Fable III Limited Collector's Edition for Xbox 360 - Exclusive Bonus Content & Collectibles | Perfect for RPG Fans & Game Collectors | Great Gift for Gamers & Fantasy Adventure Lovers

This latest installment of Fable is a pleasure to play. Graphics are stunning, and the world of Albion is a beautiful place.The Limited Edition case is fantastic, the look and feel of the Fable "book" is done very well complete with a clasp and hidden compartment. I almost wish it held a few more trinkets, but that's not a complaint, as I'd rather have all the DLC that it came with other than a few things that would collect dust in the future.Some personal quirks and thoughts:1) Your Dog; You can only whistle for your dog when he's close to you and the option appears, there is no whistle option for when he's off roaming around like in Fable II. There are times I outrun my dog, and that whistle action was pretty handy, it is quite annoying to run for a bit, then have to wait and wait with no dog in sight, often running straight into a fight with no warnings, or past treasure without a bark.Also new; your dog does not get hurt in Fable III so you don't have to heal him, either. I really miss these options, even as cute as he is and whatever breed (a few new choices) you choose for him to be. Still lovable, but lacking a bit from the previous game. It seems that I'm more annoyed at his treasure hunting techniques than I was in Fable II. More often than not I was already at and opened the treasure chests before he even alerted me to them, and any buried treasure I often have to go back pretty far to the dog to find the "trigger spot" to get him going to actually show where they are buried. He did get a little better once he was trained up, but Fable II's dog seemed much better.2) The "back" and "magic combat" options still use the same B button- in Fable II I would occasionally find myself still scaring villagers by an accidental spell cast if was not paying attention, but apparently in Fable III an accidental spell cast in the middle of villagers does not bother them in the least.3) No jumping allowed. Even just small jumps would have been a nice addition. Or even a hop. A key just above your reach that you have to jump down to from the opposite direction is maddening because you can't climb on a rock or even manage a small hop or jump to reach, add another spot to remember to come back to get that key... Not all low fences show the option to vault either, making you go back to go around a fenced in area.4) Camera Control is a bit 'jerky': It's pretty intuitive, but the motion seems to be not as smooth as it could be. There were parts where if you a next to a villager or your dog that you want to interact with the view switches itself around so that a building, a tree or rock (etc) get in the way and you can't see everything, or what the A button offers as an action. This is pretty annoying. Once you are done and back out of the action you are doing, you end up facing a different direction more than half of the time. I really seeing a broken wall or stone (or whatever) and not the button actions or person/dog I'm supposed to be seeing.5) The glowing trail. Not always helpful here. It often stops, disappears or seems to follow you, as if it's confused. Multiple resetting of the active quest will get it going again, but it just seems to not work as well as in the previous Fable.6) Game play is easy. Too easy, there is no way to change the difficulty. The main quest can be done just under or around 20 hours.7) So far, it almost seems like the good / evil choices are not as critical as they were in Fable II, almost as if it is sometimes hard to become invested in the other person, town, or decision that is to be made. Sometimes found myself wishing for a third choice, more of a 'middle of the road' type and there does not seem to be many of those. Previously, if you did something good or bad, you had instant indications of how far your action added or distracted from your karma, in Fable III it's not so obvious in the instant game play, although The Sanctuary will show you your stats.8) Actions towards other citizens. In Fable II, you would meet someone and have a selection of (previously learned) actions to perform to/at that new person, available via a wheel. In Fable III, you are given the one button for Nice actions and you need to either do that action or wait until it scrolls though to pick what you want to do, and it's the same with the Naughty actions. I'd much rather have the scroll wheel and pick and choose rather than one at a time/wait. It feels like the game has been dumbed down in many ways. When I meet a villager, I have only two options; the ones they give me. I really want that full range of actions and hey, if I make a mistake I make the mistake. Let ME choose if I want to dance, whistle, whatever. Don't make me have to cycle through the same options.Stores and merchants - the same thing. I go to a merchant and there is one book. Or one bottle. Where are the gobs teddy bears, rings, crispy chicks, clothing or other weapons? Also, why can't I carry more than one type of food item at a time, or go buy and eat 50 pies or 30 pieces of celery? Why can't I see how many health potions I have before I go into an area or battle? I also don't see many roaming vendors around Albion, I liked catching up with residents roaming around the paths and areas and seeing what they had for sale. This is not an improvement at all.9) Touch and holding hands. While it's a really good idea and furthers relationships, there are some rough spots that lead to very annoying experiences when the person you are walking and holding hands with gets stuck on rocks, trees.10) Lack of knowing what is in your inventory is extremely annoying! They could have kept some type of the old inventory list. Not knowing how many health potions you have before you go to a new area or into a fight is not helpful.The Sanctuary: A very cool place I like Jasper - voiced by the ever talented (and extremely funny!) Jon Cleese. The Sanctuary replaces the older style scroll-through inventory list and it is pretty easy to use and get to what you want.. but the major problem with your inventory is you can't see what you have unless you are at a vendor to sell the stuff. That is not helpful at all. Check out your cool new clothes, all of your weapons and all your sparkly treasure while you are in the Sanctuary. Any gifts given to you by DLC or villagers are picked up here as well as checking stats or visiting with any other players who are online. The 3-d map is pretty cool and once you really get into it, it shows a wealth of information - but there is a lack of where YOU are in those bigger maps... a small mini-map GPS type pointer would have been very helpful.DLC: The xbox live marketplace has a FREE starter kit DLC, free for all game owners (even if you did not get the Limited Edition) so be sure to stop by and pick that up. This is separate from the other DLC that came with the game, and contains some weapons and a costume (which needs points to get for your avatar). This is not including the other bonus DLC that you may have gotten with any pre-order.