While I generally prefer happy endings, sometimes a downer ending is appropriate, and if it's the logical conclusion, people shouldn't just complain because it makes them feel bad. (And the ending of the stage version of Little Shop is ten times better than the tidy movie ending.)

I like the Donnie dark mindfuck, they should gave had you go in the past so a plane engine falls on you and thus your sister never dies

I didn't say the end fight was good Magnalon. I said I liked the choice at the end and the fact that taking the million gold so I could get the Real Estate king achievement fucked me over on a bunch of other achievements I needed the dog for.

It was almost like my selfish choice came back to bite me in the ass. Bad karma or something.

I thought the game was good, not great. It was entirely too simple and admittedly not very immersive.

But I only rented it, so it was worth my rental.

Yeah, that's also why they changed the ending in Fallout 3.

You and 80s movies, man.

I honestly didn't mind the Fable 2 ending. In fact I daresay I even liked it. Having a secondary character just come out with a 'oh, whatever' and shoot dead the main antagonist was a nice change to the norm, and was completely in character to hiowthey would have usually reacted. The only slight mistake Lionhead made was by not elaborating on the ending twist a tad more. Well, that and barely having the in-game world change after select your final choice.

It was a shit ending....

Well, I can certainly say that I sympathize with those who did not like the ending. Honestly, it took me by surprise with how quick it was over all of a sudden.

But again, I still enjoyed the game and I liked the choice at the end.

@ gatorsax2010

Which is actually the ending of the ORIGINAL movie, which in my opinion remains the best version (though I am partial to some of the music in the musical). The original movie is the darkest of the three iterations and, partially down to that, also the most blackly humorous (imo).

On topic: I can think of worse game endings. Fable IIs was just blah.

While I really liked the ending, I kinda agree with Magnalon saying that it was the only real choice you had in the entire game. Deciding who to kill and who to fart on isn't exactly the same as choosing your own path. I loved Fable II, but it failed miserably as a "make your own story" RPG.

Americans need happy endings in films and games? Yet box art has to be changed to something in your face preferably with explosions or something on them to sell more? That's more of that famed American intelligence right there

i really enjoyed the ending

i would like people to spam hate mail @ Moly' for NOT BRINGING FABLE 2 TO THE PC ><

The suck of Fable 2's ending has nothing to do with it being "happy" or not.

@flabzilla

I lol'd.

I dug that it wasn't a big boss fight at the end. That wasn't the point, in my opinion. The point was the completion of the story. What good story ends, really ends, with an uber-boss fight?

It's called Fable not Brawler, ya know?

Most of time I don't care is the ending good or bad as long as it suits rest of the game. Say prototype, you are the most horrible thing that could happen to the city and yet you are, in the end, some kind of saint, it doesn't make sense.

I don't like it, and I don't agree with it, but it seems like that if you want to play a game which contains game-altering choices, then you will have to settle for slides with a voice-over as an ending.

@Magnalon

Its almost like we played two different games, which in itself is really fascinating...

Lucien isn't the pinnacle of villian-dom, but I think he was well developed considering the POV of Fable II's story. You meet him at the beginning and he's a dick. You find the guy's diary, and you can hear the progression of this guy down a really bad path, for an arguably worthwhile cause: The ressurrection of his family. He's heartless, and pretty unwaivering in his cruelty by the time you catch up to him in the Spire mid-way, and all the way through to the end.

And then, at the end, you pretty much steal his wish! How awesome are you if all you want to do is bring your family (heh families) and dog back? Are you any better than that guy, or are you truly just as cruel?

We never get to see him brooding and twirling his curleh mustache, sure. But he serves his role, which I think should matter even less than most villians by the time you get to the end of Fable II. I personally had stronger feelings about The Hero of Skill by the end than I did for Lucien, considering the connection I felt for Fable I's Oakvale. There's a lot of grey in Fable's story, as a series, that doesn't pronounce itself in the main arch. While that arguably diminishes the main storyline, I think the world is more robust for it.

Separately, giving points to ME for having an effect on ME II? That's a parlor trick for ME II: Does that really make the first game itself any better?

It was a bad ending to a bad game. I still don't understand why this game was so popular. If it was just an action adventure, it would have bombed. Shitty, boring, repetitive action, the menu and item systems blow. It's got the worst rpg elements of any game with rpg elements, and the whole marriage, buying furniture, participating in society is just a complete waste of time. The most depressing moment in recent gaming was suffered when I realized I had been farting and dancing for a crowd of people for 5 minutes hoping one would like me enough to give me a gift. If that's your idea of fun you are a lonely, depressed person. Fable II fucking blows.

"Don’t expect us to be as merciful as that in the future"

AMEN, brother.

J03yyz has it right. There was no final boss. It was stupid.
Also the 1mil gold was the dumbest incentive ever. Any hardcore player would have had so much real-estate money by that point they'd be swimming in it. Hell, last time I played I gave a random hooker 1mil to get enough good points to learn laugh (the last expression I needed). I earned it back in a good 2-3 hours of play.
Picking to not save the dog was awful. The dog is essential for like a good 50% of the game, if not more. It was stupid to leave him dead (unless you give Peter some of your money for expansions, hur hur).
Ending was stupid, game was disappointing. It wasn't bad, it was just disappointing.

Though i haven't played Fable II after reading some comments it seems to me that perhaps the flaw of the game isn't if the ending was happy or not, but if it was suited to the very core of the game which was the moral choices that make you a hero or villain, in a weird way i find valid points in both Tubatic and Magnalon. Tubatic seems right to me here:

"And then, at the end, you pretty much steal his wish! How awesome are you if all you want to do is bring your family (heh families) and dog back? Are you any better than that guy, or are you truly just as cruel?"

sound like a valid way to interpret the outcome, and that may just be the problem, it was left to the player to infer that point. On the other hand Magnalon's point:

"What? A one button boss battle, with zero choices in a game billed as a 'choice game'? Give me Mass Effect, or something good, please! "

Which proves the old adage "it's not what you say but how you say it". In a game which main point was the options you take, being forced to take the same final choice no matter what does feel anticlimatic, even more when it's forced by another character is you don't make it. Besides that the choices feel somewhat empty if your previous actions have seemingly no effects on them (I.E. they are always the same 3 choices and consequent effects when could have been better if different options appeared according to your "alignement").

We could argue that a moral choice game should be different, but haven't we already heard how complex that is and how so very few games actually go beyond complete saint or absolute asshole (i think The Witcher is about the only one i can think of right now).

It all comes down to waiting for the next step in game evolution, where true moral choices are implemented, or rather implemented beyond the simplest way, specially when most attempts get so harshly criticized. It took a fair amount of fails before successfully getting to proper 3D jump from old 2D, but we got there, let's try to keep or minds open and criticize constructively instead of ranting wildly, at least that's my opinion.

@Magnalon

Agreed. The end of Mass Effect was, bar none, the most satisfyingly epic ending I've ever experienced in a videogame.

I had no problem with the ending, really. Only thing that bugged me is that no matter what choice you choose, Hammer puts you down and you don't have any chance to get vengeance on her talkative self. Honestly, each time I played the game I wish there was a way to make her shut up from the start...