Title: Fable Fortune
Available On: PC and Xbox One
Developer: Mediatonic, Flaming Fowl Studios
Publisher: Mediatonic
Genre: Collectable Card Game
Official Site: Fable Fortune
Release Date: July 25, 2017
Where To Buy It: Steam, Microsoft Store ($14.99)
Disappointing. Fable Fortune is actually a good game if it worked. The main problem I found with the game is that it constantly kept crashing. In the first ten minutes of the game, it had crashed three times. It just made me more and more frustrated with the actual game. Although, I will give it the benefit of the doubt if they manage to fix all these bugs, as it is still in early access. Even though I do think it is a bit pricey considering players can find alternative card games cheaper. I loved the Fable series, especially since Fable 3 made me fall in love with the gaming industry; so it was a nice reminder of the series I used to play. Lionhead Studios shut down in 2016, but this game survived the closure, unlike Fable Legend. It does have that feeling that it is the last game to ever be worked on by Lionhead Studios as it feels a bit shabby and worn out for such a new game. The whole feel of the game reminds me of something that was created ten years ago by a much-beloved studio but went bankrupt.
I believe Fable Fortune will not come out of Early Access mode. Even though Flaming Fowl took over the project, I still do not think it will improve immensley. To back this evidence up is when Flaming Fowl started a crowdfunding campaign which they cancelled as they got additional funding. However, this was two years ago. Another reason I believe this game is not going to be worked on is because Playground Studios, run by Microsoft, is rumored to be working on another Fable game being worked on, which will just overshadow Fable Fortune. Due to this theory, I would not get the game as the bugs are too much at the moment. My advice is to wait and see what the Fable series is going and how well they can remaster the series.
Anyway back to the game, Fable Fortune is a card game based on the characters in Fable. The mechanics work similar to Hearthstone, where you have battles with each other and you try to defeat the opponent with creature cards and spells. Players can play as one of six unique Heroes in the card game which has tactical gameplay. However, it was so similar in fact, that at times I forgot that I was not playing Hearthstone. It was that good of a copy. But, it did have its own little twist on the game making me love it (when it worked).
Fable Fortune adds a good and evil system to it. This can change the personality and abilities of your character, making it more personal to how you want to play your character. This system also decides what tactics players are going to use to defeat their opponent as good and evil both have their down and upsides to them. The campaign demonstrates these abilities well and is enjoyable at times.
But you do not get to use these abilities as the online services is shocking. It is no surprise, as the game was released over six months ago so no-one is playing the game anymore. This basically makes the game unplayable, which is why soon after I did not continue playing anymore. This factor and that it keeps crashing, despite my computer has better specs than the recommended amount, made me question what is the point of this game. It is a real shame as Fable Fortune could have been a fun little game. But it is not the only franchise that tries to copy Hearthstone, as The Witcher released a the Gwent Beta last year in June. However, that game seemed to have more of a success.
Overall, Fable Fortune lacks a lot of qualities to make it a memorable game. It does surprise me that the game has mostly positive reviews on the Steam page, but a lot of the good reviews are from last year. The price tag is too high as well, for a game that constantly crashes. Especially, because it makes it unplayable. If this is the progress after six months of being released, I really do not believe that this game will get any better and will soon be forgotten and left abandoned in a couple of peoples steam libraries.
