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I'm amazed when I see positive coverage of / nostalgia for Fable 1 for Xbox. I was 15 at the time at the peak of Xbox vs Playstation vs Gamecube message board

I'm amazed when I see positive coverage of / nostalgia for Fable 1 for Xbox. I was 15 at the time at the peak of Xbox vs Playstation vs Gamecube message board arguments on forums like NeoGAF. And Molyneux's bullshit wasn't making it easy for us online Xbox crusaders. He made crazy claims like how it was an open world game with an advanced social system where you build relationships with people and can plant a seed and watch the tree grow if you were to wait next to it for many ingame hours. The lead up and hype made it part of gaming forum discourse for years! Finally, Fable comes out and it's this short, easy, linear, arcadey, simplistic game. The super complicated reputation system was just a basic "you got +10 good/bad points" alignment system. "People remember your actions" just meant `if player.didThingX then cheer()`. After all that, it was a weekend rental at best. I think I beat it in 8 hours. It was so disappointing. After having not thought of Fable in 20 years, it's kinda funny to see it covered without the "gravity" of the waves it made in the Great Online Message Board Console Faction Wars. Not that the context was worth preserving nor that nobody should be allowed to enjoy it. It's funny because it was such a big deal to many of us forum crusaders. But I guess that's part of getting old.

tracerbulletx 2y ago
Eh, the fact it didn't live up to the promises was certaintly a massive part of the narrative, but I have a different memory. I remember most people finding it to be a masterpiece immediately. It got a 9.3 from IGN back when that still meant something after all. A lot of people don't care about length if what you get is as densely charming, well written, and well art designed as Fable.
angry_moose 2y ago
Yeah, that's how I remember it. The hype was basically "Morrowind but better in every single way" - better combat, deeper lore, complex character interactions, and more advanced graphics. I got it day 1, and within about 2 days I gave up on it and sold it back. It was so much less than advertised I was immensely disappointed. I'm sure there was something good there if you went in with no expectations, but its easily the biggest gaming letdown I've experienced.

tracerbulletx 2y ago

Eh, the fact it didn't live up to the promises was certaintly a massive part of the narrative, but I have a different memory. I remember most people finding it to be a masterpiece immediately. It got a 9.3 from IGN back when that still meant something after all. A lot of people don't care about length if what you get is as densely charming, well written, and well art designed as Fable.

angry_moose 2y ago

Yeah, that's how I remember it. The hype was basically "Morrowind but better in every single way" - better combat, deeper lore, complex character interactions, and more advanced graphics. I got it day 1, and within about 2 days I gave up on it and sold it back. It was so much less than advertised I was immensely disappointed. I'm sure there was something good there if you went in with no expectations, but its easily the biggest gaming letdown I've experienced.