and sadly neither was killing the little brats that ran through the town, but overall the game seemed to match the goals of what Molyneux wanted to create, even though it came in a much more scaled back version of what he raised our expectations to be. The story progressing across a lifetime basically got reduced to the hero would whenever they leveled up and the world didn't seem to change at all from when the hero when from his teenage years to entering his sixties. On the other hand, Fable had a bit of an unexpected Monty Python quality with a narrator. He wasn't the most useful voice as he would typically tell you there is a quest card at the guild or randomly ask "what's that?" but having a disembodied British voice throughout the <a href="http://www.harddirectory.net/index.php?p=d">Adventure game blog</a> was a nice touch.
NPC reactions is an area where Fable probably could have benefited from some more tweaking, since early on in the game no one takes the hero seriously, but after playing a few hours the player is likely either the most beloved or feared resident of Albion. The citizens of Albion are superficial as once the fame came in so did the opportunity to take on a spouse or three. Fable was progressive in terms of marriage, allowing the player to take a spouse of the same gender and engage in polygamy. Well, maybe polygamy wasn't accepted in Albion since there could only be one spouse per town, so these multiple partners weren't exactly legit. They ended up leaving me anyway since I never spent any time with them or gave them gifts, but considering how difficult and time consuming it was to actually take a spouse to bed, they seemed to be more trouble than they were worth. The main purpose spouses served in Fable was when playing as an evil character, killing them would net so many evil alignment points.
Movement off the horse, such as in a dungeon or mine, occurs with no player input, putting focus solely on clearing away baddies. Combat is handled via two main powers controlled by each hand. The right hand casts a damage-dealing attack spell, while the left hand can push enemies back or fling environmental objects at them. To execute either attack, you simply aim at the intended target and push your lower arm away from your upper arm with the palm facing out. While it’s a simple combat system, it truly feels that you are the one casting the spells -- always a victory for motion-based titles. Common variances like needing the left hand to pull the armor off of an enemy, while dealing damage with the right prevents gameplay from seeming stale.
Project Ego sounded like nothing I had played before. Being able to pick and choose which quests to take wasn't exactly groundbreaking, but the idea of the game taking place across the character's lifetime was intriguing. There was talk about how the character would be designed and uniquely tailored to the player's gameplay and they would be able to have children that would have a significant impact in the world. The character would receive unique scars from battle, they could plant a sapling and watch it grow in a massive tree throughout the course of the <a href="http://maxes.co.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=free&wr_id=2206007">Adventure Game strategy</a> and the NPCs would have unique reactions to the player based on their deeds to create the sense of a living world the player was truly a part of.
If there ever was a game designer that should not talk about his games prior to their release date, it's Peter Molyneux. When discussing his projects, Molyneux has a childlike sense of excitement where he will enthusiastically share details on his grand ambitions for the title. This is actually quite refreshing in itself, because who doesn't enjoy hearing someone passionately discuss their creative projects? The problem with this occurs when the game in question is actually released. The game itself could be good, even great if it were simply judged for what it is, but disappointment is going to happen when a title fails to deliver on lofty promises no matter how good it may otherwise. The most memorable example of Molyneux creating hype that the game couldn't live up to was 2004's Xbox exclusive action RPG Fable.
The final new feature in Fable Anniversary (besides achievements) is that of SmartGlass, something that is weighing heavier and heavier in overall experience these days. As admitted by Lead Designer Ted Timmins, it was basically implemented here as way to test the technology’s capabilities for future implementations. Thanks to that, there are actually a few interesting features that the app offers. Unsurprisingly, it’s basically an interactive map, but they’ve worked with Prima to also provide the locations of key items and characters (without going into too much detail). While this may seem a bit like cheating at first, it’s helpful enough only to ensure that you won’t get lost and makes it so you won’t result to using a full-blown strategy guide.