I am simply going to list what I believe are Fable 2's pro's and con's and analyze each.

Pros:

1- Graphics, they are beautiful.

2- Side quests, the most original I have ever seen.

3- Character morphing, the physical appearance of both you and your dog will change according to your actions, as will the interaction of NPC's with you.

4- The dog, he never gets in your way, he can't die, and he helps in combat.

5- Family, I like having this option; you can have a wife, kids, its quite fun.

6- Multiplayer, you can bring a friend.

Cons:

1- Combat, while they did improve range combat from the first game, I think they took a step backward in melee and magic, they just aren't as fun.

2- Character customization, you can really only customize which type of combat your character will excel in, and since combat is boring who cares.

3- Boss fights, where did they go? The first game had lots, this game has none.

4- Difficulty, there is only one setting and it is very easy, I didn't die once, there was no challenge.

5- Itemization, because the game is so easy it hardly matters what weapons you carry and there is such a small variety that it's really quite sad. As for clothing, I like being able to wear what I want without wishing it had better stats, but why didn't the developers give each piece of clothing an empty augment slot and allow the character to put something in there like "increase health by 5%" or something...

6- Economy, money is way to easy to get, this makes every item in the game have no value.

7- Unique items, there should be more and they should be better than items you can purchase, to add to their value.

8- Tediousness, decorating houses is not as simple as the first game, adjusting prices has to be done individually, why can't I say `every house in Bowerstone increase by 20'?

9- Going evil, if you go completely evil every NPC will run away from you screaming, this is not as cool as it sounds since you won't be able to interact with anyone.

10- Multiplayer, your friend's character won't look like his character, what's that about?

11- Dig spots and chests, neither holds anything of value since money is easy to come buy, in the first game these had some meaning.

12- Story, the main quest was short and boring, the first games story was much more interesting in my opinion and also wasn't over so quickly.

JD-UT

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Both Fable I and Fable II could have been all time best RPG games if enough clues had been available within the games to play and complete the games with out resorting to walk through guides. I would purchase and play another Fable sequal, a Fable III if you may.

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Great game. Absolutely loved it. If you were a fan of the first fable then I guarantee you will love this one. A couple of minor glitches, but they dont take away from the experience at all!

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I haven't gotten very far in this game yet so please take into account this review based on that fact. I have to be honest. I was very disappointed about the childhood part of this game. My character really didn't have a purpose. The older sister did all of the talking and interaction in the storyline. I understand I am just a little boy in the story but it took a lot of fun out of the game. It's like all I did was follow her around and act like a person that had nothing to offer. The only good moment occurred when I beat up the bully. I also didn't like the story line about the dog. I wish I would have had a chance to decide if and when I wanted to bring the dog home. In the story it's like the sister stated no to the dog two times and then all of a sudden the dog is at our house and she quickly changes her mind. That wasn't very creative. I wish the relationship between the boy/girl and the dog starting out could have been written better. I think the story line would have been better if I could have been the big brother taking care of my little brother and my little brother/sister got shot and then I could understand the revenge part a lot more. Basically weak storyline at first. The first fable did the childhood part a lot better.

As for the game after childhood, I have enjoyed it a lot. I like the ability to be able to work and earn money. I have already bought most of the businesses and houses in Oakfield (I think that is its name.) I'm almost mayor and all I had to do is cut a lot of wood and make knives to do it. It took a while however I enjoyed it. Basically during the middle adult section there is a lot to do. You can get to know people, play with your dog, choose to be evil or nice, or just explore the environment. Again, I haven't experienced a lot of the game so I won't be like some of these people and write things just to be writing them.

The dog is rather neat though and I am not even a big dog lover. The dog does serve a purpose and that is important to me. He can protect you, find treasure, and be your friend. I like him the most because he finds me things like keys, gold and other great things. It's fun to throw the ball with him also.

I'll be updating this as I play. So far it is just a 3 star game due to weak storyline. That may change though... hopefully! The first Fable had a lot better storyline.

