Fable (2004 video game)

Fable
Developer(s)	Lionhead Studios
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s)	Peter Molyneux
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox
Release	September 14, 2004
Genre(s)	RPG
Mode(s)	Single player

Fable is a video game for Xbox. It was developed by Big Blue Box, a satellite of Lionhead Studios, and was published by Microsoft. Shipped to retail on September 14 2004, Fable was well-received by critics for the quality of its gameplay and execution, even as they lamented its failure to include many of the features promised by creator Peter Molyneux.

An extended version of the game, Fable: The Lost Chapters, was released for Windows, Mac OS X and Xbox on September of 2005.

Synopsis

Plot

The game centers on the only playable character, a male referred to by his title or only as the hero although you are able to buy new titles throughout the game such as ranger, chicken chaser, etc. (all of the members of the Heroes' Guild, even those who are evil, are referred to as "Heroes"). The hero lives in a land known as Albion. The period itself is similar to medieval times, but the history behind it - the land being ruled by one king, through an ancient bloodline, leading directly into the current chaos - is clearly not. Some gamers note the influence of medieval Central Europe, mainly Germany and The Netherlands in the high ages of the Holy Roman Empire, on the design of Albion. Due to this bit of influence, many are confused into believing that the world depicted is completely fictional; the word Albion, though, is an ancient term for Britain. As a child, the hero's village was raided and destroyed by bandits. He was taken in by a Hero named Maze after being saved by him during the raid and brought to the Heroes' Guild to be trained as a hero, along with a girl named Whisper. He then embarks on a journey to discover the reason behind his village's destruction, discovering along the way the true fate of his family and his own destiny.

Characters

• The Hero - The main character of the game, whose name is never mentioned during the game (though you can purchase him a title from a vendor). His appearance varies on the player and is customizable, the hero can get different haircuts and facial hair, he can get different tattoos, his height varies, presumably, from 5'8" to 7', depending on the hero's "skill", and his muscle tone depends on his level of "strength". The Hero is able to become easily the strongest Hero in Albion because of his ancient bloodline connected to Archon, the royal bloodline of the Old Kingdom. Although the Hero has no dialogue during the cutscenes, he is not an entirely silent protagonist, during the final battle the word "mom" can be faintly heard after Jack slits her throat, and he has a few lines of in-game dialogue that can be spoken using the "expression" commands (e.g., "Follow", "Wait", "Hey!","Shit" and "Sorry").

• The Guildmaster - One of the oldest Heroes alive, he operates the Heroes' Guild and is in charge of training Hero apprentices. The Guildmaster watches over every step of the Hero's journey through the Hero's Guild Seal, often offering advice and issuing orders along the way. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, the Snowspire Oracle reveals that the Guildmaster's true name is Weaver, and that along with Maze, he led a bloody revolt against the previous Guild due to his belief that the Guild should not force its Heroes to walk the path of good, but rather should give them the freedom to choose their own destiny. Scythe, knowing how powerful Weaver would become; said that he should become Guildmaster. Near the end of The Lost Chapters, the Hero is given the option of killing the Guildmaster to collect his soul.He later turns gay as you see him hitting on the hero.

• Maze - An old wizard and head of the Heroes' Guild. Maze rescues the young Hero from bandits during the Oakvale raid, and takes him to the Heroes' Guild to be trained as an apprentice. He becomes a father figure to the Hero and helps to guide the Hero on his search for his missing family. However, the Hero eventually learns that Maze is in league with Jack of Blades, the man who destroyed Oakvale and killed the Hero's father. The Hero then proceeds to kill Maze in battle. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, the Snowspire Oracle reveals that as a young boy, Maze's parents were killed by Balverines, but Maze was saved from certain death by Jack of Blades and two Heroes (Jack killed the Balverines that were about to kill Maze, and then killed the Heroes). Maze was never able to escape from Jack's shadow. Maze is voiced by Alexander Spencer.

