Fable II E3 Previews
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In the past, Molyneux has spoken about the need to have unprotected sex in order to get a girl pregnant in Fable 2. Of course, that implies that you can have protected sex. When asked about condoms in Fable 2, Molyneux confirmed that not only are they in the game, but they also protect against sexually transmitted diseases. There are unchaste women and men in the world that could potentially pass on something nasty to your character (Molyneux promised this wouldn't affect the gameplay too much).
Those pesky STD's make fooling around behind your husband or wife's back something to be done with care. But you can do it. If the action at home isn't enough, Molyneux promised us that, "we fully support adultery," in Fable 2. Cheat on your spouse all you like, just don't let them catch you or anything catch you and you're in the clear.
Then there's GameShark:
There's a game in there, though. The experience gained in combat is divided by skills; use one skill a lot and you gain experience points in it. This experience is then spent on more feats and power upgrades. This leads to a lot of customization in your character, and, importantly, his/her canine companion. Your dog will also gain experience and change appearance as it helps you fight quests and solve the world's problems.
Molyneux walks us through one of the early cities, pointing out an annoying bard who will sing of your accomplishments (or cowardice) for all to hear. The conversation system gives you options to flirt or frighten your way into people's hearts. Every character has a descriptive history that gives you a clue as to what they will respond to. A woman of loose morals is more likely to fall to a male hero's advances, a lesbian is less likely. The text takes a lot of guesswork out of interaction.
Followed by Joystiq:
Combat feels more or less the same way it did in Fable, except this time everything has been streamlined. Each combat action is assigned to a face button. The X button is for melee, Y is for ranged, B is for magic. It's that simple. Combat actions can be chained together easily using each button, making it very simple to mix swords, guns, and magic into the same fight. Different variations on attacks are achieved by either tapping a button or holding it down in combination with movements of the left stick. For instance, press a direction and the magic button and you release a targeted magic missile. Leave the stick neutral and press the magic button to release an area effect spell.
The way spells are organized has been streamlined as well. There are several different tiers of spells,with each tier corresponding to how long the B button must be held. As one might expect, the higher the tier, the more powerful the spell and the more time required to cast it. Organizing which spells are assigned to which tiers is a simple procedure. While holding the right trigger, press up on the D-Pad to cycle through each tier and press left or right to choose the spell to be assigned to the selected tier. Using this method, players can customize their hero's magic repertoire on the fly without ever pausing the game.
