I thought I’d get this started considering we’ve been chatting away in the News Thread!
So then, Fable 3…
I’m a huge fan of the Fable franchise, I adored the first game and really enjoyed the sequel, despite it’s obvious flaws and lack of overall polish. It’s pretty common knowledge that 3 is set after the events of 2. The old Hero King or Queen is dead and the player takes control of the younger child, the Prince or Princess, while your brother, Logan, has taken to the throne. Logan is perceived as a tyrant, an unruly monarch and after a rather challenging moral dilemma, the Prince or Princess is forced to escape the constraints of the castle walls and lead a rebellion while realizing his / her potential as a Hero.
That’s the basic premise at least, and Fable 3 does a great job at swiftly setting the scene while gracefully introducing the player to the world and it’s many gameplay mechanics. Unlike Fable 2, the player isn’t immediately allowed access to all abilities, such as purchasing properties, getting married etc, these are gradually unlocked by spending Guild Seals that open chests during a new area, known as the Road to Rule. This acts as a physical and metaphorical road that the Hero must traverse to finally become the ruler. Gates block the road and these are unlocked by simply following the story…
It’s a nice idea that surprisingly fits well with the story and helps to add an extra layer of magic to Albion, which has lost an air of fantasy due to the industrialisation. I’ve found myself many times simply just chilling to the music while contently unlocking chests amongst the mystical ambience. It’s very peaceful.
In regards to the new weapon and leveling up system, i thought i'd break this down a little because it can seem a little confusing!
Weapon Leveling
The Hero’s Level does not influence the weapon leveling, of course increased strength will increase a weapon's damage, but not the Level. A weapon’s level can only increase after unlocking the appropriate chest via the Road to Rule. When a Ranged, Melee or Magic chest is opened a He-Man style animation will trigger and consequently all weapons, both the Legendary and the Living weapons, will level up accordingly. So that means, after opening a Level 4 melee chest, all melee weapons, both Living and Legendary, will now be Level 4.
Legendary Weapons
Just like in Fable 2, there are Legendary Weapons that can be purchased, found or traded. Each Legendary Weapon has three Augments (upgrades), all of which offer the player benefits during gameplay, such as damage increase, morality increase, gaining money per hit or losing weight (very handy this one!)
Unlike Fable 2, all three augments are by default set on a weapon and cannot be removed or re-assigned to an alternative weapon. The rewards for each augment are not immediately available to the player; the augments must be each earned by completing an objective. Here’s an example:
* Weapon: The Splade
* Augment : Purge
* Objective: Kill 50 nobles
* Reward: Damage Boost
To earn the reward the Legendary Weapon must be equipped. Once equipped, every time a noble is killed the conditional value will increase. When all 50 nobles are killed the value will reach 100% and you'll see the weapon physically upgrade (again, He-Man style).
Once the condition is 100%, each time the weapon is equipped and used the player will receive the benefits from the achieved reward, in this case the Hero will cause greater damage to enemies. It's a great feature that really adds an extra layer of depth and replayability. I know it's going to take me hours and hours to fully upgrade all 50 Legendary Weapons!
It's also worth noting that each Legendary Weapon starts at a base mesh (this is the default weapon design) yet the weapon will physically change once Augments are achieved. For example: Augment 2 will often change the particle effects while Augment 3 increases the weapon's size. It's pretty cool.
Living Weapons
These are the Hero Weapons, the default weapons and they are very different to the Legendary Weapons because they do not have Augments. The biggest difference is that rather than calculating the statistics of a singular weapon, the Living Weapons are instead affected by the actions of the Hero. For example, if you kill lots of Balverines, kicks chickens, have sex with lots of women or donate gold to beggars etc etc each action will help morph the Living Weapons. Keep in mind though that the weapon doesn't morph on the fly, that takes place when the Melee or Ranged Level chest is unlocked via the Road to Rule. Hope that makes sense!
[/Weapons End]
The game is far from perfect, far too much depth has been removed, it's far too easy and the combat system is mind-numbingly dull, not to mention the lack of overall polish and it being as buggy as hell (grrrr!!)... but that is easily forgiven when you have one of those cheeky Gnomes throw abuse at the Hero's dog. It's all about charm and character, the art and atmosphere in Fable, for me at leasy. It's why I love the franchise... and, although flawed, those elements are firmly in place here...
Better than 1? Not even close. Better than 2? Sometimes, but not always....
