Fable: The Journey Review
By focusing on strong character development and beautiful locales, Fable: The Journey provides an engaging adventure enhanced by satisfying motion controls.
The Video Review
Tom Mc Shea travels to Albion for this video review of the Kinect controlled Fable: The Journey.
The Good
- Strong relationship building
- Well-realized Kinect controls
- Smart pacing gives you ample time to rest
- Beautiful visual design.
The Bad
- Motion controls don't always register properly.
The arrow is buried deep in the horse's side. You wave your arms while uttering soothing words, trying to calm the frightened animal. Once the horse is docile, you approach your four-legged friend slowly, careful not to upset her, and then rest your hand gingerly on the protruding arrow. With the utmost care, you pull the projectile from her body, steadying your hand so as not to cause even more pain to the distressed creature. It's a simple act that takes no more than a minute to perform, but it has a powerful effect on your state of mind. Fable: The Journey establishes strong emotional weight through smartly crafted scenes enhanced by the Kinect's motion-sensing capabilities, creating a rewarding and exciting adventure.
Albion is once again in need of a hero. As Theresa flees from an unseen monster, Gabriel is kind enough to help her onto his carriage and away from harm. The relationship between the 300-year-old seer and the green boy who dreams of long gone fables is slow to develop. The characters chat while sitting around a fire or while riding through the striking locales, and there's a clear hesitancy in forming a deeper connection. Theresa has seen countless friends die during her centuries of life and thinks of Gabriel as little more than a tool she can use to save the world. And Gabriel would rather curl up in a soft bed, with his loyal horse Seren nearby, than go on a dangerous adventure.
But through painstaking trials and debilitating ordeals, the two characters grow closer. Fable: The Journey makes great use of the few characters who make an appearance in this story. Although the basic save-the-world plot hits the expected notes without much flourish, it's the people you meet along the way you care about. When Fergus tells the story of his deceased wife, ravaged by balverines years before, you nod because you've heard this tale of woe before. But as you travel the road, Fergus is forced to confront his demons, and you form a deeper, more nuanced understanding of his grief. Fable: The Journey provides occasional moments of levity to keep you smiling, but it strikes a more somber tone than previous games in the franchise. And the heartfelt moments carry serious weight because the game earned your sympathy.
In no place is this more apparent than in Gabriel's relationship with Seren. Throughout the game, he talks about how close they've always been. About how he's been riding on her back since he was a toddler and how he travels everywhere with her. And although that does establish their link, such trivia does little to move you. It's not the telling that makes you care about Seren; it's the actions you perform. Pulling out an arrow is just one of the horse-keeping tasks you do to maintain her health and happiness, and these little activities have a big effect on your feelings toward her. Brushing her coat to scrape off the dirt from the dusty roads or feeding her an apple has little tangible impact on your adventuring, but these quiet interludes draw you closer to her. This is your horse, after all, so you ensure that she's well fed and clean. These bonding moments make up a small portion of the entire journey, but they leave the biggest impact on your experience.
Of course, there's much more to Fable: The Journey than caring for your horse. This is an on-rails adventure in which you continually travel toward the Spire, where your ultimate fate awaits you at the end of your journey. Much of the game involves riding down lonely roads behind your constant companion, Seren. By gripping imaginary reins in both hands, you crack them to speed up your horse, adjust your hands to race through turns, or raise your arms to come to a stop. With experience points to collect and winding curves to navigate, there's little time to rest, but the repetition of steering a horse could become tiring before long. Thankfully, Fable: The Journey spruces up this simple activity. Eye-catching visual design ensures that every craggy mountain pass and splendid waterfall delights your senses, and Theresa's eager storytelling fills you in on the expansive plot.
i'm pretty surprised that this game got an 8. my expectations were set pretty low for this one.
wwlettsome This game is probably one of the best kinect games. I already have it, and everything is this game is awesome, 8 in 10 is a really low score for the game...
