Whatever soul-searching design rethinks Fable III has in store, another Fable means another Hero's journey. Once again, you are a youth of heroic descent called on to fulfil your potential and save the historical-fantasy land of Albion. This time, though, you're no tragic pauper orphan but a dashing royal orphan, sibling to the ruthless King Logan. This makes your first choice one between being a dapper prince and frilly princess, their character models the first promising sign of the visual refinement that's taken place between Fables II and III. The decision is your first of many in the early hours of a game keen on binary choices--some crucial, some instructive, and some symbolic.
Lead designer Josh Atkins on what to expect in Fable III.
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Your second choice, having been awoken by your John Cleese-voiced butler, Jasper, is between an ornate outfit and a practical one. Then, after a stroll with your border collie through the palace gardens--greeted on all sides by guards and well-wishers--the breadcrumb trail brings you to your winsome royal consort. Your third choice has you decide whether to hug or kiss. Is anything more ominous than an idyllic prologue? King Logan is in a bad mood. Out in the city, a factory worker has been executed. Everyone in the castle is upset with the king; his lowly subjects are no happier. The disgruntled kitchen staff members need to be reassured or told off, as you see fit. One of the many civilians waiting to plead his case with Logan must be supported or mocked. Sir Walter, once the loyal friend of your father and now your combat trainer, knows which way the wind is blowing. When everything inevitably goes south, and you're branded a traitor by your paranoid brother, it's Sir Walter that flees the palace with you, along with Jasper and the dog.
In the palace and beyond, in the bat-infested caves that enabled our escape, and in snowy Mistpeak, our hero's first destination, the realm of Albion has been beautified--or visually refined, at least. Though the characters and the environments are still stylised rather than photo-realistic, the artistic style leans more toward realism than the faintly cartoony, caricatured look of the previous game--although Fable's gently quirky humour is still firmly in place. The character designs are more appealing for it, as mentioned; Peter Molyneux would say the princess looks like less of a "Russian shot-putter."
Holding out for a Hero till the end of the night.
The world, says Sir Walter, has been too long without a Hero, and it will take a Hero to lead a revolution against Logan. The Hero's journey is suddenly clear: unite the disparate peoples of Albion against the king. That journey is not just clear, but it's also neatly symbolised in the Road to Rule: a long, misty path blocked by gateways and leading back to the castle. The road, visited in visions and presided over by Theresa, the blind seer, serves as a progress indicator and talent tree in one. The gates--metaphors for levels--are unlocked by gaining powerful allies. Along the path, between gates, are treasure chests containing upgrades including ranged, melee, and magical power boosts. There are also new spells and new noncombat ability bundles, such as the landlord pack and marriage pack. These are unlocked with Guild seals--points earned in battle and by successfully interacting with the populace on your travels. The Road to Rule is one means by which Fable III strips out immersion-sapping stats and talent trees. Another is the barely-there heads-up display, which is little more than your tally of Guild seals popping up from time to time. And another is the Sanctuary, a gameworld metaphor in the same manner as the Road, but this time standing in for your inventory menus and world map.
A cobwebby, circular chamber with a tabletop model of the kingdom at its centre, the magical Sanctuary is part of your heroic heritage. The start button lets you instantly flip between the game's "real" world and the Sanctuary, where Jasper waits patiently alongside your world map, your armoury, your walk-in wardrobe, and your collection of trophies. The map enables fast travel around Albion (and presumably beyond, later in the game), while the armoury and wardrobe enable changes of gear. The armoury contains magical living weapons, which change to reflect how they are used, among them a sword that can get longer and sharper with use and a hammer that can grow heavier. You can give a name to your visibly evolving weapon, if you like; in the course of the demo, our Mr. Stabby appeared to develop a discreet runic design along its blade.
The Sanctuary's armoury: full of shiny things.
Another room in the Sanctuary provides access to two-person cooperative play, though this wasn't available for our preview. According to lead designer Josh Atkins, that co-op mode allows two players all but free roam of one of their gameworlds, each as his or her own Hero. The two heroes won't be tethered, restricted to the same screen, but both will have to stay in the same wider region to maintain co-op mode. The second player also gets paid, making co-op "one of the most lucrative jobs you can have" and a "pretty great way to make money and level up." And, if you're playing together for less mercenary reasons (or you fancy the 10G achievement), you can marry a co-op partner over Xbox Live as you would a non-player character. For the wedding enthusiast, Fable III even lets you pick a venue and a budget for the big day.
