How does this hold up in 2025?

[Cryemore]

I've never played a fable game. I've always been interested but have always primarily gamed on pc and Playstation. While I owned an original Xbox I've never bought another. Seeing this on sale has me interested.

Does this play well on modern hardware? Some games have just become broken over time as hardware changes. Does it feel and look too dated to be enjoyable?

I'll probably buy it and just refund it if it refuses to run, but I would appreciate thoughts from those who have played this recently. Has it aged well, or would I be better off avoiding this after so long?

[LittleBigNukes]

I just started playing it.. runs well on pc and steamdeck but the gameplay and the controls are so bad. Whoever designed the controls must been drunk....

[Action Man]

It ran fine for me on my Windows 10 laptop.

It's a fun little fantasy adventure. Travel the map, kill some dudes, save the world.

Personally, I prefer The Lost Chapters version. Anniversary is a graphics update, but the gameplay of The Lost Chapters feels so much smoother. Unfortunately, TLC doesn't have controller support. Playing on M+K really isn't too bad for this game, but it's a dealbreaker for some.

[Cryemore]

Thanks. I think I'll just avoid this for now.

[ZeigMeister]

Playing through it right now and the melee combat seems jankier then I remember, also playing without controller is terrible on this game and the OG doesn't have controller support, it doesn't have achievements either

[Halcyform]

Overall, Fable is a better experience on the console, imo.

The benefits of going to console with this franchise is that you have controller support, you don't have to jump through hoops to play all the games and the Lost Chapters version has controller support. As mentioned above, the Lost Chapters game seems to flow better than the Anniversary version. I would also add that it looks more natural as well as it has a much better look to it in terms of colors and shading.

Overall, Fable franchise is a pretty fun series.

[Jase]

I'm playing it for the first time, on the Steam Deck.

In terms of appearance, yes it's dated. Don't expect Horizon Zero Dawn levels of movement animation or even Skyrim levels of facial animation, but it has a cartoony style so this doesn't matter too much. The environments are fine, it's old but not poor enough to pull you out the game. It's quite charming and amusing.

Controls are... well, a challenge. I'm using the new layout (I believe you can switch to classic) and the d-pad is allocated to showing emotions or consumables. So the directions give you four options. Context specific sometimes, which helps. However, there are eight slots to allocate - so you need to press a trigger to access the second set of four on the d-pad.
Magic is on the 'B' button. Fine, but you can have several spells, to cycle between them is right trigger and tap B, which gets frantic mid fight as the game doesn't pause while you do so.
It took me ages to work out how to allocate things and to suss the UI, skill levels etc.

The map doesn't telegraph quest locations or directions as much as modern games.

To be honest, several hours in I wasn't having fun and was considering quitting.
I was getting absolutely mobbed in fights, frustratingly overrun etc.
But then it clicked. I unlocked some spells to deal with the mobs and the game transformed. I blocked more, slowed down and rolled with the game and it was much more fun.

I'm enjoying it. First play so I don't view it with nostalgia and wouldn't say it's a classic personality, but it's very enjoyable, lots to do (or ignore if you choose), the dialogue (including NPCs) is funny, choices can change how people react to you, yeah. Glad I'm playing it.

Surprised me how dark the story can be at times too.