Treasure chests are abundant in the land of Albion. It’s almost as if someone unwittingly left their potions, scary tattoo cards, bags of gold, resurrection vials, low-tier weapons, and even outfit pieces just lying around. But to the wandering hero, they could find Ages of Might, Will, or Skill potions for a permanent exp boost.
If you’re lucky enough, you might pick up an Elixir of Life, a rare potion that will increase your maximum health. Its counterpart, the Will Master’s Elixir, expands your mana pool so you can cast more powerful spells without needing to recharge. Stray off the main path, and you will see digging spots and fishing locations where many silver keys are hidden.
Being a hero is hard work, so if you ever need a break from slaying balverines, escorting defenseless traders, and dealing with bandit raids, then you can visit the pub to play a few rounds of coin golf or show off your ability to sort cards, in hopes of winning a signature hero doll. There’s also a Fist Fighters Gang that takes place at night, where you have to challenge brawlers in several rounds of unarmed fistfighting.
Sometimes, you just don’t feel like advancing the plot. That’s totally understandable given that gold quests require you to be at the right level first before you have a chance at taking down groups of tough minions, potentially having another face-off against a giant, hideous monster. But fear not, everything respawns once you go back to an area.
Spoilers Beyond This Point!
As the hero gains a reputation among the public for his good/evil deeds, he will be able to express himself better using a wide range of endearing expressions like doing a manly arm pump, flirting with cute girls, dancing to disco (in medieval times), apologizing after a break-in, and flipping off those guards for all those times they chased you out of town.
In some silver/gold quests, you will be accompanied by followers. This happens if you already hired a bodyguard or if the quest starts with a few Bowerstone guards to fight alongside you. It’s quite easy to fail those quests when your followers can barely put up a fight, solely existing as meatshields to distract the enemies away from you. That’s why I prefer to fight (and die) alone.
Mini-bosses are encountered at the end of a gold quest in the main storyline. These fights are a lot harder since hack-&-slash methods don’t work on them: You have to time your attacks and know when to strike the enemy if you see an opening. But as long as you have been training your hero in the three disciplines, you should be able to take them down with quick enough reflexes.
The nice part about this is that every major boss fight has a predictable pattern of attacks. People are finally impressed by your bravery and you can show off once more. If you want a greater challenge, skip the breaks and have your potions stocked up before Round 1. There are boasts for not taking a scratch and surviving with no clothes on.
Once you get to your 30s, it’s time to tie the knot with a special someone. Put on an attractive outfit and a large crowd will be infatuated with your hero. They are readily impressed if you shower them with gifts such as chocolates and roses. But you do have to give them a wedding ring for it to count as a marriage.
You are permitted to pick a love interest of the same sex if you so desire. I chose to be straight this time around; being the virtuous hero, I couldn’t bring myself to marry Lady Grey after finding out she left her sister to die in a cellar. Then again, she’s clearly the evil spouse so someone who deferred to the dark side wouldn’t be able to resist.
I hate to admit it: being evil has many advantages in Fable. For one, if you lure a shopkeeper outside, you could just steal all their wares. Also, taking the evil route means agreeing to kill a close friend just for some extra gold, refusing to close down the brothel in Darkwood, wielding the Sword of Aeons, maxing out powerful moves like Berzerk and Turncoat.
It could be fun to sacrifice innocents at the Chapel of Skorm, behead a few traders, attack an orchard farm, break into people’s houses, sleep in their beds, make offensive gestures, kill the guards, lie and deceive whenever possible, and eventually become the ultimate edgelord destined to rule over the land with an iron fist.
And then, there are the demon doors who stump you with cleverly thought out riddles. They make really odd requests, asking you to use a lantern, dress in specific outfits, fight their guardians, let yourself go, duel against another hero, and even shoot it in the face with an arrow.
Some questlines offer counterparts for evil “heroes”. Most of them have the hero side with the bandits by helping them raid villages or bail out one of their buddies. From what I’ve seen on YouTube, being pure evil transforms your hero; they have cracked skin and sprout demon horns.
This is honestly a decent RPG game, though I understand why fans are disappointed by the persistent bugs and glitches carried over into the remake. They were hoping for new content besides The Lost Chapters and I guess the developers chose to cut corners on this release.
Fable Part 1
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