bought the game, beat it, read the review, and i have to say i really agree with it. the characters and visuals are really well done, as is the overall story - though i would have to disagree with people when they say this is a spin off title. there is nothing spin off-ish about Fable the Journey. this is Fable 4. but anyway, most of the discussion here appears to be over the controls, which are actually pretty good. it doesnt ONLY work half the time. lets get that out of the way. the game gives you every opportunity to hit your targets with a very helpful aim assist feature. interacting with the world through puzzles and such is also very responsive, provided youve got nothing obstructing the kinects view of you. i live in a small two bedroom apartment and space is never a problem. so yeah. great game. worthy of an eight or a B or whatever equivalent you wish to assign it. worth my money, anyway.
i dont think Mc Shea's inconsistency here is the problem. On Tuesday, Gamespot originally released a 4.5 review score which would make a lot more sense with a lot of the broken aspects of this game. Than magically the review was taken down and replaced on wednesday with an 8.0. This looks to me like some sort of cover up. I ask you, not as fanboys but as intelligent gamers. Read this inconsistant review and than tell me if it describes the original 4.5 score or the newer 8.0 score.
chrismichaels04 Nothing of the sort happened. The first time stamp in the Audit Log for this story is "Tom Mc Shea (2012-10-10 14:56:05)" meaning that the story wasn't created until 2:56pm on Wednesday, October 10th. Please don't try to start a controversy where there is nothing to hide.
Also, you should probably read this review all the way through if you think it's "inconsistent." The only issue I had (and addressed) is that the aiming is finicky during enviromental puzzles.
It's gotten bad enough that when I see Gamespot's score on Gamerankings, I immediately know whether or not it was McShea's. I have nothing against the guy - he seems incredibly nice - but I am certain he is in the wrong field. He is madly inconsistent, and rarely makes sense. Even when I agree with his score, he says things in his reviews that simply contradict the finality of his decision.
Tom, sincerely, find a new job. You aren't very good at this one.
"Motion controls don't always register properly" In other words, it is a broken game? Plays like the demo? How can any game with broken controls, especially motion controls, be a good game? I tried the demo out for this, and it took ten minutes to do fifteen seconds worth of a tutorial. Then I got to a part that wouldn't even register. Terrible. Odd review, but it is your opinion, though high scoring opinions always seem to come around on games like this. Just sayin'.
Okay i don't get it anymore. Tom has been harsh on some great games, gave them a low score where others gave it a much better score (sometimes too high score). Now he actually could get away with a 6 or so and he gives it a 8. Is it really just trying to do the opposite of what others think? I mean its his personal opinion and you don't have to agree with the others. But this really makes you think.
Btw shouldn't the game get minor points for not being the game as Peter told us it would be? I remember him shouting off the roofs that this Fable game was not gonna be a on rails shooter, that you would be able to walk on your own blabla. Standard Peter talks about his game stuff. I mean it is a on rails game and that can be good but that is not as he claimed it would be (and he was involved till the released even though he left LH a while ago).
dutchgamer83 when was the last time a game that PM talked about pre-release actually bore any relation to said game at release? Populous maybe?
Every time I play the demo of this game it feels like it should be free....Come as a demo disc with the kitnect, or as an add on for Fable 4 or as a promotional free game with me Kelloggs cereals. :/
What's this? GameSpot gave a Kinect game an 8.0?? MADNESS!!! Call the army, scramble the jets, call the navy, scramble the fairies, call the president, scramble the eggs, this online world will erupt in HELL soon!!
And now we wait.
can someone please explain to me why Gamespot originally released its Fable Journey review on Tuesday October 09, 2012 to a score of 4.5 and then took down that review 24 hours later and than released a 2nd review on Wednesday October 10, 2012 with a much higher 8.0 score? Whats the matter McShea? Microsofts check finally clear?
chrismichaels04 Proof or it didn't happen. I checked the site a lot of times waiting for that review and never saw a 4.5 version of it.
@RealFabioSooner "proof or it didnt happen"? Calm down fanboy. If you saw it fine, if you didnt you cant help me. Not like it matters one way or the other. Fable Journey is sitting around a 60 on Metacritic including a 5.0 from Gameinformer, so lets just stop pretending Fable Journey isnt the overhyped disapointment we are used to from Kinect games. Im an avid gamer on ALL consoles. Im on these review sites everyday...especially this past Tuesday with so many new games being released. I know what i saw and i have nothing to gain by making this up. Tuesday morning there was a review. Tuesday afternoon....it was gone. Wednesday morning there was a completely different review. Whats the deal Gamespot?
chrismichaels04 RealFabioSooner
Says the man with a lvl 4 account (registered 2009) vs a 28 lvl account (registered 2010)...
everyday here, huh?
yeah something isn't right here ¬¬
Rask123 Thanks for pointing that out! Had a good laugh with that one, it never crossed my mind comparing levels. Made me remember about this time where someone called me an 'yes man' for 'hating indie games' and then I discovered through Steam I have 10x more indie games in there...
