Prince of Persia and Fable II in Review
So while at my brother's righteous bachelor pad this week, chillaxing for my Reading Week (that's basically our Spring Break, yo), I managed to beat two of the games that I got for Christmas. As the title indicates, they were the new Prince of Persia, and Fable II. I shall now sum up my feelings regarding each and their endings!
[Prince of Persia]
I never did sadly play the original (next gen, at least) trilogy of PoP games-that being Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones. I didn't realize until I played Assassin's Creed that they are the sort of game I'd have enjoyed immensely. So I was quick to be all over the new PoP, which I was ready to love. The new game is everything about Assassin's Creed I loved, distilled down to a purer form. Amazing, superhuman feats of agility, freeform roaming, memorable characters, and a robust combat system. It was an extremely fun play, and one I look forward to playing again sometime. Having said that...I felt the game had a poor ending. Or rather, a 'non-ending', but it really reflects the trend in video games these days. Companies are so sure they have the 'next, big thing', that they are now designing such games NOT to have a satisfactory end; you have to buy the sequel (and possibly the third game) for the ACTUAL conclusion to the story. This is ultimately short-sighted, because as my brother so aptly put it "One of these days they're going to make a game like that I love, but nobody else does, so they're not gonna make another game, and I'll never get a satisfactory ending." Only a matter of time, right? Luckily, it seems like PoP is getting that semi-rectified.
While I have no doubt a PoP 2 is in the works, there's a DLC coming out for the game merely entitled 'Epilogue', that might perhaps undo the somewhat downer note PoP ended on. At the moment, though, all I know for sure is that it features The Mourning King, Elika's father and Ahriman's newest Corrupted, as the primary antagonist. It also promises some new powers for the Prince, and a lot of tension between him and Elika, given how annoyed Elika must be after the Prince resurrected her...by unsealing Ahriman himself and letting the God of Darkness loose.
[Fable II]
Fable II was another game I enjoyed immensely, and a great deal more than the original. Lionhead obviously learned all the lessons it needed to from the first game. Having said that, it is still ridiculously easy to make money in the game...I'd have been richer a lot sooner if I'd realized that bar-tending is the real cash cow of the Fable II world. As it stands, though, my character is now the Ruler of Albion (with the Achievement for it and everything-100 points!) having purchased Fairfax Castle, to cap off my 2.5 million real estate empire. Yes, apparently in Albion, all you have to do to become king or queen is own enough crap. Not that being ruler of Albion gets you anything other than a title for free, mind. There aren't any special 'ruler perks' like starting wars or having people you don't like executed.
So what didn't I like about Fable II? Well, like PoP, I took issue with the game's ending. It's...extremely anticlimactic. You've spent most of the main quest of the game searching Albion for the Heroes of Strength (a gigantic hammer-wielding monk named, well, 'Hammer'), Will (a magic user from the eastern country of Samarkand named Garth), and Skill (a pirate named Reaver). But as soon as you collect Reaver, you immediately move into the endgame and have perhaps fifteen minutes of story left. Which is a real shame, considering despite the fact Reaver is the last character you get, and doesn't see much action, he's probably one of the funniest, most memorable characters in the game. He's a wildly bisexual pirate (not a priest, though), who also achieves immortality via a contract he maintains with a group of spirits called the Shadow Court by stealing the youth of hapless dopes he tricks (like the main character), betrays you no less than twice within about ten minutes of each other, and doesn't care a damn thing about taking down the game's Big Bad until said Big Bad betrays him (in the process of betraying you). He also kills a recurring NPC for needing three months to develop a picture of him, and is also voiced by Stephen Fry, who is clearly enjoying himself. He's vain, narcissistic, and I wish he was in more of the game. Having said that, Reaver is not the game's only flaw. The 'last boss' if it can be called that, is a fight against a Great Shard on a beach outside of Reaver's home. It summons enemies and rains down destruction upon you, but is destroyed easily. Then a brief cinematic follows where the game's Big Bad (an elderly nobleman named Lord Lucien) proceeds to capture EVERYONE but you while your mentor, the mysterious blind seeress Theresa (in fact the older sister of the Hero of the first Fable making her over 500 years old, and is pretty much the same character as Kreia from Knights of the Old Republic 2 even down to a similar appearance AND voice actress) conveniently disappears without a word. He then reveals he's killed your family (if you have one. Not a huge loss) and then for good measure, kills your dog before he shoots you. After a short psychedelic dream sequence involving your dead older sister (who Lucien kills at the start of the game) and a 'perfect world', you gain the weapon needed to defeat Lucien; a music box. You then end up at the Tattered Spire, where Lucien will be able to focus all the magic in Albion to grant whatever wish he desires, and then...you use the music box on him, which disrupts the ceremony he's using to activate the Spire, and free Hammer, Garth, and Reaver, at which point you...pretty much unceremoniously shoot the bastard in the face. And even if you don't, Reaver does it for you. Then Theresa shows up again, and lets you make a single wish with the Spire's power; you can wish for everyone who Lucien killed to build the Spire be returned to life (The Needs of the Many; the 'Good' option) at the cost of leaving your family and dog dead, bringing your family and dog back (The Needs of the Few; the 'Neutral' ending) at the cost of all the innocents Lucien killed for the Spire to be built staying dead), or a huge sack of money (the Needs of the One; the 'Evil' ending), which gives you...a huge amount of money, at the cost of everyone staying dead. I picked the Neutral Ending. Not because I cared anything at all about my wife (as the NPCs in this game have zero personality), but...damn it, I WANT MY DOG BACK! Then Theresa teleports Garth and Reaver to Samarkand (Garth wishes to return home, Reaver wants to sample the seedier side of Samarkand life like 'Uninhibited people'), and then teleports Hammer up north to a sect of warrior monks she wishes to study with. She then tells you 'But the Spire...is mine. Begone' and pretty much kicks you out and you never see her again. It should also be pointed out when she does this, the camera focuses on her, and she is suddenly young again.