So then, Fable 3…
I’m a huge fan of the Fable franchise, I adored the first game and really enjoyed the sequel, despite it’s obvious flaws and lack of overall polish. It’s pretty common knowledge that 3 is set after the events of 2. The old Hero King or Queen is dead and the player takes control of the younger child, the Prince or Princess, while your brother, Logan, has taken to the throne. Logan is perceived as a tyrant, an unruly monarch and after a rather challenging moral dilemma, the Prince or Princess is forced to escape the constraints of the castle walls and lead a rebellion while realizing his / her potential as a Hero.
That’s the basic premise at least, and Fable 3 does a great job at swiftly setting the scene while gracefully introducing the player to the world and it’s many gameplay mechanics. Unlike Fable 2, the player isn’t immediately allowed access to all abilities, such as purchasing properties, getting married etc, these are gradually unlocked by spending Guild Seals that open chests during a new area, known as the Road to Rule. This acts as a physical and metaphorical road that the Hero must traverse to finally become the ruler. Gates block the road and these are unlocked by simply following the story…
It’s a nice idea that surprisingly fits well with the story and helps to add an extra layer of magic to Albion, which has lost an air of fantasy due to the industrialisation. I’ve found myself many times simply just chilling to the music while contently unlocking chests amongst the mystical ambience. It’s very peaceful.
In regards to the new weapon and leveling up system, i thought i'd break this down a little because it can seem a little confusing!
Weapon Leveling
The Hero’s Level does not influence the weapon leveling, of course increased strength will increase a weapon's damage, but not the Level. A weapon’s level can only increase after unlocking the appropriate chest via the Road to Rule. When a Ranged, Melee or Magic chest is opened a He-Man style animation will trigger and consequently all weapons, both the Legendary and the Living weapons, will level up accordingly. So that means, after opening a Level 4 melee chest, all melee weapons, both Living and Legendary, will now be Level 4.
Legendary Weapons
Just like in Fable 2, there are Legendary Weapons that can be purchased, found or traded. Each Legendary Weapon has three Augments (upgrades), all of which offer the player benefits during gameplay, such as damage increase, morality increase, gaining money per hit or losing weight (very handy this one!)
Unlike Fable 2, all three augments are by default set on a weapon and cannot be removed or re-assigned to an alternative weapon. The rewards for each augment are not immediately available to the player; the augments must be each earned by completing an objective. Here’s an example:
* Weapon: The Splade
* Augment : Purge
* Objective: Kill 50 nobles
* Reward: Damage Boost
To earn the reward the Legendary Weapon must be equipped. Once equipped, every time a noble is killed the conditional value will increase. When all 50 nobles are killed the value will reach 100% and you'll see the weapon physically upgrade (again, He-Man style).
Once the condition is 100%, each time the weapon is equipped and used the player will receive the benefits from the achieved reward, in this case the Hero will cause greater damage to enemies. It's a great feature that really adds an extra layer of depth and replayability. I know it's going to take me hours and hours to fully upgrade all 50 Legendary Weapons!
It's also worth noting that each Legendary Weapon starts at a base mesh (this is the default weapon design) yet the weapon will physically change once Augments are achieved. For example: Augment 2 will often change the particle effects while Augment 3 increases the weapon's size. It's pretty cool.
Living Weapons
These are the Hero Weapons, the default weapons and they are very different to the Legendary Weapons because they do not have Augments. The biggest difference is that rather than calculating the statistics of a singular weapon, the Living Weapons are instead affected by the actions of the Hero. For example, if you kill lots of Balverines, kicks chickens, have sex with lots of women or donate gold to beggars etc etc each action will help morph the Living Weapons. Keep in mind though that the weapon doesn't morph on the fly, that takes place when the Melee or Ranged Level chest is unlocked via the Road to Rule. Hope that makes sense!
[/Weapons End]
The game is far from perfect, far too much depth has been removed, it's far too easy and the combat system is mind-numbingly dull, not to mention the lack of overall polish and it being as buggy as hell (grrrr!!)... but that is easily forgiven when you have one of those cheeky Gnomes throw abuse at the Hero's dog. It's all about charm and character, the art and atmosphere in Fable, for me at leasy. It's why I love the franchise... and, although flawed, those elements are firmly in place here...
Better than 1? Not even close. Better than 2? Sometimes, but not always....
The second game wasn't great at letter you power up a female character at all!
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