*spoilers* Fable 2 has the worst/most disturbing storyline I've ever experienced; not cool

[Bretty]

****FALLOUT 3 SPOILER****


I felt this exact same way about Fallout 3!!!

With Vault 11! You get kicked out after helping them all and they get angry, and lets face it, the only love interest in the game tells you to bugger off and you are left LITERALLY alone!

There is no one there for you... so little character support except for a 'pet' which can follow you around, Dog, Mutant etc. Dont get me started on how crap you feel when your dog gets it!

I never got into Fable 2 all that much but to see your sister killed and depression soon sets in. There are some games where you expect it, others when its guaranteed. But there are times when you are left sitting at your desk going... wow, that is sad... CoD4 for example.

 

[antipunt]

#4: Theresa being evil. that is just the most idiotic way to interpet her actions at the end.

I beg to differ:

http://fable.wikia.com/wiki/Theresa

 

[antipunt]

Premise: A game is supposed to make you feel good
*SNIP*

I did not realise the story of Fable II was anything like that...If Fable II is like what you make it seem, you may have just piqued my interest in it.

you misunderstand me, though it is probably my fault b/c I was sloppy here. I meant a game isn't supposed to leave you 'sick to your stomach'. Don't get me wrong, I'm a total fan of games that have 'strange/occult/interesting' storylines and endings. But Fable 2's ending just comes across as being callous and gross

 

[antipunt]

Premise: A game is supposed to make you feel good

You start your argument on a false premise. ....Games like Shadow of the Colossus, Bioshock and Condemned don't make you feel good at the end.

this is completely my fault, and I need to change this. I was sloppy with my wording, and it was not what I meant to say at all. For example, I loved Bioshock.

 

[antipunt]

Fable 2 has the worst/most disturbing storyline I've ever experienced.

Sorry to keep going on but you clearly haven't played that many games. Play something like Condemned, Bioshock or Silent Hill and you'll see that Fable 2's story is not really disturbing in any way by comparison.

Well 'clearly' right? (rolls eyes). I've played all those games listed. Disturbing =/= one like Bioshock. I, for one, love dark games, and Bioshock was an awesome experience, not disturbing. I probably should've used alternative wording though...Fable 2 strikes me more as 'callous' or 'brutish'

 

[antipunt]

1- Stop Preaching Kindness, it's nice to try and make us good guys but for 1; we should have incentive to play as both alignments (aka the Vulgar masses should be less Fickle and being Evil should yield actual profit in at least one way instead of making being good a punishing experience)

2- Bring back the whole "You get the option of killing everybody in the game" because I was praying for a chance at the other heroes (mainly Reaver... The Bastard) because THAT made us feel truly evil in Fable1, unlike in Fable2 where the most evil you get to feel is more like intense jerk-ism rather than evil personnified.

I agree with this completely by the way. You'll realize that throughout the game there is -never- an incentive to be evil except to just be a jerk. The town economy gets worse (which means you make less money) if you dick around, PM is yelling at you at every evil choice you make (even on accident), and you feel more like a ruffian than a true villain. Even the Shadow Temple was hilariously...'unevil'...

 

[antipunt]

Yes I realized by this point in the conversation it had been established that the masses think she betrayed you. Yes, I caught the smirk, but drop the "!" off the begon becuase it was a very calm begone. I see her actions at the spire as simply having her own reasons for wanting it. I find to call this a "betrayal" is a rather harsh term to tack to it, when it is merely a parting of ways between you and Theresa.
I would argue more, but I'm going to need a few hours to play it again to confirm some stuff from your wiki link. I'm not done with this yet

It's fine
But I'm just letting you know there is a hoard of evidence; a user here even reminded us during the scene with Lucian.

"where is Theresa? What have you done with her"

"hmm?...I MERELY LISTENED"

I have more evidence, but feel free to come back

 

[antipunt]

****FALLOUT 3 SPOILER****


I felt this exact same way about Fallout 3!!!

With Vault 11! You get kicked out after helping them all and they get angry, and lets face it, the only love interest in the game tells you to bugger off and you are left LITERALLY alone!

*fallout 3 spoilers*

This is -great- actually, because it can serve as a prime example for my point

Fallout 3, imo, was a great game...EXCEPT ONE particular quest. The vault 101 quest. In that quest, you return back only to discover that at the end of the quest, they kick you out, never to return. This is -despite- the fact that you rescue them and help them out.

