When it comes to the video game industry, I am not hard to please. As an avid Fable fan, I was amazed with Fable I, had fun with Fable II, and overall enjoyed Fable III.
I'm a Kinect owner, so when I heard about The Journey, I was excited. even with all of the negative connotations surrounding Kinect games, I felt like Lionhead was still going to pull something off that even I, at the very least, could enjoy as a game in the Fable series.
The demo, however, was thoroughly disappointing, and here's why.
On-Rails
Like anybody who knows Lionhead, every word is to be taken with a heap of salt. However, when it was made such a big point that The Journey would not be on rails, I was disappointed to see that it was. ( http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/13/molyneux-declares-fable-the-journey-definitely-not-on-rails/ )
Unless this is just a demo thing, but I find myself highly doubting that.
Immersion
The immersion of Fable: The Journey, in my opinion, was a hit and miss. While combat and cutscenes can feel very immersive due to Kinect and the first-person view, it didn't feel like Fable. The gameplay felt very disconnected, and while this is more of a spin-off, I found a hard time connecting it to the rest of the Fable series. One of the first things I noticed was no gender selection. While this is okay, especially since it's just a "spin-off," I couldn't help but be disappointed.
Graphics
This first bit ties into the immersion factor. The graphics of the game weren't impressive, but that was to be expected of a Kinect-focused game. The beginning of the demo felt like the background was taped on. It wasn't heart-pounding or something that will make you go "Oooh..." However, some sequences later in the demo felt more like Fable, adding to a small nostalgia factor, but put some heavy emphasis on "small."
Music
Like any Fable game, the music is unique. If anything contributed to nostalgia the most, it had to be the music. Music was a very important part of the series, so I'm extremely glad they kept to the common tune of the game. However, music during combat and cutscenes were nothing impressive, and probably detracted from those a little bit.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Fable: The Journey is something that people will likely have fun with for an hour (if they're lucky) and then get tired of it. It's exciting to play with for a little while, but waving your hands around constantly gets pretty annoying, but that's probably why this game looks at a younger audience.
Story
Story was the deciding factor for me if I would buy this game. I love story in video games; I'll even play games that have horrible qualities as long as the story is good. I was originally planning to buy The Journey for the story alone...but now I'm not so sure. While Lionhead had a great idea for the player character, I don't like how he was fleshed out. He isn't a character I could connect to very easily. In addition, the lack of reference to Fable III is not to my taste. It refers to one or two things at most, whereas it refers to events in Fable II even more often. While I'm sure this will be covered later in the game, I was really expecting something there. The way they played out the protagonist as a Hero did not appeal to me at all. It felt so rushed, almost like Lionhead was grasping for straws. I was hoping for some really impressive reason and lore behind why the protagonist would become a Hero, but I didn't receive that. Fable: The Journey does not feel like it will leave a salvageable story at all for Fable IV, which, in my opinion, might lead to the death of the Fable series for me.
Overall
While it's a bit early to make any serious judgments, this is how I feel about the game as of now. I probably won't rush out to buy Fable: The Journey, but I'll likely pick it up when I find the extra money to burn. I think it looks decent for a Kinect game, but I can't say I agree with Lionhead's decision to create a member of the Fable series in such a manner.
I'm a Kinect owner, so when I heard about The Journey, I was excited. even with all of the negative connotations surrounding Kinect games, I felt like Lionhead was still going to pull something off that even I, at the very least, could enjoy as a game in the Fable series.
The demo, however, was thoroughly disappointing, and here's why.
On-Rails
Like anybody who knows Lionhead, every word is to be taken with a heap of salt. However, when it was made such a big point that The Journey would not be on rails, I was disappointed to see that it was. ( http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/13/molyneux-declares-fable-the-journey-definitely-not-on-rails/ )
Unless this is just a demo thing, but I find myself highly doubting that.
Immersion
The immersion of Fable: The Journey, in my opinion, was a hit and miss. While combat and cutscenes can feel very immersive due to Kinect and the first-person view, it didn't feel like Fable. The gameplay felt very disconnected, and while this is more of a spin-off, I found a hard time connecting it to the rest of the Fable series. One of the first things I noticed was no gender selection. While this is okay, especially since it's just a "spin-off," I couldn't help but be disappointed.
Graphics
This first bit ties into the immersion factor. The graphics of the game weren't impressive, but that was to be expected of a Kinect-focused game. The beginning of the demo felt like the background was taped on. It wasn't heart-pounding or something that will make you go "Oooh..." However, some sequences later in the demo felt more like Fable, adding to a small nostalgia factor, but put some heavy emphasis on "small."
Music
Like any Fable game, the music is unique. If anything contributed to nostalgia the most, it had to be the music. Music was a very important part of the series, so I'm extremely glad they kept to the common tune of the game. However, music during combat and cutscenes were nothing impressive, and probably detracted from those a little bit.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Fable: The Journey is something that people will likely have fun with for an hour (if they're lucky) and then get tired of it. It's exciting to play with for a little while, but waving your hands around constantly gets pretty annoying, but that's probably why this game looks at a younger audience.
Story
Story was the deciding factor for me if I would buy this game. I love story in video games; I'll even play games that have horrible qualities as long as the story is good. I was originally planning to buy The Journey for the story alone...but now I'm not so sure. While Lionhead had a great idea for the player character, I don't like how he was fleshed out. He isn't a character I could connect to very easily. In addition, the lack of reference to Fable III is not to my taste. It refers to one or two things at most, whereas it refers to events in Fable II even more often. While I'm sure this will be covered later in the game, I was really expecting something there. The way they played out the protagonist as a Hero did not appeal to me at all. It felt so rushed, almost like Lionhead was grasping for straws. I was hoping for some really impressive reason and lore behind why the protagonist would become a Hero, but I didn't receive that. Fable: The Journey does not feel like it will leave a salvageable story at all for Fable IV, which, in my opinion, might lead to the death of the Fable series for me.
Overall
While it's a bit early to make any serious judgments, this is how I feel about the game as of now. I probably won't rush out to buy Fable: The Journey, but I'll likely pick it up when I find the extra money to burn. I think it looks decent for a Kinect game, but I can't say I agree with Lionhead's decision to create a member of the Fable series in such a manner.
