All right, so I recently invested in Fable 2, and so far I am extremely pleased with my purchase; however, being easily swayed and always up for conversation I came across this little gem of a question:
Why is this game so fun/addicting?
Of course the captain obvious answer leaps out at first, "because it effing is Alo," but when I thought a little harder about it I started to double back on my initial reaction and have since revised it a little bit.
All right, so I get to play my character however I want, I get to go GTA on just about anybody's ass in the game while still sticking to the fairly linear plot. The scope of the world is awesome, the doggy pal that you get is quite a help, and being able to own property is quite enjoyable
And still II can't help but wonder why this hack and slash is so fricken appealing. Which is exactly what this is at its core: a hack and slash. I'll admit, I've played every Dynasty Warriors game Koei has popped out of its womb and loved every minute of it, but I am just now realizing that H&S games are rather...well to be blunt, shallow (I know, I'm a bit slow, but bear with me here). Maybe this is why I like the game so much though. Its a DW game with structure and oodles of little extra bits.
Perhaps it's these little bits that make the game. One of those " the sum of its parts is greater than the whole" deals (science, it's everywhere). While there's a limited palate of options for weapons and 'armor,' and even the slightest action such as eating can undo my hard earned bad-assery, there still exists little distractions from these shortcomings. You mean I can be an assasin and a pirate?!?? At the SAME TIME?!? Well maybe not simultaneously, but dammit I can jump between jobs faster than a crack addict looking for a way to get his next fix. And wait, I can have a wife? SIX wives??! What? .....oh yea sure I'll find that guy to advance the plo.....I can be a bartender now?!? AWESOME
I really have no serious problems with the game. I'm hooked. I'm just confused as to what exactly it is I'm hooked to. Is it the little nuances that allow me to do or be what I want (aka minigames and side quests), or is the plot and core gameplay just so engaging that I am unwares?
Hmph, whatever I'm gonna go pillage a village and immediately build it back up so I can do it again.
-Alocide
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pillage a village. I found that amusing.
Also: Don't think into WHY you find something fun to much, it often RUINS the very fun you were having as you start to process how crap the fun your having really is. (Did it with Animal Crossing earlier today).
I think it's the pacing of the game. You're never really rushed to complete the main quest and I often found myself wasting hours on side quests or jobs. Then when you're done with those you have an engaging main story to keep you playing for a long time.
I spend 3 hours playing the blacksmith and wood cutting minigame. I've barely done anything and have like 40,000 gold and 2 houses.
I have no idea why I find this game so addicting either.
because it lets you live a life you wish you had
I'm hooked too! And I think I know why. For me, at least.
They get you invested in the game very easily, if you meander around in it for awhile. Its TONS of little things. Healing or encouraging your dog, picking your skills, the constatn reminders of who you are by the town's people, choosing your clothes, caring about the look of your character, getting the gratification of a dramatic kill close up. All that!
All these little things that have you making conscious and deliberate decisions about your character. For me, at least, that really pulls me in, and keeps me interested in messing with this game.
Seperately, its also really clever that if you play good and decent, you miss TONS of content. But once you go the route of anarchy / evil, you start getting access to so much more of the experience.
I can't really relate to being hooked on Fable 2. I liked it for a couple of hours until I saw how broken it is. The menu system is busted, there's no armor at all, and the story line was kind of lame. I can agree that it might be a cool H&S, but as the RPG its billed as, it fails.
Killing everyone in town is fun. Other than that, not much