Fable III Review: And So Our Story Begins...

So with Fable III came allot of anticipation and wonder. Fable II was, admittedly, not a very good game, it was essentially Fable with a new skin. Fun, but nothing especially *new*. The hopes for Fable III were that it would be different enough to be interesting, but similar enough to keep the charm that has made Fable such a special game. For example, being able to heartlessly slaughter entire villages of townsfolk that, despite the fact that you have never spoken to any of them, are madly in love with you, followed by a modest 100,000 gold fine.
Overall, I feel like the game was successful in bringing us the aligning decision making that is essential to Fable, as well as bringing new facets and a creative story that keeps the the fans amused and ensures that they won't get bored with the franchise.

Can you not feel the Hero's anguish?!

The first, most revitalizing change in the game was the addition of a *real* character.
No longer do you have a voiceless hero who is simply characterized by his actions, defining him only as good or evil. Now, we have a face, a voice, a character with a purpose, a mission, and a someone with whom the gamer can relate.You do name your character, so in the game he is never referred to by name, which is not especially detracting from the connection, and could, I suppose, even draw the player deeper into this character that he created. Overall giving the Hero that rather important human-like quality we call speech was a crucial step into making Fable III more intriguing and involving.

*Zombie Joke Here*

The next major change to the game is the leveling system. It's not even so much leveling, as much as it is, buying upgrades. Never do you actually progress from say level 15 to 16(of course, you didn't level up in that fashion in Fable or Fable II either.), but instead you simply buy levels of effectiveness. This is a good and a bad thing. For starters, you don't buy specialized upgrades, you just buy "Melee Level 2" or "Ranged Level 5" you don't spend your points on specific categories of skill, will, or strength. It makes it more standardized, and it makes stacking your Hero into more traits possible, allowing the player to form his Hero into an almighty Hammer wielding, pistol slinging, Lute playing superstar! Suck it Justin Bieber! You don't see him smashing skulls, bustin' caps and playing sweet sweet tunes for gold. For example, my Hero was able to purchase the next level of Melee and Magic and blacksmith every time it became available. So this simply means that you don't have to just pick one style of combat and stick with that the whole game. It's much easier now to have multiple proficiencies, making combat a tad more fun. On the down side, it does not allot much customization within each combat style.

"A Revolution without dancing, is a revolution not worth having!"

Which brings up the point as to how you can utilize combat upgrades. No matter if you decide to go straight Will, you are still going to use weapons at some point. (Especially in Fable III, as I just said) Luckily the weapons have received quite an upgrade. Not only does your initial weapon become more awesome each time you buy an upgrade, but as you use the weapon it becomes better, unlocking weapon unique passive traits after the Hero meets certain conditions (killing x of these, making x citizens love you, etc.). No longer do you have to find the awesome special super cool looking Legendary Cleaver The Rising Sun Only to realize that your not as cool Master Longsword is better. Instead you can buy a weapon that has unlock-able passive effects that you deem worthy, and beat the hell outa hobbes and hollow men with the same efficiency you would with your starting weapon, and in some cases, you will win even harder! Also, all of the weapons look super bad ass. So you don't have to make the decision between effective or pretty any longer! 

Making money becomes very very essential to progressing the story in Fable III, but, not a whole lot as changed for the monetary system of Albion. You still can work to make money, buy real estate, or do quests and what not to make money. It really is essentially the same. The game does introduce more ways to make money, but those are more story progressions, then personal endeavors for wealth. Your hero can be a Pie Maker, and Lute Player, or the forever loved Blacksmith to earn his wages. The new mini-game mechanic is pretty neat, still a timing mini-game, but better in my opinion. Only thing is that those are the only three jobs, and I had sort of been hoping for more new jobs. Although, Lute playing is pretty hilarious. Who doesn't love giving their King and Hero gold to hear the lovely melodies he can produce?

I Has all da monies!

 As far as what I have to say for the flaws of the game, there really are not too many. The first major problem I have with the game is you cannot die. You don't even really have health, you can only take so much damage over time, in a CoD/GoW style health system. When you do die, all that happens is that your progress to earning the next Guild Seal (which is the currency you use to purchase upgrades) Which sounds like a bull crap penalty, because losing experience is never never acceptable, until you realize that it takes about, one significant battle to earn that progress back. You don't revert to the last checkpoint, or have to start that section, or quest over, you simply fall over, loose the Guild Seal you were working on, and then stand back up, as though nothing had occurred. Which admittedly makes the game less likely to bring about angry time, it does take away some amount of challenge and the fear of death.
The other major issue I have noticed is that the game will often experience really heavy frame-rate issues. Luckily this never occurs during important fights, or during cinematic moments, but when it does happen, it will lag pretty hard and it sucks. The only time I experienced it was during my time in Bowerstone Market, and I suppose it was caused by all the people and activity, but still. Pretty annoying. Also, baddies that are some distance away will look really jerky and glitch-y, as if they have lower frame-rates or refresh rates the farther away they are. Minor aesthetic details.

He's a dick.

 My final opinion of Fable III is that is was quite successful in bringing back the charm and allure of the Fable series. Enough had been changed in good ways to keep me interested and to help it seem like a legitimately different game. The plot is also pretty refreshing,VIVA LA REVOLUTION!!!  That's all

8 out of 10 somethings.