And that's...yeah, that's the ending. I was standing on the docks of Oakfield, my dog was there, but, because I picked the Family ending, as a bonus, I got a letter from my formerly dead older sister, not so dead anymore, telling me she's all right, and being looked after by 'someone tall and thin who wears a hood and a lot of scarves, and I think he's a king, and he says he knows our family' (this is believed by many to be a character from Fable: The Lost Chapters, a possibly undead Hero named Scythe who may have been the first King of Albion, and the original architect of the Tattered Spire, and like Theresa and Reaver, an immortal). But...again, yeah, Rose doesn't actually appear IN the game itself, though her letter indicates she'll see you again. There's some post-game stuff you can do, a few quests, buying the castle and all that, but really, that's it that's all. Your family doesn't even register they've been killed and miraculously brought back to life (like they won't register that you've been gone for 10 game years when you suddenly return from your stint in the Spire trying to free Garth), but damn it, my dog and big (little? I'm like thirty at this point, though thanks to Reaver I'm more like the equivalent of sixty or so and I'm not sure Rose has aged at all since she, uh, died.) sister are alive again. Despite that, it's not really enough to save Fable II from having a rather anticlimactic ending, BUT! Apparently Lionhead has talked about doing more DLCs beyond the currently released Knothole Island pack that will apparently delve more deeply into the other Heroes and perhaps wrap the story up a little more nicely. And perhaps bring Rose and Scythe into the equation for those who revived her. So I'm hopeful in that regard.
[Conclusion]
In conclusion, both Prince of Persia and Fable II were very fun romps, but I could have asked for better conclusions, though with different reasons for both. Yet I remain hopeful that more satisfactory endings are in the works, you just...have to download them first.
[Prince of Persia]
I never did sadly play the original (next gen, at least) trilogy of PoP games-that being Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones. I didn't realize until I played Assassin's Creed that they are the sort of game I'd have enjoyed immensely. So I was quick to be all over the new PoP, which I was ready to love. The new game is everything about Assassin's Creed I loved, distilled down to a purer form. Amazing, superhuman feats of agility, freeform roaming, memorable characters, and a robust combat system. It was an extremely fun play, and one I look forward to playing again sometime. Having said that...I felt the game had a poor ending. Or rather, a 'non-ending', but it really reflects the trend in video games these days. Companies are so sure they have the 'next, big thing', that they are now designing such games NOT to have a satisfactory end; you have to buy the sequel (and possibly the third game) for the ACTUAL conclusion to the story. This is ultimately short-sighted, because as my brother so aptly put it "One of these days they're going to make a game like that I love, but nobody else does, so they're not gonna make another game, and I'll never get a satisfactory ending." Only a matter of time, right? Luckily, it seems like PoP is getting that semi-rectified.
While I have no doubt a PoP 2 is in the works, there's a DLC coming out for the game merely entitled 'Epilogue', that might perhaps undo the somewhat downer note PoP ended on. At the moment, though, all I know for sure is that it features The Mourning King, Elika's father and Ahriman's newest Corrupted, as the primary antagonist. It also promises some new powers for the Prince, and a lot of tension between him and Elika, given how annoyed Elika must be after the Prince resurrected her...by unsealing Ahriman himself and letting the God of Darkness loose.
[Fable II]
Fable II was another game I enjoyed immensely, and a great deal more than the original. Lionhead obviously learned all the lessons it needed to from the first game. Having said that, it is still ridiculously easy to make money in the game...I'd have been richer a lot sooner if I'd realized that bar-tending is the real cash cow of the Fable II world. As it stands, though, my character is now the Ruler of Albion (with the Achievement for it and everything-100 points!) having purchased Fairfax Castle, to cap off my 2.5 million real estate empire. Yes, apparently in Albion, all you have to do to become king or queen is own enough crap. Not that being ruler of Albion gets you anything other than a title for free, mind. There aren't any special 'ruler perks' like starting wars or having people you don't like executed.
