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Fable: The Revolutionizing of Role-Playing Games

By Ryan Bissonnette

Five years ago, an Englishman named Peter Molyneux had a vision of the greatest and most in-depth role-playing game ever to appear on a gaming console. This vision became an idea and later evolved in a full-fledged project. He titled his creation "Fable." With his company, Lionhead Studios working with him, he was able to make his dream a reality and "Fable" was released to markets all around the world available for the Microsoft Xbox and later Microsoft Windows. The basis of the game was simple; the player takes control of a hero who had to avenge the death of his family by defeating an ultimate boss. It was an Action RPG, meaning the player directly controlled their hero and all of their actions. This wasn't what made the game so legendary through. Being the genius he is, Molyneux incorporated an in-depth alignment system that allowed to player to make his hero either insidiously evil or heartwarmingly good based on the choices they make throughout the course of their adventure. It was like world of "Fable" was its own little world the player basically created based on what they wanted to do with the game. This ingenious system turned a game that would've only lasted nearly 15 hours to last for hundreds, with limitless possibilities of evolving the world and ways to play through the story. The game was a hit, and it was time for Peter to meet with Lionhead studios again to tackle a sequel.

This sequel was aptly named "Fable II" and was released in markets around the world on October 21, 2008. The sequel had the same systems incorporated that were present in the original but it built upon them and expanded them. Molyneux made the game much more interactive than the first; allowing the player to interact with every single NPC (Non-playable character), buy real estate, have jobs, and most importantly, start a family. Players wholeheartedly welcomed these additions and improvements and "Fable II" became one of the most anticipated fall releases alongside legendary greats like "Prince of Persia" and "Fallout 3." The five year wait for the sequel was definitely worth it.

The story of "Fable II" involves you, the hero, and his journey to avenge his sister's death. Though the story was more or less the same, it was told completely differently and progressed at a different rate so to they player it seemed almost completely different from the story of the original game. Thankfully, Molyneux didn't "dumb down" or trash any concepts from the original game. He only built upon the first game, making improvements where he thought they needed to be made. Just the like the original game, the main story only lasts about 15 hours but the player can and will most likely spend about one-hundred hours playing as one hero. There are countless side quests, collectables to collect, and most importantly, achievements. Most games for the Xbox 360 are elongated due to their achievements. Achievements are just basically goals that are usually uninvolved with story that if the player reaches, they are awarded an allocated amount of Gamerscore for their profile. Hardcore players are obsessed with achievements and will not be disappointed with the ones incorporated into "Fable II."

Once again, Molyneux has succeeded in revolutionizing the local RPG genre. The man is a pure genius and has limitless ideas for his games., When he wants something made in a game, he does whatever he can to get it in the game and he continues to please fans. The one point many players argue that could've improved the game is making it an MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game like World of Warcraft. Personally, I don't think this should ever be done with "Fable." There needs to be some great local RPG games and let's just hope Molyneux delivers once again in the future.