As with marriage, interactions with your co-op partner and with the citizens of Albion have much in common. You can extend most of the same gestures to each with Fable III's much-touted, touch-based system of expressions. A pull of the left trigger has you hold hands with them, or you can tap the A button to enter a kind of interaction mode, offering the relevant choices. You can shake hands, for instance, dance together, or give money. As in Fable II, expressions can be extended--successfully pulling off a basic handshake turns it into a knuckle bump. A similar mechanic allows interaction with your dog, offering options to pet it, play fetch, or tell it off.
As in the previous Fable, your dog can sniff out treasure chests and dig spots, as well as attack enemies once you've downed them. This and much else of Fable III's combat system feel familiar. The biggest change--and a welcome one--is the absence of coloured experience orbs left behind by your victims. Spells still come in area-of-effect and directed forms; melee attacking still offers a charged flourish blow, with some nice animations. In the few hours we had to play, enemy variety wasn't vast. We battled wolves, bats, mercenaries, and skeletal hollow men, with a cigar-chomping mercenary leader as the most plot-significant fight. Here, dodging attacks and mixing up long-range and up-close combat was as effective as in the previous game.
I've got a little tip for you. Get the point?
There was a wider variety of environments than enemies, including the impoverished mountain settlement in snowy Mistpeak Valley, scored with plaintive violin music; Bowerstone's fetid sewers; cavernous underground ruins; and cheery, rustic Brightwall village. In the latter, we encountered Fable III's professions for the first time, among them lute hero (a rhythm minigame, what else) and pie maker. These work along the same lines as Fable II's professions: chain together successful attempts to grow your money-making multiplier.
Peter Molyneux isn't without his critics, but he might be one of the harshest and has been keen to expound the shortcomings of Fable III's predecessor. Changes have been made accordingly--tweaks in some cases, overhauls in others--and the results, from the first few hours of play, are promising. In late October, we'll see whether Fable III is, this time, the game he meant to make.
Its a pain in the ass because like all Fable previews it soudns good.
I will give you my secret, that has let me enjoy the previous Fables without any (okay, much) disapointment...
You remember that kid down the street, talking about killing space nazis with an awesome killer robot with lasers and missiles, and when you finally go to thier house, you find all he's doing is knocking down toy soldiers with an amittingly badass transformer?
That kid... is Molyneux, with all the childlike excitement and imagination, and Fable is the transformer. :P
I have to say that removing Assassins Rush/Timestop from your active spell repertoire still irks me since it was my favourite spell in both Fable and Fable 2.
Timestop was the only way to make charging spells to their maximum worthwhile. Level 2 or 3 Timestop to get some breathing room, then Level 5 Inferno or Force Push.
To build my hype even more Im going to attempt to finish playthrough 2 - evil, and then do my final playthrough - neutral.
If anyone can help me get Dollcatcher along the way, it would be appreciated.
Also, I really wish Fable 3 would pull a "Mass Effect" and grab my Fable 2 save for some info on how my guy lived his life - ESPECIALLY with the "See The Future" DLC hinting so strongly at Fable 3.
My main Fable 2 guy had the most badass backstory that I totally invented for myself, and just looking at his life and the costume montage I got - if that could be interpreted as something meaningful in Fable 3, I would be blown away and beyond excited.
mxmarks on
PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
They've already confirmed that Fable 3 uses your Fable 2 save file.
Also, if you want your run to go faster, I can co-op with you sometime and bring my character I've been playing since launch :P
Why have I heard nothing about this feature!?
You sir have made my day.
I hope they somehow translate the fact that I remained faithful, yet openly hated my WHORE wife who refused to give me another child, no matter how often I tried.
I HATE YOU, BUT I AM A MAN OF MORAL CONVICTION!
Which is why I get drunk on Knothole Island all alone.
mxmarks on
PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
Does anyone know if weight gain/loss has gotten better?
Getting accidentally fat due to eating healing items and then having to buy all the celery in the world 10 times over to go back to a normal weight was so goddamned frustrating.
Wasn't there supposed to be some big news August 15th. I thought there was supposed to be a big interview etc. The game comes out in just over 2 months.
