Update - 16/11/2014: Everything has been fixed for the main build, workshop mods have recently appeared and the game is essentially perfect on a technical level.

Update - 22/10/2014: Mouse cursors in menus are finally here. It's only available in the beta branch, as of now, and is being improved in preparation for the main branch.

Update - 23/09/2014: 4 major patches + some hotfixes... and many user-reviews remain unchanged. I just want to state that the following HAVE been addressed: stuttering, depth-of-field bug and "bluriness", all keys can be rebinded (that includes menu keys and in-game menu navigation keys), letterboxing has been removed from non-16:9 resolutions, and numerous crashes. Aside from this, a lot of general gameplay bugs have been fixed too.

Fable Anniversary is a 10 year old HD remake of the original game, Fable. Fable is an action/role-playing/open world game that has you playing as the Hero of Oakvale. I use "open world" loosely as some areas are not unlocked until certain quests are completed (think Grand Theft Auto missions and locations becoming accessible afterwards). You start the game as a young boy who is to journey across the fictional land of Albion and make a name for himself. Right from the start: the fantasy setting, its unique sense of humour, somewhat dark story and moral alignment system are all presented and are on display. It's up to you to decide: who you want to be, how you interact with the people around you and ultimately, what kind of Albion you envision!!

Actual gameplay and controls are that of a typical third-person game, so they're not hard to get used to. Lots of enemies, lots of combat and lots of fighting styles (melee, ranged, spells). The main story will take about 10 hours but there's so much customization for your character, numerous sidequests and plenty of activies to partake in. The fitting music, nice atmosphere and all-around great voice acting all deserve praise -- but I won't go into detail just to avoid ruining the enjoyment that is to be had in arguably one of the best RPGs of all time.

But what's actually changed in this remake and is it worth the money (you decide) :

- it includes TLC ("The Lost Chapters" expansion)
- it was ported from the Xbox 360 version and is on a different engine (Unreal Engine 3)
- visuals receive quite a huge facelift in all areas (some completely new textures as well)
- new lighting system and particle effects
- audio was remastered, remixed and even redesigned (surround sound is now supported)
- lip-sync and facial animations on all characters have been 100% re-done (not so jaggy now)
- UI has been altered (it looks much more cleaner and less cluttered to me)
- the save system has been overhauled (it saves from your last checkpoint or bit of progress)
- new difficulty added ("Heroic" - very fun and surprisingly challenging)
- new control schemes (including one that was inspired from Fable 2/3)
- widescreen support (unrestricted resolution with appropriate FOV; v-sync caps the game at 62 FPS but disabling it will allow your PC to run the game at whatever FPS it can manage)
- full controller support
- minor changes (e.g. allowing for an option of equipping an item from certain screens)
- extensive game balancing (even for introduced weapons and armour from new DLC packs)
- bugs and other minor complaints were fixed (e.g. you now age 50% slower in this game)
- free modding DLC (clothes and animations; more content hasn't been ruled out)
- Steamworks integration (achievements, workshop and Steam cloud)
- Steam trading cards

TL;DR - $35 may seem like a lot for people who own the game already, even with these changes, but for people who don't own it: you'll love this game and exploring the wonderful world of Fable that lays ahead of you. I find a remaster's always harder to recommend because of the increased price and inevitable issues at launch... but Anniversary warrants credit for being more than a simple HD remake and featuring an impressive amount of changes.
Rating: 8.8/10


P.S. While some have had trouble with this game; others haven't (such as myself). As of now patches have dealt with most of the major problems people were experiencing.

Mouse and Keyboard Support? - Fixed
The main menu and in-game menus don't use the mouse. The mouse, however, is fully supported and despite only being able to navigate the menu and in-game menus with a set of unbindable keys, it's not as hard or as bad as it seems (more rebinding will most likely be allowed in a future update).
HOWEVER Bazgrim on Steam has shown all keys can be remapped outside of the game: go to .../Steam/SteamApps/common/Fable Anniversary/Engine/Config and open the "BaseInput.ini" file. From there, change the desired keybindings to whatever you want.

Bluriness and Depth-Of-Field Bug - Fixed
Some have it; some don't. I haven't had this but there is a fix (thanks, again, to Bazgrim on Steam) : go to .../My Documents/My Games/UnrealEngine3/WellingtonGame/Config and edit the "WellingtonSystemSettings.ini" file. Change both AllowRadialBlur and DepthOfField to FALSE.

