Fable III wasn't THAT bad... was it?

[Eggsnham]

On account of the whole free Fable III on Xbox, I've been seeing a lot of people bashing the game all over the interwebz.

Now, I know that Fable III certainly wasn't the game we were all told to expect and managed to fall short in almost every aspect, but that doesn't make it a horrible game... in my opinion anyways. KotOR II was arguably worse than KotOR, but many people, myself included, would still call it a great game.

I really liked Fable III to be honest (though that's partly because I'm incredibly easy to entertain), obvious political commentary aside, I particularly liked the kingdom management bit. Not to mention the goofy, lighthearted atmosphere of the game. It's not a secret that the game could have used a bit more tweaking and refining, but given that it's, you know, free... I guess I just don't see where all the melodrama being spewed forth from the mouths of some people finds any justification.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

i just don't think anything about it was above mediocre, and compared to the first game it was a massive shell compared to what the first fable was. (they claimed same timeline and all that, if it had been an entirely different portion of the fable universe and didn't claim it to be an rpg, i probably wouldn't say anything/much at all)

 

[alphamalet]

A game that is almost impossible to fail and die? Yeah that's pretty bad. If a game doesn't have a challenge, then what the hell are you doing for most of it? Mindlessly pushing buttons? I remember spamming some AoE magic attack and it working like every time. It's been a while, so my memory might be hazy, but I just never felt challenged.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

It's bad only because it's a Fable game.

if it was released under it's own brand? it would simply just be forgetable.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

A game that is almost impossible to fail and die? Yeah that's pretty bad. If a game doesn't have a challenge, then what the hell are you doing for most of it? Mindlessly pushing buttons? I remember spamming some AoE magic attack and it working like every time. It's been a while, so my memory might be hazy, but I just never felt challenged.

Pretty much this. I get the game for free, downloaded it, played it for an hour, and now I never want to play it again. It was just SOOOOO BORING. The combat is boring and stupidly easy. The story is boring, and the writing sounds like something a 6 year old would write. I got so tired of hearing the word "hero" uttered every 14 seconds that I had to stop playing.

The dog is cool though. I like the dog.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

It's a prettier dumbed down Fable 2. You can't aim for different body parts the way you could in 2 (now you have to actually aim, and who the hell has time for that during combat, especially with a bloody game pad?), you can't choose what expression to do when interacting with people, yet you need to interact with people to gain guild seals, the Road to Rule is an awful way to restrict you character's progression in a meaningless way, since you can do nearly everything from the get go (parry, counter, flourishes and all the fancy ways of fighting you could use in the previous 2 games), the economy is laughably easy to break (which is kind of the whole point of the second part of the game), but the biggest thing that annoys me to no end is the fact you're playing as the child of the previous hero, yet you need the god damn glove to cast spells, what the hell?... There's more, but I'll stop here.

 

[piinyouri]

I've always enjoyed the Fable games for what they are and having had a little time to play the third, I'm not entirely sure what makes it worse than the other two.

I mean it didn't change as much as II did from I, but I hardly see that as reason to scorn it.

Fable games aren't big epic open world games, they're fun little action RPG romps, and by that standard I didn't see what was so egregious about III.

@Dirty Hipsters
I know right? I thought the dog was one thing they really nailed.
In the second game the first time I ran up on the bandits by the lake and the big ol fellow comes out and kicks your dog, there's couldn't have been a better motivation to kill someone than that.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it all depends on how low your standards go, if you are willing to go below sea level then even Fable 3 might look good.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Yes it was. It was a fucking terrible piece of shit that has no redeeming features what-so-ever. No challenge to it, combat was shit, characters were shit, the story was horribly shit, the menu system was the worst ever designed ever, the map was terribly useless, the period where you reign as king was a fucking joke, all the moral choices were just laughably black and white (Burn the orphanage or save it basically), the main antagonist was a fucking joke and was literally pulled out of nowhere, the levelling system sucks, the level of customisation is poor, I could go on but instead this video sums things up nicely.

 

[chuckman1]

I have never played Fable 1. I own Fable 2 but 3 is the only one I beat.
I found the story and decision making of Fable 3 to be better and I just vastly prefer it to Fable 2. However I did prefer the leveling system of Fable 2 I honestly don't see why everyone hates on Fable 3. At first I thought the sanctuary would be awful but it worked and the multiplayer interaction was great.

 

[Radoh]

Well, to anyone who's been following the releases and heard the promises being made that you'll be able to do, then yes Fable 3 is a poor quality game.
Luckily for me, I didn't follow up on any of the promises for any of them and as a result I've been left with a feeling that Fable 3 is an okay game that lacks replayability.

