Lychfield Graveyard from Fable... "My armour, my helmet, my sword and my shield. Gather for me and the path i shall yield." Ya gotta fish, and dig, and steal the helmet from the corrupt but not outright evil i don't think weenie of a gravekeeper, and i forget what the last method of acquiring is, probably a chest, to get four pieces of gear for a dead Hero, Nostro, and i think he has more rhymes for you if you return between getting them all. And fighting skeletons the whole way, maybe some fairies i forget, and some armoured skeletons, and then you get a skeleton and armoured skeleton arena fight to open the way to bargate prison, which is a fun and different and plot significant area and quest. But later on you cone back for another fight, I forget with what, as a possible option in the expansion Lost Chapters, it's the good route, and you claim Nostro's soul. It's a cool area and it's full of funny graves to read. It's atmospheric enough, but i feel like there are creepier places like headsman's hill and bargate prison which is kinda this place, attached by quest, but I'd still give it enough distinction, is more sad and oppressive, though still with plenty of humour. Really good balance struck with that in mind, i think that humour is an underappreciated tool in more oppressive moods and atmospheres, it makes the harsh part feel more real since the real world is full of silliness and jokes and you can call attention to parts where the joking stops, too. And vice versa; dark jokes and moments of sadness can make something feel cosier when you resolve them.
@Top10WizardReviews Do it, it's got that balance of very very funny and richly atmospheric, the lore isn't the widest thing in the world but it's very full and concrete and not a puzzle to grasp, the puzzles are all interesting, the combat and social/economic systems are fleshed out enough to be fun and rewarding but ultimately if there's one part you're not keen on you can leave it on the back burner to get better stuff relating to it while you focus on the other aspects of the game, the music is so good you've been hearing it for the past twenty years I assure you, and the design and art direction are great, cohesive, up to the task. Wasps look big and painful but not big enough or painful enough to be more than equal to the threat to a low-level character. Bargate looks dingy and miserable but well-enough maintained, aside from the way out of it. Guildmaster looks old, wise, powerful but not omnipotent, omniscient, cheery but not a joker. Voice acting is campy for the stuff that isn't direct main plot advancements, and serious, more subtle but still fairly full of strong emphasis during the stuff that is core plot. You'll remember the plot characters for their characters, for sure, but also the campy ones for their characters and dialogue. My brother played it a lot more than me and I mostly watched him till a playthrough or two of my own, and we still quote the characters today. "Grey, is the prettiest colour." "Phut that hweapon a-hway!" "I felt Albion move!" "The book of spells. This isn't some potty school for wizards you know."
Lychfield Graveyard from Fable... "My armour, my helmet, my sword and my shield. Gather for me and the path i shall yield." Ya gotta fish, and dig, and steal the helmet from the corrupt but not outright evil i don't think weenie of a gravekeeper, and i forget what the last method of acquiring is, probably a chest, to get four pieces of gear for a dead Hero, Nostro, and i think he has more rhymes for you if you return between getting them all. And fighting skeletons the whole way, maybe some fairies i forget, and some armoured skeletons, and then you get a skeleton and armoured skeleton arena fight to open the way to bargate prison, which is a fun and different and plot significant area and quest. But later on you cone back for another fight, I forget with what, as a possible option in the expansion Lost Chapters, it's the good route, and you claim Nostro's soul. It's a cool area and it's full of funny graves to read. It's atmospheric enough, but i feel like there are creepier places like headsman's hill and bargate prison which is kinda this place, attached by quest, but I'd still give it enough distinction, is more sad and oppressive, though still with plenty of humour. Really good balance struck with that in mind, i think that humour is an underappreciated tool in more oppressive moods and atmospheres, it makes the harsh part feel more real since the real world is full of silliness and jokes and you can call attention to parts where the joking stops, too. And vice versa; dark jokes and moments of sadness can make something feel cosier when you resolve them.
Am I gonna have to play Fable??????? dangit i think i'm gonna have to play Fable.
@Top10WizardReviews Do it, it's got that balance of very very funny and richly atmospheric, the lore isn't the widest thing in the world but it's very full and concrete and not a puzzle to grasp, the puzzles are all interesting, the combat and social/economic systems are fleshed out enough to be fun and rewarding but ultimately if there's one part you're not keen on you can leave it on the back burner to get better stuff relating to it while you focus on the other aspects of the game, the music is so good you've been hearing it for the past twenty years I assure you, and the design and art direction are great, cohesive, up to the task. Wasps look big and painful but not big enough or painful enough to be more than equal to the threat to a low-level character. Bargate looks dingy and miserable but well-enough maintained, aside from the way out of it. Guildmaster looks old, wise, powerful but not omnipotent, omniscient, cheery but not a joker. Voice acting is campy for the stuff that isn't direct main plot advancements, and serious, more subtle but still fairly full of strong emphasis during the stuff that is core plot. You'll remember the plot characters for their characters, for sure, but also the campy ones for their characters and dialogue. My brother played it a lot more than me and I mostly watched him till a playthrough or two of my own, and we still quote the characters today.
"Grey, is the prettiest colour."
"Phut that hweapon a-hway!"
"I felt Albion move!"
"The book of spells. This isn't some potty school for wizards you know."