Your best friend basically betrays you in a strange way, and is surprisingly 'callous'. And this quest left me feeling -exactly- the same as Fable 2. The thing is, it was just a minor side quest, and I concluded (via my character's perspective), that I would just hate Vault 101. Fine right?

But in Fable 2 you can't do this, because it's the resolution for the -entire game-. Nothing is left after this. When Reaver first turned me old and grey, I vowed (via my character's perspective) to enact revenge on him. -THEN-, he killed Barnum. OK, now I really wanted revenge. -THEN-, he betrays me. Rather than being a 'magnificent bastard', Reaver struck me as being just a bastard. My brother said he was the kind of person he hated most. A snitch, a dick, and a coward. And then, PM decides to recruit him into your main squad. What?! Epic fail

Then after being betrayed by Theresa, there was nothing you could do about Reaver. -THEN- Hammer kicks you in the nuts. And if you lost your dog, even worse, that is apparently unless you shelve out more money to PM for Knothole Island.

 

[Squarewave]

What pissed me off about fable 2 was how the game punishes you over and over for making the good choices without any reward at the end for it. For example Losing experience in prison, taking the moral choice and becoming old and the last choice ware choosing good causes you to lose your dog.

And whats your reward for dealing with it all? an army of love zombies that wont leave you alone and a broken game with the lack of the dog mechanic.

And to top things off Theresa screws you over in the end by taking control over the tower herself she says something to the effect of "chose your reward, but the tower is mine " Making it clear she was using you to gain control of the tower. Not to mention she was responsible for setting everything in motion talking you into getting the music box

 

[Svenparty]

In my opinion all the moral choices were much too Black/White.What happened to all the promise and hype that we would wander around contemplating our choices and feeling compelled to replay Fable 2 for a differant feeling?

 

[TsunamiWombat]

The good thing is that Garth chastises Hammer for getting stuck into you. I thought it was a bit harsh of Hammer to take you to task for choosing the love option but if there's one thing you learn during the journey, she is incredibly headstrong and opinionated so it is totally within character to open up on you.

I would love to drive a blade straight through Reaver's cold, black heart for being instrumental in the destruction of the original Oakvale. If you read his diary though you do get the impression that he was just a frightened kid, wanting to cheat death and he had no idea it would cost so much. Still, hopefully I get to catch up with that sucker in Fable III.

As for Theresa, isn't she wearing robes similar to Jack of Blades? Jack is seen as both hero and villian by Albion's population in the original and it turns out Teresa might be cut from the same bolt of cloth. Witnessing your father's murder and being tortured and blinded would have an everlasting effect on your development, so it's entirely possible that her motives hide a darker nature.

On a more positive note I loved the level "A Perfect Day", where you got to spend time with your sister Rose again; but I guess even that turned to shite at the end. Plus have Dog back made my day; even if that also meant I was still married to the reanimated corpse of Lady Grey.

I can predict/callit for you right now. Teresa' is one of three things:

1. Planning to use the spire to ressurect the Hero from game 1.

2. Planning to use the spire to ressurect Jack of Blades from game 1.

3. IS Jack of Blades from the first game, possibly via possession, and wishes to use the sprie to recreate his body/mask. This seems the most likly because there's no explaination for Teresa being 500 years old if she isn't Jack of Blades.

What does this mean? It means Lionhead wants your goddamn money. Be prepared to pay for DLC after DLC to get the -real- story, or for the full sequel.

If it isn't one of these predictions, I will eat toe-nail clippings. I all but GARUNTEE YOU she is Jack of Blades. This is totally Jack of Blades style. What's really a kick in the balls about Fable 2 is, unlike Fable 1, it doesn't let you come back and make everything better. In Fable 1 you spend years in prison and get pyschically and pyschologically tortured, but you defeat Jack of Blades and get what is essentially excalibur. And then in the expansion pack, you destroy Jack of Blades in a very Sauronesque sequence after tying up alot of the sad loose ends (you free your mothers soul from torment, and that hero ghost in the graveyard- y'know unless you choose evil).

Fable 2 has the "lowpoint" that makes for a good story, but it lacks the payoff for all those lowpoints. If the game was 1/2 or 1/4th longer and had you coming back from the brink and delivering harsh vengence to those who deserved it and -REALLY- being a hero, it'd be great. In Fable 1 you were the saviour of the world. In Fable 2 your just some dick who get's used, and you don't fix anything in the end.

