Don't believe the hate - Fable: TLC isn't the best game but one must appreciate the beauty of this choice-oriented game
This game is not a breakthrough nor is it the greatest western RPG of all time but the sheer amount of gameplay available can't be ignored. I don't even know where to start, but let's go with the game's selling point, making choices.
Players will assume the role of a young boy whose family is slain by bandits. He is rescued by a mage, brought to the academy of heroes and trained to become a versatile warrior capable of both short-ranged and long-ranged combat and spell casting.
This is quite disappointing since most choices available are black and white, meaning they're either good or bad, few neutral choices that make a strong impact. As the player's alignment changes, so does his appearance and people's reaction towards him. Different alignments yield access to different quests and impact a player's skills and overall quest.
The main story itself can be beat within 20 hours and it's nothing to get excited about. The villains and supporting cast are quite interesting and unique but ultimately forgettable.
But the real joy is through the side quests, which can triple the time spent on the game. From Bordello pimping to joining fight clubs to bandit raiding, players will find a lot to do if they look in the right places. It's all just a matter of choosing what to do and when to do it. Different quests contribute to either good or evil gain or both depending on player choices.
The world of Fable is interactive - players can hit towns folk at will and they get evil points and even thrown out and fined if they do it frequently. The people in the game also react to some actions the players make and depending on their appearance, they can attract either females or males.
Speaking of attraction, players can choose to marry by courting people and buy property but it's all mostly for fun as the benefits are negligible.
Combat and dungeon crawling occupies about half of the game but the levels are designed to make it so dungeons don't appear as dungeons. They're not too long and have a varied amount of opponents. Combat is somewhat stiff though but easy to learn and the versatility of the hero leaves players with plenty of salivating options to turn to.
Do they go warrior and chop up opponents close-ranged? Or do they shoot them from afar as an archer? Or be a mage and burn them? Or get a balance of all of them. Once again, it comes down to choice.
Everything else in the game is somewhat polished - the graphics are pretty good but with some framerate issues, lags and weird glitches that get players stuck in gray levels but they occur quite rarely. Sound and voice acting are great, level designs are detailed - each part of the Fable world has its own unique look and feel - and there's quite a lot of loading but not long enough to be a bother.
Thanks to other free-roaming games players have taken the concept of making choices in video games for granted hence why most of Fable's appeal is lost. But if they're able to just appreciate the small things in Fable, it should be a solid experience worth a few playthroughs.