Stuttering - Fixed
Some have it; some don't. I haven't had this but there are some solutions (thanks to Okamiguy on Steam) : run Fable always as administrator, match Fables' resolution with your PC's resolution, have v-sync on in-game, experiment with the Shadows setting, ensure the game is using your dedicated GPU, ensure v-sync is not being forced through your GPU's control panel, ensure your CPU is set to "high performance" in the Catalyst Control Center, and set CPU Core Affinity to just "CPU 0".

Numerous Crashes - Fixed
Rarely any users have this but the remaining crashes are being ironed out more and more by every patch issued post-release.

Multi-Monitor, Ultra-Widescreen and Field-Of-View (FOV) - Fixed
If you want to adjust any of these: simply download and use the helpful "Flawless Widescreen" program. This program is continually updated for old and new games alike, and is very useful.

Can't Disable Mouse Smoothing/Mouse Acceleration!
While there is no option in the game to disable mouse smoothing and/or acceleration, both can be resolved by doing the following (taken off the PCGamingWiki website) :
Mouse Smoothing
1. Go to ...Steam/SteamApps/common/Fable Anniversary/Engine/Config/
2. Open the "BaseInput.ini" file and locate the section entitled [Engine.PlayerInput]
3. Add the line at the end of the aformentioned section bEnableMouseSmoothing=true
4. Set the file to Read-Only (by editing its "Properties"), and then launch the game.
Mouse Acceleration
1. Go to ...Steam/SteamApps/common/Fable Anniversary/Engine/Config/
2. Open the "BaseInput.ini" file and locate the section entitled [Engine.PlayerInput]
3. Add the line at the end of the aformentioned section bViewAccelerationEnabled=false
4. Set the file to Read-Only (by editing its "Properties"), and then launch the game.


P.P.S. Please feel free to comment (positive or negative). I appreciate all opinions and will only delete trollish posts. Just try not to fight. Thanks.

This game is $35.
It adds HD graphics (it is pretty), controller support and windowed mode. That is all, at least that I've seen.
The DLC for this game is $25. It consists solely of costumes you will never use and are inferior to the base-game armors.

I've had the game lock up on me several times, unable to progress until I loaded a previous save from about an hour ago. You cannot save in the middle of missions. Good luck!

Fable: The Lost Chapters is available for $10 and includes all of the same content minus the DLCs and the aforementioned additions. Unless your hobbies include frivolous spending and frustration regarding games not working correctly, you should save your money.

I really wanted to like this game, I played the original and really enjoyed it and I played the sequels and with each prgoressive game the quality got worse. Sure the visuals got better each time, but each time the humorous additives lessened until they were eliminated in Fable III. This return to the original is very disappointing. They upgraded the graphics yes, but that seems to be just about it. The controls are the same but can thankfully be retuned to their better counterparts from later games.

The animations are a HUGE disappointment. The models look a bit better but definitely nothing like what we saw in Fable III, the animations for them are not even remotely changed and this makes the new models pointless if they don't have updated animations as well. They still remain stiff and awkward and very simple.

The models themselves don't even do the original characters justice. Maze looks awful with that awful goatee that just sticks out like a sore thumb. Whisper's head is all wrong for the entire prologue looking like it should on a young adult whisper as opposed to a kid a little older than the player. The child character, oh man is that a monstrosity. It doesn't even remotely match or even harken to the old child hero. The new character models for villagers are at least decent. But overall the lack of attention or faithfulness to the original character designs does not bode well.

Thankfully the music is still quite good, but it is disappointing that nothing appears to have been remastered or redone as would be normal for a HD remake.

The cutscenes appear to not be changed at all, still using transparent renders from the original version.

Overall this "HD" remake appears to be not even worth the effort Lionhead put in it, I had high hopes the new creative head would lead the company to better endeavours but clearly this is not the case. The HD remake hasn't done the game justice in my opinion and is definitely not worth 35 dollars. Maybe 15 if you stretch it. This isn't a HD re-release, it's a nostalgia trap.

4/10 While the original game is still there, there's not been near enough done to improve on the old and just leaves the remake a flashy mess.

