For many franchises it's the middle-child of a given trilogy that's the best of the lot. Free from being too stressed out making an initial impact, loaded up with plenty feedback to apply to a framework the team are more familiar with and distanced from the pressure of wrapping anything up for eternity, it's these sophomore entries like Fable 2, Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2 etc. that excel far and beyond expectations. It's the bucketloads of charm that sell Fable far and above any shortcomings it may have had depending on how much you bought into the PR spiel Creative Director Peter Molyneux was spouting in the lead-up to release. In the end Fable 2 is simply the nearest approximation gaming has got to living out your own storybook-style fantasy tale; replete with brilliant animation, loveable side characters, your own dog for company - and humour that's more English than John Cleese riding a giant scone to a tea party.
