Beats the shit out of Fable 2 for sure, almost stroked out at the beginning and I haven't even made an emotional connection to any character.
As for Fable 1......I MUCH prefer the controls for that over 3 (not that 3 is bad, just preference). I just unlocked the 2nd gauntlet so I could spell weave
and the game had to go back.
The disclaimer here is; I could not for the life of me get into Fable 2 at all, so I have very little experience with it as it compares to 3. With that said, 3 was much more engaging from the start and I couldn't put the controller down to go to sleep (read that as up until 7:30 AM playing).
The wife and I spent the weekend getting over CO poisoning so all she did was surf the net while I played XBOX, I can tell you also, that Force Unleashed 2 was fucking badass, but I don't think I can play it again (same deal with the first....just too repetitive for me).
I really wish Fable 2 hadn't fucked my preconceived notion of what 3 would be or else FU2 (hehehe) would've have never even had the chance to spin up in the tray.
I really liked it.