I feel cheated. I never would have purchased this if I'd realized what poor decisions they had made. I was VERY excited when this was announced. I even pre-purchased in anticipation. I didn't mind pre-purchasing... why? Because I figured... even if it's just the original with better textures it'll be awesome. Why on earth they made the decision to take a working classic and "improve" it by breaking all of the systems that worked (menus) and crippling PC users (NO MOUSE SUPPORT IN MENUS... are you freaking kidding me?) Even with a controller, browsing the menu, equipping things, using items, etc. takes WAY longer than the original. It's basically unplayable like this. I want my money back. :(

Fable Anniversary delivers what it promised; A prettier version of the original game.
The game has aged well on its own, but the new graphics definitely make me personally want to play it more than the original. And that's honestly about it; it only ropes me in for the nostalgia.

This isn't a game for everyone, however, as it does run into some problems. I can't stand the new UI, which is clonky and harder to navigate than the original's, and the implementation of the DLC is pretty bland and honestly not worth considering. As others have no doubt already pointed out, the pricing is outrageous for a simple HD rerelease. For the full, and best experience of the Fable franchise, you're better off sticking to Fable: TLC which is only 10 dollars. Anniversary is about $35 with DLC being a total of $25. The DLC offers nothing new to the game except fancy accessories that are weaker than the Vanilla armors and weapons. $60 dollars for the full "Anniversary" experience versus a $10 fee for the original vanilla experience. The difference in pricing is absurd, and the fact that the developers want 60 dollars for an old game with a new paint job is just stupid.

The only bug I have run into personally is one where the game crashes while trying to spend experience points, but that in itself is enough to warrant negative attention as it breaks immersion.

Once the game goes down in price, I'd recommend this game to anyone new to the Fable franchise, as it really holds up better than the sequels of the original game. Until then, however, stick with the $10 TLC.

If you want Fable, go back to the original plus Lost Chapters.

I loved the original Fable, but this port is not worth the extra money. When first announced, I was excited because I thought they'd improve upon the original. Fix issues with the old one, gameplay or glitch wise, maybe add in a couple new quests, and fix the bad user interface and player menus.

Instead, it's really only a graphical difference. Worse yet, the graphics aren't really that much better. Sure, they smoothed things up and fixed up some lighting effects, but the models (especially the faces) are ugly as sin. I was hoping (more than anything else) they'd take a page from Fable 2 & 3, and give the option to buy a house without killing the occupants. Instead, it looks like that's still the plan. At least they looked at the menu options. Well, they looked but they did not fix. In fact, they made them worse. I bought this game for the PC, I WANT TO USE A KEYBOARD AND MOUSE. You cannot rebind keys. The default Keyboard/Mouse keys I cannot imagine are good for a right-handed player. For a left-handed player like myself, they're murder. The menu is horribly clunky. If I want an to equip a sword, for example. Imagine I've already navigated the maze of menu options to get there. Then, to actually equip the sword, you don't push enter. you push A. ON THE KEYBOARD. If you want to go back? B. The letter B. Not escape, that won't work.

Yes, I know controllers are available that work with my PC. I don't want them, I'm comfortable with my keyboard and mouse. As a big fan of Fable games (I own them all) this is insulting. The graphics are softer. The cutscenes still look like they're from the original (pixels EVERYWHERE). There's no customization to how I want to play a game that's all about customization. The User Interface is worse than before. There's a stupid book opening animation that has to play everytime you open the game or want to exit back to menu. This is a horrible addition to the Fable family. I'll probably play it again, I paid for it. Don't make the same mistake.

EDIT: Upon assistance from another player, he revealed that you actually need to be on your sepcific character before the option to change controls appears. While this provides immense relief, left-handed players may be distraught to discover you cannot rebind end, delete, pgdn or pgup, home or insert. Further, the numberpad keys cannot be assigned to the hotbar keys.

Still, I count this as a victory, and a lot of my stress about the game has been removed.

This game was a little rough at the start, I admit it.
Lionhead seems to be taking quick action with the PC Game and listening to the community.

With the latest patch (9/16/2014) a lot of performance issues and glitches were fixed.
This also includes the depth of field blurriness that once covered the game, they have toned it town a lot. Now it creates a nice "distant fog effect."
You can now remap almost all your hotkeys.

There have been a few significant changes that have had quality of life improvements in Fable Anniversary.
One of these changes include you age 50% slower.

