Dream of Waking Ne Cede Malis

#8 – Fable: The Lost Chapters (Xbox)

Here's a classic. I just got this one last year because it was $5 and it was completely worth it. I'd heard others praising Fable back when it was released but for some reason I let it slide off my radar.

It's an action RPG, with a whole lot more added in to keep it from getting boring. It takes place in your average fantasy setting, it has a pretty storytale plot, and doesn't throw too many surprises. It works on getting you attached to your character. He doesn't speak, doesn't have a name (except Hero or whatever title you've purchased) but you're with him from birth to middle-age. Your choices determine whether he's attractive, scary, or good/evil. You can get your hair and facial hair styled, your stats influence how you appear, and you gain scars when you come close to death. You can marry, visit a bordello, own real estate, collect rent, gamble, trade goods, and so on. Everything beyond the basic action RPG elements are either minigames or just a matter of having cash on hand. I played a good character and though I never tested it, it felt like no one was off limits in terms of killing important characters. Certainly none of the mundane characters were off limits and more than a couple passersby and gawkers caught a whack from my sword while I was trying to defend them.

The game isn't very long, I think I finished at about the 15 hour mark. I did nearly all the quests but I didn't complete all the boring item hunts. I got my most powerful preferred weapon and enough experience to max out the physical stats, and put a healthy amount of experience points into the skill and magic stats and finished with the highest level of renown. A lot of the Lost Chapters content is integrated into the main story so well that I hardly noticed it. It was after I finished the main storyline and picked up on the Lost Chapters that I noticed it. And it is noticable at that point. The original Fable storyline has a definitive end and the Lost Chapters adds another area and about three more hours of capital S Story quests. It feels kind of tacked on and a little hokey but it's exactly what you can expect from an RPG expansion, more Fable.

All in all, this is one of those I'd wish I had picked up earlier so I could discuss it with more relevance but getting to play it at all is probably good enough. Looking forward to getting Fable 2!