 

[Joccaren]

Fable 3 was, as has already been said, forgettable.
Its a time sink that's alright if you've got nothing else to do, but when more interesting games with memorable experiences exist, it comes in second every time.

Is it a terrible game? Nah. Its not good though. It does a number of things that are annoying, has no sense of balance at all, has a rather poor kingdom ruling section, and things like the road to rule could easily have been done a lot better.

There are a few neat things it does that are fun, and sometimes the writing for some characters is ok, but outside of that... It was bland. There was nothing at all notable about it.

 

[likalaruku]

The first game was hilarious but short & had tight linear restrictiveness. Never got to play 2 because it didn't come out on PC. Since I enjoyed te 1st game for it's sense of humor & soundtrack, I imagine I'd like 3.

 

[WaReloaded]

The thing that made me dislike that game the most was the cinematic with the chicken, it made me cringe so hard.

 

[Palademon]

Here was my thread on my thoughts when it came out, featuring direct comparisons to all features of the previous games.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.242016-God-I-hope-Molyneux-reads-this
It just doesn't stand up, and sacrificed old features for new, half-baked ones.

 

[O maestre]

terrible besides the removed challenges it actually withheld customization options and other things as DLC, stuff that would be considered micro transactions in MMOs were being sold as full DLC. It is a while since I have played so I cannot remember all the things that annoyed me, but most of all I remember feeling burned by the DLC and inescapable boredom. Oh and the weapon customization was so fucking lazy, I think they had 4 different styles for each weapon, and the uniqueness of the weapons came from the mixing of the styles instead of actual unique designs.

These complaints might seem shallow but it was a very shallow game, both in regards to gameplay mechanics that had been neutered as well the setting. I remember the 1st and 2nd fable being 10x more fun than the 3rd, however putting myself through any of those games again just to compare them. It is a pity because in some ways the magic system of fable was heading for Magicka like complexity and likewise with the combo system, until the franchise took a nose dive. It was terrible in a cringe worthy way there is no way around it. I gave that game so many chances because I really liked the franchise, kind of how a battered wife keeps going back to her husband.... until one day I put the controller down and said "No more" I think I got to the King part, and had just played some of the DLC that is when the fantasy burst and I realised how much of a piece of shit the game was, and I kicked it out of the house with a mental restraining order in place.

You can do it too! You deserve better than that horrible unappreciative game, sure it was wonderful in the beginning but that doesn't mean you have to put up with Fable 3s bullshit. Especially when there are so many other games out there that can treat you right

 

[viranimus]

Not at all. It was far too short even for a fable title and wrongly focused on tedious pie making-esque filler/fluff material with an expectation you will keep playing after you beat it but never really gave you all that much motivation to play it before beating it.

As negative as that sounds, I have been in support of the franchise since the begining. Fable 3 was by no measure bad, but by no measure good and suffered from multiple detractors such as short story and failing to hit the bar set by prior installments. However if you actively look for it, there is a good amount there but its not a 5lb Tbone, its more like an all you can eat salad bar with a wide variety of potential things to entertain yourself with if you are so compelled.

Side Note: It is interesting to note many people dislike fable as a series or its individual installments. Often citing similar things. Usually in the vein of "not enough" because they find one element such as say Combat or Story lacking. Its fair criticism but by that same measure if you want to see what Fable would be like devoid of its trademark ADD approach to content? Play Kingdoms of Amalur. Focused like a laser on RPG toon dev, Combat, Story. The meat most RPG fans look for. THe interesting part is that despite all the benefits from the added focus it does not take long to realize how tedious and repetitive those gameplay mechanics get when they are lacking the "what will entertain me right now" randomness that Fable does in fact provide.

 

[BlackJimmy]

I enjoyed Fable 3. It was a decent game. I think that's the problem though. It was merely decent, when it had the potential to be great.
The story and characters are pretty damn awesome though.
I'm personally hoping for a franchise reboot with a more open world and a better effort at feeling an emotional connection. Maybe take out the "Marry the nameless NPCs" to "build relationships, romantic or otherwise with defined Characters such as Whisper, Thunder, Briar Rose, Hammer or Reaver". I like the dog though. That was a good start.
Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing Lionhead partner up with Bioware to make it. That would be perfect.

 

[piinyouri]

It would be great if they brought Hammer back.
Favorite character from any of the games, bar none.

Mr. Moly looks like he's done with the series now though.

 

[Arina Love]

it was one of the worst games i have ever played. It have absolutely no redeeming qualities.