Overall Fable Anniversary has been a fantastic experience and I absolutely love the game.
If you are a Fable fan, I highly recommend this game.
If you are not a Fable fan, but a fan of good fantasy RPGs, I highly recommend this game.

More mod support IS coming and they've given the modding community a much more open file format to work with.
This means that the community has lots more opporunities to "unofficially" mod the game.

I have an ongoing list of suggestions and improvements to Fable Anniversary on the official forums, if you wish to see something in the game before you buy it. Post it there or comment here and I will add it to the list!
http://forum.lionhead.com/yaf_postst3606_-PC--Fable-Anniversary--suggestions-and-improvements.aspx

Fable Anniversary is a "HD Remake of the Original Extended Version Fable: The Lost Chapters." Keep in mind it is the "HD Remake" not "Fable 4." So many people are giving this game a bad name for the wrong reasons, its been 10 Years since the release of the original game and to celebrate Lionheart have done a HD Remake of their game, of course it will run the same.

Now lets talk about the gameplay. Fable Anniversary has been masterfully re-crafted the original Fable with beautiful textures. Its absolutely stunning, I could not help myself staring at the landscape while being ganked by couple of those filthy hobbes and bandits. The game ran smoothly for me and could not help myself reminicise good moments when I was playing Fable TLC. Combat system is still fantastic like its predecessor although some of the enemies I thought were just cheap and annoying. The NPCs are still funny and a tad stupid like one time I just went to the Bowerstone Inn for a Quest when random villagers kept applauding and laughing at me when I was trying to have a chat with a Quest Giver. The story for me is still excellent and lovely. Pretty much my experience with this game have been awesome the only problems were some of the bugs that were initally on before the update. Controls for the PC are a bit strange and would personally recommend controller. Now everything is great. Even though the game might not seem new this game has "mods" which will definitely have some bonuses.

So overall, this game I would recommend to people, even though people might say this game is trash it is their opinion. For me I love this game and is a great HD-Remake Port for the PC.

Amazing Game.

I don't care whether the Graphics are the only difference in this game blah blah. I'm not going to join the mass amount of players that complain about the dumbest things or smallest problems that can be fixed via Google.

I genuinely had fun with this game. Upon pre-load and launch, I had NO problems at all. I was very excited to play this as I have played it 100+ times since it came out in 2005 on Original Xbox, then TLC and TLC on the PC. It took me little over 9h to fully complete and 100% the game and after every playthrough I just want to do it again. It's immersive, the quests are great, I had no bugs at all and most importantly, I had fun!

Sure it doesn't support mouse and keyboard on the menu(at this time), but is it that hard to use A and B when it says? Anyways, I'm not going to dig at the moany bams on the Community.

It's Fable, it's the original. 10/10.

Also, take a look at some SweetFX settings and guides if you want to clean up your blurs and turn on AA etc, it really helps alot.

Can't wait for modding.

Overall, if you're a fan of Fable, then pick this one up for the flashy new graphics, with a "old time/new look" timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly stuff game.

There were some hiccups at the initial launch though, and I covered them honestly in the text below.

I was skeptical at first about buying this game (mainly because I already own Fable TLC), but after checking out the screenshots of the interface and spell effects I decided to take the plunge and buy it.
There were some Keyboard and Mouse control, nonassignable buttons, oversights at first, but the devs were quick to respond to the forum users asking for the "BLOCK" function and other keys to be able to be user-assigned.
So that oversight was quickly ironed out.
The other initial oversight was that it was very clear that the menu system was designed with a controller in mind rather than a K+M setup, but yet again, the devs have hopped on that, and I can currently, (and happily) click away with my mouse in the overall menu (Inventory/Quests/Maps etc)

I have to give a thumbs up to the devs as well, they LISTENED to our feedback and FIXED things. How great is that?
They get a double thumbs-up for that in MY book :)

Now where's Fable 2 for the PC? ;)

When I first played fable the lost chapters on the original xbox I thoroughly enjoyed it, and so I was excited for the anniversary but I am very dissapointed. yeah they redid the graphics and audio but their no where as good as what we saw in fable lll (fable lll story and combat is crap). The controls are different to the lost chapters (on pc) which I found confusing at times. It severely droppped for me when I was stuck in a mission and couldnt leave without going to a previous save I made 3 hours before so I just stopped playing. There are so many bugs and glitches its not funny, its a waste of money you might as well buy the lost chapters for $10. I do not recommend this game for anyone because the price is way too high. Not recommended

I would really like to recommend Fable Anniversary .... but as someone who played Fable TLC till the end i can't really get how banning the mouse from the inventory/journal/abilitys menu and replaceing it with insert, delete, home and end is going to make it less difficult to operate. I can't say if controller are more helpfull for I have a GameStop controller and not an Xbox one. If you haven't figured it out: the game doesn't recougnice my controller. If you play with mouse and keybord you should also be notified that changeing controlls from the main menu isn't (yet) possible - it works from the ingame menu - neigther is changing the the four previous keys{fixed}.