The Kinect hate is really getting out of hand, and not only on the comments of 'hardcore' gamers. Our 'everyday in here' lvl 4 friend is trying to use the Metacritic score like it is alone any indication of worth without checking the actual text.
The sites that gave it anything above 6 do acknowledge Kinect is not perfect, but that it doesn't hamper the experience in The Journey as it does in other games. No one in these is saying anything that's not true: they're pointing out how this is indeed an on-rails shooter game and you should take it for what it is.
On the other side of the scale, you get things like Jim Sterling complaining about feeling his arms tired, but that it's not because he's fat, since he's very apt at constant masturbation. YEAH, YOU READ THAT RIGHT. I'm not making it up, go there and look.
How can anyone take someone saying like this in all seriousness... but people who are akin to him?
Rask123 Just in case you or any other reader does not know who Jim Sterling is, he's in Destructoid.
A lot of people complain because the game is on rail which I think is truly justified given this is a Fable game after all yet there are some amazing on rail games out there and talking about kinect I think one easy pick would be Child of Eden... anyways just food for thought.
So many haters on Gamespot, as usual. Nothing surprising here. Thanks Gamespot for the honest review! Keep up the good work Mc Shea and the rest of the team! Looking forward to dusting my kinect.
Getbacktogaming So if I have a different opinion is hating? Okay I never told Tom to kill himself like others have. I just think his reviews are nonsense.
I wouldn't know whether you are a hater but I do find it funny you should feel targetted! Haters are those that can't express their opinions without remaining respectful of others' opinions. There are a lot of people here who fit that description quite well whether that is your case is up to you... again if you think his reviews are nonsense I believe you can express it politely without insulting anyone unlike several users on this website. I believe listening to his arguments actually justifies a decent score now I also believe a lot of people with different setups have been experience poor controls but hey, that's an opinion right? I personally thought games like MGS4 didn't deserve 9.5 scores because they are sooo unfriendly to anyone that hasn't played previous titles (I haven't given up on that game yet). Hard to say that without getting trashed = P.
Getbacktogaming I don't feel targeted at all. I was just confused because not everyone is insulting the man. I read much worse in his Zelda review. As for metal gear 4. Yeah there is a lot of people that are never gonna think it deserved such a high score. I think the game is great, but a 10? I don't think so.
ExplicitMike Getbacktogaming
You know what is the funny thing... most of this people going on about *hate*, most likely they don't like the game or they don't care much about it...
This is more about * Defending * gamespot that liking the game.
CaesarIIII So freaking true. I am glad I am not the only one that suspects this.
ExplicitMike CaesarIIII Agreed. Thanks guys for contributing to keeping Gamespot a pleasant place for gamers to express ourselves = D
Feedbackula should be interesting this week. ;)
Mc Shea, I'm surprised. Can't say I'll buy a Kinect just for this, but your review tempts me! Thanks!
whow, lots of hate here today:P this game got other good reviews to you know, it's not like Tom is the only one who liked it. from what i played of the demo it's not for me, but hey more games to chose from has never hurt anyone.
OleMarthin
Funny.. I don't see any * hate *... just people commenting about liking or disliking the game...
And I played the demo to.. I hate it. But my 11 years old kid love it...but he hates fable 2.. but I love fable 1 and 2... but he hates every game I play...to bad I have the money huh?
How can any Fable fan rates this game as high as 8.0 ?
This is a kids game... and nothing to do with * Fable *
1st person shooter a la Sonic the hedgehog style.
CaesarIIII If this is a kids game then so is Fable III. Fabl has progressively been simplified but for what its worth this does seem like its a good game.
Definatly not what I (a fan of the original) want Fable to be but the damaged is done, I moved on and hopefully someone else will enjoy this game.
ronnet CaesarIIII I don't know why, I really don't know, but I f**king hate Fable 1. Everything about it, from artstyle, to gameplay and story and all of it's half-assed executed ideas, I hate it with a passion.
