Update on Fable:The Lost Chapters

Tonight my "Assassin" looked at the Quest Table in the Heroes Guild and there was just one Quest available. Last night I'd seen that quest and taken it to be the opposite of the one I actually took, which was to free some Trader hostages from the Bandits' camp. That would be the same camp which I'd just infiltrated in order to talk to the mysterious Seeress, who was rumored to have information on my long ago abducted sister.

*LONG SPOILER*

Once I got inside the Bandit camp it turned out that the Seeress didn't just have information on my sister, she was my sister. Apparently our mother was a powerful Hero and both Sis and I inherited our powers from her. In Sis's case, because she dared to defy the Bandits and silently stared at them, refusing to answer their questions, they cut her eyes out and left her for dead. She was found by another group of bandits and taken in by them, and when her injuries had healed it was discovered that with the distraction of visual sight gone, Sis's ability to see the future had emerged. Because I was a Hero the Bandit Chief challenged me to a duel, and I soundly defeated him, but as he stood there gasping, he pitifully begged for his life. I listened to his appeal, "Please, spare me. The bandits will never follow me now. Isn't that punishment enough?"

I looked around at the circle of bandits whose flashing blades I'd seen behind me, more than once, as I'd dodged their Chief's own blades during our earlier duel. "Please, spare me." I heard the Chief say again. I backed up into the entrance of his tent, drew my crossbow, took aim, and dispatched the nearest bandit. Perhaps fearing he'd be next (and he was right) his neighbor charged me, and fell to my blades. It took several seconds for all of the bandits to realize what was happening, and like a bad Kung Fu movie they charged towards me in ones and twos, and I quickly dispatched them, and then it was just me and Twinblade, the Bandit Chief, who still pathetically begged for his life. Although he'd saved my sister's life so long ago when she'd been left for dead, I did not show him the same kindness.

After apparently destroying the Bandit's camp I returned to the Guild where I saw the two quests. One to rescue three Traders from the Bandits, the other (what I figured the evil, flip side of the rescue quest) was to kill the Guards and Traders in another village. Hmm, I'm supposed to be getting in with the Bandits in order to find my sister...but...it looks like she's doing just fine on her own now, so...let's rescue those Traders. Believing I'd just wiped out their camp I figured this mission would be a cakewalk, but when I returned to the camp I found it still occupied. So more bandits died and the Traders were freed.

That was when I noticed the quest to kill the guards and traders in the other village was still on the table. Hmm, so it wasn't the "evil" choice of the two after all. Feeling particularly evil I accepted the quest, and went and slew some Guards and helpless Traders. This would not be my only "evil" act of the night, because returning to the Quest Table I found it empty, but then remembered I still had a Quest in my Log.

The Arena.

The place where Heroes become Legends.

I entered the Arena and with a combination of Sword and Spell (& quaffing numerous potions) I defeated round after round of beasties, and then Whisper appeared, my childhood rival from the Heroes Guild. Only now she was fighting beside me as we slew numerous beasts, skeletons, trolls, and finally, a giant scorpion creature, and then it was just Whisper and me.

Whisper.

Whose claims that she was the superior Hero, despite the results of our training day duels, seemed more than just sour grapes.

Whisper.

Whose big brother, Thunder, was seen badmouthing me in town, was heard putting down my heroic feats. "Come to play with the other children, have you?" he said to me derisively.

Whisper.

Who foolishly said to me, as we stood there facing each other, "I won't kill you. I refuse to kill you."

Whisper, I don't share your compassion.

Fable actually makes it very easy for a normally altruistic person to cross the line. And cross it I did.

When Whisper finally stood before me, head bowed, pleading for me to just walk away, that I didn't have to do this...I did it anyway, and the crowd roared my name as I stood over her broken body. And it was GLORIOUS!!!

This could explain why I loved playing a Rogue in WoW's PvP ;)

When I exited the Arena the only thing between Thunder and I was Lady Grey, the Mayor of Bowerstone.

For some reason Thunder seemed to feel that my killing his sister, in the Arena, in a fight to the death, somehow amounted to Murder.

