How the Fable II Episode 1 shakedown works

As part of our continuing effort to plaster Fable II news all over the front page of Destructoid, we now bring you details on how the downloadable versions of the game — released this morning, you know — talk to each other.

This morning we ran through the first downloadable episode in the five-part series. This slice features two key parts of the whole of Fable II: childhood and the Guild Caverns. After completion, the hero is instructed to kill the bandit Thag and move on to Bowerstone Market, another area previously visited, as a child, in this episode. The market, however, is not accessible — as Lionhead promised, the transactions do take place inside the episode. An invisible wall will prevent entry into the area and a screen pops up, that teases more of the adventure and asks if players want to purchase Episode 2 for 800 MS Points.

Clicking “Purchase Episode 2” (with the “X” button) will bring up a Marketplace blade. Choosing “Return” (the “A” button) will allow players to run around the area immediately outside of Bowerstone called “Bowerstone Lake.” There’s not much to do in this area, other than wish to be somewhere else, which happens to be the goal of the aforementioned purchasing option.

What do you guys think of this? Have you played it? Does this model work for you?