Hope i can return to change(/delete) my review without adding new contra points.

Do you think it's possible for an HD remake of the game that came out 10 years ago to look worse than the original? Apparently it is. Not to mention the castrated KB+M control scheme and the lack of cursor which wasn't the case for The Lost Chapters.

Edit: So it seems like the last couple of patches did fix some of the problems with the game, but it's still a pretty below average port and if you actually want to play the better version on the PC, just grab yourself a copy of The Lost Chapters.

This game is an unpolished piece of crap. I love fable, it's one of my favorite games ever. It runs like crap, choppy, laggy, and the graphics are horribly blurry and unpolished. Don't buy it for a couple weeks see if they fix this crap.

Please note: This review is based upon an initial release of the game, on September 12th, 2014. Some stuff might be fixed latter.

Cons:
1) Mouse can not be used in the main menu or any other menu in the game.
2) Keybindings for menus are awful, every time you want to upgrade a skill or change clothes you have to use Ins/Home and Del/End.
3) I'm not sure the save system is actually fixed like they promised (I reloaded a save in Hero Guild and I had to repeat all the quests that I already did once. Can't be 100% sure about this being a widespread problem as that was my only save/load situation for now). I'm never sure what will happen when I exit to desktop and return to game tomorrow.
4) While they changed visual style, textures look nothing like HD at all from close up (ie. Jack's face mask after Arena is a blur).
5) They said the character will age 50% slower than in TLC but mine was gray bearded after the first half an hour of the game.
6) Everything looks a bit blurry and my eyes hurt.
7) Global map is almost unusable, just as before.

Pros:
1) You can get more than $5 back from GMG/Playfire rewards... if you play now and not in a year or so.
2) I had no encounters with game breaking bugs so far (progress: finished arena and met Jack), but be warned that some people from the forums did.

Summary: It's the same game as before, with a visual style changed... not sure it was for better. The only improvement over the TLC is being able to play in widescreen, but my 16:10 monitor has black bars on top and bottom of the screen, so they could not even make that right. I'm not saying the game is unplayable, it's OK and after some time you get used to it's quirks, but the reason I'm giving it thumbs down is because you can have the better version of this exact game for 3.49 eur during the sales, and they are asking over $27 for this thing where you can't even use a mouse to navigate the menus.

It's been just under 24 hours since Fable Anniversary has come to PC. I'd been waiting for this edition since it had been announced, and now I have my hands on it (so to speak). However, looking at the review section on Steam shows no shortage of angry gamers complaining about what they see as a shoddy console port. Almost never do initial reactions approach level-headed, so I want to take a step back and try to tell potential players exactly what they're getting.

Let me preface the rest of this review by saying that I don't strictly give this game a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down'. I'm not trying to be contrarian by labeling this review as positive, it's just what the system will let me do. We'll get back to this.

So, 'Fable Anniversary' is a remake-remaster hybrid of 2004's 'Fable', and includes the content from its expanded edition 'The Lost Chapters'. It was a very good game, and is now widely regarded as the best entry in the franchise (especially with regards to TLC). Unfortunately, the game suffered the fate of being way overhyped, by both creator and games media, and upon its release, fans were disappointed that some things were notably absent. The very first achievement you earn, “From The Smallest Acorn”, is a reference to a statement made by creator Peter Molyneux about just how deep the game world was supposed to be. Players were supposed to be able to knock an acorn off a tree, and it would grow into an oak. [NOTE: Molyneux DID say this, having discussed it in many interviews since, but I can't find the actual direct quote. If someone could source this I'd be grateful.] This was very obviously unfeasible given the time and technology, but it became a symbol of broken promises for people who bought the game with high expectations, and finished it feeling like something was missing. Again the acorn rears its head (or cupule if you're into trees, I guess), falling from the tree of the Lost Chapters, and foreshadows what is to come.

