A great action RPG with Zelda style gameplay and some nice life choices available for your character.
The combat feels like the 3D Zelda games because the hack n slash feels smooth and you can target specific enemies and fluently swing your sword/hammer at them,or target them from a distance and use a bow or magic.You can roll out of the way of enemy attacks.
The sword can be swung very quickly at enemies.The hammer has more power,but is slower,but you can pound multiple enemies with your hammer.Arrows can be shot very quickly for very little damage or can be pulled back further with the bow string to do a fair amount of damage from far away,but it takes a couple of seconds to do this and leaves you vulnrable to enemy attacks while you do this.Magic is powerful,but you have a limited amount of mana to use it.
Like in all RPGs,you'll level up your character and you can choose which stats and abilities to upgrade.
More customisation features Fable has is allowing you to constantly change your character's facial hair,hair style,tattoos.The way your character looks can effect the chances of you finding a romantic partner.You can wear a lot of armor but it effects your attractiveness to potential partners too,for example if you wear a helmet that covers your face,potential partners will be less attracted to you,the same goes for if you wear dark black armor.Woman seem to like your make character if he walks around with no shirt on(plus has a nice hairstyle and has nice or no facial hair)but it will mean you will sustain more damage from enemy attacks if you wear less armor to attract a mate,but you can always reequip the armor when you enter dangerous locations.
Your appearance will change depend of whether you do good or evil deeds(which also effects your attractiveness and the way people react when they see you).If you do many good deeds,you will glow bright yellow and potential partners will like you and people will be happy to see you.If you are evil,your hair will turn black and will start to fall out,you will grow horns and have flies surrounding you and you will look less attractive to potential mates and people will run away when they see you.
You can commit crimes such as assault,murder,theft,vandalism and if town guards see it,they will try to arrest you and you can flee the town until the crimes are forgotten or pay a fine or you can just keep trying to fight off the guards if you wish.
Like in many RPGs,you can decide when you want to attempt a quest and you can just wonder around the world and just interact with it.There is also some sidequests you can do and the sidequests have good or evil morality choices too.
To actually get married,you'll need to be attractive enough to attract a partner and you'll need to flirt until they propose to you.Instead of talking to NPCs,you'll intertact with them by doing certain actions,such as flirting or giving rude gestures(such as a middle finger).You can also buy a person gifts,and when you buy a potential partner gifts,it will make them more likely to want to marry you.The same applies for when you're married,because if you buy your spouse lots of nice gifts and make yourself look attractive to them and flirt with them,they will want to have sex with you sometimes.
You can upgrade the house you buy,but the decoration options are very limited.Married life became boring quickly because besides having sex with your spouse and flirting with them and buying them gifts,all there is to do is watch them wonder around the village or around the house or sleeping and you'll hear them say they love you or they will sing various songs or they will complain when they're unhappy with you and will warn you if they're going to divorce you.I like it how if you beat up your spouse,she will cry out for help to the town guards.
However,unlike Zelda,unless you're in a village,the game makes you travel on narrow paths through the forest.
You will also see your character get older,but he gets old very quickly and will have white hair very quickly.You will even see scars on his body.
The game also has a stat screen that shows you a wide variety of stats,including your character's age,how many times you've had sex,how many enemies you have decapitated,how many people have fallen in love with you,how many homes you own etc.
The game is also very short for an RPG.You can beat the main story in 8 hours,and the sidequests and other features only add a few hours extra of playing time.
I can remember only solving 1 puzzle in the whole entire game.Besides killing enemies,the quests can involve delivering/retrieving items,rescuing people,escorting people,winning the tournament in a coliseum,stopping prisoners from escaping when they're being marched somewhere,getting rid of pesty insects.
The enemies can be bandits,werewolves,giant wasps,creatures that look similiar to orcs and town guards if you commit crimes.
The story isn't very deep but it can be a bit emotional...
SPOILERS BELOW
It's set in a medieval world.The village that a boy and his family live in is attacked by bandicts who work for the main villain named Jack of Blades.The bandits killed his father and kidnapped his sister and mother,so the boy was raised in a monestary where he learns combat and how to use magic and when he is old enough,he goes in search of his mother and sister.There is some story elements that are very brutal and shocking and sad.
END OF SPOILERS
The graphics in the game are nice.They look smooth and the villages have a nice amount of detail.The forests can have a darker,dangerous atmosphere.there is lush,grassy areas.There's murky swamps.There is story scenes that are illustrated like a fable.
The music suits the feeling of where you are in the game(lighter music for when you're in a peaceful village)or church style hymning in the monestary.
Overall,the game is a great action RPG with some gimmicks that are entertaining for a short while.