So what didn't I like about Fable II? Well, like PoP, I took issue with the game's ending. It's...extremely anticlimactic. You've spent most of the main quest of the game searching Albion for the Heroes of Strength (a gigantic hammer-wielding monk named, well, 'Hammer'), Will (a magic user from the eastern country of Samarkand named Garth), and Skill (a pirate named Reaver). But as soon as you collect Reaver, you immediately move into the endgame and have perhaps fifteen minutes of story left. Which is a real shame, considering despite the fact Reaver is the last character you get, and doesn't see much action, he's probably one of the funniest, most memorable characters in the game. He's a wildly bisexual pirate (not a priest, though), who also achieves immortality via a contract he maintains with a group of spirits called the Shadow Court by stealing the youth of hapless dopes he tricks (like the main character), betrays you no less than twice within about ten minutes of each other, and doesn't care a damn thing about taking down the game's Big Bad until said Big Bad betrays him (in the process of betraying you). He also kills a recurring NPC for needing three months to develop a picture of him, and is also voiced by Stephen Fry, who is clearly enjoying himself. He's vain, narcissistic, and I wish he was in more of the game. Having said that, Reaver is not the game's only flaw. The 'last boss' if it can be called that, is a fight against a Great Shard on a beach outside of Reaver's home. It summons enemies and rains down destruction upon you, but is destroyed easily. Then a brief cinematic follows where the game's Big Bad (an elderly nobleman named Lord Lucien) proceeds to capture EVERYONE but you while your mentor, the mysterious blind seeress Theresa (in fact the older sister of the Hero of the first Fable making her over 500 years old, and is pretty much the same character as Kreia from Knights of the Old Republic 2 even down to a similar appearance AND voice actress) conveniently disappears without a word. He then reveals he's killed your family (if you have one. Not a huge loss) and then for good measure, kills your dog before he shoots you. After a short psychedelic dream sequence involving your dead older sister (who Lucien kills at the start of the game) and a 'perfect world', you gain the weapon needed to defeat Lucien; a music box. You then end up at the Tattered Spire, where Lucien will be able to focus all the magic in Albion to grant whatever wish he desires, and then...you use the music box on him, which disrupts the ceremony he's using to activate the Spire, and free Hammer, Garth, and Reaver, at which point you...pretty much unceremoniously shoot the bastard in the face. And even if you don't, Reaver does it for you. Then Theresa shows up again, and lets you make a single wish with the Spire's power; you can wish for everyone who Lucien killed to build the Spire be returned to life (The Needs of the Many; the 'Good' option) at the cost of leaving your family and dog dead, bringing your family and dog back (The Needs of the Few; the 'Neutral' ending) at the cost of all the innocents Lucien killed for the Spire to be built staying dead), or a huge sack of money (the Needs of the One; the 'Evil' ending), which gives you...a huge amount of money, at the cost of everyone staying dead. I picked the Neutral Ending. Not because I cared anything at all about my wife (as the NPCs in this game have zero personality), but...damn it, I WANT MY DOG BACK! Then Theresa teleports Garth and Reaver to Samarkand (Garth wishes to return home, Reaver wants to sample the seedier side of Samarkand life like 'Uninhibited people'), and then teleports Hammer up north to a sect of warrior monks she wishes to study with. She then tells you 'But the Spire...is mine. Begone' and pretty much kicks you out and you never see her again. It should also be pointed out when she does this, the camera focuses on her, and she is suddenly young again.
And that's...yeah, that's the ending. I was standing on the docks of Oakfield, my dog was there, but, because I picked the Family ending, as a bonus, I got a letter from my formerly dead older sister, not so dead anymore, telling me she's all right, and being looked after by 'someone tall and thin who wears a hood and a lot of scarves, and I think he's a king, and he says he knows our family' (this is believed by many to be a character from Fable: The Lost Chapters, a possibly undead Hero named Scythe who may have been the first King of Albion, and the original architect of the Tattered Spire, and like Theresa and Reaver, an immortal). But...again, yeah, Rose doesn't actually appear IN the game itself, though her letter indicates she'll see you again. There's some post-game stuff you can do, a few quests, buying the castle and all that, but really, that's it that's all. Your family doesn't even register they've been killed and miraculously brought back to life (like they won't register that you've been gone for 10 game years when you suddenly return from your stint in the Spire trying to free Garth), but damn it, my dog and big (little? I'm like thirty at this point, though thanks to Reaver I'm more like the equivalent of sixty or so and I'm not sure Rose has aged at all since she, uh, died.) sister are alive again. Despite that, it's not really enough to save Fable II from having a rather anticlimactic ending, BUT! Apparently Lionhead has talked about doing more DLCs beyond the currently released Knothole Island pack that will apparently delve more deeply into the other Heroes and perhaps wrap the story up a little more nicely. And perhaps bring Rose and Scythe into the equation for those who revived her. So I'm hopeful in that regard.
[Conclusion]
In conclusion, both Prince of Persia and Fable II were very fun romps, but I could have asked for better conclusions, though with different reasons for both. Yet I remain hopeful that more satisfactory endings are in the works, you just...have to download them first.