When I say this game “is a remake-remaster hybrid”, what I mean is that this is Fable 2014. This is Fable as you (probably) know it. Oakvale and the Guild and Bowerstone and all of those places are still here, and look mostly untouched, but more polished. If you played Fable back on the Xbox and remember being impressed by the graphics, this is probably how you remember it looking in your mind's eye. The boost in visuals comes from the game being rebuilt almost ground-up in Unreal Engine 3, which is what blurs the line between remake and remaster. Ten years of advancements in 3D technology will yield obvious results, but the game itself is mostly identical to the original Fable (more specifically the Lost Chapters, which was Fable but with a bunch of new quests and items). The acorn is planted.

This purist approach is a double-edged sword, though. One one hand, it means that fans of the original can be assured that the team isn't fixing what isn't broken, and new players can experience the same game without being taken aback by blurred textures and models that speak only by moving their jaw. These two groups can discuss the game with no real barrier between them. On the other hand, there really are some things about the game that could have been done away with. As an example, the game world is divided up into little sections. The Greatwood Forest is not one big forest you can wander through, but 8 smaller maps separated by loading screens. This was a necessity at the time because the Xbox couldn't have handled such a map, but 10 years later we have machines powerful enough to handle Skyrim and Just Cause. Not every area has a cullis gate, and it becomes tedious to run through these small areas and hit a loading screen between them just to get to some quest or secret. Also, the FMV's (pre-rendered videos) haven't been changed. At all. The opening cutscene shows what your character can look like in the future, and it's footage from the original release. I don't mean just the cutscenes, either. I mean every instance. When you go to upgrade your skills, you'll see a video on the right side of the screen showing what a particular upgrade does. These videos are straight from the original, not redone, meaning that you'll go from looking at the remastered visuals of Anniversary to seeing low-quality video of the original models lifting rocks and casting spells, which is very jarring. No sign of any oak tree.

Frustratingly, however, they didn't change these things while introducing new problems or altering things that shouldn't have been touched (or at least, should have been better thought-out). I'm not terribly near-sighted, but enough that I wear glasses for it. If someone wants to know what things look like to me without glasses, they just have to play this game. Distant trees and objects have this weird blur to them that can't be disabled in the game menu, instead relying on config file edits. The average user probably won't know how to do this, and the entirety of the video options menu really needs an overhaul. Speaking of which, the menus are horrendous, and they're what people have been pointing the finger at when they complain about Anniversary being a lazy port. These menus were very clearly designed with controllers in mind, and while I've been playing with one, I recognize that not everyone plays the same way. Rather than describing what's wrong with the keyboard and mouse controls, here's a video from TotalBiscuit going through the menu and showing how bad it is (youtu.be/3VP0aYKklsc). Maybe the acorn was a dud?

“But this is a PC version,” I hear some say, “surely the modders will fix these! Maybe the acorn will grow better if other people help water it!” Well, no. There are modding tools for the game, but they're strictly cosmetic. Head to the 'Modding DLC' store page, and you'll see that the tools are described as “only able to modify art and animation assets”. More than the menus, this game is screaming for fan-made content. Mods for Fable existed, but were very few, and even less worth installing. But in a game where the protagonist never says anything, players should be able to go nuts. They should be able to make new maps and characters and quests and add so much to the game, but instead we got dress-up. At least we can retexture the acorn to be gold.

I know I've spent most of this review criticizing the game, but that's because I was discussing the quality of the remaster and porting job rather than the game itself. The thing that made me choose to label this review positive over negative is this: Fable is a great game. It wasn't what everybody dreamed of, but I missed out on all the hype, and enjoyed the hell out of the final product. If you're the kind of person I'm trying to reach with this review, you want to know if this is worth buying. All I can say is that it depends. If you haven't played Fable before, or you have but just don't own it for PC, then I would recommend 'Anniversary', keeping in mind that the K/M interface is sub-par. If you already own the Lost Chapters, I can't justify recommending that you pay the current price for the same game, but with better graphics, controller support, a harder difficulty and achievements. But keep up with the news about this game. By the time this game is on sale, it will have been patched. Coupled with possible expansion of the modding tools, maybe this game will be what it should have been on release. Maybe, just maybe, if we wish for it with all our hearts, we'll see that oak grow.

