After staying up until roughly about four am last night, I finally finished fable 2. All in all, I was definitely pleased with not only the end result, but the entire journey along the way. The graphics are beautiful, the navigation is easy, and the humor is charming.

The story begins with a choice: this time, you get to choose to play as a girl or a boy. From there, your first quest emerges in your childhood town. However, you soon find out that your 'little sparrow' has to grow up pretty fast, and the quest for vengeance begins.

The map in this game, unlike in the first fable, is accessed only through the pause screen (along with a plethora of other options). This, and the handy optional yellow brick road 'light', make finding your way out of a particuarly nasty cave very easy. Of course, you can and are encouraged to explore the many areas surrounding your desginated 'path'. There are dig spots, treasure chests, and silver keys to be found, among other things. The fighting strategy is pretty decent as well: you get to use five dimensions of magic, melee and ranged weapons. However, the single best thing in the game (in my humble opinion) is your faithful and loyal canine companion. You can even name him! He alerts you to approaching dangers, finds the dig spots and treasure chests, and can even perform expressions with you, once you learn it from an expression book. Your dog also reflects how pure or corrupt you decide to become.

There's a whole world to explore here besides just following the main storyline. Getting married, having kids, taking a job, buying or renting out a house, going shopping, having protected or unprotected sex, and even (!) prostitues are just a taste of what you can take part in. I highly recommend the game to an rpg lover or even to a casual gamer. It's pretty easy, engaging, and you become really attached to the characters. (I even teared up during one of the last cut scenes). The only complaint I have is with the pause screen options. Sure, it's easy to access the maps and items, but pausing in the middle of a rough fight sequence just to access a cure-all-health potion kind of takes away some of the momentum. It does make it easier, however, to try and keep those experience points. Another tasty treat: fans of Firefly will be happily surprised with how some things turn up. So play and enjoy it! Just remember to wear a condom. And oh, one of my favorite lines: "The time is, very late!".
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Onto other news...if you haven't yet checked out the new Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series, I highly recommend you do so. It's got a great, vintage Batman vibe and a wonderful sense of humour. I haven't seen all the eps yet, but they're all tivoed and waiting to be watched. Check out this link to see some pictures and videos of an episode featuring the Blue Beetle!
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If you're just as excited as I am about the watchman finally getting the green light, then cheers! There's a new viral site that features exclusive content and overall cute, kitschy stuff preparing you for the film. If you don't have any of the single issues, now is the time to acquire some: we're currently on issue # 5 of the reprinting. I plan on rereading the trade a week before the movie comes out!

Tuesday releases: Repo! The Genetic Opera, Max Payne, Moonlight, Saw V, City of Ember

Also, I've been working on a new idea for a site redesign. I figure, if I'm going to be good about continuous updates, then I'm going to make sure it looks stellar. Did I just say stellar? Yeah, I went there.