A Little Bit About 'Fable'
Microsoft is focusing mostly on the combat system at E3, but the RPG elements shouldn't be overlooked. You can walk into your village, or at least I could in our private demo, and see the reactions of the people. Taking a total badass (who's sprouted horns has tats up his arms, and looks darker than Vader) into a town causes people to run and scream in terror. In his own home town, they likely revere him, like the home town crowd would revere Genghis Khan.
~~~
The original idea, as told to us long ago, was that how you played the game dictated the type of character you became. There were basically three factors of Strength, Skill, and Will (aka magic). This is no longer a hidden feature, where by playing it heavy-handed you suddenly get stronger. Instead, you earn general experience points and then points in any of the three specific attribute types mentioned above. So if you use your bow a lot, you'll earn more XP in the Skill category, for example.
~~~
There's a bit of an arcade twist to combat when it comes to XP. First, let me say that combat is easy, intuitive, and a lot of fun once you look past the framerate (which has never seemed to be smooth in any showing of Fable). X is a straight move, B is a spread move, and Y blocks. It's that easy. Of course, various combos of X, X, Y and the like create different combos. Better combos increase an ever-present multiplier which feeds your XP, but if you get hit or don't nail anyone for a while, the multiplier decreases. This adds extra incentive for cracking wise with a lot of enemies in short order.
~~~
Fable is an ambitious RPG project published by Microsoft. Making use of the addition of the Xbox and PC's hard-drives, the story of Fable spans the entire life of a character where every action triggers a dependant outcome in the future. Beginning as a child, the player can essentially shape the adult that their character will become based on actions and events. Story changing paths and decisions will determined whether your character will follow a morally sound path, or dedicate your character's life to malice. Physical properties behave similarly to the real-world as battle wounds turn into scars, your character's skin darkens with prolonged exposure to the sun, and wrinkles advertise wisdom in later years.
~~~
The D-pad is also represented on the HUD and this is where you'll be able to control your character's expressions -gestures and comments you learn along the way. Expressions will be the main means of communicating and interacting with NPCs without actually engaging them in conversation or attacking. You can do positive expressions (represented by little happy faces), negative expressions, celebratory arm pumps, flip the bird, laugh, frighten and all sorts of other things to get reactions out of other characters.
~~~
The targeting system for Fable is as simple as walking around the environment and paying attention to which characters become highlighted as you come near them. They'll be surrounded by a colored aura. Green means they have something of interest to tell you, purple means they're neutral, while red means they'll be hostile and most likely will want to fight. While targeting characters is important, we also noticed some commands can be done in general directions and towards a group of characters. The famous scenario where your main character can drop his trousers in front of a group of schoolchildren is a reality in Fable and we even saw him flip the bird to the whole group of kids.
~~~
You earn angel and devil points for good and evil deeds you do and your character literally grows horns or a halo as he moves towards either end of the good-evil spectrum. Flies and ominous read energy flow around evil characters while butterflies and happiness seem to surround heroic ones. We didn't see examples of character changing facial hair or hairstyle but those options are still featured in the game since the renown system is still going to have townsfolk and children emulating your style.
~~~
In towns you'll be able to interact with people, buy buildings and items using the game's fully developed trading system. Doing trade in the capitol city will be more expensive than trading in smaller outposts, for example. Molynuex even claims that the trading system will allow you to marry a shopkeeper's daughter to get the family discount on whatever they sell and if you kill her, the family will be so upset with you that they'll never deal with your homicidal ass again.
~~~
Should one of your adventures turn awry and your health is knocked to nothing, you won't technically die. Instead, a villager from the nearest town will drag you back to safety so you can recover. You won't lose items or have to restart the game, but you will have failed in some respect. Either you failed the quest you were on or at the very least you were beaten, lowering your renown slightly. This way "dying" doesn't erase everything you've done up to a certain point and works naturally into the game.
~~~
We witnessed a fight between our hero and three bandits. The bandits were smart, surrounding the hero. Blocking was necessary, but nothing was more effective than using our will. Will is the magic of the world. A level 1 push knocked one bandit a good ten feet, while the level 2 slow time turned the game Matrix-style with full-motion blur effects. But the baddest will power we witnessed was the high-level berserker spell. Signaled by an explosive ring of fire, our hero became bigger, his sword lit with flame. The toll for this spell, however, is that it ages you several months. Will is a major strain on your life force, which explains why every great wizard is a long-bearded old gent.
~~~
Everything in the world is upgradable. Any item, even a frying pan, can eventually become a weapon of legend, simply by becoming more skilled with their use. There are a variety of progressions in the game -- whether it's physical, will (magic), weapons, items, or social status. And, somehow, all of it works in conjunction with a fully reactive environment.
