Madden and that’s about it, really. I’m still ticked off at EA that they quit making Madden for PC 10 years ago. It’s not enough to make me buy an XBox to play it though. Screw EA.
From what I’ve read (I can’t remember playing the original back in the Xbox days, even though I did), it shows its age compared to Fable 2:
While many would argue convincingly that Halo has never quite been topped, Fable was all but superseded by its sequel, which refined the original game’s ideas, streamlined its combat, widened its scope, and brought in a better script and a better cast. To its credit, Lionhead has made some smart adjustments in Anniversary, with a save system that actually works (auto-saving at checkpoints, while allowing you to manually save just about anywhere) and the option to use the control scheme from the later games
Yes, it does seem to be the consensus among reviewers that this is a middling-at-best effort. I was hoping someone around here might have an opinion too but it may very well be that nobody played it. Still, I should probably stick with what I already own and haven’t yet played than digging that hole even deeper.
And yet - I’ve already bought a bunch of stuff from the sale. I can’t resist a deep discount so I bought Just Cause 3 - and yes, I do know about it’s performance issues, but it does look like a blast. Also a few indie games like Abzu and Armikrog, plus a couple back compat games like Tomb Raider Underworld and Dark Void (both of which I already played but liked a lot). Mostly I’m staying away from the newer AAA stuff despite being excited initially, I’m just not going to get to them in the near term so why buy now? Hey, maybe I’m finally developing some impulse control.
Fable Anniversary definitely has a retro feel to it – it’s not as sophisticated a game as Fable 2/3. But I’d say it provides $10 with of entertainment for sure, particularly if you enjoyed Fable 2 and are already familiar with the lore/universe.
It scored in the 80s and 90s when it was released, so it was considered a great game in its day, but keep in mind it’s a 2004 title – one of the latter big games for the original Xbox – so even with the “Anniversary” treatment you’re still obviously playing a title that was tops in its day – kind of like playing KOTOR today.
I’d be curious as to how that plays on the xb1x. I bought that game in last year’s sale, but the performance issues, especially the load times after each challenge attempt, kept me from enjoying it, so I uninstalled for now. But if the xb1x has better load times and performance, I’d love to go back to it eventually, if I get the new console.
Hey cool. I own this. I played Legends and Anniversary, and picked up Underworld, but never got around it. I didn’t know it was backwards compatible now. Thanks for the heads up.
I read something somewhere - forget where, maybe Digital Foundry - that said Just Cause 3 performs better on the X but still not exactly what you might call great. I’ll have to check it out. Oh but I also bought Just Cause 2, should probably play that first right? I’m probably my own worst enemy when it comes to this stuff.
I try to stay on top of back compat releases for my own reasons (where the hell is Mark of the Ninja?) but I usually don’t post updates, which are usually at least weekly, occasionally twice a week. Mainly because I think I’m already at risk of dominating this thread as it is. But if folks think it would be useful to have in one place, I can post back compat info as I find it.
I loved Fable though I’m sure it’s aged somewhat badly compared to its sequels. Well worth playing though, if you liked either of the later games. More like 2 than 3 for sure.
Halo 5’s multiplayer and Forza Horizon 2 are great.
Got a X1 just for FH2 and wasn’t disappointed.
Some of the sales are pretty good if you want the games. I bought a third xbox one last week bundled with Forza 7, Forza Horizon 3 & Hot Wheels. They’re around 100$ on PC, but I got everything for 225$ after tax. It was cheaper than upgrading my computer to play them.
question for those of you who’ve bought more Xboxes recently, what’d you do with the old ones?
Traded mine in at Best Buy for $75 credit. Yeah, I know I could do better on eBay, I just didn’t want to deal with all that.
Replaced both of my Xbox Ones with X models, so I just posted on Facebook “Hey, any friends want a good deal on an Xbox?” and sold them that way. Priced them lower than the going eBay prices, but still more than I’d have gotten from GameStop, so everyone won. I didn’t have to hassle with shipping or creepy Craigslist people, they got a better deal than they could have gotten from the store on units that have been taken care of.
I played the first quarter of the game and ran out of patience for it when it started running me around the map chasing stuff to do. Maybe I was doing it wrong, but it got sent back to GameFly. When it was engaged in direct storytelling, it was pretty engaging, when it offered secret unlocks or find-9-of-these-in-the-world stuff it got annoying. The sense of humor is what I believe the Brits refer to as “cheeky.”
Living room! It’s a perfectly competent streaming box that can play some games when the boys have friends over. Be sure to turn off your auto-login.
There’s definitely things in the Fable games that, to the best of my knowledge, just aren’t anywhere else to be found. My favorite mini game in Fables 2 and 3 was “how many venereal diseases can I have at one time?” Followed closely by “how many villagers can I talk into group sex at one time?” It’s all got this kind of harmless humor aspect to it, but I probably am responsible for fathering (and occasionally mothering) a good ten percent of those game worlds’ populations.
Hm, I need to boot up Fable 2.
There’s even an in-game stat in the tracker for how many vd’s you contract in the course of your game. So if you’re a min/maxer you know what must be done.
Was there a child support system in Fable 2? I know you collected rent even when not playing…wondering if child support was also automatically subtracted.
I loved the music, art style and storytelling in Fable 2, but never finished it and never played 3 which I still own. Should I bother restarting 2 to then play 3? Not sure how much of 2 I played…maybe out 10 hours into it (a lot of that was spent on the jobs).
I imagine @Rock8man will be along shortly to tell you why you should play Fable 2, so I’ll leave that to him. I don’t think Fable 2 and 3 are really all that connected, as I recall 3 takes place some years after 2, in a more industrial era. Some characters return, but I don’t think the plots are really inter-related.
I don’t remember anything at all about child support, but that may have just been because I was a deadbeat dad. I had wives in most towns, who I kept happy with frequent gifts and upgraded furniture. I don’t remember any forced expenditure though.
You should finish Fable 2 for it’s own sake. It’s really memorable and will have a lasting effect on you, even if you don’t end up liking the ending. To say more would be a spoiler.
My own Fable 2 experience was magical from beginning to end. I felt like I’d stepped into the pages of a fairy tale. I loved every second.