10 Popular Video Game Series' That Completely Forgot Who They Were

4. Fable

Fable's unique style and quirky personality made it one of the major reasons to own the original Xbox - it was bright, colourful and full of charm; something lacking in most run-of-the-mill RPGs. Fable's jewel in the crown is its gameplay though; far more action-orientated than most of its peers, Fable has a variety of abilities designed to keep the player moving and changing roles at all times. Simply sticking with a melee weapon is a solid tactic but the game actively encourages the player to utilise their magic or ranged skills too. Fable II is generally regarded as the high point of the series, though this is aided by the immense disappointment that surrounded Fable III; designer Peter Molyneux recently stated he was ashamed of the game and implied that issues during the game's creation led to him leaving Lionhead and Microsoft. Regardless of who was to blame, the decision to strip away many of the typical RPG features was a pretty poor one and it turned Fable III into a bland action game, rather than the action-RPG hybrid many had grown to love. Things got even weirder for the series when Microsoft followed up Fable III with an on-rail game called The Journey. Using everybody's favourite device (ha!) the Kinect, Journey saw players casting spells while stuck on a linear path; far removed from the globe-trotting adventures previously seen in the series. Reaction was mixed but generally, thanks to the nature of the Kinect, many simply avoided it. Fable will arrive on the Xbox One next year with Fable Legends; a game that seems to be going back to its RPG roots by adding a Dungeons and Dragons flavour, handing one villainous player the ability to dictate and control the journey of four heroes. It's an interesting concept but it might be worth waiting to see if this is truly the second coming of what was once such a beloved franchise.