~~~
At the Hero's Guild, the one place where all heroes receive new quests, we were given the task of rescuing some villagers from a group of bandits. The reward was $1500. Now, in most games that would be that. The trick here is that:
A) There are other heroes in the world also trying to capture fame and glory who could beat you to the punch.
B) The bandits are executing the prisoners one by one, so if you don't find them in time, everyone will be dead and you'll be blamed for not saving them.
C) You can boast about your upcoming quest to earn more cash -- though it will make that quest much harder.
Boasting is done outside the Hero's Guild. Standing on a pulpit, there are three separate boasts you can perform for each quest. A boast, which is aid to a small throng of onlookers, may be that you will complete this quest with your bare hands or that you will not heal yourself during the quest. Each boast "bets" more of your potential reward money, but obviously adds a great deal of difficulty to the quest. Succeed and you'll earn extra esteem and improve your rep, but fail to fulfill your boast and even though your quest was a success, people will think you're a failure.
~~~
You character evolves from your gameplay. Lift rocks, they get stronger. Use will (magic) and they will age faster and grow bald. You can also change your hairstyle and dress to be whatever kind of hero you want to be. This is done in front of a mirror and is quite easy. It's important to have a good look, because children will try to match your appearance should you be fortunate enough to be their favorite hero.
~~~
While much of this info was great to see in action, none of it was particularly new. Then Molyneux and the Carter brothers casually laid down the bomb -- Fable will include co-op play.
At least one player (though it may end up allowing four players on at once) will be able to accompany a hero on his quest. Alone, you can gain a sidekick or alter ego. This AI person aids in your quest. But have your buddy plug in a controller and he can control your sidekick. But more impressive, is that your buddy can take a save of his character from his game of Fable and drop it into your game! He has the same powers, abilities, nobility, and alignment. Playing in tandem, one person must always be "the hero" while the other is the sidekick. The hero is the only one who can gain experience points and is the one the world reacts to. But you can flip-flop who is hero and sidekick with the black button. So, if you are clever, you can have a very evil character and a very heroic character work together. In battle, in towns, when receiving quests, you can switch who is the leader and therefore change how the world reacts to you. It's a bit of a strange idea, but the right team of powers and force could be unstoppable. After play is done, your buddy can pull out and upload his character back into his game -- with any enhancements he earned while playing with you! Wow.
Salivating. Wow.
~~~
The original idea, as told to us long ago, was that how you played the game dictated the type of character you became. There were basically three factors of Strength, Skill, and Will (aka magic). This is no longer a hidden feature, where by playing it heavy-handed you suddenly get stronger. Instead, you earn general experience points and then points in any of the three specific attribute types mentioned above. So if you use your bow a lot, you'll earn more XP in the Skill category, for example.
~~~
There's a bit of an arcade twist to combat when it comes to XP. First, let me say that combat is easy, intuitive, and a lot of fun once you look past the framerate (which has never seemed to be smooth in any showing of Fable). X is a straight move, B is a spread move, and Y blocks. It's that easy. Of course, various combos of X, X, Y and the like create different combos. Better combos increase an ever-present multiplier which feeds your XP, but if you get hit or don't nail anyone for a while, the multiplier decreases. This adds extra incentive for cracking wise with a lot of enemies in short order.
~~~
Fable is an ambitious RPG project published by Microsoft. Making use of the addition of the Xbox and PC's hard-drives, the story of Fable spans the entire life of a character where every action triggers a dependant outcome in the future. Beginning as a child, the player can essentially shape the adult that their character will become based on actions and events. Story changing paths and decisions will determined whether your character will follow a morally sound path, or dedicate your character's life to malice. Physical properties behave similarly to the real-world as battle wounds turn into scars, your character's skin darkens with prolonged exposure to the sun, and wrinkles advertise wisdom in later years.
~~~
The D-pad is also represented on the HUD and this is where you'll be able to control your character's expressions -gestures and comments you learn along the way. Expressions will be the main means of communicating and interacting with NPCs without actually engaging them in conversation or attacking. You can do positive expressions (represented by little happy faces), negative expressions, celebratory arm pumps, flip the bird, laugh, frighten and all sorts of other things to get reactions out of other characters.