As far as Dollcatcher goes, I think since I have it all you need to do is watch me sell a doll and then get it back.
After that, it'll just be a matter of me getting some dyes, and I'll have banged this game out again.
I just hope this game has some towns people that aren't ugly as sin. Finding prospective wives / husbands in II was hard.
In fable 1 / 2 I never went looking for a good looking person but someone with a nice voice.
I just married the undead chick and had undead babies. :P
I haven't been paying attention to Fable 3 news, but have they talked about multiplayer/co-op yet? It was terrible in the second game. Allowing the two players to have their own camera and move unhinged from each other would be fantastic.
Dashui on
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
I haven't been paying attention to Fable 3 news, but have they talked about multiplayer/co-op yet? It was terrible in the second game. Allowing the two players to have their own camera and move unhinged from each other would be fantastic.
They have talked about it. But I didn't pay much attention to it because I don't do multiplayer. :P
If my vague recollections can be trusted, then the henchman system is gone and people can wander around independantly of each other.
As far as Dollcatcher goes, I think since I have it all you need to do is watch me sell a doll and then get it back.
After that, it'll just be a matter of me getting some dyes, and I'll have banged this game out again.
Awesome - I get out of work at 6:30 EST, so Ill get your invite then. Not sure what my schedule is like tonight, but we'll figure something out. I'll have some time at some point this week for sure.
mxmarks on
PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
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deowolfis allowed to do that.Traffic.Registered Userregular
edited August 2010
It's cool - I'm 'working' from home these days so the only time I'm not really able to play is 4-10ish EST, depending on when I can convince my wife she's tired and needs to go to bed.
I haven't been paying attention to Fable 3 news, but have they talked about multiplayer/co-op yet? It was terrible in the second game. Allowing the two players to have their own camera and move unhinged from each other would be fantastic.
They have talked about it. But I didn't pay much attention to it because I don't do multiplayer. :P
If my vague recollections can be trusted, then the henchman system is gone and people can wander around independantly of each other.
Yup You can even go do other missions without your co-op partner. So it's more like the co-op in Crackdown, for instance. You can import your own character from your world into someone else's world, and move completely independantly of them. You can even marry them!
I haven't been paying attention to Fable 3 news, but have they talked about multiplayer/co-op yet? It was terrible in the second game. Allowing the two players to have their own camera and move unhinged from each other would be fantastic.
They have talked about it. But I didn't pay much attention to it because I don't do multiplayer. :P
If my vague recollections can be trusted, then the henchman system is gone and people can wander around independantly of each other.
Yup You can even go do other missions without your co-op partner. So it's more like the co-op in Crackdown, for instance. You can import your own character from your world into someone else's world, and move completely independantly of them. You can even marry them!
I haven't been paying attention to Fable 3 news, but have they talked about multiplayer/co-op yet? It was terrible in the second game. Allowing the two players to have their own camera and move unhinged from each other would be fantastic.
They have talked about it. But I didn't pay much attention to it because I don't do multiplayer. :P
If my vague recollections can be trusted, then the henchman system is gone and people can wander around independantly of each other.
Yup You can even go do other missions without your co-op partner. So it's more like the co-op in Crackdown, for instance. You can import your own character from your world into someone else's world, and move completely independantly of them. You can even marry them!
But can you hold hands?
A virtual marriage without hand-holding?! I defy thee to suggest such a thing
green-eyes on
0
Sir CarcassI have been shown the end of my worldRound Rock, TXRegistered Userregular
I just hope this game has some towns people that aren't ugly as sin. Finding prospective wives / husbands in II was hard.
In fable 1 / 2 I never went looking for a good looking person but someone with a nice rack.
Fixed. Hope they don't tone down the boobies in this one. I'll most likely be picking this up for PC whenever it finally comes out. I enjoyed the first two well enough.
I just hope this game has some towns people that aren't ugly as sin. Finding prospective wives / husbands in II was hard.
In fable 1 / 2 I never went looking for a good looking person but someone with a nice rack.
Fixed. Hope they don't tone down the boobies in this one. I'll most likely be picking this up for PC whenever it finally comes out. I enjoyed the first two well enough.
Boobs are all well and good, but i got stuck with a decent looking gipsy with the most annoying farmer-accent I have ever heard. As if the crowd of people professing their love to me everywhere I went wasn't annoying enough...
