Watch Out for Fireballs! 451: Fable II (Premium)
Added 2024-09-19 14:00:10 +0000 UTCFable is the story... nay, the legend of Peter Molyneux and his ability to sell a pocket full of dreams. Does Fable stack up the great RPGs of it's day? Short answer, no.
Comments
Makes sense though, if this is one of the ten worst games they have done, when it comes to experiencing the game. There probably isn't much goodwill towards the game in such a case.
Sebastian Manthey
2024-10-30 09:40:17 +0000 UTCIf you never played the games you cant gauge whether or not the "negativity" is justified. Just sounds like you've been holding a Gary grudge. This is just a podcast man.
Cinnamon Toast Cunt
2024-10-21 17:52:38 +0000 UTCWhy would I need it? The negativity is getting absurd. I've never even played this game and it just bothers me. Also, Soul Reaver had a lot more to offer than that. Kole is the shit though.
B B
2024-10-09 23:37:12 +0000 UTCGo for it, it is OK. You have our permission! -GB
Duckfeed.tv
2024-10-09 23:05:20 +0000 UTCgary shits on everything. Thinking about unsubbing.
B B
2024-10-09 23:02:21 +0000 UTCNot my favorite episode. Seemed very toxic and angry. I get not liking a game and maybe even the person who developed it, but this whole episode just had a very negative feeling. It also felt like Xbox fans took a stray for just being Xbox fans. LOL
Michael Heppe
2024-09-30 23:16:10 +0000 UTCi really thought Gary was joking earlier in the episode when he said the dog takes a bullet for you like the Bodyguard lol holy shit
sleepysmiles
2024-09-30 21:46:47 +0000 UTCI realized when listening to this episode and thinking back on the series that Fable and Fable 3 (the only ones I've played, neither of which I finished). That I was playing both games when they came out and that they coincidentally happened at two of the darkest times of my life. I was playing Fable 1 when I got some really awful news from an ex girlfriend and Fable 3 when I broke my cheekbone and had to get a tiny plate put in my face. So long story short fuck these cursed games. Pretty sure if I started a Fable 2 playthrough rn I'd cause Trump to win in November
Kyle C.
2024-09-24 16:10:09 +0000 UTClol -gb
Duckfeed.tv
2024-09-23 17:26:20 +0000 UTC"Come along with Peter, you know I'm a deceiver I never deliver, you know that I'm a fibber"
Jody Vyrostek
2024-09-22 20:28:21 +0000 UTCFunny you mention Dragon’s Dogma, Wikipedia cites Itsuno as taking some inspiration from Fable, which really explains the NPC systems and terrible romance in those games. But even then, they added a few wrinkles above and beyond what Fable did. Luckily, that seems to be it for Fable inspo
Lucas
2024-09-21 16:29:21 +0000 UTCLove this overview of Molyneux’s particular, but not unique, brand of charlatanism. Molyneux is a creator I’ve been aware of, and increasingly disappointed by, from the earliest days of my experiences with video games. I played Populous on the Amiga 500 when I was 8, and it immediately expanded my notions of what video games could be and do. I liked Powermonger too, and enjoyed the transgressive corporate cyberpunk theming of Syndicate more than the game itself, which was fine. It wasn’t until I played Magic Carpet at the ripe old age of 13 or 14 (after upgrading to a PC) that I think I first realised games might not always be finished products upon release (potential Abject Suffering candidate right there, though it is boring). I think I’m fine with other early video game luminaries like Richard Garriott and Chris Roberts exclusively devoting themselves to vaporware games at the service of whales, and I’m more than fine with folks like John Carmack and David Braben almost endlessly iterating on the same games, but Molyneux’s desperate grifting attempts at catching lightning in a bottle or chasing past glories sure do leave me confused. He must have enough money by now, right? I’m glad Kole acknowledges how contrite Molyneux always seems when he apologizes, but why does he keep over promising and trying to jump on every tech fad even partially related to games? According to himself, he’s been doing it since before he was even making games, and I guess in the early days he was rewarded for it. Anyways, great episode, thank you!
