The Joy of Fulfilled Promises, a Fable 2 Review

Okay Mr. Molyneux, I know I’ve given you a hard time in the past. I’m not sure how much of it you actually deserved, and I’d just like to say I’m sorry. You have to admit that you gave us gamers an awfully big promise with the first Fable and it, regrettably, didn’t live up to them. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Fable, but because it was a well-polished 3rd-person fantasy adventure with a lovable narrative, not because it was a free-roaming massive RPG like you promised… because it wasn’t. Well, we jaded Fable fans have been waiting a long time for Fable 2, and you’ve promised a lot between then and now. I assumed I would like Fable 2, but out of the deluge of preview coverage, I had no idea how much of it would come true.

Well, I was pleased with the results. Sure, there are a few issues that fell a bit short of the hype, but those are thankfully the minority. Co-op is here, if a bit different than what I expected, the dog is surprisingly competent and there actually is stuff worth looking for off of the main quest’s path.

The biggest complaint I had with Fable was that the main quest was about all there was to do. Sure, there were side-quests scattered around the world but since the player had little direction and the side content was so sparse, looking for it became an exercise in patience. Well, this problem was solved in Fable 2 by offering a quest menu. It serves similarly to the old guild quest hub in the first game, but it shows you (presumably) every side quest in the game and is accessible from the pause menu. Along with that, a gold trail will now appear in front of you to steer you towards your objective.

Another issue with Fable was the remarkably short story. Well, short story modes aren’t really a problem; some great games have short stories. The problem actually rested in the aforementioned lack of additional content. As evidence, Fable 2’s story is the same 10-12 hours as the first game, but you’ll keep revisiting your character well after the game’s conclusion because there’s just so much else to do.

As promised, nearly every building and vendor can be bought. Also, renting out houses gives your character a steady source of income that doesn’t require you to physically collect anything. Money will be deposited, as if by magic, into your pocket directly when rent is due. This helps keep the player from having to go through the minutia of having a job, although those are present in the game as well as another source of revenue.

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