UPDATE: I accidentally killed my wife! While making my wife fall in love with me by giving her gifts, playing her music, and making romatic gestures to her, she felling in love with me. The problem with doing those things was that everyone around her fell in love with me also. So after marriage, these same people followed me to my house and wouldnt leave! I wanted to have a romatic relationship with my wife and they wouldn't leave the room. I tried using the "dismiss" command and that didnt work. I tried slapping them and that didnt work. The only thing they would say to me is that they couldn't understand why I wanted them to leave, over and over... frustrating. Out of my frustration, I took off the weapons safety feature so I could slash one of them to make a point but instead of pulling out my sword, I accidently pressed the wrong button and pull out my shotgun and killed my wife. She went flying across the room and of course the villagers went running... finally! The whole town went crazy calling me murderer and wife killer. It took me a long time to get another woman to fall in love with me due to this mistake that was brought on by faulty AI. I shouldnt have to go to that extent to get someone out of my house regardless of how much they admire me.

With all that said, even though the event made me mad, it was VERY entertaining! It was funny in a crude type of way and everyone I tell laughs about it. One thing I like about the game is the social interaction. If you like the social aspect of the video game "The Sims," you should like this also.

Back to the storyline... it is getting better but still not even close as good as the first FABLE. I wish the AI worked a little better also. I also agree that the camera angles are subpar and the casting of spells is not even close to as good as oblivion. This is still a pretty good game though.

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The main game quest should have been longer, but I love the side missions, DLC, and the customization of your character and how he or she acts, looks, etc. A great game! and just to note.. I dont give that type of rating out lightly.

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I was deeply disappointed with Fable II. But even so if I could give it 4 and 1 half stars I would. I played the game and fell in love with the storyline. I thought that was great. I would rate it 5, but the glitches were so overwhelming that I fought about giving it just a 3.

It was short. It took me less than a day to complete the entire game. I had read about all the bugs and thought maybe it'd be okay, and that perhaps it wasn't as bad as people said.

The first time I played the game I ran into a glitch from one of the sidequests, fortunately I was near the end and didn't need to enter one of the areas where Giles farm was again and was able to complete it. At the time I didn't have any way to connect my Xbox 360 to the internet so an available patch wasn't an option. And most forums on the matter were dead.

My next gripe was that I was only allowed 1 save. I've never encountered a game where I had one save. I am aware they do exist, I just never expected it from Fable and was very annoyed. The only way to play Fable II again without destroying my progress was to either use a different storage or a different profile. If a glitch occurred I was unable to go back to another save. The only way to approach the save issue for me was to think of it as part of the 'challenge' and to view it as 'life' no turning back. But I don't feel I should have had to.

While playing this game for enjoyment I found myself on edge, holding my breath. Worrying that if I walked too fast through a door or went off to do a sidequest (which they had so many of) that it would be a game breaker and cause me to restart from the previous save (hopefully before the glitch unless you saved after), or restart the game completely.

I read somewhere where the game makers used as an excuse for all the glitches when you have something this big there are bound to be problems. It was an excuse and not good enough. I thought I'd never find a game like Fable II or better, I thought it was unique. Until I played Dragon Ages, a huge game with very very few glitches and none that are gamebreaking, with a far stronger replay value.

I was glad they allowed me to be female, and I was very happy to be allowed to dress the males up in female clothing etc. But I was disappointed that it didn't allow me to further customize my skin and face. And that you didn't grow old like in Fable I.

I was a bit annoyed they made you pay extra for the See into the Future bit and thought that it should have been apart of the main package. But it was what it was and the price wasn't outrageous. Just money schemes, but that's typical and to be expected of some people, not a big gripe.

Nevertheless despite all the issues with Fable II I do look forward to Fable III mainly for the story (though the storyline sounds boring) I am interested to see in what advancement in game technology they plan to improve. Hopefully they'll learn from their mistakes.