Lady Grey disagreed, and saved Thunder's life by not letting the big brute make a mistake he'd regret, but I just know I'll be helping him reunite with his sister before this game is done. I can feel it. Oh yes, I can!

I took my Arena Champion's purse containing over 30,000 gold (enough to buy a house in Bowerstone, if I'm not mistaken) and left the Arena where I was greeted by my adoring fans.

Murderer? Moi? Thunder, you are gravely mistaken, and if you persist in spreading such rumors I'm afraid we'll have to settle this in the Arena.

To paraphrase Ash, "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the sword."

Fable, and moral choices in PC games

I got Fable:The Lost Chapters on the weekend. Like Fallout 3, F:TLC (and Fable II) offers the player a moral choice. "How do you want to play the game?" But unlike F3, F:TLC appears to offer a more realistic choice.

In F3 when you entered Megaton and encountered the Sheriff your conversation responses ranged from polite and respectful to arrogant ass. IMO a non-response doesn't really qualify as an "evil" response, it could also mean you're the strong, silent type.

But with F:TLC you have a real choice.

I wish I could remember the post I read on someone's Blog (or I'd link it here) about how people with strong, moral compasses may have trouble playing F3 with an evil character, choosing "evil" responses. Games like Grand Theft Auto are easier to play because they give you little to no choice. You're Tommy Vercetti, a mafioso who just got out of prison and is being asked to run the Vice City syndicate. If you want to progress through the game, you don't really have a choice as to how you play it. You follow linear quests and the story unfolds.

F:TLC, however, offers you a choice, starting with your very first quests.

A young girl asks you to find her bear, and when you do, you're given a choice of siding with the bully who's already mentioned he planned to pull the bear's head off, or siding with a younger child who has the bear, and beating up the bully.

When a villager asks you to guard his wares another child wanders up and encourages you to smash the unguarded barrels to see what's in them.

When you find a philandering husband you're given a choice of accepting a gold piece to keep quiet, or telling the cheater's wife what you saw.

All very real choices, and almost opposite sides of the coin. Not goody two shoes versus ass, but good guy versus bad guy.

Then when you find yourself in the Guild of Heroes, choosing your first quest for them, you're again presented with a very real choice. You actually have a choice of two quests but you can only accept one because the goal of each is contrary to the other.

A local Farmer has some valuable stones in his possession and is being attacked by Bandits intent on stealing them. You have a choice of defending the farm and fighting off the bandits, or protecting the bandits while they steal the stones. Interestingly (IMO) the person behind the quest to steal the stones is none other than a local Mayor.

I chose to defend the farm, and as I've leveled up I've been putting points into martial combat and physical strength. But having played Fallout3 through as a "good guy" and been unable to restart it playing through as an ass, I've decided to restart F:TLC and play the "evil" side first, focusing on becoming more of an Assassin-style character.

Why?

Because F:TLC has a key plot device which makes it easy for someone with a strong moral compass to play the bad side.

*SPOILER* Very early in the game your village is attacked by Bandits, your father is slain, and your mother and sister are taken prisoner. You are rescued by Maze who takes you to the Guild of Heroes, which is where the meat & potatoes of the game starts. How does this help a "good" person play an evil character in F:TLC? Quite simply, you're going to do whatever it takes to rescue your sister. As Bandits are the ones who took her away, it could be argued that the best way to rescue your sister is to become a Bandit yourself, infiltrate their network, and eventually destroy them from within. And if you happen to become corrupted by the dark side along the way, that's only to be expected.

It's like the post I made about the Torture Quest in WoW. You could have been presented with two Quests, one to torture the prisoner to extract the desired information, and one to help him escape, gain his trust, and get the information that way. That's a real choice, and F:TLC offers you choices like that.

While F:TLC may not have the polish of WoW, it's still a very good looking game, and combat is fun (at least in the early stages) without being a nightmare. But as far as offering the player choices on how to proceed through the game and develop their character, F:TLC wins hands down. All this, for a shade more than the price of one month of WoW. Bargain!