** NOTE *** When getting ready to download your stuff from the Marketplace, be careful and download ** one at a time.** I've read where people experienced difficulty when stacking the downloads - if one does not correctly download the first time you may have trouble because the codes are one time use only. Some people could not retrieve one of the DLC packs because of an interruption. Just be patient when using your codes for the content.The World of Albion: Much larger than in previous Fable games, and it seems to me you can get off that beaten path a little more than you could before. Stores and vendors are different to see what is for sale, and descriptions are nice, however not knowing for sure what YOU have as opposed to what you want to buy is quite annoying. The main story line seems a bit too easy to get through but the side quests are pretty okay, but way too many Fetch quests. I've done a few that were really funny, some were a bit 'eh' and others were just cool.What? No Gargoyles? It's okay, now you have gnomes to make fun of you or what a bad shot you are and hurling insults at you the whole time you or your dog are within their sights, and it's pretty satisfying to take them out too.Of course there are also Chickens, all over the place. There is even a quest directly involving chickens, and you get a funny new set of clothes as a part of it. This quest had me smiling the whole way through. Even though it's a short quest, it is one of those quests that make Fable great. (Was I the only one rooting for the chicken at the start of the game?!) Satisfy your chicken kicking cravings. :) Yay chickens!Combat / Level Up : Or rather... the lack thereof. There are some improvements to the combat system, but at the same time there are definite changes that made me really sad. 3 different buttons are your 3 different abilities; magic, ranges and melee. As above, the game seems almost too easy, and you can take out large amounts of enemies rather quickly, even just starting the game. There are no experience orbs to collect (they come to you) and your magic is pretty potent right out of the gate. The ability to change difficulty settings would have given gamers a better, or at least a much different type of game play experience. I also found myself just using one or two different magic abilities rather than using more or different types, almost forgetting they were available to use. Spell weaving (using two different gauntlets to hurl two different spells at enemies works well.There also is no way to aim to disarm, no head-shots (no achievements for them either), that precise aim system is taken out of the game. How boring... my favorite way of shooting is gone. Boss fights are too easy as well. The first Boss fight I was prepared to go through potions and so on... and only used one time slowing potion. That was a Boss? Hmmm.Road To Rule: Completing quests and killing enemies along with interacting with residents of Albion gives you Guild points to collect. These allow you to unlock other abilities, weapons and magic all contained on the Road to Rule. This means that you don't quite level up the same way as you did in Fable II. Finding quests - once you work out how to really utilize the Sanctuary Map for quests and travel, it makes things a whole lot simpler.Money: You can buy and sell or rent out properties in Fable III just like in Fable II, the only difference is that you don't make money while the game is off. This makes it a bit harder to get your fortune started than it did before. NOTE: Use the Road to Rule to pause the game while you grab a drink or snack, you'll still earn in-game money this way, you won't while in the Sanctuary. You must be able to earn enough guild points to open the chest that contains the option to buy houses, and you also have to maintain your houses or the renters will hold their rent out on you. You can take care of the properties and repair each one (one by one) in the Sanctuary using the mini-maps. Opening other chests on the Road to Rule will let you upgrade weapons, abilities, and other perks along the way.Co-Op. I have not had a chance to really get into the online Co-op play. You can (in the Sanctuary) alter your settings to accept requests, or approve another Hero to join. Maybe someone who has used the online co-op more can review that part of it.Flit-switches. They are back. Grrrrrr!!! (need I say more?)Create Your Own Villager: One of the most interesting and downright cool aspects of Fable III. If you were able to pre-order with this option, you receive a code to go to Lionhead's website and sign in with your xbox 360 Live ID to create your own villager and customize their personality, background and appearance. Once you have gone through the questions, dressed your villager and are satisfied with him or her, you follow the instructions to upload to their website. Once your game is in your hands and running on your console, it will prompt you to update the game, so make sure you are connected to xbox Live. At some point in your travels you meet your villager, who gives you a quest to complete. This is absolutely one of the neatest parts of this game, and I wish that the Devs would allow us to create and upload a few more for our game play.There is humor all around the world and some lines (and even quests) will make you laugh out loud (or at least crack a smile) and it makes your visit back to the world of Albion quite fun. The Devs made some really good changes, and yes, maybe some that are not so good, but it's awesome to come back to and play in, even with the Industrial changes in Albion. The graphics are great, the vistas are beautiful, and landscapes are really awesome to look at and move through. The music is hauntingly beautiful, and does not overpower the game play. Lionhead Studios really did a great job with this game.Even with the minor issues I have with the game, I would give Fable III an overall 8.5 out of 10. There are some things I really wish they would have kept from Fable II, and some new things I really like that they put into Fable III. Either way, it is a fun game to play.It's so good to be back in the world of Fable.