Video Game Reviews - Fable III

Fable III Game Review (XBOX 360):

Alright, so if you liked Fable II, you will like Fable III, without a doubt. 

Some of the biggest changes in the game are that there is no “inventory” screen, which as an RPG gamer since birth, seemed highly odd to me.  I immediately thought it would be highly annoying, I mean, what gamer doesn’t want to know about all the loot he’s collected along the way?  I soon found out, that for this type of game, it worked out just ok.  You can access a pawn shop, which will then show you all the items you’ve acquired and what is available to sell.  How I’m walking around with a couple furniture bedroom sets is beyond me, but then again, I AM a hero.  Now granted, if I had to choose whether there was a diverse and intricate menu system or not, I would always choose the menu system.  I found that trying to access my quests, weapons and clothing, is time consuming.  I would much rather be out completing those quests and killing things than having to navigate through the “Sanctuary” to see my stuff.  Maybe I’m just an old fashioned role player, but I love me my menus!

Another big change is that you get to become King.  The rumor mill had me worried about this as it seemed like you wouldn’t be able to adventure and go about your business as much when you become King.  Luckily this isn’t the case; you can perform your kingly duties, making decisions on matters of state at your leisure (for the most part), without much of a headache.  I also enjoy the playful banter between the representative for and against the decision, making their case before you as King.  Attending the matters of state is actually quite refreshing, especially when you make a decision that literally changes the landscape of the world around you.  (Building a sewage plant, etc...)  It makes it feel like you are actually making a difference, reshaping the world around you.  This is something that I would like to see more in regular RPG games.  If you have loads of cash to spend, why not give you the ability to buy a castle of your own, or make improvements for the impoverished, seeing the change happen.  (e.g. a destitute town suddenly flourishes, etc...).

One of my favorite parts of the game is the ability to buy real estate as a means of collecting rent and profits, if from a business.  I think that in Fable III, they make it too easy, but it fits the needs of the game, especially at the point when you are King....you definitely need a lot of gold!  In a game like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, it’s much harder to come by gold, and this would be a nice alternative to making gold, which I would thoroughly enjoy.  One of the biggest problems in Fable III with this though, is the repairing of the houses, to keep them in good shape and to keep the tenants paying rent.  You have to INDIVIDUALLY go to each house, select it, choose repair and then cancel out a couple times to move on.  I currently own about 80 properties that I need to maintain...there should be some global command, if even by town, that allows you to repair everything at once.  It should just tell you how much it would cost and show you how much you have, so you can decide it you want to do it all at once.  This is probably the most annoying part about the game.  Another option would be to have a setting that says when the house gets to 50%, automatically fix it as soon as I have the gold.  That would be a huge fix to this game.

The fighting in this game is ok, though for the most part, I found it to be very easy.  I end up using my spells that take care of all my enemies at once, without ever really running into trouble.  I haven’t died/been knocked out once throughout the whole game. (so far)

Let’s see, what else.  The relationship portion of the game is decent.  It allows you to have “relations”, which generally result in children (which are actually necessary later in the game) and allows you to have a wife and all that jazz.  It’s a big part of the game, as you can also become friends with the townsfolk, going on “relationship quests” for them, but the problem I found with this, is that they are for the most part all the same.  You are either “fetching” something for them (usually by digging it up) or delivering something for them .  It gets old pretty quickly and is very time consuming.  Not sure what I would recommend to fix this.  By the sheer number of villagers, to have separate quests for each of them would be cumbersome for the developers, so I can see why they kept it simple, but if you’re not going to put your full effort into it, why do it?

Overall, I’m enjoying the game for what it is, especially the buying of real estate to fund my kingdom.  The game is really just a filler for me until my next big RPG, which looks to be the Elder Scrolls series, #5:  SKYRIM.