Fable: The Journey Review
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Is it magic, or just an illusion?
Considering how Kinect was supposed to be “magical,” perhaps it’s fitting that the motion controller’s first genuine peace offering to “gamer’s gamers” is, in fact, centered on magic. It’s true – Fable: The Journey is a real game about casting magic that happens to be played with Kinect (while sitting down, even). It’s neither a gimmick nor an exercise app. But the key question with any Kinect title is, of course: does it work?
The good news, particularly after the Hindenburg-level disaster that Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor was, is that yes, most of the time it works. Grabbing the series’ classic Hobbes (think “dwarfish orcs”) and tossing them over ledges with your left hand Tether spell is hilariously delightful. Even more fun is lassoing onto Hollow Men skeletons, because you can sadistically and systematically dismantle them; pull left to yank the sword-holding arms out of their bony sockets, then right to literally disarm their shields by taking that arm off, and then up to pop their heads off until only an armless torso wanders over and tries to kick you. Then you can finish them off with one of the three attack spells on your right hand. It genuinely makes you feel like a spellcasting badass. A clever mechanic called Aftertouch even lets you throw spells out straight ahead of you and then wave your hand in a different direction in order to curve the magic projectile around corners and hit monsters cowering behind cover.
Better still, you’ll not only unlock two additional spells over the course of the campaign – a fireball and a magic shard – but you’ll also level them all up with Upgrade Points, adding extra shards and more damage to your attacks. It helps keep the game from growing repetitive and only makes you feel like more of a mighty mage. (Tip: I recommend not investing any points in the Horse Upgrade skill; you won’t need them and your precious points are better spent on buffing your spells and health.)
Hollow Men are among the most fun enemies to fight, because you can rip off both their arms as well as their heads.
During one section near the end, for instance, with the fully upgraded magic arsenal at my disposal and Kinect firing on all cylinders in my gaming space, I faced down a pack of fast-leaping Balverine wolves. I grabbed one with my left hand and spun it, sending him into a dizzy, stunned state. At the same time, I cocked my right arm back to charge my default magic ball attack spell, brought my hand back above my shoulder to switch to the Magic Shard (I could’ve also said “Magic Shard”), then flung the javelin-like projectile out to my right and waved my right hand back to the left to activate Aftertouch, sending the upgraded shard’s three barbs to each hit one of the three enemies. I finished two of them off by quickly blasting them with rapid-fire bolts, and then the third one charged me. It leaped into the air. I turned my left shoulder towards the screen to block, sending it reeling backwards. I raised my right hand, said “Fireball” to conjure my most potent offensive attack, then flung my arm forward to send the projectile out, where it impacted the last wolf and exploded it in a glorious burst of flame.
Boss fights are also a highlight, as the handful of screen-filling bad guys – while never particularly difficult – requires you to simultaneously juggle all of your abilities. The Troll, for example, tasks you with using the left-hand Tether to yank stalactites down to use as giant nails while avoiding flung boulders, and you’ll need to pierce the winged she-monster Corrupter in the neck with fireballs while dodging gargoyles.
Such are The Journey’s best-case scenarios, which are in effect about 75% of the time. The problem is that, as you’ve come to expect from Kinect, the motion-controller’s accuracy sometimes becomes unpredictable for no apparent reason – no matter how ideal your setup. Strangely, it seems as if the longer you play, the more likely you are to encounter a problem. You’ll try to aim a spell at the center of the screen and it will instead go to the far left or right edge. You can recalibrate through the main menu, but woefully, you have to quit out of the campaign to do it. I recommend using the default calibration settings – which still require you to go through the same two-minute configuration process.
Boss fights are among The Journey's highlights.
Story-wise, as both the name and Kinect controls imply, The Journey is a spinoff. It’s not Fable 4, and that means it’s not an open-world adventure. You have no dog – only a horse – and the gameplay is completely on-rails. Rather than a 15-30 hour epic with ample replayability and the choice to be good or evil like in the mainline Fables, The Journey is a straightforward 8-10 hour quest with two gameplay tenets: riding through Albion aboard your horse-drawn cart and the already-discussed on-foot spellcasting.
You play Gabriel, a rather typical unwitting young-man-turned-hero who eventually embraces his fate. Guiding him through the archetypal plot is Fable staple Theresa, the blind, ageless seer whose storyline ends up being far more interesting for Fable fans. Along the way, The Journey does its best to replicate Fable’s trademark playful and juvenile sense of humor, but most of its pun-based jokes only manage to elicit a soft chuckle.
What The Journey does nail, however, is Fable’s charming art style. As it’s essentially the chronicle of one long road trip, it’s important that the scenery be impressive. It is. Trademark sunset lighting gives The Journey that classic golden Fable glow, be it along a seaside coastline or through the woods.
When everything is in sync, you'll feel like Gandalf on a power trip.
But of course, gameplay revolves around the Kinect. The Journey starts a bit slow, with the better part of the game’s first hour spent in your horse-drawn cart, manning the reins for Seren, your beloved equine. The game’s carriage sequences consist solely of steering by pulling your hands forward or back to turn. It’s a minimal amount of work once you realize that Seren will mostly auto-steer you in the right direction. These sections end up mostly being used as plot-advancing devices, though a host of stylized cutscenes will also serve this purpose.
Ultimately, I really enjoyed my trip through Fable’s motion-controlled spinoff, even if it was peppered with bouts of Kinect-ified frustration. Despite numerous in-game rest stops that attempted to emotionally bond me to my steed via wound-healing touches and brush-down grooming sessions, I never cared for my horse a tenth as much as I did for my Fable II/III dog aside from one touching moment at the very end. Still, solid boss fights, charming art, and a truly empowering spellcasting mechanic make Fable: The Journey the first step in the long process of rebuilding a trust between Kinect and ? gamers.
The Verdict
Take the following away from this review if nothing else: The Journey is a legitimately fun game that happens to be played with Kinect…when the hardware works properly. It simply won’t at times, though, and while that shouldn't stop you from giving it a try, it is something you should prepare for.
7.2 Good
Comments
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Meh this is that on rail game right? not checking. While i still like the series, the fable games imo have gotten worse and worse. They are playable, but no where near that same high as the first one gave you lol.
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is this similar to that childish Fable game?
