As someone who’s only played the first game and found it...impressive for its time but ultimately incredibly tedious, and only briefly dabbled in a few of the sequels before getting bored and jumping ship, this one really surprised me. I was expecting to be put off by yet another Ubisoft open world full of repetitive objectives that I’d just be checking off a list, but I was roped into this fairly early on and even after completing EVERYTHING on the map I’m still excited to dive into the expansions next.

The revamped format for this franchise felt like a breath of fresh air. The combat is FINALLY actually FUN, with a wide range of weapons that each have their own unique feel, strengths, and weaknesses. The world of Egypt is gorgeous, immersive, and a joy to explore, whether I’m riding my horse through a vast desert, navigating the hidden passages of the great pyramids, or walking through the bustling streets of a massive city. I never knew what I was going to see next but I was always excited to find out.

The game’s greatest strength for me, however, was its protagonist. Revenge for a dead child is one of the most generic motivations you could give a character, but where most stories would make their male leads jaded and emotionally distant with this premise, the writing (and stellar acting) for Bayek makes him feel far more complex and dynamic than that. He’s prone to bursts of anger about various social injustices in the world, but he’s also fiercely & passionately devoted to his wife, is incredibly good with children, and will stop whatever he’s doing to talk a woman down from suicide by sharing his own experiences with grief and how he’s coped with it. To see a male protagonist who’s so compassionate and open about his feelings like this feels unfortunately rare, but he quickly became one of my favourite game protagonists of all time.

The story itself was serviceable, and seeing how the assassins brotherhood was formed was exciting even for a non-series fan like myself, but beyond that there isn’t a whole lot to say. Mainly it was Bayek who carried me through. If he cared about something, I did too.

All in all, one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve had recently with a game, can’t wait to see the resolution of Bayek’s journey in the expansions, and to play the other sequels...some day.

I’m not crazy about some of the artistic liberties taken, which I feel changed the overall atmosphere of the game to a significant degree, but taken on its own it’s a visually splendid experience and getting to play one of my favourite games with this level of visual fidelity was a great way to kick off the new gaming generation.

The quality of life improvements they made while keeping the core gameplay experience as close to the original as possible was much appreciated, and it’s a testament to just how well the original’s foundation holds up. Two console generations later and I could still spend hundreds of hours in the hauntingly beautiful world of Boletaria

It's deeply flawed, like every game in this franchise was, but there's an undeniable charm to it that kept me invested to the end, even if I did spend a lot of that play time eager to move on to the sequel.

The combat is probably the most...challenging (?) in the series, but that's not saying much. The story is very simple, there aren't many characters that stand out, and the level design truly is just a series of straight lines, and yet....I love it all.

I'll probably elaborate if/when I decide to review Fable 2, but Albion is a setting that holds a very special place in my heart. Playing a Fable game, even the lesser entries, feels like coming home.

There's not really anything else like them. I'm eagerly anticipating the new one but I can't say I'm not worried about the fact that Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios couldn't be the ones making it. It was their insane ambition and willingness to follow through on their outlandish ideas that made these games stand out from the pack, and I don't think that this franchise's unique personality is something that will be easy to replicate.