Morgan
2024-09-21 14:17:35 +0000 UTCI had vague good memories of the Fable series so I was a bit surprised by how poorly the guys received it. I fired it up again to see, and I kinda get it. The combat is simple, the controls are a bit swimmy, and the writing is underwhelming. But for some reason the music, art, and atmosphere still got me. I’m still hopeful for the new one in development at Playground Games, because there’s still that base level charm and focus on aesthetic penalties that I like.
Naveen Sivakumar
2024-09-21 11:55:00 +0000 UTCGrowing up, I never had a console until the XBox came out. For Christmas I got Halo and Fable and was pretty enamoured by Fable at the time. I was young enough that I wasn't following game journalism, and therefore wasn't disappointed by what was on offer vs what was promised. The story felt interesting, dark in places and I liked how your character design reacted to decisions you made. When Fable 2 came out, I was pretty excited! However I distinctly remember thinking "Huh, no armour. That's weird". To use network terminology, the rest of the game felt like the bath emptying around me. Maybe because I was older, maybe because I had played Oblivion since playing Fable, or maybe because I had got into the hype but Fable 2 was a massive disappointment. The story felt so bland, and none of the design decisions felt good. Side note - I hadn't realized just how much of a shit Molyneux was, so thanks for shining a light on that.
Ben Green
2024-09-21 07:18:23 +0000 UTCIt was one of those episodes that is great because you hate it.
dumbcube
2024-09-21 03:57:10 +0000 UTCBottom 10 was a PLOT TWIST I was not expecting. I loved this game contemporaneously, haven't played it since. This is one of those times where I'm thankful I played something that sucks or is too outdated to enjoy now. I got the fun experience playing it when I didn't know no better, now I get the fun experience of hearing y'all tear it apart. Best of both worlds!
Chapel Collins
2024-09-20 21:35:27 +0000 UTCwe eatin good 🙏🏻
eli.
2024-09-20 11:37:28 +0000 UTCI LOVED fable 2 as a kid. Yet as a sicko who loves to have my childhood shat on I was thrilled when Gary said it was in his bottom 10!! Great ep for a bad bad game
wesley
2024-09-20 04:03:02 +0000 UTCGary bringing up dwarf fortress has made me desperately want you guys to do it for woff 😂
Stoned Skeleton
2024-09-20 02:31:11 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed all of the info on the development of this one, boys! Well researched, made me despise the guy even more lol
William Morton
2024-09-19 18:36:24 +0000 UTCI loved this game when I got a 360. But I also wasn’t used to games that gave you like…any modicum of choice/the world meaningfully reacting to choice. I can’t imagine this game has aged well. In fact, I bet it sucks total ass. Will be a fun listen!
Richard Cochnar
2024-09-19 16:18:59 +0000 UTCBut really, who was it for? I played this as a kid and dropped it pretty quickly. The dog told me there was a dig spot and my character pulled a condom out of the ground. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Paul
2024-09-19 15:23:53 +0000 UTCFable II was my first game for the Xbox 360. I ended up falling in love with (what I perceived then as) the beauty and charm of the environments, characters, and humor. It was also my introduction to legendary actor Stephen Fry, who voices Reaver. All this, combined with scarcity of other game options, a dearth of broad game knowledge, a teenage mind that loved lolrandomness, plus having kid time to play with, meant I spent an inordinate amount of time on this and have many fond feelings that I’ve always suspected would not survive contact with a second playthrough as an adult. Hearing your analysis confirmed this for me. Also, your instinct to avoid Fable 3 is very well-founded. 2 is actually the best representation of the series. In 3, they stripped out all the already meager combat depth and had an even more threadbare story, while simultaneously eliminating most of the alignment cosmetics. Also committed the mortal sin of giving you a voiced main character. 3 basically killed the already-floundering series and Peter Molyneux’s take-away for why was that “we moved forward in time too far at once.” In his mind, stripping out all the features would’ve been fine if the setting had been a 1500’s-esque world rather than late 1700’s apparently. This stunning lack of insight and his love of the scam makes this auteur my least favorite Molyneux only 2nd to Stefan.
Conner Reid
2024-09-19 15:13:41 +0000 UTC