• Whisper - The Hero's friend and sometimes his rival, an acrobat who fights with a pole staff. According to the Oracle in Fable: The Lost Chapters Whisper and her older brother, Thunder, were stranded on Albion after a storm wrecked their ship, and subsequently were raised in the Heroes' Guild. She trains with the Hero when he is a boy, and the two quickly develop a strong rivalry. As the game unfolds, Whisper and the Hero battle against each other during a few quests. Ultimately, the two cooperate in a battle against monsters in the gladiatorial Arena, only to be pitted against each other in a fight to the death thanks to the interference of Jack of Blades. Whisper can either be killed or spared in the Arena, depending on the player's choice in the game. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, if she is spared, she will realize the Hero is a much greater hero and will leave Albion for her distant homeland. If the Hero doesn't kill her, later in the game it's hinted that he has a soft spot for her. While traveling there by sea, the ship was attacked by pirates. Not one of the pirates survived the assault.

• Thunder - A huge and heavily armored mountain of a man, standing more than 7 feet tall. Thunder is one of the few Heroes who conquered the Arena without taking a break and is thus honored as Champion of the Arena. He is initially disdainful of the Hero, and continues to look down upon him throughout the game. Thunder is in love with Lady Grey and obsessively courts her, and thus develops a grudge against the Hero when Lady Grey becomes interested in him instead. If the Hero kills Whisper in the Arena, Thunder hates him even more. Thunder makes a brief appearance near the end of the main story to aid the Hero in fighting off some of Jack of Blades' monsters. Near the end of Fable: The Lost Chapters, the player is given the option of killing Thunder to collect his soul. The player may also fight him, but not to the death during a quest to marry Lady Grey.

• Twinblade - An ex-Hero who left the Guild of Heroes and united a dozen bandit factions to become the King of Bandits. He is (wrongfully) held responsible for the Raid on Oakvale. The Hero, searching for his missing sister, infiltrates Twinblade's camp and defeats Twinblade in battle. Twinblade can either be killed or spared by the player; either way, he or his loyal followers will hire assassins to try and kill the Hero. He can only be harmed from behind and the Assassin Rush spell does not pass through him. During the battle with the Hero, Twinblade will often try to corner the Hero and push him into his underlings, who will attack.

• Briar Rose - A very swift, powerful, and smart female Hero. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, it is revealed she is from a noble background, but her family fell into hard times when she was a child, and so she ended up joining the Heroes' Guild. Other sources suggest that just as Briar Rose's skills manifested, her mother died and her grieving father threw her out and she joined the Guild. She is more of a scholar than a fighter, and relies more on intelligence and magic rather than physical strength. Although she initially vilifies the Hero, Briar Rose slowly begins to respect him after the two fight together in quests against Jack of Blades' forces. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, Briar Rose helps the Hero decipher the ancient glyphs in Archon's Shrine, and the player is ultimately given the option of killing her for her soul. (Note: The Name 'Briar Rose' is the same name the Brothers Grimm gave the heroine in their version of the "Sleeping Beauty" tale.)

• Lady Elvira Grey - The seductive but cruel and villainous Mayor of Bowerstone, and also possibly of Oakvale, due to the location of her now haunted mansion and the appearance of a mayoral figure in the game's first fresco (seemingly her father). In her youth, Lady Grey was convinced by Jack of Blades to murder her older sister, Amanda, so that she could inherit the position of Mayor. In the original game, the Hero is given the option of marrying or not. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, the Hero may also expose her villainous deeds and take her place as Mayor. Although the parts of the quest that involve exposing her as a murderer are in the original Fable, the player cannot act on it even when finding proof.

• Scarlet Robe - The Hero's mother. She was once a famous Slayer of Balverines, and was respected as Champion of the Arena and the greatest female Hero. However, her age caught up to her, and she was injured in a battle with Balverines. Scarlet Robe was found and nursed back to health by Brom, and the two of them fell in love, got married, and raised a family. She is ultimately killed by Jack of Blades to activate the Sword of Aeons. Near the end of Fable: The Lost Chapters, the Hero can ask Scarlet Robe to give him her soul so that he can activate Archon's Shrine and fight Jack of Blades' new form.

