Fable: The Lost Chapters

"Good? Evil? Mage? Archer? It's all up to you!"

Fable: The Lost Chapters is basically an expansion of Fable, which many anticipated for many years and for some reason got very disappointed. I waited to get Fable for a couple years and then finally managed to get TLC. Here's my opinions about the game... (all scores out of 10)

Graphics: 9
Everything in Fable is beautifully designed. The shadows are also nicer than most that I've seen. It's a bit exaggerated with some points (like people's heads getting blown off by an arrow) but still enjoyable. Pretty much the only thing that brings the Graphics score down is the lack of variety in the NPCs. I swear I've seen the same woman 4 times... all in different cities!

Gameplay: 9
The setup that the game has for your keys is already really good. I only had to change one thing, considering I don't have a middle mouse button. The combat system is simple and easy to catch on to. I played for about 5 minutes before I figured it out, 15 minutes 'til I nearly perfected it. Spells used in combat are upgradable and oftentimes very useful. Just as a few examples of attack spells, there is lightning, fireball, and enflame. You can get married in this game, and yes, you can have sex. They don't show anything though, for all those perverts out there hoping to see naked people. It's not that hard, as long as you keep good relations with people. The stealing system, though efficient, can be a tad bit annoying at times. Even when there's only one person around and he has no way to tell on you, you will still stop trying to steal it as if you were already caught by the guards. You can choose whether you are evil or good, which affects the ways people respond to you and the way your character looks. Evil yields horns, demon wings (possibly) Overall, the Gameplay is simple and effective, and also very easy to understand. Even a total newb to video games can catch on fairly quickly.

Story: 6
I must admit, the story isn't all that great. But it's an RPG, so that hardly matters, in my opinion. Anyways, most of the main quests do nothing to contribute to the story, unless you consider lots of gold, experience, and renown contributes to the story. Many of the side quests are actually better than the main quests, which is fairly sad. Each quest yields a reward and (normally) a trophy.

Play Time / Replayability: 7
Some may say that this game is very short and gets boring after the first time or two that they beat it. They were wrong. This game has tons of choices that you can change or mistakes that you can fix when you make a new file. If you don't use spoiler sites (like GameFAQs) then it will take you much longer if you want to do all the side quests, find all the secrets, get all the items, etc.
Although, in a mere 4 or 5 hours, you can complete almost half the game (storywise), and that brings down this section's score a fair bit.

Ups and Downs
+Beautiful environment with excellent shadows
+Easy to understand Gameplay
+9 hotkeys to assign important items/actions to
+Become good or evil
+Tons of choices to change and mistakes to fix in new games
-Short game (to some people)
-Not enough quests
-Not very in-depth story
-Takes alot of space (3GB)

Overall: 7.75/10 (8/10)
I recommend this game, whether it be for PC or Xbox, to anyone who likes a nice adventure/action RPG with lots of fights and freedom to do as you please. I think you should rent it first (or borrow it from a friend, or simply play it at a friends' house) just so you know what the game's like. Then you can choose whether or not you want it. It costs around $40.00 at Future Shop, so it's a pretty good price.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/06