Fable is trying to be Star Wars. Fable 2, is The Empire Strikes back. It ends on a down note. This wouldn't be a problem if it was a movie, because movies don't take years and years to make and cost 60 bucks. Han/Dog is frozen in Carbontie, and Teresa/Vader cuts your hand off. We'll discover in the next game Teresa was manipulating Lucian the whole time.

 

[Gamer137]

I am OK with stories haveing unsatisfying ending. If the author wants to pull that emotion out of you, mission accomplished. Good story telling is when the author can pull any emotion and thought out of you at the spin of a dime to tell his/her thoughts. There is more, like proper characters and setting and such to add flavor(otherwise you are reading a personal Bible). If PM wanted you to feel like crap by thinking or knowing your a pawn, good for him. He may be trying to teach you that not everything is as it appears.

It disturbs me when people say they hate something about a story. If you disagree, fine. No need to hate them. But writers are telling to tell you a story they thought of to make a point. We don't control what they want to tell us. They are not obligated to make us feel a certain way. They are obligated to make us feel what they want us to feel.

 

[The Oddfellow]

I don't consider Theresa to be 'evil' but there is some kind of hidden agenda at hand. True she did use you to get the spire but she would use the wishes (that is if the spire is restored) for a greater good.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I don't consider Theresa to be 'evil' but there is some kind of hidden agenda at hand. True she did use you to get the spire but she would use the wishes (that is if the spire is restored) for a greater good.

Except she tells you from the beginning that the spire is evil and it's power is evil and it's run on babies and failure.

Literally, the spire -almost destroyed the world- before. Anyone with foresight would know it needs be destroyed.

 

[DoubleRainbow]

Premise: A game is supposed to make you feel good

I just can't agree with the premise.

I don't understand why a game (or a film, or a book) is supposed to make one feel good? In fact, the most relevant works of modern art are usually quite the opposite. The whole Fable II experience is so good precisely because it's not black and white and actually makes you uncomfortable and think. Not many games can claim to have artistic storytelling value, but Fable II can certainly do so.

I agree with you. I liked Fable 2 because no matter what it's not a "perfect" happy ending, wich is what would most likely happen in real life. I like games that make me think about my choices. And even if I completely screwed up I don't just revert to a previous save, I live with my mistakes. In my opinion this makes a game better.

 

[mALX]

*massive spoilers and also, I'm not trolling or trying to flame*

Before certain somebodies start attacking me, I want to tell you all I'm not trolling. Merely looking for rational minds to 'help convince me' that what I'm arguing isn't true. Because you see, I -want- to like Fable 2. But the thing is, I just can't lie to myself. The ending is absolutely -horrible-, and I will explain why, under the following premises:

Edited Premise for Clarification: A game is meant to satisfy you. For example, a game with a 'bad ending' can still be 'satisfying', if executed correctly. There are many games, for example, where the protagonist dies at the end, and I still find myself loving those. In short, a game isn't meant to leave you feeling 'sick or disgusted', wishing that you hadn't played the game in the first place.

So under that premise, I'm practically begging you to challenge me, b/c I'm convinced that Fable 2 has one of the most horrific storylines ever. And please, no immature comments/arguments, I can see straight past those (not meant to be offensive, just matter of fact)

#1. Hammer is a jerk: Throughout the game, I really liked Hammer. She was nice, and one of the few people in Albion with a personality. However, things turned very bad after I beat the game choosing the "Love" ending, which resurrects your dog. She literally says something like "well since you care so little about people (referencing that you didn't save the spire-workers), why didn't you just take the money?!". Seeing that she was a) my good friend b) someone who experienced the loss of a family members, and c) the capability to -even say this-, it makes her a jerk essentially. It's an incredibly callous thing to say, and rendered her as another 'hated' character in Fable 2. I can't believe for the life of me that PM would allow such a horrible line of dialogue to be said..It only supports the notion that the game consistently 'preaches' to you to be 'unrealistically good'.

#2. Reaver is a jerk, and they don't let you kill him/get justice. First off, he turns you old/gray (assuming you choose the moral choice), and secondly, he kills Barnum. Barnum was a loved character that grew up with you since you were a child, and he just killed him in 2 seconds. To make things even worse, he betrays you. After -all- this BS, you can't enact any vengeance on him. This is poorly done, because it means you're just left being po-ed. A good game has resolution, not pent-up unfinished business.