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~What kind of ruler will you be?I'll start off by saying that the game has a number of improvements over Fable II - but some things that were specifically addressed just don't seem to have *really* been fixed.As the title states - I don't really understand why female Heroes have to be so incredibly large. It's really out of place, and Peter Molyneux specifically said that in this game we wouldn't look like "slightly different looking men". Make no mistake, we still do, and at the start there is even a cross-dressing quest so I don't really think he took the complaint seriously. You will still grow taller and generally larger than everyone, and you will still look manly in 90% of the outfits in the game.The second thing I don't like is this hand-holding business. It seems like there's just *too much* of it. It was cute once or twice in appropriate situations (like leading a child home), but it's getting to the point where it's just creepy in some of the quests. It's gimmicky, and while it's an interesting dynamic I just feel it's overused and not necessary (like when you are escorting a grown man you aren't in a relationship with through a tunnel or to another town.....)The Sanctuary taking the place of the standard RPG-style menu is incredibly innovative and actually responsive. I had concerns when they were first talking about it, but it loads immediately and I have yet to lock up while visiting any of the rooms. I sometimes miss the menu, but I think that's just the old school RPG'er in me.Relationships are slightly more interesting (and there are some better-looking people now too) - with folks actually sending you on fetch-style quests before taking next steps. It's a little more realistic, but it's not really what I was hoping for (a relationship that grows over time rather than a few emotes, a fast travel trip to another town and a cheap ring). The interactions seem to be limited to one on one, which is an improvement over the last game. It was sometimes annoying to be courting one person, and end up with the entire town in love with you. They should have kept the old style of selecting which emote to use as well - one can only take so much pat-a-cake before gouging one's eyes out...Jobs are still here, and this time they actually take a little more hand-eye coordination than just mashing the A button at a certain time. Your progress in jobs is linked directly to the storyline - and honestly I don't really care much for that either. Too much is tied to the storyline - you will have to progress to a certain point before you can start doing the side things like buying businesses and making more money at jobs. I see what they were trying to do, but it feels a little too linear and less open than the last game. I felt like I HAD to do the story, and to be quite honest I'm not really feeling it. Peter must be daft if he thinks the last story was somehow more forgettable than this one. At least the last one wasn't such a tired and stale "tyrant oppressing the people hero rises to overthrow tyrant" standard. Fable II's story I actually thought was interesting and original, and certainly more thought out than this one.They did reuse a lot of the voice acting from the previous game. I don't know if it was intentional to give the long time fans a sense of familiarity or if it was just laziness, but it's there and I thought it was worth mentioning. The other thing I will mention regarding the voice acting is the script is a lot funnier. Fable II was funny, but this game is even better in that respect. I literally spit out drinks on some of the butler's quips in the sanctuary (like when approaching the mannequins naked or leaving while in a chicken suit). It makes the lack of an original and interesting story all the more lamentable.All in all, it's still a fun game to play if you enjoy the Fable series, but they regressed in enough places that I cannot in good conscience give this game a full five star rating. Four stars is a good rating (and maybe even too generous)- lots of great stuff in this game, but some areas where they still need to improve.because my mind has conjured an image of you running for the better part of the day."Fable the Lost Chapters was better. But this one is fun too. I have not used the cards yet, I am keeping them in mint condition lol I like the pub games and would like to create a deck of Fortune's Tower cards. The random NPC banter in this game is hilarious (hence the above quote).Wow this was a great game with great DLC, really worth getting the limited edition, not a single person that I have handed the box to has found all the secret compartments.The coin is a great prop, the playing cards are neat if your into cards.I really wish there was more DLC for this game, it was a great RPG.I am sad that Lionhead chose to move away from the RPG genre with the newest fable game which is more of a CO-OP versus game sort of thing, I would have much preferred if they had created a MMO RPG based on that of the Fable world.The game play is similar. It is more fluid, but it's not a massive improvement. The 2nd part of the game is very poorly designed with regards to coherence of choices and consequences and be warned that the end of the game may very well surprise you. Not in the good way of: "Wow, what an ending, I was very surprised", but in the: "WTF? It's the end of the game ? I had no clue that this was coming. Damn it, had I known, I would have done XYZ..." way.I will always have a special place in my heart for Fable 3 and the other fables. I've played Fable 3 ever since it came out and it was huge part of my childhood. And to get this was awesome even after what happen to lionheart studios.Really enjoyed playing through this game, although I thought it was a little short. Look forward to the next release.