Unlike the name that resembles the pretty intuitive game and its sequel on consoles in recent memory, this program in no way represents Fable, the game we all know.
I wasn't too disappointed. The absence of a screenshot led me to assume I would be reviewing a text-based RPG, and that's exactly what I got. What I didn't expect, was that the developer actually seems to tolerate us critics, and has also expressed interest in continuing this project. Ohoho! Feeling confident, are we, Matt?
As far as installation goes, the documentation was lacking, but adequate. I installed the game, and ran it with absolutely no problems, except deciding when was the right time to hit [ENTER]. The title screen didn't feel particularly compelling, but let's go with it, right? I was surprised, upon loading, that I went straight to an ASCII map. It seemed to depict a small town, with businesses/events marked by numbers, some walls, and theta, which I discovered to be myself.
There really didn't seem to be any point to a grand epic story. I thought that maybe if I could prove myself to be some sort of lousy, evil, murderous bastard, maybe my character could be forced to become an X, because X is a particularly evil letter, isn't it? However, as I went to the 'kill things here' depot, I realized that town was the only map in the game. Well, once I had killed some 'MANS', I healed up and tried to explore the rest of the small town.
This was cut short, as when I explored area '6', I was thrust into a battle with some mysterious entity, who I will name 'Six'. Because there is no option to run or use any special attacks in battle, the battle procedes without you, leaving you to walk off and amuse yourself. Once I died, the game closed. Leaving me to wonder who this mysterious Six is. Why did he hate me so? Is it because I killed some MANS? Would he have attacked me if I hadn't?
Apparently so. This game leaves the player totally in the dark to what the heck is going on. The terrible application of the world map leaves it simply slower than just having a menu of six options. The author stinks of 'novice', but not of 'n00b'. He avoided making too many terrible mistakes, and I hope he intends to add more to it. It could have been a lot faster and much more detailed. However, the battle system needs a total re-haul, and the game could use some sort of status, and especially graphics.
I would recommend this game to OTHER novice programmers. They may learn something to make their own projects better. If it's considered a plus, then the code in this game is pure textbook, like something fresh made right from a tutorial. Whether it's worth a look is due to personal preference. Actually, if Matt B. and Jeff Z (author of rs2calc) teamed up, they might be an ultimate force in calculator RPGs. They each have good points in their projects, and a collaborative effort might profit both of them.
That concludes my review, and hopefully some good will come out of it. All the guy needs is a little ambition here. Actually, on an off note, this game does have more menial skills, but even when I caught a fish, it didn't seem to have the slightest bearing on what happened to me anyway. I mean, if you catch a fish in an RPG, you normally do something useful with it, right? There's not much you can do with a fish anyway. I bet if I roasted and seasoned it, I could have appeased the mighty Six, but it didn't seem that I could do that anyway.
