I recently had an urge to pick up Fable 3 again and jump back into the city of Bowerstone to see if the RPG was as wonderful as I remembered.
To my delight, the game did hold up to what I remember and the gameplay scratched that itch that I had been having.
The 2010-era of gaming really was at that sweet spot of development where games could hold up better than games made in the prior decade.
I had a blast recruiting newly made friends to join my mission to retake the kingdom, buying entire cities of real estate, and getting married to people I had just met.
Most importantly, John Cleese sounded as good as ever every time I would visit the Sanctuary.
Meaningful Choices and Keeping your Promises (Or Not)
For a 10-year-old RPG, Fable 3 has RPG mechanics that aged beautifully.
The in-game choices you make, which I adored when I first played, have stood the test of time.
Throughout the game, you make promises to characters in order to get where you need to. Once the time comes, you must then decide to honor those promises, or not. Each option having a give or take on your kingdom.
Every quest felt like the choices that you make actually matter, and that’s because they, mostly, do in some way and at some point in the story.
RPG mechanics like this in RPGs help to make a playthrough feel unique and go miles in encouraging you to want to play again, make different choices, and fully explore the effort put into the story.
Customization
Fable 3 is one of those games where I was so blown away by its customization options when it launched, that I overhyped what it really had to myself.
After coming back, I was a little taken aback by how few customization options the game has; specifically outfits. This is by no means a negative to the game, but I remember being in love with the game’s customization at launch, and I thought I remembered there being more.
The game’s customization is simple, yet the perfect amount of in-depth. I feel like I am able to get my character to look exactly how I want and still be unique from everyone else who plays Fable 3.
Playing on PC in 2021
Getting Fable 3 to run on a PC in the current year is certainly easier said than done. The greatest issue with playing Fable 3 on PC is Games for Windows Live.
Fable 3 is not listed in the Steam store, but you are still able to buy Steam codes for it off retail sites. I grabbed mine off of Amazon. Once entered into Steam, it was added to my library and I was able to download it.
Getting past the main menu, however, is an issue. The game requires Games for Windows Live in order to run. While I had Games for Windows Live already installed from some recent playthroughs of some older games, I was still plagued with an issue that wouldn’t let me proceed.
My Games for Windows Live would not log in. After hours of researching the issue, I finally found a fix for opening my Xbox App on my PC while trying to log in. I was both annoyed and amused that the fix was so simple.
Check out the fix for yourself below if you’re having any issues. Thanks to xOneManLegacy for posting this.
Performance-wise, Fable 3 does have some issues on PC. The game is locked to 30 FPS, sort of. You can enable VSync to get 60 FPS, but you will get such massive amounts of screen tearing that it’s not really an option to even play that way.
As far as graphics go, I can confidently say that the game still holds up and I really don’t have any major complaints on how the game looks considering its age.
Want a trip down memory lane? Check out the official Fable 3 trailer back from 2010!
Wrapping Up
I really did have a fantastic time playing Fable 3 again, even after the frustrations of trying to get it to run and run well on PC. It really took me back to the glory days of the Xbox 360 that feel so nostalgic over a decade later.
Interested in dusting off some old memories and checking out more Re:Views?