• Theresa - The Hero's older sister. During the Oakvale raid, Jack of Blades blinded her, and she was found by Twinblade and raised by bandits, eventually becoming Twinblade's right-hand minion due to her possession of prophetic powers (as a result of her ancient bloodline). Despite her blindness, Theresa possesses extrasensory perception due to her exceptional Will abilities, and is thus more than capable of killing all those who oppose her in her harsh bandit lifestyle. However, she leaves Twinblade's service after he is defeated by the Hero. Searching for their mother on her own, Theresa is eventually captured by Jack of Blades. After the battle with Jack of Blades, she tells her brother that he has a choice: "Strike me down now with the Sword of Aeons and gain the power Jack dreamed of, or cast it into the vortex and rid the world of it's evil forever." Whichever choice the Hero makes, Theresa is never seen again. According to the Oracle in Fable: The Lost Chapters, after the battle with Jack of Blades, she headed off to the mountains and was taken in by a nomad who later tried to steal her prophetic powers. Theresa killed him and moved off to live in the east. Oddly enough, though she is the Hero's older sister, one of the cutscenes in the game shows the Hero as a young boy and Theresa as a baby.

• Scythe - An ancient Hero, Scythe is one of the oldest beings in Albion; only Jack of Blades has seen and done more. Obsessed with cheating death and kept alive only through supernatural means, Scythe is a withered shell of a man, resembling a tall, mummified corpse. At the beginning of the game, he leaves for the distant Northern Wastes to guard the Oracle of Snowspire. He returns after the defeat of Jack of Blades to seek the Guild's help in battling a new threat to the Northern Wastes. He is the only Hero in the game the player is never given the option of killing. He only appears in Fable: The Lost Chapters

• The Archaeologist - Described by the Oracle in Fable: The Lost Chapters as one of the few people with a genuine academic interest in the Old Kingdom, the Archaeologist seems to perpetually be in hiding. His hiding place is compromised by the Hero on at least one occasion. According to the Oracle, the Archaeologist moved away and became a trader, and he never opened a book or dug up a fossil again.

• Nostro - A dead hero. He was known as the gatekeeper. When he was alive, Nostro founded the Heroes' Guild, but was only happy with a blade in his hand. In Fable: The Lost Chapters he is seen wearing bronze-colored armor, and it is revealed he died horribly poisoned by an assassin, not seeking the death he craved. Thus his soul wanders Lychfield in torment forever. The hero has a choice of collecting Nostro's soul and using to feed the bronze gate.

• Jack of Blades - Known widely as the oldest and strongest of Heroes, as well as the most evil and feared, Jack's face is perpetually concealed by a white mask with a strange pattern. The Hero ultimately learns that it was Jack who destroyed his hometown and killed his father. Jack seeks the power of the Sword of Aeons, which can only be activated by the Archon bloodline found in the Hero's family. Once he uses Maze to gain the key to unlock the sword, Jack lays siege to the Heroes' Guild and nearly kills the Guildmaster. After Jack takes the Sword of Aeons, he kills Scarlet Robe and engages in an epic battle against the Hero, during which he is ultimately slain, thus ending the original game. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, it is revealed that Jack was never a hero or even a mortal man, but a malevolent being who predates the age of gods and demons by millenia. Jack's spirit lives inside the mask, which he forged of pure evil to gain immortality, and has used countless host bodies to influence Albion from century to century. After his initial defeat, Jack's soul escapes and takes the form of an enormous dragon sealed behind the Bronze Gate near Archon's Shrine. The Hero uses Jack's mask to gather three Hero souls and open the Bronze Gate, then proceeds to slay Jack's new form. The player is then given the final task of casting the mask into the volcano and destroying it, thus banishing Jack from the living world forever. If the player fails to act, the Hero will end up wearing Jack's mask and taking over his identity and reign of terror.

Note: There is some ambiguity as to the story of Jack's mask. Some claim there was only one Jack of Blades who was, at one time, a Hero (which can be proven by finding the statue of Jack at the Guild gardens), while others claim the mask existed before the age of humanity. The game alludes to many of these theories, but no one really knows for sure who or what Jack of Blades is. Template:Spoilerend

Gameplay

Character customization

Fable features a reasonably unique character customization system based on the concept that everything the character does should affect him. If he eats too much, he will gain weight. If he is cut in battle, he will have scars, and if he stands in the sun too long, he will get a tan. Many players are under the impression that if he swings his sword constantly, he will build muscle, this is untrue; the level of the hero's strength statistics is what actually builds the muscle. For example, the player could go through the game, not use a single weapon but use their extra experience to build strength. This will cause the character to become more muscular.

Every article of clothing the character acquires will change his in-game appearance. He can be further customized by a haircut, facial hair, and tattoo cards which allow for a range of body modification options.

