From creating my own Fable-inspired trousers back in 2010, to actually printing my own copies of the Fate Cards that came with the Fable II Press Release edition that never made it into retail due to production problems—I have always been a huge fan of the Fable series.
And also thoroughly disappointed by Fable III.
It’s not an understatement to say that I’ve been waiting for this moment since 7 March 2016, when Microsoft announced the cancellation of Fable Legends and the then-proposed closure of Lionhead Studios.
Sure we’ve had comments like, “a lot of places it [the franchise] could go”, and leaked videos but these don’t say, “we mean business” like an official trailer.
Then again, we did get an official blahdey blah for Fable Legends and that still got cancelled.
But with a healthy dose of scepticism, we’re finally here.
Cue the trailer.
How are we all feeling?
Now, the internet being the internet, there are already whiny man-babies complaining about the gender representation of the main character and the historical accuracy of spectacles.
We’ll be ignoring their bullshit today though, as it doesn’t warrant any of our time or attention.
Instead, we’re going to look at the things that I think make an action role-playing game worthy of the legacy and title of Fable.
And then we’ll simply wait to actually play the actual game, to you know, actually make the judgement about whether it is those things or not.
Full disclaimer: No one gives a shit what I think so I don’t expect these opinions to actually be reflected in the released game. It’s almost 20 years since the first game was released. Whatever memories I have are tinted by nostalgia, being in a drunken haze, or both.
Disclaimer done, here are the top five things I self-indulgently hope the new Fable game does.
Humour
The Brits have an almost unique self-deprecating and dry sense of humour. As a Finn, it’s a humour I have always loved.
From silly talking doors to kicked chickens, it never takes itself too seriously.
I could hear a villager shouting “wanker” after our hero in the trailer so that’s promising and I hope Titles make a return so that I can once again become the legendary Chicken Chaser.
Music
Danny Elfman is the composer for the original intro theme and sets an unmistakable mood. But the man who deserves even more credit is Russel Shaw for maintaining that mood through multiple games.
From Witchwood and Oakvale to Bowerstone, each area had its character and consequent melody and to this day I still listen to all of them.
And I love the soundtracks for all the previous games. Even the cancelled Fable Legends has its title theme on Spotify and it’s fucking lovely.
Character morphing
Although Molyneux’s hype, “plant an acorn, later a tree will grow” was never realised in any of the games, the idea that your choices had an impact was executed in the physical appearance of your character and the way that it morphed as a result of your choices.
Instead of letting you shape your character through a UI, diegetic or otherwise, your choices in the game dictated how you looked and evolved—and I loved it.
Continuing the character morphing, give me more nuanced choices in terms of morality by making it a matrix instead of a binary, please.
Wooing
Carrying on the time-honoured tradition of previous Fable games, I would like to be able to woo and marry men or women, preferably in multiple locations—but who knows, maybe if they happen to follow me they find out about each other—oh no, the drama.
Give me some of that delicious drama of domestic life.
Better combat
This is a tricky one. Fable I’s combat was simplistic but worked well enough. Fable III tried making it more challenging but actually just ended up making it terrible.
In terms of close combat mechanics, if it was me—but it’s not haha—I would look to the Batman Arkham series and the Witcher series for inspiration.
Honestly, I’m not really sure here because I’m imagining something that doesn’t exist, no Fable game has had a great core combat loop—please fix this.
And those were my five things.
Going back to the trailer, I do have a complaint about—surprise surprise wanker!
I don’t understand the sandwich joke and thought our hero should have been eating a carrot instead—in keeping with the vegetable theme and as a nice reference to the golden carrots in Fable I.
Just picture it, we zoom out on that last shot to reveal that they are sitting on Dave’s glasses, holding a carrot. As they take a bite, the sound of its unmistakable crunch cuts to the Fable logo.
Eagerness level: 4 kicked chicken out of 5.
Honestly though, bring it on Playground Games, I look forward to trying Fable.