Summary [8.5 out of 10]

The first Fable game is known just as well for its list of unfulfilled promises as its solid and fun game play. Fable 2 finally delivers on some of those promises but still fails to revolutionize RPGs as we know them.

It has a much longer quest, more satisfying side quests, and more consequences for your actions. The graphics take a notable jump thanks to better hardware and combat mechanic is much simpler and more intuitive.  Also, and this is most important, it is just flat out more fun. But there are still areas of improvement most notably in the glitch department.

The Great

• Immersive Game play: Regardless of whether or not you are working on the main quest or the myriad side quests it is very easy to lose yourself in the game. And by that I mean several hours of your life and you may have wet yourself.
• There is always plenty to do. Be it the main quest, a side quest, a job, gambling, or interacting with the NPCs in town you will not be bored. Unlike many games of this ilk, the job mini-games are actually fun and you don’t feel put upon having to do them. It is very difficult to become bored by the game.
• The replay value is very high. Because the choices you make and how you play makes a big difference on the world around you, you can run different characters through and not be playing the same game twice. From choosing to be good or bad, to being a boy or a girl, to what you want to do with real estate and the economy, you can change the whole landscape of the game. Also, even once you’ve finished the game there is plenty more to do.
• The combat, while only focusing on one button for each action, is very intuitive and manages to never get stale. Fights don’t ever seem repetitive even with the simple set up.
• The graphics, particularly the environments and lighting are incredible and are far superior to the first game

The Good

• Increased social options: There is more to do with the citizens and they interact back in a much more convincing way.
• Your canine companion not only takes away the conventional HUD but also makes finding treasure and dig spots much easier. He also helps out with combat and is a fun little distraction. It also makes you feel less alone in the world, which sounds stupid but it is really true.
• The background story benefits from having some history from the first game and it makes the whole world seem much richer and more authentic.
• The writing is hilarious.
• You can accidentally crap in your pants if you mess up the fart expression.
• There is actually an online component this time around.
• The female character is hot.

The Bad

• Glitches: The game is REALLY glitchy. Not just annoying glitches but game ending ones. Some quest lines are broken altogether when your contact ceases to exist in the world completely. This can even plague the ending as in some cases one ending fails to deliver what is promised. Also sometimes your pooch disappears for awhile, but people interact with you like he is there.  Luckily there is a patch on its way.
• The social mechanics can sometimes be frustrating. There is a decent amount of expressions but after awhile, doing a sock puppet show to get laughs starts to get old. Also, the sex mechanics are uneven and can get a bit unrealistic when, as a female characters all the men want to wait until marriage and all the girls want to hop in the sack. Or maybe that is just teenage fantasy at work.
• There needs to be more variety in the costumes, hairstyles and weapons. There just flat out isn’t enough and I shouldn’t be wearing the best outfit available in the first half of the game. Some actual armor would be nice too.
• The male character looks like a jackass and gets fat way too fast.
• The multiplayer is a bit lacking even though your guest can get your wife pregnant. The second player is relegated to a prefab proxy as a design choice. Hopefully they will do something more substantial next time around.
• Being married is way too much like really being married.
• The main story more or less fails to exist. It is really bare bones and could have been much more involving.
• There are very few boss fights and the ones that are there aren’t great.

Conclusion [8.5 out of 10]

A very fun and enthralling experience all around marred by some bad glitches and a barely there story. It doesn’t really revolutionize anything but it is enormously solid and very fun. You can sink a lot of hours into it and feel pretty good about it. It improves on pretty much everything from the first game and is a lot of fun. Once the patch/expansion fixes the glitches and adds more clothing, weapons and hair styles there should be very little wrong with it.