Fable II: Afterthoughts

Note: Spoiler warning is minimal, in discussing the Fable II storyline here I worked very hard to avoid any and all spoilers.


Just finished Fable II last night, and although I can definitely say I can understand the appeal of these kinds of sandbox games to gamers nowadays, I can't help but feel that the narratives of these games often suffer. Fable II had so much potential, particularly at the beginning and especially the twist in the middle - but it was all squandered at the end by the most anticlimactic ending in recent history as far as I'm concerned. This wasted potential has nothing to do with the choices you make as a character (although I think some problems in the story were watered down to compensate for that), but more that it felt like the development team was "tired" and that they wanted to just stop working and ship the game.

The parts that WERE emotionally charged towards the end of the game were casually glossed over - both concerning what the villain claimed he had done and also what your friends do in the "final battle" (note: "final battle" in the loosest of terms, since there really isn't one - it's more of an interactive cutscene). The point remains, too much freedom makes the story fail. But even moreso than sandbox elements forcing compromises in storyline - rushed development makes them even more pronounced.

Final Fantasy VIII had this problem too. One second you have an awesome plot twist with Sorceress Adel and the Lunar Cry, and the next you're crashing into a floating fortress-thingy and ending the game without really explaining what happened in the first place. IX had a similar problem following its twist; whereas FFX did it right. XII didn't really have a plot to begin with, so criticizing that game's storyline would take an entire entry of itself. Of course, even that's better than taking the Xenogears way out and just display paragraphs of events on the screen and time-jumping. Those events described in Xenogears were a huge tease, as they sounded like they would have been a ton of fun to play through. Anyways, my point is, when making an RPG, even one with as much freedom as Fable II, make sure your story doesn't suck, in particular the beginning and end. Fable II's beginning was great, but the ending completely ruined the entire experience for me.


Funny final note on Fable II: Alex unexpectedly appeared back in Bowerstone after the Rookridge ghost quest (where I did decide to hand over the rejection letter, so in theory she should be dead). Not letting an opportunity go to waste, I married her :-P. Unfortunately, the glitch soon pronounced itself, as she doesn't respond to any expressions, including "Follow" and "Come back to my place"...thus, I couldn't have kids with her. Marrying a ghost-brought-back-to-life means you get no action, apparently. :D