Review of fables

Developed by Lionhead Studios, Fable was born from an idea of ​​company founder Peter Molyneaux. This action RPG features thrilling combat and a colorful world, but suffers from failing to meet its premises. Far from perfect, Fable still succeeds despite its many flaws.

History

Fable takes place in the land of Albion, a chaotic realm where vast unclaimed wilderness areas divide small pockets of civilization. After the bandits destroy the hometown of the player character, you are recruited into the Guild of Heroes and set out in search of revenge. Along the way, carry out numerous missions for the Guild, many of which have the potential to lead you along the path of darkness or light.

While side missions aren’t exactly a new concept, the player’s ability to choose between good and evil is. In theory, this is a significant aspect of the game. In practice, however, your hero’s moral alignment matters only as far as you do it. Of course, the good and bad characters will look different as part of a mechanic I’ll tackle later. But otherwise, the story and gameplay effects are very minimal.

This brings us to my main gripe with an otherwise extraordinary game: the story. Fable’s writing isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. There are characters with more personalities than the main cast of some games. The dialogue and narrative text are all highly intelligent, and Fable’s sense of humor sets it apart from many fantasy RPGs.

Morality

But the problem arises from how Fable deals with the moral choices scattered throughout the game. While we are told that our choices matter, history proceeds the same regardless of the decisions you make. Killing or sparing a major NPC seems like a big deal at the moment, but will never be raised again after the fact.

Every moral decision is like that. Fable repeatedly points out that player choices have consequences, but fails to carry through in meaningful ways. The fact that it also comes close to morality with all the nuances of a Saturday morning cartoon doesn’t exactly help.