~~~
The targeting system for Fable is as simple as walking around the environment and paying attention to which characters become highlighted as you come near them. They'll be surrounded by a colored aura. Green means they have something of interest to tell you, purple means they're neutral, while red means they'll be hostile and most likely will want to fight. While targeting characters is important, we also noticed some commands can be done in general directions and towards a group of characters. The famous scenario where your main character can drop his trousers in front of a group of schoolchildren is a reality in Fable and we even saw him flip the bird to the whole group of kids.
~~~
You earn angel and devil points for good and evil deeds you do and your character literally grows horns or a halo as he moves towards either end of the good-evil spectrum. Flies and ominous read energy flow around evil characters while butterflies and happiness seem to surround heroic ones. We didn't see examples of character changing facial hair or hairstyle but those options are still featured in the game since the renown system is still going to have townsfolk and children emulating your style.
~~~
In towns you'll be able to interact with people, buy buildings and items using the game's fully developed trading system. Doing trade in the capitol city will be more expensive than trading in smaller outposts, for example. Molynuex even claims that the trading system will allow you to marry a shopkeeper's daughter to get the family discount on whatever they sell and if you kill her, the family will be so upset with you that they'll never deal with your homicidal ass again.
~~~
Should one of your adventures turn awry and your health is knocked to nothing, you won't technically die. Instead, a villager from the nearest town will drag you back to safety so you can recover. You won't lose items or have to restart the game, but you will have failed in some respect. Either you failed the quest you were on or at the very least you were beaten, lowering your renown slightly. This way "dying" doesn't erase everything you've done up to a certain point and works naturally into the game.
~~~
We witnessed a fight between our hero and three bandits. The bandits were smart, surrounding the hero. Blocking was necessary, but nothing was more effective than using our will. Will is the magic of the world. A level 1 push knocked one bandit a good ten feet, while the level 2 slow time turned the game Matrix-style with full-motion blur effects. But the baddest will power we witnessed was the high-level berserker spell. Signaled by an explosive ring of fire, our hero became bigger, his sword lit with flame. The toll for this spell, however, is that it ages you several months. Will is a major strain on your life force, which explains why every great wizard is a long-bearded old gent.
~~~
Everything in the world is upgradable. Any item, even a frying pan, can eventually become a weapon of legend, simply by becoming more skilled with their use. There are a variety of progressions in the game -- whether it's physical, will (magic), weapons, items, or social status. And, somehow, all of it works in conjunction with a fully reactive environment.
~~~
At the Hero's Guild, the one place where all heroes receive new quests, we were given the task of rescuing some villagers from a group of bandits. The reward was $1500. Now, in most games that would be that. The trick here is that:
A) There are other heroes in the world also trying to capture fame and glory who could beat you to the punch.
B) The bandits are executing the prisoners one by one, so if you don't find them in time, everyone will be dead and you'll be blamed for not saving them.
C) You can boast about your upcoming quest to earn more cash -- though it will make that quest much harder.
Boasting is done outside the Hero's Guild. Standing on a pulpit, there are three separate boasts you can perform for each quest. A boast, which is aid to a small throng of onlookers, may be that you will complete this quest with your bare hands or that you will not heal yourself during the quest. Each boast "bets" more of your potential reward money, but obviously adds a great deal of difficulty to the quest. Succeed and you'll earn extra esteem and improve your rep, but fail to fulfill your boast and even though your quest was a success, people will think you're a failure.
~~~
You character evolves from your gameplay. Lift rocks, they get stronger. Use will (magic) and they will age faster and grow bald. You can also change your hairstyle and dress to be whatever kind of hero you want to be. This is done in front of a mirror and is quite easy. It's important to have a good look, because children will try to match your appearance should you be fortunate enough to be their favorite hero.
~~~
While much of this info was great to see in action, none of it was particularly new. Then Molyneux and the Carter brothers casually laid down the bomb -- Fable will include co-op play.
At least one player (though it may end up allowing four players on at once) will be able to accompany a hero on his quest. Alone, you can gain a sidekick or alter ego. This AI person aids in your quest. But have your buddy plug in a controller and he can control your sidekick. But more impressive, is that your buddy can take a save of his character from his game of Fable and drop it into your game! He has the same powers, abilities, nobility, and alignment. Playing in tandem, one person must always be "the hero" while the other is the sidekick. The hero is the only one who can gain experience points and is the one the world reacts to. But you can flip-flop who is hero and sidekick with the black button. So, if you are clever, you can have a very evil character and a very heroic character work together. In battle, in towns, when receiving quests, you can switch who is the leader and therefore change how the world reacts to you. It's a bit of a strange idea, but the right team of powers and force could be unstoppable. After play is done, your buddy can pull out and upload his character back into his game -- with any enhancements he earned while playing with you! Wow.
Salivating. Wow.