Wow, maybe I should give the demo another shot.
You give this piece of $%#@ an 8/10 and give RE6 4/10 .. WTH !!! .. really .. no wonder your reviews are the laughing stock of the internet XD
The_Dragon_Wolf you do know that tom and kevin are two different people right? tom did not review RE6
OleMarthin The_Dragon_Wolf
You really don't see that much of Tom so maybe he's CGI controlled by Kevin.
mdboomer The_Dragon_Wolf he has his own show:P and is on gamespot gameplay almost every week
The_Dragon_Wolf Gamespot is not a person. There are multiple guys reviewing games.
RE6 was reviewed by Kevin, this one by Tom.
The_Dragon_Wolf Yeah I agree....Sometimes it happens....I have never liked Fable...I have tried it but....no...honestly... Im not convinced....but I think many people love it...thats...good..AND ABOUT RESIDENT...JAJAJAJAIt was a crime to put a 4.....is nonsense!!
Motion Sensing = Fail.
Everyone on here bashing this and saying oh well this game is better and did not receive this score. Shut up already we are all sick of the whining!!!! It got an 8.0 leave it as that!
McShea'd again.
Who cares about the 57/100 at Metacritic, the world only needs one Tom McShea. :P
It may be horrible to most, but for a few, this game is amazing! :P
Hey Tom, by the way, is this review even allowed to be in here since Microsoft has made those ridiculous rules about prohibiting people from profiting on created content of their games? Or are those rules not yet being used? Any clarification on that subject would be most appreciated ;) This could be a cool subject for "Quoted for truth".
Dreizel Those rules have already been in effect for awhile and Microsoft will have a hard time enforcing them, even under an EULA. Fair use allows Web sites - professional or not - to create derivative works, parody, or commentary from another entity's held copyright regardless of the company's .
The rules are only there to prevent someone from forming a large enterprise based solely on the strength of Microsoft's own IPs, and nothing else (which in a roundabout way is prohibited under copyright laws already). So kids making YouTube videos to show off their "lee skillz" or their own walkthroughs will not be sued or brought to court in any way.
As far as Gamespot is concerned, copyright laws allow them to write reviews, previews, guides, and commentary. And even if Microsoft could enforce these rules, there is an obvious working partnership between the two that renders them moot.
All Microsoft did was update the non-legal language and added upcoming games to the list (such as Halo 4). Someone saw the change in the non-lawyer version and blew their shit, jumping to conclusions and doomsayings.
spoonybard-hahs Thanks for the clarification :)
No problem. And sorry for the typos.
Perhaps he enjoyed the game? The man is entitled to his opinion. I know I've enjoyed games lots of people considered to be crap.
hmmm let me analyze it
the great LOZ Skyward Sword gets an 7.5 hmmm?
the kinect game Fable- The journey which gets stomped by other critics, decreasing its metacritic score to 57...
Gets an "8" OF TEN HERE???????????????????
Result: Something must've gone wrong with the Rating System
trollhunter2 It's called "advertising" by the publisher on the site, which they're too afraid to lose so they won't risk giving a low score to any of said publisher's games.
This is why I tend to read user reviews now more than ever, there's a massive conflict-of-interest problem here - publishers are technically paying the gaming sites' bills (And send them review copies), and in turn they do reviews and get more readers.
If the publishers stop advertising and stop sending review copies, these sites will dry up, so if there's a particular publisher that's important to the site (Lots of games/advertising), then giving their games low scores could risk them leaving the site (Whether it's assumed out of fear or has been stated by the publisher, it makes no difference).
So do we actually ever see honest scores? Maybe here and there, but I'm pretty sure the majority is inflated to avoid the ire of a big publisher.
Daemoroth trollhunter2 Your assessment is incorrect. Advertising has zero impact on our reviews or the associated scores.
Game Emblems
The Good
User Reviews
good entry into the Fable series. responsive controls, good story, nice audio/visual presentation.
Fable: The Journey
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- Publisher(s): Microsoft Game Studios
- Developer(s): Lionhead Studios
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Release: Oct 9, 2012 (US) »
- ESRB: T