A lot of it, possibly, can be attributed to the platform. On the PC I could, as far as possible, do things about the problems that vexed me. Although I never had a problem with slow down I did install a custom d3d dll which doubled my frame rate and got rid of most of the lag when going into VATS. I also installed a mod allowing ovens to be used to cook food, whether or not they worked was based on Luck. You could repair them with flamer fuel and a pilot light. I also only encountered 2 mission based bugs, both of which had work arounds on wikia.com.
In fable 3 though there is one bug and one feature which are greatly annoying and I am powerless to do anything about them.
– The frame rate is completely unpredictable with slow down at random times none of which seem to be related to the amount going on graphically. It drops to less than 10fps easily. It’s not a deal breaker as it doesn’t happen in combat but it’s incredibly irritating.
– More irritating than that is Jasper, it’s not his or John Cleese’s fault who is excellent. It’s rather the constant exhortation that there is something new in the sanctuary shop should I want to take a look. Every time I visit the sanctuary, which I need to do to change spells/weapons/clothes which is quite often. Shut UP! Stop telling me to buy the fucking DLC. I don’t want black dye! Lionhead, what the hell were you thinking? If people want the content, they will buy it. You have no need to ram it down our throats.
I’m also undecided on the quality of individual script dialogue. A lot of it this time seems to be self consciously poking fun at the nature of the game and games of it’s ilk in general. In the case of one quest with 3 wizards and rescuing a princess it’s obviously parody and very much part of the quest in that you are partaking in a table top rpg session. There it works well. In a quest I’ve just done involving Reaver it’s out of context, breaks immersion and smacks of laziness. I hope there is more of it but used well like the former example and not like the latter.
In more positive news, the game is excellent and a clear improvement on Fable 2. The combat is streamlined, I like the way the weapons change. In pretty much every key area that I’ve discovered so far the game is improved. I can’t comment on plot as I have not yet completed the game and it would be unfair to do so until I have.
So please Lionhead, sort out the frame rate and tone down the number of times Jasper tries to persuade me to visit the sanctuary shop. I’m not buying the DLC, in part because I already have most of it from codes provided with the pre-order (yet the game does not recognise this and would quite happily let me purchase them, which is appalling behaviour by MS Live/Lionhead whomever is responsible) and secondly I don’t accept that a few dyes are worth any MS Points at all.