50 achievements later and I am left unfulfilled.
Ok, so I just finished Fable 3 playing as good and then evil and have also completed every achievement. In the end - this was clearly no masterpiece.
Presentation:
The games graphics didn't amaze - they were hardly a step up from Fable 2 - but that didn't stop the game from having an excellent presentation. The world was beautiful and you had to stop just to admire the beautiful environments - especially Mistpeak Valley. Cultures truly changed from one region to the next, the buildings and characters were more intricately designed than last game, and the world was much bigger overall.
The music was also terrific - the sound guys at Lionhead know exactly how to create suspense and and specific emotions with the use of music. Music sneaks in and out seamlessly as the player enters and exits battle.
The cut-scenes were absolutely gorgeous - especially the opening scene - but there wasn't nearly enough of them.
Gameplay:
Simple gameplay as usual. Most people have a lot of gripes with the fighting system but I don't. I like the simple button scheme and the fluid combat. The flourishes added tons of special take-downs to the game - I was stilling seeing new ones at the end of my game and beyond.
The one fix the game badly needs in this department is getting rid of the auto aim feature. It just makes it too easy and more importantly takes away the ability of the player to be creative with his shooting.
I thought the spell-weaving also added a nice dimension to magic.
The dog was really frustrating in this game - he called me to dig spots many times, then continued to go around in circles before finally showing you where to dig - it was so annoying when I was trying to get a good pace going. On top of that it didn't feel like the dog was part of the story or world at all. Last game the dog felt like your best friend and gave the player a sense of comfort in lonely, dark and dangerous places. It hurt when your dog died in Fable 2 - I was really attached to that dog. In Fable 3 I wanted to hit my dog with the shovel. Most of the time I forgot the dog was even there though.
Story and Characters:
This is where the game starts to fail. First off, the story was so uninspired and didn't come close to that of Fable 2. Seriously, the final boss is a possessed Walter? The same possessed Walter we fought in the desert? Horrible choice. The whole story was easy to follow but utterly simple, stupid and boring. There was never a moment of suspense in the whole game.
The decision making was a joke too. The game impresses at the beginning with what would go on to be the hardest decision of the game (save your bff or the villagers) and then every other decision in the game up until when you become the Ruler is black and white. And if you chose to be bad you don't really feel it because you had to do so much good on your way there. I seriously had to slaughter extra villagers in my evil run through just to regain that evil feeling - those poor villagers can thank Lionhead for my anger. Then there was the end decisions, which were interesting but took all of about 1 hour to complete that section of the game.
Did I mention how lame the story was? Lol at the revolution. Claiming the throne was not fulfilling at all. It felt like 8 guys walked up to the castle and decided the pretty guy would be King. It didn't feel like a war at all - no one was fighting with you - aside from a few stray soldiers and your close allies. And then you walk into the castle and basically ask Loghan for the throne and he's all like, "Ok, guess I lose." You don't even get to fight him. Hardly an epic battle as advertised.
I also couldn't care less about my character. I was so detached from this character and his dog and all his allies. They were just so one-dimensional and boring. They were unflawed and unexciting. On top of that the game didn't develop any of the characters enough for me to care about them. Did anybody shed a tear about Walter at the end. That was a failed attempt at a dramatic moment by Lionhead. After everything I've done in the game I still feel like I don't really know the character I was controlling.
Multiplayer:
The multiplayer was great - excellent when I was evil. The only thing better than slaughtering innocents is slaughtering innocents with a friend. Lionhead created the co-op that all Fable fans have been waiting for. You can bring YOUR character into another heroes world and complete quests, buy goods and interact with people in that world. Switching characters, upgrading, changing clothes and completing quests are all smoothly done in co-op mode. Everything was very well though out.
It's also very easy and very cool to start online relationships with other players and raise a family with him/her.
However, the lag in the game is evident, the random game finder is weak, games freeze all the time and THERE IS NO TRADE ROOM. It's all based on trust.
Random:
The no menu system really wasn't very interesting and was annoying at times. For one, you couldn't see your items or use them whenever you wanted - ummm hello Lionhead...wake up!!!!!!
However, it was nice to be able to see all your weapons and outfits but it felt like there wasn't as much clothing and dyes in this game which may have been the sacrifice.
Also, it doesn't make any sense to buy hairstyles if your trying to create a sense of realism - ummmm how about actually sitting down for a haircut ala GTA?
There should not have been that many weapons in the game. There should have been less with more variation. Although, the upgrade system was a lot of fun.
Magic was boring in this game - magic has just one way of being fired - no special moves, nothing. Time for some variation - spellweaver was only a start.
Did I mention how ridiculously easy the game was? Did anyone die when trying not to? I doubt it. The whole game could be breezed through. No epic bosses and no near-death experiences - nothing of that sort at all.
Currency meant nothing in the game - it was easy to make a wealth of dinero utilizing the real estate system and there was nothing to do with it later in the game - this also took away the challenge in the "Weight of the World" section of the game because you could easily just donate money to the treasury to save your people and then quickly make it all back but not even really have to.
Treasure chests were boring and there was no point in finding/opening them when money could be used to buy what was in the treasure chests and money wasn't hard to come by as mentioned above.
Collecting things in the game was a lot of fun - spending time finding keys, Gnomes and books was a blast. I wish the demon doors played a bigger part in this game but their part actually got smaller. The DD's were also incredibly easy to open and 4/6 offered useless rewards. The same went for the Golden Doors (2/4 were stupid)- Highwayman outfits for opening up a Golden Door? - get serious. The Golden Doors should have been harder to find, harder to open and rewarded players with better prizes.
Guild Seals become abundant at the end of the game and there is nothing to do with them. It is especially disheartening when you're opening a DD at the end of the game after you've already upgraded everything and all you get past the DD is guild seals. Hopefully DLC will let you use your extra guild seals for something.
A lot of what I'm saying here is that the game offered no challenge in any aspect of the game - they even made the flit switch puzzles easier, lol.
On top of all that is all the glitches that makes us all scratch our heads at Lionhead (no pun intended...)
Overall: The game looks beautiful and there is a lot to do. However, many glitches, a mailed-in story, poor characters, pathetic villains, no good boss fights, lack of any sort of challenge and very few interesting choices make this the most forgettable game in the series for me and a step back for Fable in general. The multiplayer we have all been waiting for takes this game from a 6.5 to a 7, maybe 7.5.