I did think that the voice acting was amazing, and for me the voice acting added to my connection to the characters. My favourite character being Theresa because she was the main connection between Fable I and Fable II, and I always really liked her. The world itself was also amazing. I enjoyed watching the movies, never once did I want to skip through them, though it would have been nice to have the option (at the same time I'd rather not have the option. I accidentally hit buttons too many times sometimes).

Overall the game Fable II is playable. And I was able to enjoy it because I got lucky during certain points of the game. I would not recommend Fable II to buy unless it's for $12 or less (and it's going down since I brought it around $17/$22), I would suggest renting it if it were an option.

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This game rocks the world and beyond the universe. It is funny as hell and easy to pick up and play. No pressure to finish, feel free to explore the world and there is always something to do. I was addicted to the original Fable until I finished it and this game is 10x better! The only reason I did not give it 4 stars is that it could be more challenging at times; it's super easy to get a lot of money if you do the jobs and it's very difficult to get killed. Even if you do, you wake up right away, but the design of the game also never disappoints, so that's not necessarily a mark against the game. It's simply a different choice. However, there are a lot of hilarious elements to this game that make it worthwhile to own. The bottom line is that despite its few shortcomings, this game is FUN.

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this is a great game. A definite upgrade from the previous....

...just wish I knew when the $10 gift card was coming

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Fable I was one of those over self hyped projects that came along that when it failed to deliver everything (or indeed even half of what was promised) everyone kinda scratched their heads, and whined. Fable I was a great game don't get me wrong. But I kinda get that same vibe from Fable II as well.

Let me start by saying allowing you to pick your gender was very intelligent on their part, along with just how well or badly people treat you based on your alignment. I am surprised that even with my gripes of this game that it can still just suck me in for a couple hours at a time (and yes I've beaten this game) just listening and interacting with the world around me.

I don't think I have ever been so thoroughly immersed in a videogame world before. This almost rivals with a good D&D session for time well spent. Almost. No videogame will ever truly top that level of interaction and endless possibility. Not as long as the game's creative vision is in the hands of someone that isn't you and your friends. The people of Albion react to you in varied ways depending on your actions and not even just your alignment.

Heck yesterday I shot someone in the face because he wouldn't get out of the way of a door way -no matter what I did- splattered his head all over the inside of the furniture shop, two other people draw guns start shooting at me. So what do I do? Defend myself. Didn't really gain any evil for it either, heck I'm known as The Saint in that game, that's just awesome. I go back to bowerstone (I was in bloodstone when I murdered) and two guards tell me "They are keeping their eye on me" around five minutes later or so some random towns person said "You will kill anyone won't you!"

It's impressive to say the least that they went so far with some of the little details like that in this game. I had caused several people to distrust me, as they heard of my dastardly deed in Bloodstone, even though I have a glowing halo over my head. I'm just left astounded with this.

The other thing about this game which really impresses me is the combat system. It is very fluid and feels very natural to exectue. I would be willing to say actually it's even more simple than say Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance or Champions Of Norrath, but is by far more entertaining and dynamic.

Also the fact that there is no "going back and loading" after a major decision point is awesome. You do something evil for the quest ending? Guess what you're stuck with that decision. Consequences. This game deals alot in those, and it seems all the more enjoyable and immersive to me that there are decisions which are "immutable".

So what's holding this game back from a full five star? In a word Details. There's alot of polish and shine to this game but I felt that the post beaten game content could have been more existent than merely wrap up whatever you didn't finish before you beat it. Getting a castle and possibly changing your gender, and then doing repeated Bounty Hunter and other jobs, and Free/Enslave Quests. I'd have loved for some kind of "post game story" to have been implemented into the game.

I think they could have done just that little extra more for everyone, and they would have had a game that will be forever thought of with dreamy goofy gamer smiles and plenty of nostalgic gaming on their hands. As it is it is a damned fine game though.

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When I first got this game, my impression was that you had many choices to take and once you choose them, you have no way to turn back, making it more realistic since a lot of things in life work in a similar fashion.