I've decided to make a review for this because I've seen so many bad reviews, I feel nobody is outlining the amazing new features in this game. I haven't finished the story yet but I've played enough to know the ups and downs.

I've seen a few issues mentioned, I'd like to say that so far they seem based entirely on personal preference. Not that they're wrong but issues like "crashing" I've not experienced any crashing what so ever and all the graphics are maxed out with TV being streamed on my second monitor. I would suggest that issue may be due to something else not that I'd know for sure but I've kept a solid frame rate without a single stutter.

There was a mention of issues with the controls. I have to agree slightly when I started playing I noticed they changed the controls by default to a new layout which is not so great for mages; To fix this just go to the controller settings and you can switch back to the original controller scheme which I prefer as you can access all spells rather than only having access to one spell at a time. The menu navigation isn't great but it's new, after a few hours I was used to it like any other game. The game clearly was only meant for controllers so it can't be faulted for not being perfect on keyboard/mouse.

Graphics seem to be hated on? I love the redone graphics! It's certain changes that you really notice a difference, especially with some of the spells (I've not tried them all yet). I'm sure if you compare the 2 versions the graphics are much better on this! It's one thing that's kept the game fresh for me. Some of the faces are creepy in HD but really compare the 2. Also this isn't a next gen game you can only improve the graphics a certain amount.

This is a huge positive for me. The harder difficulty! I'm not sure if it was the same for anyone else but the original was far too easy once you worked out what spell combos to use. Hero mode has provided me with a new challenge, especially approaching The Arena! I made the mistake of assuming I'd ace it but multiple times came close to death meaning I'd have to restart it all. It really has added a new side to the game for me.

The additions to the game; I love the new additions, the new outfits and weapons. The original game was rather dull when it came to outfits and weapons so it's refreshing to have more choices now. I will say, the DLC is definitely TOO much! I mean this is a HD remake, an "Anniversary edition" I expect these new features to be included to justify the price! To expect another £10/£15 is taking it too far. I'm not paying double or triple the price of the original just because you made the game "pretty". Yes, DLC seems to be a fad in every new game but DLC isn't for Fable TLC. I would love to experience all of the new features you've worked so hard on but I will not pay such a high price for these menial extras.

My overall opinion (Trying not to spoil anything for people reading); I love it, it's revived a classic game without taking away what people loved about Fable. The graphics are improved, the new difficulty keeps you on your toes and the new features are what make this a worthy remake. I will say the negative reviews seem to be.. overwhelming but I didn't see a single reason that justified so much hate. I will agree, the price if you include the DLC is a lot I would say too much for what it's for but if you can wait for it to go on sale or if they reconsider the DLC prices then yes this is a definite buy.

Truth is, if you loved Fable you will love this. I would definitely recommend it to any fan and for those who have not experienced Fable TLC then this will be the best version for you to start with. Try not to base your opinion on everybody elses, try it for yourself and decide but remember it's a HD remake, not a brand new Fable game. I preordered this because Fable has so much replayablilty (if that's a word) that this will only enhance that for me.

If you would like me to elaborate anything or have any specific questions I'd be happy to answer, my opinions generally are not biased so if something is broken or wrong I will include them but I feel that the 'negative reviews' have snowballed for no real reason. Hopefully this or another equally positive review makes it to the top so people considering buying the game have different opinions instead of just a bombardment of unjustified dislikes.

Game is freezing randomly often. The way you navigate the menu just to equip an item or give a gift is the worst ive ever seen, no abillity to use the mouse . This is the most horrible port ive played seriously, even some alpha games are more enjoyable. the people who made the pc version should be ashamed of their bad work.

Until all the keyboard and mouse controls are rebindable and there is a more functional mouse, it's a waste of money.

Total Biscuit says it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VP0aYKklsc&list=UUy1Ms_5qBTawC-k7PVjHXKQ

I would not recommend this game, I loved the original Fable TLC and because of its age you could accept certain glitches.
However as this is a remake and they apparently did an overhaul I think you might expect a little more polish and maybe some extra content.
- The animations are clunky compared to todays standard
- There are visible texture seams
- Loading times between different sections
- (G)UI design is terrible and clunky

Again I could have accepted this for a game released in 2001, but if you decide to do a remake make sure that you give it a bit of an effort and not just load some levels in the UNreal engine and add better dynamic lighting and upres some textures and recompile again.