#3. Albion villagers are unlikable at heart. This is something we all know; they insult you taking your weapon out for no reason, and then praise your farting prowess the next. So this leaves you with little incentive to do 'sacrificial' choices. However, PM made it seem like throughout the whole game, he was 'preaching at you'. Like Hammer being rude at the end for no reason. Basically throughout the whole game, being sacrificial/good seemed the only thing the game wanted you to be. There was no incentive to be evil really except being a jerk in general, which is in total contrast to 'evil done right' in games like Fallout 3

#4. My brother said something that hit home with me: Fable 2 has a storyline that leaves you feeling 'sick to your stomach' (literally) after its conclusion (that is, if you -think- about your storylines). It is also, essentially, "Portal if *spoilers* Glados won *end spoilers*"

For those who haven't picked up on this yet, refer to this:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=927246&topic=48565446

Long story short is essentially that Theresa was using you as her 'pawn' the entire game. This leaves you with a nasty/unfinished business aftertaste. To make things worse, PM doesn't give you any sense of closure. None-what-so-ever.

So you were punked. You wasted all your time, and to make matters worse, you furthered the cause of evil. Under my premise, games should never make you 'feel like crap' after you are finished. That just ruins the entire experience. It's like one of those early-time horror movies that kill off all the cast, leaving the villain victorious

#5. There is a massive 'to be continued' label on the game's ending, besides Theresa's betrayal. What are left with? Assuming you were unfortunate enough to choose the sacrificial ending, you are left with a bunch of Albions that still get unreasonably upset with you, and no dog to live a lonely life. If you chose the love-pathway, you get a passive-aggressive Hammer, and yet, still annoying feeling that you were punked by Theresa, dissed by Hammer (the fact that she does this at all also ruins her relationship with you in the 'good ending' because you -know- she 'would've' said that insensitive line anyway, abused by Reaver, and well, everyone else with a likable personality is dead, like Barnum. Lastly (yes there is more), there are storyline threads that end up going nowhere:

So Theresa is evil, but what the heck does she want? Tying things together with the Fable 1 storyline, it is still hard to see what is going on. We have certain clues. Like the burning fire scene with the music box. But the trail still goes cold. Also, what the hell is with that music box. It certainly plays a -huge- role in everything, but is also, sloppily left unexplained.

The only feeling you are left with is dissatisfaction. A putrid aftertaste that you cannot justify at all. Right now I'm not merely disappointed; I feel a sense of aversion towards the game... (recall my original premise)

Excuse: "But there will be a Fable 3 to solve all this"

I want to let you know I don't fancy this response in the least, because it doesn't solve the issue at hand. Fable 2's ending makes me sick in a way that makes me question if it was ever worth playing at all. And I say for any game, this is surely a tragedy. I wanted to rate it a 8.5 starting, then a 9.0 mid-late game, and then an 8.0-8.5 after beating it the first time. Now after the 2nd playthrough (with Hammer's reaction via the 'love-path'), I just want to stick in the 7-8 region. The battle system was fun, and the story seemed good up to the point where everything fell apart, but that doesn't fix anything as a whole package. Sadly, I was really enjoying it until the end, that is, when everything ultimately fell into the disturbing and unsatisfying mess that it was meant to be.

I don't enjoy Horror Movies that toy with my heart-strings like that, and I certainly do not respect Fable 2 for doing this either. Left with no closure, a big slap in the face, and a hook to buy yet another installment, I'm just left feeling sick and betrayed (since the original fable was so good). Fable2 is just unbelievably 'unfair' with how it treats you, and PM is much too preachy and cruel.

I hope people don't take this as an assault, I am merely explaining my true feelings. I'm also calling out the elites to please prove me wrong. I need someone who 'really' knows who he's/she's talking about. What happened in all this mess? Where can I find closure? Why do you think the story is good; can you make sense out of anything besides the whole "fable 3 is coming" approach. Or did anyone else feel the way I did? And what the heck is going on with that music box, it's the only thing I haven't figured out yet (I've figured out Lucian, Theresa, etc. etc.)

Thanks

Lol, your rendition tempts me to buy the game! You have made it sound funny, and I'm sure when I get to these points I will think of what you said, lol.

 

[minispike47]

I hate hammer, he voice is the most annoying thing i've ever heard!