However, this game isn't at all what I thought. It's a great first time play and I was pretty addicted to it until I realized a few things:

1. You can simply master all of the melee attributes and magic abilities. So doesn't matter which you chose, you can just end up mastering both and messing with both a sword and be a full master at magic as well. So what's the real choice in choosing when your character can be everything, there's no real choice, eventually almost everyone will have a character that is pretty much the same...

2. Marriage is a joke at best. They all act pretty much the same and there's no real reward to it....not much of a plus to the game.

3. The game makes you think there's a lot of different paths to choose from but they all come back to the same point and the paths are not very far from each other, almost to the point of saying it is almost insignificant.

4. Bad guy or good guy? Pay the homeless guy and you become a good guy extremely fast, just like that....so don't let them fool you with that little gimmic.

This is a neat game so it'll take a few rentals until you can finish it. Just buy it and sell it back if you want. Online gaming for this is a joke as well.

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(I haven't tried the expansions so these are just a few thoughts on Fable 2 main content only.)

While it is a great improvement over Fable, I was disappointed when I finally played this game. Fable 2 is larger and allows for more play time than the original, however...

*Gold, easy to get, so what do we do with our Millions? Once you buy all the Shops/Houses, then what?

*Weapons. Nice array of weapons, I do like the use of guns and crossbows.

The "best" of them are quite expensive, but buy a few shops, don't play for a day or 2, and you'll have the gold in no time. (Gold is earned even if you aren't playing)

Augments on the weapons to make them stronger/better. I do enjoy the feature, but why can't we socket new augments over old ones? You get a nice weapon, don't like the augments it came with? Too bad.

The main reasons for my disappointment;

*"Open World" Well, kinda. If your thinking World of Warcraft or Fallout 3, no.

You can run a little ways then hit the "no farther" mountains, rocks, trees ect.

*Co-op, play with your friends and complete quests. Not really. They show up as a henchman, and you really can't get too far away from each other. Your locked to using the same screen. Your friend can't be off killing some town and ask you to come over and help. Such potential, and yet they seemed to just over look all it could have been.

*The controls seem "clunky", often frustrated with the character movement. I am running into objects, getting stuck on nothing, a simple step for many games is an obstacle for this one. You can jump over a fence, but try to go up steps from the side, and you can't.

This all seems negative but I did enjoy the game.

I'm just offering a little of my perspective for future buyers.

(maybe even developers)

If you liked Fable, Fable 2 is for you. If you want to run with your buddies beating stuff up? Maybe another game.

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My wife loved the first game so i bought Fable 2 for her but i found myself playing this more than her. I loved the story and my quest for vengance but in the end, your stuck with a hard 3 way decision on what to do and how to end the game. After the game ends, you can contiue to travel and look for the Legandary weapons and acheivements. Game is not that hard but you earn experience on every fight. The exp is uesed in different collors of orbs. Each colore would upgrade a different ability or power and their are stors that sell potions for that quick exp. You can max out your fire or choose to bring back more dead guys to help you fight. All you have to do is power up to the max that you got and unlease the power. The downside is that you can be attacked and so you have to be careful. Their are different types of enemies so its not that repetative.

There are side thing you can do like get married and recieve something nasty. You can buy houses and remodel them, raise a famliy or two in two different towns, purchase weapons and on some you can add a crystal type thing to boost you sword power. Their is plenty of money to be earned so buy as much protery as you can. Its not just for the game but for online trading. Trading you say... Their is an acheivements to collect all 7 Hero Dolls but some poeple will only sell them for 7-10 million. Crazy but if you go to xbox360acheivements you will be able to find people that are willing to trade. The other reason is to trade legendary weapons or items that someone needs to get an acheivements like unlocking all the Demon doors.

I think there have been 2 DLC's that have been release for the game and each with its own missions and new perks. Get your dog back if it died and the ablility to change the type of dog you have. Dalmation, Bloodhound, Husky or your old Mutt are the potions that the guy sels and there not that expensive.

