Post your Fable impressions here!

[Dark Jaguar]

Penny Arcade had this to say, to expand on people's weird theories on why Gabe didn't like it. Apparently, the aspect of another person having just as developed and unique a soul equally capable of unbiased thought as the person coming up with these theories just wasn't an option :D.

I’m getting lots of mail from people about my Fable post. I’d say it is split right down the middle between people who agree the game is a waste of time and people who really enjoy it. Someone mentioned in an email to me that Fable is the sort of game you either love or hate and I think that’s true.

Many of you who like the game have suggested that I had fallen victim to the hype surrounding Fable. People are trying to tell me that had I not been expecting the turkey dinner with all the trimmings we were promised, I’d be satisfied with the microwave burrito we all received.

Tycho can back me up on this, I don’t read hype anymore. I quit reading previews more than a year ago. I honest to God knew next to nothing about Fable until I saw it at PAX. I had heard from Tycho that you could make choices and become good or evil but that was all the information I had. I realized a long time ago that the hype machine was ruining video games for me. I wanted to go back to the days when I was actually surprised by a game. I made a decision to stop reading previews and I’ve stuck with it. Sometimes it frustrates the hell out of Tycho as he’ll want to discuss a game with me and I’ll have no fucking idea what he’s talking about. The end result of all this is that I played Fable with zero expectations about what sort of game it should be or what features it should have. I discovered after playing it that it was originally supposed to have an online component and things made a lot more sense. It seems to me like many of the mechanics in the game were designed for online play and when that was removed they just don’t seem to work as well.

I sat down and Played Fable and I felt like it was a proof of concept rather than a game. People seem to want to compare it to a Zelda style action RPG and I don’t think it even comes close. There is no sense of exploration in Fable. You spend the entire game running back and forth along the same narrow paths through the same tiny zones. I never felt the same sense of awe that I got from Zelda when I discovered a new island or explored a dungeon. None of that matters though. The fact is that some people are going to like Fable and some people aren’t. I certainly think you should rent it and try it for yourself. Mailing me and calling me a “cockmunch” isn’t going to change my opinion of the game and it just takes time away from you that you could spend farting or trying to have sex in Fable.

I like this strategy of completely ignoring all info on upcoming games except that first announcement with a rough synopsis (well, that last part's my own way anyway). I know there are a number of games I just didn't know much about until I played them, and I think maybe it meant all the better. I'll redouble my efforts to remain in the dark now :D.

Remember Link to the Past? When that game came out, I had NO way of knowing any new information about new games except for the ONE source; word of mouth. I'd hear "it's totally awesome!" or some such thing about Metroid 2 or LTTP. So, when I got that game (thanks to me loving Zelda 1 and Zelda 2, I just totally knew I wanted that game), I had no idea what to expect. The commericals just showed live-action Link climbing a mountain and grabbing what I later found to be the Master Sword (LTTP being the first to have that mighty weapon). I theorized that it would be a totally new direction, possibly, considering what happened with Zelda 2. I started it up to find a lovely story, and soon found out the game played like Zelda 1. I was just a bit disappointed by my own hype thinking it would be something totally new, but I got over it quickly when I realized they did put in some elements from Zelda 2 in there (that's how I saw the addition of the 3rd dimension, by that I mean climbing stairs, pits, and being able to jump down from ledges, which suddenly existed, and also being able to talk to anyone I wanted, instead of a single person who auto-talked in caves).

Anyway, so I went through this game at the pace I always go through games at (slower than slow :D). I was surprised to find I was going after the evil wizard after only 3 dungeons, but then while battling in there, I realized "Wait a sec, I did go into the dark world for a bit. It was only the moutains, but I bet there's more, I never did go into the map while over there...). Anyway, I half expected, but was still VERY happy, to find a whole other world awaiting me when I was suddenly transported there after beating the wizard. I also found out Ganon was there. I wasn't surprised at that, because I HAD heard one thing for certain, reading the back of the LTTP box, that this was long BEFORE the events of Zelda 1 and 2. So, after that, and after soon finding there were 8 dungeons ! to go to, I was VERY amused and had a lot of fun!

Now, had I read the hype I'm sure there was, and found out there was a dark world bigger than the light world, I wouldn't have been nearly as surprised and delighted when I got there, I would have been all "FINALLY" instead. Also, I wouldn't have enjoyed the full fun of the light world nearly as much. As completely oblivious as I was, the light world was all I knew was in the game for a while and I was enjoying that to the fullest rather than thinking "gee, I wonder when I get to the dark world".

I know that's how I would have seen things, because that's exactly what I was thinking when playing OOT. I was all "I wonder when I get to grow up!". As good as that game was, I can only think it would have been even more fun if I had avoided any info I possibly could on it.