Why, pray tell, could they arrest me for trespassing on their property, but when I'm trying to make sweet love to my lesbian wife, I have to sustain a crowd of onlookers parading around my living room with neither care nor consequence?
I'd also like to get in on this achievement sharing for Fable 2 if you all are still doing that. I've been stuck with Dollcatcher as my last one for a while. Theresa, Hammer and the Hero are the ones i've got.
Aistan on
0
deowolfis allowed to do that.Traffic.Registered Userregular
edited September 2010
Haven't had a chance to get on the last two nights, but you can hit me up if you want if I'm on and we can all try and do a thing.
Posts
http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6273636/fable-iii-hands-on/?tag=picks%3Btitle%3B3
Its a pain in the ass because like all Fable previews it soudns good.
Must not get hopes up, must not get hopes up.
You remember that kid down the street, talking about killing space nazis with an awesome killer robot with lasers and missiles, and when you finally go to thier house, you find all he's doing is knocking down toy soldiers with an amittingly badass transformer?
That kid... is Molyneux, with all the childlike excitement and imagination, and Fable is the transformer. :P
animations are so smooth, coat is so classy
awesome finishing move at 3:55
If anyone can help me get Dollcatcher along the way, it would be appreciated.
Also, I really wish Fable 3 would pull a "Mass Effect" and grab my Fable 2 save for some info on how my guy lived his life - ESPECIALLY with the "See The Future" DLC hinting so strongly at Fable 3.
My main Fable 2 guy had the most badass backstory that I totally invented for myself, and just looking at his life and the costume montage I got - if that could be interpreted as something meaningful in Fable 3, I would be blown away and beyond excited.
Also, if you want your run to go faster, I can co-op with you sometime and bring my character I've been playing since launch :P
Why have I heard nothing about this feature!?
You sir have made my day.
I hope they somehow translate the fact that I remained faithful, yet openly hated my WHORE wife who refused to give me another child, no matter how often I tried.
I HATE YOU, BUT I AM A MAN OF MORAL CONVICTION!
Which is why I get drunk on Knothole Island all alone.
I feel that lesbian and gay couples should be allowed to adopt in Fable 3
Getting accidentally fat due to eating healing items and then having to buy all the celery in the world 10 times over to go back to a normal weight was so goddamned frustrating.
3DS FC: 5086-1134-6451
Shiny Code: 3837
In fable 1 / 2 I never went looking for a good looking person but someone with a nice voice.
YES!
I need that too! Gamertag in sig, and up for it almost anytime Im on.
Also I need Dollcatcher.
My wireless headset is dead and not on the charger though, so if I have no voice, Im sorry. Just invite me in and Ill follow you wherever.
As far as Dollcatcher goes, I think since I have it all you need to do is watch me sell a doll and then get it back.
After that, it'll just be a matter of me getting some dyes, and I'll have banged this game out again.
This is true.
I just married the undead chick and had undead babies. :P
I haven't been paying attention to Fable 3 news, but have they talked about multiplayer/co-op yet? It was terrible in the second game. Allowing the two players to have their own camera and move unhinged from each other would be fantastic.
If my vague recollections can be trusted, then the henchman system is gone and people can wander around independantly of each other.
Awesome - I get out of work at 6:30 EST, so Ill get your invite then. Not sure what my schedule is like tonight, but we'll figure something out. I'll have some time at some point this week for sure.
But yes, fuck Dollcatcher. I know the intent was to trade but they could have made the amount of people you need to trade with a bit fewer.
Yup
But can you hold hands?
3DS FC: 5086-1134-6451
Shiny Code: 3837
A virtual marriage without hand-holding?! I defy thee to suggest such a thing
Fixed. Hope they don't tone down the boobies in this one. I'll most likely be picking this up for PC whenever it finally comes out. I enjoyed the first two well enough.
Steam Support is the worst. Seriously, the worst
Boobs are all well and good, but i got stuck with a decent looking gipsy with the most annoying farmer-accent I have ever heard. As if the crowd of people professing their love to me everywhere I went wasn't annoying enough...
Why, pray tell, could they arrest me for trespassing on their property, but when I'm trying to make sweet love to my lesbian wife, I have to sustain a crowd of onlookers parading around my living room with neither care nor consequence?
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Not that it's optimal, but the wife and I do love our couch coop.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.