Last month proved to be a good one for longtime fans of theFablefranchise after a new game was officially announced at the Xbox Games Showcase event. Of course, theconfirmation of a newFablegameis definitely good news to its loyal fanbase given that the franchise has skipped releasing a mainline title for the Xbox One.
AlthoughFableis now confirmed to be in development, there is still not much information players know about the upcoming game except that it is being developed by Playground Games and will release on the Xbox Series X and PC. As of the moment, the upcoming game is not calledFable4 but simplyFable, which suggests that the newest entry may be a reboot of the fantasy RPG franchise. Given this, Playground Games has the opportunity to rebrand the franchise altogether, and while players still don’t know what will change, here are some essential things that the newest entry should have.
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A True Open-World Experience
ThroughoutFable’slong history, the franchise has featured amazing characters that players can encounter. However, many noted how lackluster the world itself can be. One thing that Playground Games could improve in the upcomingFablegame is tooffer a true open-world environmentthat not only offers tons of exploration opportunities but also a world that feels alive.
Playground Games could probably look at how Nintendo designed Hyrule inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,or better yet, Sucker Punch’sGhost of Tsushima. In the latter, players find themselves in an expansive version of ancient Japan, and instead of putting waypoints to direct players where their next objective will be,Ghost of Tsushimaallowed players to utilize the environmental elementsto get a sense of where they need to head to next.
Decisions That Matter to the Story and the Game’s World
Another area that the newFablegame could improve on is the impact that choices players make will have on the story and other characters in the game. Although previousFablegames did provide players with some choices, their consequences don’t really have an impact on the grander scheme of things, and they don’t even matter in succeeding games. A good example ofa choice system that Playground Games could adopt is that of theDragon Agefranchise.
InDragon Age,players are presented with numerous choices that will have an impact to how the story would eventually play out. In fact, BioWare even had to create a system inDragon Age: Inquisitionwhere players would have to summarize their choices in the previous games in order tocarry out these decisions toInquisition’sstory. Moreover, every single choice the player makes inDragon Agewould affect how other characters would perceive the player, opening up dialog options and specific side quests.
A Deeper Morality System
Of course, tied to the choices of players isthe morality system inFable. In previous installments, the morality system is pretty straightforward and choices players make would dub them as either good or bad. Instead of this black and white approach, Playground Games could design the morality system to embrace more morally grey choices that would go beyond a two-dimensional view of a character’s morality.
A good example of this would beThe Last of Us 2. AlthoughThe Last of Us 2does not give players control of the morality of the characters, it didn’t paint anyone as just good or just bad. Instead,every main character inThe Last of Us 2falls in the grey areawhere they had to make difficult choices to survive. This exposes the motivations and flaws of each character, making them more fleshed-out, and more human. Of course, this is not to say thatFableshould take away control from players with regards to their character’s morality. Instead, there should be a middle ground instead of the two-dimensional morality system in previous games.
Keep The Classic British Humor
One thing thatPlayground Games should retain in the upcomingFablegameis the humor that made the franchise stand out in the first place. In previous installments, every element of the game’s world is infused with humor such as item descriptions and quests that are filled with little jokes.
Of course, taking this less serious approach in the game’s design makes it fun and a little bit lighter to play, which is why Playground Games should not remove this from the upcoming title. Luckily, it appears thatFable’snew developer has no intention of taking a serious approach inFable’sdesign, which is clearly seen just fromthe debut trailer alone.
A More Rewarding Combat System
Last and certainly not least is the combat system. In previousFablegames, combat mostly revolves with players just slashing and hacking their way in every encounter. Sure, players can dodge attacks and use special skills, but it doesn’t really get more complicated than that. Instead of taking this straightforward approach in combat, the newFablegame could step up every enemy encounter by encouraging players to use a little bit of strategy when dealing with enemies.
Fablecould achieve this by improving its leveling system and ensuring that players are given a wide assortment of skills and abilities that they can use on specific enemies. Of course, this is not to say thatPlayground Gamesshould design an ultra-complicated combat system, but anything that breaks away from a simple hack and slash would definitely go a long way.
In the end, given thatFableis still in its early stages of development, there is no sure way of knowing where Playground Games plans to take the franchise with its new game. However, given the hype surrounding Fable shortly after its release, it is certain that more information, preferably through trailers and gameplay footage, will be released in the coming months. Nonetheless, it appears that Microsoft is really stepping up its game, especially in the realm of first-party single-player RPGs with the development ofFableand Obsidian Entertainment’sAvowed.
Fableis currently in development for the PC and Xbox Series X.
MORE:Avowed, Fable, and the Future of RPGs on the Xbox Series X.
