Light and Colourful vs...
Mix one newborn and one sick preschooler and anyone’s fancy is going to turn to escapism. And so that is how I found myself at EB Games preordering Fable 3 and Fallout New Vegas. (I also got Nintendogs for little sickie. More on that in another post)
I started up my old Fallout 3 game in preparation for this next iteration of the franchise. I am in the middle of the Point Lookout DLC, so far so good. And when I say so good, I actually mean “so oppressive and freaky.” Fallout (in case you live under a gaming rock) takes place in an alternate future, where 1950s aesthetic mixes with postapocalyptic dystopia. The main game takes place in Washington D.C. and its immediate surroundings. Point Lookout is DLC that is situated in Maryland.
And is it creepy. Stereotypical country yokels are mutated and murderous. Everything is in an ugly shade of grey and brown. There is no colour in this game. Not one tree. Not one piece of colourful attire. All is covered in nuclear ash. It’s not just oppressive. It’s also downright freaky. In this DLC there is a hallucination scene that gave me the screaming heebie jeebies.
Make you want to go hug your children
The first time I played Fallout 3 it was much the same feeling. I have talked about the mature nature of this game before. It’s downright Mature for all the right reasons. It’s the stuff that a small kid won’t understand and a bigger kid will get nightmares. After I felt like I needed a cleansing.
Hence Fable 2.
Fable 2 is also an RPG that is mature. Expect this mature is a different type of mature. The violence isn’t nearly as over the top, the humour in Fable isn’t as cutting and sharp. In fact, Fable 2 is mature, but I would say that Fable is perfect for teens.
Where Fallout lacks colour: Fable is saturated in it. Fallout you are alone, Fable you have your dog and are never alone. Fallout you can enslave people, and there are corpses of long dead children. Fable you can do a dance for children to make them adore you. Even when you are evil in Fable: you don’t feel THAT evil. In Fallout when you are good, you still do what needs to get done to survive. And it ususally isn’t that nice.
After playing Fallout, I needed something lighter. I needed Fable.
Ever have this experience? One game made you crave another type of game?
Yelling at Pixels 
Comments
Absolutely!
I play a lot of shooters. After a while I get tired of all the violence and I need a break. That’s usually when I pull out my Wii and play something staring Mario. It’s like cleansing your gaming pallet.
Yeah, I go between two third person action games a lot. I used to play the Force Unleashed, but then I found myself wanting to play Ninja Gaiden II. I rarely get a desire to play a first person shooter to a third person action game, however. I usually just bounce around games of the same genre.
Well… Final Fantasy XIII made me cry (killed my backwards compatible PS3) and made me hanker for a good, old JRPG, like… Final Fantasy VI or VII.
Front Mission Evolved made me want the next Zone of the Enders more than ever. (Kojima-san! You don’t have to make Metal Gear anymore!)
I guess the best example of this for me is Demon’s Souls. There’s no game I own more intense and unforgiving. I like to kick back with something far less strenous and light hearted after, like Valkyria Chronicles 2.
I like playing story laden RPGs (Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc.) but I need to break them up with some lighter games like a Dead Rising 2 or Brutal Legend. Same goes with MMO’s back when I was pretty big into WoW with my room mates. Nothing like some free-for-all Call of Duty to unwind after a long grind session.
Oh yes! I’m playing Halo: Reach at the moment and when I get sick of shooting Elites I pop in my copy of Fable 2 and all is right in the world again 😉
Counting down the days until Fable 3 comes out!!!!
AlbionGal
Funny you mention being alone. Did you never get Dogmeat in Fallout 3? I found him to be a great companion – in fights and to simply NOT be alone. You hear him pant even if you don’t see him, it’s really, yet strangely, nice to have him around – and I don’t usually like dogs too much!
Haven’t been to Point Lookout yet, just The Pitt (this is my second playthrough, first was without Add-Ons). I experienced what you describe when playing Dragon Age: Origins at the point where you have to decide about the Dark Ritual. It felt wrong either way, and I didn’t want to have to make the call. Similar to when I had to decide who survives Mass Effect 1… (hope that lack of detail makes this harmless in terms of spoilers)