Is This the Best RPG of the Decade? Fable Hands-Off Impressions

0:04What's good everybody we're here day two at Summer Games Fest and this day is all about Xbox. They had their showcase jamming today with reveals of E-Day, Gears of War E-Day that started off the show and some awesome, awesome games like Fable, Crazy Taxi. we got some new Senua stuff coming out of the games as well stuff that we had gotten from before from Hellblade and a couple of other games that were as some surprises but I did get a chance to check out some behind closed doors one that was man one of the best things I've ever got a chance to see which was Fable. Fable from Playground Games looks ridiculously good like Like they had their piece in the showcase, but it is infinitely better looking than what we got a chance to see.

0:52It was astounding how good this game is going to look when you get a chance to play it. Everything from foliage, everything to the surrounding world. Like it looks like Playground is putting all of their resources, all of their goodness into this game in a way that I did not expect to be able to see, you know, in a playable demo that was hands off. We didn't get a chance to play it, but we did get a chance to see almost 30 minutes of the game where we talked about, talked a lot about the pieces that are kind of in between, you know, the stuff that's not just combat, the stuff that's not just kind of world building or narrative.

1:24But that was mostly kind of around like, what are the things that you're going to be able to do around building up your reputation and like how you kind of work around the world while you're not doing those kind of really seminal parts of that game. And it was really cool because they talked a lot about, you know, what pieces were going to be connected to your character. What were some of the kind of ways you're going to be able to build relationships in this game? You know, what were going to be some awesome ways to kind of, you know, connect with the world in and of itself? And it was really fantastic because they had these a thousand.

1:57They talked about this a lot. They gave us a stat that was they have a thousand crafted NPCs that are all individual. They all have their own motivations. They all have their ways of being there, you know, moving around the world the way that normal humans would kind of move around. You know, they have their own wants and needs and that you are kind of connecting with them in these really intimate moments and kind of like, you know, seeing a person in the world, talking to them, learning about them. And none of those folks necessarily know who you are in the lands that you're in. And you're building your reputation by talking to them, giving them things or kind of discussing with them, you know, what they want to do in the world in some forms of fashion.

2:36So we have this one moment where you're talking to a beggar, you give him some money. And then that person, you know, their reputation becomes a little bit more favorable towards you. And then they had this other section where you're walking into a pub and you're talking to the barmaid and the barmaid, you know, you're flirting a little bit with the barmaid. So you try to ask her out. And she's like, you're not really my type. But if you are these kinds of things, which were like, you know, own a house and, you know, if you are a business person and you dress fancy, maybe I'll date you. Right.

3:08And it wound up being a thing that, you know, they showed us the progress of going through and checking off those boxes and then being able to go and talk to that person and start a relationship. all while kind of building this cloud that they call a cloud of attributes that were your personality traits. And it made the game feel lived in in a really cool way. It was fascinating to see just how smart the characters were and how each one of them did have their own kind of space to live and what they were doing and how they would kind of react to you based upon like how you were, you know, having your discussions with them and the things that they're seeing you do in the land that you're in, because it's kind of regional in the ways that they're working it.

3:49So it winds up being something where Fable continues to just really, you know, give me this sense of being like, wow, this is an expansive world that Playground Games has built. they have a really good understanding of how the connective tissue works between characters, your main character, the extended world, how you in, it's not even like a job system, but you can do other things in the game that are related to that. So if you need to go make extra money, there's a blacksmithing mini game that you can do to start getting yourself some more money so you can grow your land and become the person that you want to become.

4:26They had this really cool moment where you were talking to someone and asking them about their pet pig and the pet pig, you know, you kind of bartered to be able to take that pig off the other person's hands because they were going to potentially abuse that animal. It just feels like Playground has figured out something that they've nailed in this world that is unlike anything I've seen before. And it was really taken aback and I'm just dying, dying to play more of this thing. I got a chance to also check out Minecraft Dungeons 2, which was really fantastic. I'm a big fan of the first game. I thought it was brilliant.

5:00They've moved that game to Unreal 5, and it looks stunning because now you have these crazy, ridiculous particle effects that look extremely good. Four-player co-op is in there as well, both local and online, and it looks extremely good. We ran through a session, beat one of the bosses, and we have some footage as well that we'll be showing over this. That game is going to be a banger. You know, Minecraft never, never does a bad job. That team is always looking to find good ways to add to the lore, add to the space, some really cool and fun new enemies in the mix. It was a little crowded on screen, which I think was interesting.

5:35You know, you pull up your kind of inventory and that kind of takes up some real estate that I wasn't necessarily a fan of, but it did feel like the game itself is building upon what the first game did really, really well and is adding some new layers to it that feel good uh so that was amazing and super fun uh and the last game i got to check out was a game called join us which was this cult survival game it's almost like if you mashed up um cult of the lamb with midsummer if you ever watched that movie which we which is rad um one of my favorite horror movies but the thing that really set it apart was the writing the writing on this game is so funny it's like very morbid it is uh you know almost like saint's row-esque a little bit um but you are the person who is trying to build a cult and and pull people into it um and you have these uh very specific acts that you can do um where it kind of also is a almost um uh like a not a dungeon crawler but you know you're being attacked you're having your base be built and you're having people come and attack it so they can remove the cult from the space that they're in.

6:43It was really fun. It was like one of the best surprises of the show so far where a game that looks pretty lo-fi but has like this really smart and interesting way of writing about a thing that is semi-controversial but I think they nailed the cheeky humor while also making it feel like they have a good understanding of the kind of religious dogma twist on that space. So I'm excited to see more of that game for sure. We're dying to get those folks on the show. I already talked to them about being on and they definitely are excited to be on with us for that part of it. And there's a ton of stuff that Xbox is going to show in the next couple of months that really have me excited for all that.

7:25I also got a chance to check out the 25th edition of their Xbox Green Translucent Console. I got some quick time with it. Got a chance to check out the box and hold it and cuddle it and hold it to my chest. And it looks great. Like, it looks really, really fun. I'm excited to see Astro Sharma, you know, give that gift away to all the folks who were in there for the showcase, all the fans that were there. It's a really great moment for them to be able to share and share their fandom for what FanFest has been today, which was really, really fun. It was a lot of folks here who were just sharing their love of Xbox and sharing their love for, you know, video games in general.

7:59So many folks who I've known over the years came by and said, what's up? And so many folks were giving each other hugs and seeing each other because, you know, these events are rare. You know, you don't have a lot of events where you get a chance to see all the folks who you see online all the time from your favorite podcast and your favorite content creator. So it was nice to be able to see the camaraderie here. It was nice to be able to see all the love that people were giving each other. It was nice to be able to see everybody giving that love around the thing that they do love, which is Xbox.

8:25And it was just a really fantastic day. It was a really nice day to see people who love video games celebrate it in the best ways. So we have more stuff coming. we have a little bit more uh for tomorrow uh for for day three of summer games fest uh lots of good things coming down the pipeline then i'll be checking out some stuff from capcom uh also checking out some stuff from our friends over probably monsters also be able to check out some stuff from uh the new tomb raider game as well uh so those things are going to be bangers for sure and we'll have more of that stuff from summer games fest here on spawn on me so much love to you all we'll see you soon peace