Buried like a cursed treasure at the bottom of this week’s episode of the official Xbox Podcast was news about Playground Games’ long-awaited Fable. I call it “treasure” because it included a rare glimpse at gameplay, but “cursed” because it came with the dreaded caveat that accompanies many development updates: a delay. Originally planned to launch this year, Fable is now set for a 2026 release.
Delays, of course, aren't necessarily harbingers of doom, despite the agonizing wait they impose. In Fable’s case, this delay could be a sign of a richly detailed world that simply needs more time to bloom. But while we wait, there's no better time to dive into the Fable series. Specifically, I'd urge you to try Fable 2, the series' highpoint, and (re)discover the strange and unique RPG crafted by Lionhead Studios in 2008.
By today's role-playing game standards, Fable 2 is quite unusual. Even compared to its contemporaries from 2008, like Fallout 3 and BioWare's early 3D titles, it stands out with its unique vision. While Fable 2 features a traditional campaign with a linear main story and an eclectic mix of side quests, its RPG systems diverge significantly from the detailed stat blocks of games like Oblivion and Neverwinter Nights. It simplifies these aspects to create a highly approachable experience, even for those who find a D&D character sheet as decipherable as hieroglyphics.
Just six main skills govern your health, strength, and speed. Weapons only have a single damage stat, and armor and accessories don't have complex stats. Combat, though prevalent, is straightforward swashbuckling, enhanced by creative spellcasting, such as the amusing Chaos spell that forces enemies to dance or scrub floors. Even death is lenient, with the only penalty being a minor XP loss.
Fable 2 is the RPG for those new to the genre. Back in 2008, when Oblivion's vast open world might have been overwhelming for RPG newcomers, Fable 2's Albion offered a more manageable set of smaller, easy-to-navigate maps. With your loyal dog companion pointing out adventures, you can explore beyond the beaten path to uncover secrets like buried treasure, sunken caves, and the enigmatic Demon Doors. This lends the world a sense of scale and opportunity beyond its actual size. However, Albion’s geography is somewhat restrictive, guiding you along linear paths between landmarks. It's not a world to get lost in, in the traditional sense.
While Albion's physical world doesn't compare to the expansive realms of BioWare’s Infinity Engine games or Bethesda's quirky Morrowind, judging it by modern or contemporary RPG standards would be unfair. Fable 2 focuses on a world bustling with life, reminiscent of Maxis' singular The Sims. Through this lens, you'll find a remarkable simulation of society.
Albion operates like a strange, organic clockwork organism. Every morning, as the sun rises, its people wake and begin their routines. Town criers announce the opening of shops and later, the lateness of the hour. Much like families in The Sims, every citizen of Albion has an interior life, influenced by their roles, likes, and dislikes. Using an expanding library of gestures, you can delight, insult, impress, or even seduce non-hostile characters. A well-executed fart might have pub patrons howling into their beers, while laughing at children could send them running to their parents. These interactions allow you to shape Albion's society, whether through heroism or villainy, in a way few other games achieve.
While your character is a Hero with a capital H, destined for grand adventures and treasure hunts, Fable 2 truly shines when you immerse yourself in its society. Nearly every building in Albion is available for purchase, whether it's houses or shops. You can earn money through jobs like woodcutting or blacksmithing, which become soothing distractions. Once you own a property, you can either become a landlord, setting fair or extortionate rents, or make it your home and furnish it to your taste. Then there's the next step: wooing an NPC with their favorite gesture until they fall for you, leading to a comedic romance and, eventually, a baby. While the individual components may feel artificial, the overall experience creates a genuine sense of life.
Few RPGs have followed in Fable's footsteps in this regard. Even the monumental Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn't include such organic romances and property market gameplay. However, Albion's sense of life finds an unexpected successor in Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar's recreation of the old West is incredibly responsive, with NPCs reacting believably to your actions. Every character can be interacted with using a system similar to Fable 2's gestures, and your demeanor can delight or annoy. Significant interactions, like saving someone from a snake bite, can lead to long-term relationships and kindness. If Playground's new Fable aims to stay true to its origins, it should draw inspiration from Rockstar's living world rather than the current trend of tabletop-inspired RPGs.
There are other essential elements Playground must retain. Fable's distinctly British humor, with its dry, witty satire of the class system and inevitable bum jokes, must remain. The game needs a cast of beloved actors, like Richard Ayoade and Matt King seen in trailers. But perhaps most crucial, beyond the bustling world, is Lionhead's approach to good and evil.
Peter Molyneux, founder of Lionhead Studios and lead designer of the Fable series, has a fascination with the dichotomy of good and evil. This was the core of Lionhead's first project, Black & White, and continued through Molyneux's career, including his upcoming Masters of Albion. But Lionhead's approach to player choice is far from the nuanced decisions in The Witcher or BioWare's best works. In Fable 2, your choices are either purely angelic or despicably demonic, with no middle ground. It thrives on comedic extremes; an early side quest might have you clearing pests or destroying a trader's stock. Later, a ghost might ask you to torment his ex-fiancée or marry her.
Recent RPG development has focused on ultimate player expression through choices spanning a spectrum of human behavior. Moral dilemmas are seen as more complex than choosing between saving or harming children. However, Fable thrives on its binary choices. It allows you to be the most heroic hero or the most heinous villain, a concept established in the first game with physical manifestations like devil horns for evil choices. Fable 2 enhances this with richer, more creative quest branches, and a reactive world that reflects your actions, shaping your reputation and alignment. Moral outcomes in RPGs often feel underwhelming because they focus on the middle ground, making evil feel like saving the world with a scowl. Fable 2, however, embraces the extremes, making it work because it only juggles two paths.
It’s unclear if Playground Games will capture this aspect of Fable. This week’s development update included 50 seconds of pre-alpha gameplay footage, but it offered little insight into an authentic Fable experience, aside from the obligatory chicken kick. Yet, a minute of contextless footage can't tell the whole story.
What we can glean from those fleeting seconds is a more detailed world than Fable has ever seen. The main character's horse suggests a less restrictive open world than the 360-era games, and the intricately rendered forest hints at true exploration in this new Albion. The brief shot of a city, dense and vibrant with life, gives hope that Playground Games have maintained the Sims-like societal simulation that makes Fable 2 so unique. I eagerly anticipate pointing and laughing at children, dancing on pub tables, and having a whirlwind romance with a stranger behind the green grocers.
But all of this is a year away. In the meantime, you can revisit or experience Fable 2 for the first time. You'll quickly see why it's so beloved and why it's crucial for Playground Games to preserve its eccentricities. What we don't need is a Fable reimagined as a Witcher clone, a Baldur’s Gate-alike, or a Dragon Age-style RPG. We just need Fable to be Fable, farts and all.
