Apologies for my prolonged absence from my soapbox. I was not so happily engaged in reacquainting myself with my toilet, sink, garbage can... pretty much whatever receptacle was near at hand while I lost the contents of my stomach over and over.
Enjoy that mental image.
I have now successfully kept food down for 24 hours, so I'm declaring myself cured and attempting to reintegrate myself into the food consuming public. Fingers crossed I don't pass out in kickboxing tonight due to lack of nutrients.
During my prolonged illness, I took the time to ensconce myself on the couch with Fable III. I know I wax poetically political on here, but the truth is I enjoy a large amount of dorkitude in my daily life. I couldn't not sneak a peak at Scott Stinson's editorial today about the duality of Darth Vader vs Anakin Skywalker. I often catch one of the various Star Trek's mid-afternoon while I eat lunch, and I'm still happily playing my way through Dragon Age for the umpteenth time (I'll actually beat the game one of these days, but systematically seducing everyone in your party takes time).
I've played through Fable I and II, and was awaiting Fable III when my ingenious hubby surprised me with it early (it's a birthday present a month early... the fact that I'm awful at keeping track of release dates makes it very easy to surprise me with new games). Now, this could very well be the fact that my gameplay was interrupted by sporadic vomiting, but my first immediate reaction was that it didn't gather me in like the first two did. Beginning Fable I as a small boy, with small boy quests, and subsequently following him to adulthood drew you in to the character and his immediate world. Starting Fable II again as a child (an orphan in both cases, although I liked that you could pick your gender in the sequel) and working towards earning this mystical music box in a very pre-industrial setting was fun. Part of the quest line has you rescue a dog, who becomes your faithful treasure finding companion (I don't remembering Fable I having a dog, but it's been a while). Both times you have tradgedy strike your poor orphan world, and you feel sympathy for your poor orphan character.
Fable III starts you off at the complete other end of the spectrum. Instead of an orphan, you're a privileged prince/princess, who already owns a dog, and seems to have everything going for her (him). You already seem to have a love interest (at least as the princess you do). You have a freaking butler who gets you out of bed. I completely lost that sense of connection and sympathy for the plight of the poor struggling hero. There was no reason to feel connected or empathic towards this privileged person. Where's my dirty little orphan child over coming adversity?
The new setting is amid Albion's industrial revolution, with a sort of French Rebellion vibe brewing. The reason being that your brother is a right ass with an uncaring deathgrip on the nation, keeping the little man dirty and in unsafe working conditions. Within the first hour or two of gameplay, you're expected to hate your brother for being a tyrant and betray him, setting yourself up as pretender to the throne. You have two older companions (your butler and your weapons teacher) telling you how awesome you are and that you're obviously the hero that Albion needs.
Woah woah woah. Slow this boat down. I just woke up, my brother is executing people, and now I'm a hero? I already wasn't feeling particularly enamored with this character. Now it just feels like I've become this young puppet for these two older gents who want to overthrow my brother. And where the hell did this damn dog come from?
The first two games had these very clear Big Baddies for you to fight. Both were figures of authority, which fit well with you as an orphan to rebel against. Jack of Blades, who is behind the destruction of your home in the first one. And Lord Lucien who kills your big sister in the second. Jack of Blades and Lord Lucien. Great bad guy names. They screw with your family, so of course you have to take them down. Suddenly, the third one veers wildly to the left, and the tyrant (still what was a decent bad guy name, Logan, but now due to pop-culture only makes me think of Wolverine) is your family, your own brother!
Now, I'm only a few hours into play. Maybe I'm judging too hastily, and it'll get better. I hear the second half of Fable III has you ruling the kingdom. Whereas the first two games ended when you got the throne (or beat the bad guy, rather), this one continues on after you win the rebellion and you have to make decisions as Albion's ruler. So obviously they're trying something new with the storyline and gameplay on this one. But the complete lack of set-up in drawing you into your own character has me feeling lackluster about this latest installment.
Oh, and you use the freaking A button for everything. The number of times I've tried to open chests and instead wound up playing fetch with the damn dog...