The clothing, hairstyle, and tattoos the character wears will affect the way he is seen by the non-player characters. A character wearing bright clothes and clean shaven will be seen as more heroic by townspeople. In contrast, a character sporting dark clothing and frightening tattoos will be seen as more villainous by various characters.

The actions that the character makes will award either good or evil points. Killing monsters or saving villagers will result in achieving good points. Committing a crime, killing an innocent person, or getting a spouse to divorce you will accumulate evil points. These affect not only the responses of the non-player characters but also the appearance of the character. A hero with an abundance of good points will soon find a halo surrounding his head, butterflies swarming around him, and his hair will turn blond. An evil character will sprout horns, emit a red haze from around their legs, draw wasps, and have glowing red eyes, in addition to getting black hair that is balding. As he grows older, this hair will start to turn white.If you go to rose cottage and you dig there {after completing the game} you unlock a dildo and givit to you wife and she makes randy noises.

Property development

In Fable, the player is able to buy property, or rent it out, and, of course, live there. In each relatively big town, there is a marital house that the player can buy. The player can also kill citizens of the town, and the deceased person's house or shop will appear for sale. When bought, the player can decorate the house and put trophies on trophy mounts to increase the value of the home (e.g. the Wasp head can be put near the fireplace). The player will eventually make back the money paid for the house in rent. For houses, each day results in rent amounting to 5% of the value of the house, with shops and taverns having a lower percentage. After three bags have appeared, no more will until rent is collected.

Experience and leveling-up

The experience system used in Fable is rather simple yet unique and follows the general concept of the game: every action has a consequence.

Points are gained in four categories: General, Strength, Skill, and Will. General points are gained through completion of quests and killing enemies and creatures. How the player goes about killing those creatures will affect in which of the other three categories they will gain points. The player may use their favorite sword or axe to hack an enemy apart or eat lots of healthy foods and gain Strength points. They may fire their bow or engage in trade and acquire Skill points. They can zap enemies with lightning or a fireball to gain Will points. These in turn can be used to purchase or upgrade abilities and statistics. General experience can be used in any category (Strength, Skill and Will). The experience the character gains can be multiplied during combat. As the character kills more monsters, their combat multiplier increases. For example, if twelve experience is gathered and the combat multiplier is ten, the actual experience awarded is 120. Leveling up also ages the Hero.

Clothing

The primary method of defense in the game comes from the types of clothing that can be found. In addition to providing defensive properties, clothes also affect the way the hero is perceived by the various NPCs throughout the game.

Light colored clothing will portray the hero as a more righteous character while dark clothes will have villagers cowering in fear at the hero's presence. Even if the player's character is evil, they may want to wear brighter clothes in towns and such simply because they have a better chance of wooing a future spouse.

Trivia

• The game's music was scored by Russell Shaw, whilst the opening title theme was composed by Danny Elfman.
• Many of the gamemaker's names (over 25) can be found on the gravestones throughout the game. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, Peter Molyneux's grave can be found in Snowspire village saying he tamed lions and always reached for the stars. A gravestone of Russell Shaw can be found in Hook Coast.
• A few cameos are made on gravestones within the game. In the Lychfield Graveyard the hero finds a grave that reads: "Cpt. J. Sparrow. A wind at your back forever, sir". This is a reference to Jack Sparrow, one of the primary characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. A grave of someone named George W. can be found in the necropolis in Fable: The Lost Chapters. The grave mentions that this person gave support until the end. Another grave reads "No man can hold his breath for ten minutes," referencing Guybrush Threepwood of the Monkey Island series.
• While trying to open the demon door near in Avo's Temple, instead of hitting the correct stone sequence (H->I->T->S), players may try hitting S->H->I->T. They will hear the door say something angrily and a pack of balverines will attack them at once. If they enter it a second time, they will hear a voice whisper the it.
• This game won two Dubious Honors in GameSpot's Best & Worst of 2004: "Most Light Bloom" and "Biggest Disappointment."
• In the expansion, Fable: The Lost Chapters the teacher of the school in Bowerstone will make a reference to a popular author. If he is handed the book 'A Hero's Journey 3', he will comment on its author Jack Stevenson. In real life, author Steve Jackson (who wrote the 'choose your own adventure' books series known as Fighting Fantasy).

External links

• Fable official site