Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!
The time has come for me to talk about the changes between Fable 1 and Fable 2.
First off, the interface has been streamlined. All menus have been centralized under the start button. You no longer have to hit the start button for the options and ability to save, and you no longer have to hit the back button for character stuff; it's all under the start button. Second, you no longer have to draw your weapon; hitting the attack button for that weapon draws it, or uses the spell you have set for that weapon. And while this takes away the ability to do my favorite mini game from Fable 1, the fist fighter's gang, you no longer have to worry about attacking someone without a weapon drawn.
Spells have been streamlined too; you don't have as many, but all spells have an AOE and a single foe attack, but they are the same spell. All spells charge to 5, and like the previous game, some spells are more useful than others (in my book, at any rate). Spells that return from Fable 1 are fire, lightning, slow time, force push, ghost sword (though now named blades and function as an attack spell), summon (summon dead now), and two new ones, vortex and chaos.
Weapons have been streamlined as well. There are still separated into one and two handed versions, but now one handed weapons are exclusively swords, while two handed weapons are exclusively not. Swords are longswords, katanas, cleavers (though with a different model), and the newcomer, cutlass. Two handers are the mace, axe and hammer.
Ranged weapons have expanded immensely, now that guns are part of the picture. This also makes armor obsolete, but you don't sacrifice customization for your character without it. Anyway, there are four types of ranged weapons; crossbows, rifles, pistols and blunderbusses. Furthermore, the crossbows, rifles and pistols have their own subdivisions. The crossbows have light, heavy and repeater variety. Rifles and pistols have the flintlock, clockwork (which screams "revolver" in my mind) and turret, which appears to function as a hand held Gatling gun.
All weapon types have 5 tiers; rusty (or splintery for crossbows), iron (yew), steel (oak), master, and legendary. But in this game, the legendary weapons are not always the best; only the crossbow, blunderbuss, turret rifle and katana are the best in their class. The others are meant to give you an edge in the early to mid game until you can get your hands on the master variety of your chosen weapon.
Now, since guns are part of the picture, armor is obsolete, but in the place of armor, we have a variety of clothes and dyes for your character. You can use these dyes on all aspects of your clothing, as well as your hair and beard.
Furthermore, customization of your character goes further as you can play as both a male or female character. And yes, I realize this isn't an innovation in the industry, but it is a welcome addition to the game.
And they gave us a dog! I know nothing of dog breeds, but I've read that he's a mutt, and he changes with your alignment just like you do; he turns golden when you're good, and he darkens when you're evil, and his eyes start to glow red when you get at least 75% evil. He also notifies you of dig spots based on his exploration level, and finishes off enemies based on his combat level.
The only real gripe I have with this game is making money; gone is the ability to make money through questing. Now, all your income is either found in chests, through real estate, and through jobs. And let me tell you, working in this game sucks just as much as working in the real world does. Which is why you see tons of guides online on how to make money in this game. My way, though, is an easy one, and requires very little effort on your part.
1. After you get to to Bowerstone, buy all the property you can. This will amount to only the shops on the bridge at this point.
2. Run around town with your dog. Since he should have exploration 3 from your journeys in Bower Lake, you should find a couple thousand more, as well as gifts you can sell for more gold. Purchase any other shops you can, and upgrade your weapons.
3. Save your game and quit. From here, disconnect from Xbox live by removing the LAN cable from the console.
4. Modify your clock settings to 12/31/2025. You make money every 7 minutes of game time, but you also make money while the game is off, but at a slower rate.
5. Boot up your game, and wait a few moments until your income shows up. Save your game, and go back to your desktop.
6. Go back to your clock settings, and set it to 1/1/2005. Return to the game, and buy any property with the money you just gained. Save your game when this process is complete, and quit the game to the desktop.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 until you have purchased every piece of property in Bowerstone Market. Once you have done this, set your clock to 1/1/2005 again, enter the game, save it, then set it to the current date, and you should have either just under or just above a million gold.
I'm not sure how well this will work with the PC version, and you will temporarily lose access to any DLC you have up to this point. But I figure that, if the game is that stingy with money unless you perform monotonous jobs in order to buy property, then I feel justified in this.
One more thing before I move on; the mini games. I don't know anything about them, because I don't play them. They aren't fun to me, so I can't recommend playing them for anyone else. They are gambling games, and others swear by them, but I don't like gambling.
Oh, and the shooting gallery in Westcliff is fun, but requires a LOT of practice to win anything. If you don't have the patience, I'd say pass on it.
As for the game's story, it's still very by the numbers. The boy or girl you play, who is later revealed to be a descendant of the Hero of Oakvale, is a homeless child in Bowerstone Old Town who is swept up into events that far outshine your expectation. Theresa from Fable 1 advises you and your older sister Rose to buy a magical music box that ends up being a plot device at the end of the game. Lucian Fairfax finds out that you and your sister are able to use this artifact, and has you brought to his castle, where you and your sister are revealed to be Heroes. But since you're "not of the three" and that "one of you must be the fourth", he shoots your sister dead, and shoots you as well. Somehow, the shot propels you out the window, down the castle and onto the streets of Old Town far below. But as Theresa says, "death is not your destiny today", and she nurses you back to health. She spends the next decade training you as a Hero, and when you finally come of age, she sends you off to the "final test" to unlock your true potential. Once that is done, the next time you see Theresa, she gives you your mission; find "the three", so you can stop Lucian. (The three being the Heroes of Strength, Will and Skill. Basically, one individual who exemplifies one particular discipline.)
I enjoy this game, as well as the two DLC packs, Knothole Island, and See the Future. I haven't played these in a while, since if you don't have a constant connection to Xbox Live, they aren't available, and I haven't had that in almost a year. I do remember them as fun, and that See the Future's ending gives a teaser for Fable 3; you become a Monarch, and you have at least one child, who goes on to have a greater destiny than yours ever was.
This game is part of Microsoft's "Xbox Platinum hits" and can be bought for 20 bucks new. It's a fun game, so long as you get the issues with money out of the way early.
I'll be tackling Fable 3 soon, and after that, I'll figure out what my next review will be. Until then, Happy Gaming!
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