To be fair, Fable II is not a complete copy of the first Fable. For one, you have a dog accompanying you throughout the entire game, finding treasure, attacking enemies and learning tricks. Molyneux and his team put a lot of effort into "man's best friend," and it shows. You can also do odd jobs for money and interact with, and even marry, the various townsfolk, though some considered the social interaction mini-game tedious and the random jobs crude.

One of the more touted additions to the gameplay of Fable II is that of co-op play, letting you quest with a friend. The mode is limited, however, since the player must choose a pre-made character to use. This disappointed fans who wanted to use their own personalized character to experience the story, adventure, and maybe even make babies with the other character.

Other common complaints revolved around the lack of any real penalty for death [Almost seems like an odd thing to be complaining about. - Ed.] and the game's short main quest, clocking in at around a dozen hours. Despite niggling criticisms, Fable II has been generally very well received with an 89 percent average on GameRankings.com.

"There are mild issues that come up every now and then. Your character never speaks, and performs his or her motions through physical movements. This is awkward, especially when you're trying to show your true self. In addition, you never really die. You'll rack up scars for each time you're 'killed,' only to come back from where you left off," reads GameDaily's 9-out-of-10 review. "Those problems aside, Fable II is a remarkable sequel and a wonderful role-playing romp that fans will appreciate, one with a splendid presentation and the freedom of choice. It's the kind of story you'll wish never ends."

This Fable won't end like this.
Fable II is one of Microsoft's biggest titles of the year, so no expense was spared in promoting the game. Lionhead released a detailed history of Albion on their website, posted detailed video diaries documenting Fable II's various features, culminating in a release trailer that asked pointedly, "Who will you become?" Peter Molyneux also participated in a Q&A with GameDaily BIZ – the first part can be read here and the second part can be read here.

With sales of nearly 800,000 units in the U.S. alone in its first month, Fable II proves that the IP has serious staying power. We at GameDaily BIZ now consider it among the top franchises in Microsoft's game library along with (though perhaps not equal to) Gears of War and Halo. Considering that Molyneux has already stated that he has a rough draft for the next three games in the Fable universe, we expect that Lionhead is already moving full speed ahead with Fable III as we speak.