The co-op play is terrible and you have to share the same screen. So if my and my wife wanted to play, the screen does not split. If me and my friend from another sate wanted to play, you still share the same screen wich means you both have to stay close together within view range. The online aspect is that if you wanted to trade with a friend, you will have to look for their orb. Its in the setting menue and you can see several orbs running around and poeple asking to trade for hero dolls or weapons. If you are trading with someone, you have to go up to the orb and trasfer certain items and the game will save after each trasfered item.

The game is really fun and i hope this help you in what you need to know

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This is a fantastic game for young and older gamers - the story is full of depth and mystery, the lands are detailed and challenging, your decisions make a huge difference in the future and it is a rare thing these days where you have to deal with your decisions. The way you play will affect your appearance and the world around you in very dramatic ways. Angel or Devil you will reap what you sow.

You start as a child and become involved in a far reaching plot by Lucien, years pass and you continue your adventure in the world you helped change (for good or bad), events unfold and you again skip into the future once again experiencing the aftermath of your own choices. The story ends a little abruptly but there are so many things to do even after the story arc ends that you will be playing this game for months.

For the price you can't find many deals that will keep you engaged and entertained for nearly as long as Fable 2 will. The Downloadable Content is worth the extra MSPoints to enrich the already beautiful scope of this game.

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First off, I had been waiting for this game for about 3 months when I got it. I was thinking about it everyday, hoping it would live up to the hype and not be a huge disappointment. Well I can honestly say that it DEFINETLY did not disappoint. While this game does have a few glitches and some that could be game-breaking, or so i've heard, I havent experienced any of those. I liked the first fable but this one was much better. There were so many features that werent in the first one but are in this one.

There were a few things that were in the first that they improved dramatically in this one. When you try to flirt with someone instead of having just a few expressions and just clicking a button you have many expressions and you can extend them to have a greater effect on the person. Also, instead of fable 1 where you had to go collect money from every house that you rented out you will automatically get the money in Fable 2. You can also own shops and sets the prices and affect the economy.

One of the biggest features of Fable 2 is the dog. The dog is truly everything PM promised. He is never annoying, he will find treasure that would take you awhile to search for in just a few seconds, and he will help you fight off your foes. One of the other big features is the addition of guns. This fable is set 500 years after the first so it is appropriate that they have guns. The guns are a great addition and are much better than bows. You can aim at individual body parts on enemies and take them out stealthly. The melee combat is also very smooth. There are many different types of melee weapons and there are once again many legendary weapons to find. You can also add augments to your weapons. The magic system features only eight spells but is very nice. You can level all the spells up to level 5 to make them do alot of damage. Also when you use a lot of magic you get these nice blue lines on your body.

Another big feature that alot of people thought wouldn't work was no armor. That is correct, there is no more plate, chain, or any other type of armor. The only thing that affects your defence is your toughness skill. In Fable 2 you are free to where whatever you like without worrying about how it will affect you.

These are just some of the features of Fable 2, some old things fable fans will remember have been included: silver keys, demon doors, and a new one: gargoyles. You can also change your hairstyle and dye any piece of clothing.

There are only minor problems with Fable 2. One thing is that the game wasn't as long as PM Promised and that the few glitches that are in the game are sometimes pretty annoying. I don't know why people are flaming this game so much saying, "I was looking for something like Oblivion" well of course there not going to make it like Oblivion. They want to make something new and not the same old thing.

If you liked Fable 1 you will absolutely love this game! So don't listen to the flamers and PS3 fanboys and buy this game.

Oh and by the way PM= Peter Molyneux, creator of Fable 2.

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We got Fable II for our son's birthday present & we all have characters now! The scenery is beautiful, lots of freedom to run around & find things, you can swim in this one.You can't jump unless it has a signal to allow you but you don't really need to. We like to go through good & then bad so we'll all play it again at least once more. Lots of options to change the characters. Lots of Fun!

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