Fable Could Be the Reboot the Series Needs

In July of 2020, Microsoft and Xbox teased the return of one of the most iconic fantasy RPG series of the original Xbox generation. While not much is known just yet, the teases we’ve seen for the Fable remake paint an intriguing picture of a world we haven’t seen for quite some time.

The original Xbox had a lot of great worlds for gamers to explore. From the rings of Halo: Combat Evolved to the rich, lore-filled world of the original Fable, there were a lot of options for players to jump into. So, when Xbox revealed a short teaser trailer for a Fable remake, the company instantly had my attention.

Despite a strong start with Fable and Fable II, the series fell to the wayside after Fable III. Fans held a strong love for the series, but after Fable III there were only knock-off games like Fable Heroes, which completely removed the original elements that many, myself included, had fallen in love with.

To see that title appear in a teaser trailer once again, for a full-fledged game nonetheless, felt great. All the memories came flooding back, like the first time I accidentally hit the wrong person during a mission early in the game.

I remember the guilt that I felt over killing someone that I thought to be good, and then the lack of guilt when I decided to go completely evil in a future playthrough. Being able to fully control how I approached the world, and what my character saw as moral and immoral was something that I’d never seen in a game before.

Beautifully Free

One of the best things about the original Fable series was the freedom to be who I wanted to be. Sure, I was the main character, but that didn’t mean I had to be good. Every action that I took could tip the scales of my moral compass.

Would I be good, and roam the land with angelic features, a shining light to the people? Or would I give in to the darkness in my heart, the whispers of selfishness that played at the edge of my subconscious as I had to choose to save the people of the town or watch it burn in the wake of a bandit attack. It was this ability to openly choose how to balance the line between good and evil that pulled me so deeply into that world.

Nature is brutal. That’s one of the main lessons I learned from the original Fable, and Playground Games seems to be capturing some of that same tone, showcasing both the good and the "not so good" that we’ll see in the world in the teaser.

Throughout much of the World Premiere trailer we follow a pixie as it flies through the forest, clearly enjoying its flight through the canopies of trees, soaring above the ground. Then suddenly, without any kind of warning, the pixie is eaten by a giant frog.

The frog is a stark reminder that not all is magic and pixie dust in the fantasy land that we’ll be exploring when Fable comes back to the Xbox Series X and Series S. The camera keeps moving, rising about the trees to highlight a massive castle in the background. Albion is calling out to us, and one day we’ll be able to answer that call.

Kingdoms Are Not Built in a Day

Of course, there are still a lot of questions surrounding the new Fable. Will it be more along the lines of the traditional games of the past, or will it follow the leaks and rumors that we saw cropping up in 2019?

Nobody is really sure, just yet. I do know one thing, though. Being able to jump back into the world of Albion—whether through Demon Doors that allow us to travel to other planets or through the more traditional fantasy setting of the original games—is exciting. I loved the original Fable games, and the idea of seeing such a beloved and favorite series brought to life in a new way makes the next generation of games we have coming even more enticing.

The past entries in the series leave a lot for the developers to work with and build from. The sandbox feel of the world that allows you to directly influence the balance of good and evil is something that few RPGs have managed to explore, and none so well as the original Fable.

The blueprint is there. All the developers have to do is follow it, mix things up a little bit, and the new Fable could be a really cool RPG for fans to dive into when it releases on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.