7. Fable 3 (Or 2.5)
Fable 3 was released with much acclaim off the back of its predecessors' successes. I remember playing the original Fable, and being given the freedom to make "right or wrong" choices thrilled me as it allowed me, the gamer, to have an impact, however small, on the gaming world around me. Many games make promises of such content, and although overall I don't think the Fable series fully delivers on this point, it at least makes a good job of fooling you into thinking it has. Regardless, the reason I added the 2.5 behind the title was that many people who bought the third game in the franchise were left unhappy, due to inferior graphics and simplified controls. New features, such as the "new touch mechanic" felt clumsy and unfinished, taking away the feel good factor left by some of the game's more decent areas. Many areas of the previous game, such as emotions, looking after people/property and even questing seemed to take a huge step backwards. Shortcuts were made to make them feel streamlined, but ended up forcing the gamer to go a long way to do a simple action. Questing way-points would lead you in the wrong direction then suddenly vanish, meaning you sometimes had to guess or wander aimlessly for a while until the trail magically "realigned" and lead you towards salvation. The game did do a lot right and ended up being quite enjoyable, but it was unfinished. If a developer wants to sell people features, then fine, but make sure they fully work and won't end up causing more headaches. I remember having several issues with my dog getting lost behind corners or barrels, and having to manually run back round to "free" him from this invisible force field. Perhaps the high standards set in the previous two incantations of Fable set my sights higher than they should have been, but with all the income generated from them, surely more time and resources could have been used to make the third installment the prized jewel in the already decorated crown?