Fable Xbox Series SX: 10 Things It Can Learn From Yakuza
Learn from the quirky open-world master.
Eleven years.
That's how long it's been since the last mainstream Fable game was released.
After that, the series went into full-on experimental mode, churning out casual-aimed games, a questionable remaster of the original, and leaving the overarching storyline to a Kinect-exclusive game that most fans couldn't play. It was during the development of the asymmetric multiplayer experience Fable Legends that Microsoft shut down Lionhead and mothballed the series.
Now, with Playground Games rebooting the series as a high end role-playing game for current generation consoles, Fable is heading back into the limelight. However, RPGs have changed since the last Fable and fans will expect the new game to both follow some of these evolutions.
But with so many different games advancing what we expect of RPGs in different ways, there's a real danger that Playground could create a game that loses what was special about Fable in the first place.
These are the lessons we think they should learn from the games that have come to the front since the last mainstream release, starting with ten things Fable could learn from the Yakuza series.
10. Make Albion The Distinctly British Star
It should go without saying that one of the appeals the classic Fable games had was their distinctly British stylings. Everything in the games from the accents to the landscape, the creatures, and the very style of humour were all quintessentially British, and this is something fans will expect from the reboot series.
In much the same way, the Yakuza games are quintessentially Japanese in their stylings, never feeling like anything other than a cheesy Japanese action movie. Much of this is down to the wonderfully designed Kamurocho, and while we'll look at some of the game-ified design aspects in later entries, here we're concentrating on how it feels realistic.
An homage to the Tokyo entertainment district, this was so lovingly created that visitors Kabukicho are able to recognize places that the game obviously took inspiration from.
While a fantasy version of the Arthurian-era British Isles doesn't need to feel too akin to modern-day Britain, the development team needs enough understanding of British culture and legends to make traversing the land a compelling and comedic experience - akin to playing the starring role in the player's very own Blackadder episode.