Off The List: Fable III

Steam had a fantastic sale on a game I'd been eyeing for a while, namely Fable III, this past weekend, so I picked it up. I played through it pretty quickly - the game had me hooked from fairly early on, and it helped that my wife enjoyed being a spectator to my in-game exploits. The game is probably described as an "accessible action RPG". The RPG elements aren't very crunchy, but there is substantial advancement opportunity. However, the only gear that matters is the character's weapon. This does, however, allow you to have a lot of fun mixing and matching various outfit components to achieve a unique look all your own, and given the vast number of outfits in the game, you certainly have the opportunity to do this! The gameplay itself is fun, if simple, and the storyline is a nice twist on the typical "save the world" plot. I've already played Fable: The Lost Chapters (the PC version of the original Fable) and this game makes me really want to play Fable II to see what bridged the gap between the two, but unless I get an Xbox 360, I'm out of luck - it was never released for the PC. The game deserves some points for mixing the Industrial Revolution with fantasy elements and pulling it off brilliantly. There's a lot fewer fantastical elements here than in the original Fable, but that seems appropriate. I'd recommend it; there's no denying the game's fun value.

RPG notes: Possible spoilers yadda yadda. Anyway, the plot of the game - depose a tyrant and take his throne, only to find out that he was being tyrannical to try and make his kingdom strong enough to fend off what's essentially a D&D-style Elder Evil made for an interesting twist. Confronting Logan produced a moment much like what new Presidents experience. They get sworn in, head up to the Oval Office for the first time, a CIA guy drops their first threat matrix on their desk, they take one look and instantly age two years. That theme, that only the very powerful know just how dangerous the world truly is, is something that would be great to play with in what Postcards from the Dungeon call an "Empire Building" game. In addition the fashion in the game world (which is a wide amalgamation of 18th and 19th century fashion) would also make a great source of inspiration for a steam fantasy setting. I know I'm going to poach ideas like a madman for my homebrew game world. Finally, if you're an "advance planning" sort of GM, I imagine most players would absolutely love something like the Road to Rule in this game, especially if it came with special rewards like it did in this game.