Topic: Fable discussion. Best RPG of all time or biggest flop of all time?

[EggyToast]

You know, if they try to make the game appeal to everyone, it'll probably end up appealing to no one.  If it's not like normal RPGs, then the RPG crowd isn't going to like it.  If it's not like normal adventure games, then the adventure crowd probably won't like it.  If it's not like normal action games, then the action crowd probably won't like it.

Sure, it might fill a void, but it might also simply be a mish-mash of ideas that don't really come together except for the few that really play the game to death.  Black and White didn't really work so well because you NEEDED to spend a ton of time training your stupid animal, and then it did what you wanted it to do anyway.  Most people didn't care -- they wanted to play the game, not waste time training a cow to play the game for them.  And the people who did figure the game out and spent time training their animal had a lot of fun... for the 5 available levels, only 4 of which are really actual levels.  Everyone else avoided the game.  

I'm hoping I'm surprised by Fable, as the few things I've heard sound really cool in practice but haven't shown up a lot in gameplay (except for people saying different things to you and treating you differently depending on your status -- they've been doing that for years, most notably recently in skies of arcadia).  But it looks like it'll be a graphically pretty game that goes all over the place without having a real strength in any one area, making people bored with it, and the only thing giving it length would be playing around with the engine to see what you can do to it.  That's more like beta-testing than playing a game, in my mind.

[Mini Me-tho]

Well, here in France the biggest videogames magazine (Joypad) is following this game with enormous interest, and have some cool insiders infos every time possible... It turns to be a very enjoyable game, and even if I don't own a Xbox, I'll be lookinf forward getting one on loan or else to try it!!!
It's really interesting to test this liberty designed to be so unique...  

[rpglover]

if the game turns out good, then i may buy an xbox for it
it looks good and the creator of it has a good track record (peter m...cant remember last name)
but i havent seen it in action yet so i cant make any judgement on a few scans here and there
we shall see by e3 i would say

[OldMan Nintendo]

I remember hearing about this game some time ago... it sounds interesting and I intend on giving it a shot once it comes out.

However, it being called "Best RPG Ever" is kinda pushing it -- I mean, come on! What RPG was better than Chrono Trigger for the SNES?

[EggyToast]

It could have mind-blowing concepts, but if it plays like crap, no one's going to play it.  Nothing's come out about how you actually "play" the game.  Sure, the game responds to your actions (which isn't new tech), but what can you do?  It almost sounds like more of a sim RPG.

Plus, there's a huge difference between actually open-ended and pre-determined paths you can pick and choose from at various points.  A truly open-ended game is hell to program, as you need to supply variants in every single situation in the game.  Meaning teh game will be delayed and delayed, or released v. buggy.

Peter M. may read minds and knows what people want to hear, which is great for hyping a game.  He did the same thing for Black & White; we heard tons of ideas of concepts and gameplay ideas that sounded superb coming from him, but they turned into a medieval RTS-type game with confusing mandatory animal training.  But saying what we want to hear and putting it all into a game the way we're expecting are two totally different things.  

So I can see how the "role playing" comes into the project, but not the "game."  They're good ideas on their own, but they haven't said anything about how those ideas actually work into the real GAME.  and it's not really a game if it's just these few nebulous ideas stuck together.  It's just a simulation or worse then.

[rpglover]

" I mean, come on! What RPG was better than Chrono Trigger for the SNES? "

chrono trigger was great but i think there have been a few better ones- valkyrie profile, grandia series, ff3 (ff6 in japan), earthbound come to mind
of course chrono trigger is just plain good
i dont think fable will be the best rpg ever but it may be good if it does what it promises
i just dont know about the battle system though- it will probably be a real time one but i dont know

[The Omen]

I'll never understand why M$ insists on hyping up games to astronomical purportions...they're basically leaving just enough rope to hang themselves, ..why not let the game create the hype?

[jc24]

i think fable is a great idea for a game, but with how truly "huge" the game sounds it leaves a lot of room for error.  i just hope it lives up to the hype.

[rpglover]

just saw the new trailor of it at www.gamespot.com
it looks good i guess- the graphics are there and they actually showed some fighting sequences
the concepts look really cool but i hope the fighting system will be up to par
doing odds and ends tasks is fun but i would really love for the game to have a good fighting system
maybe it will be playable at e3 so we can get a better idea