Fable Legends has recently been announced as being the next instalment in the Fable franchise. As much as I want to think of this game in a positive light, I just can't. It brings me no joy to talk smack about Lionhead Studios in the way I am about to. I love Fable, and have great respect for what they have done in the past. Fable 1 was brilliant, such a charmingly fun yet challenging game, which laid out a solid foundation for sequels to champion into ground-breaking games. Unfortunately, from there it seemed to slowly go down hill. Fable 2 was still a great game and was an improvement in many respects, but it somehow lacked something which the first game had. Fable 3 was a huge let down in an unforgivable amount of ways. It was just a bone-headed backward ass game (in my humble opinion), but I won't go into specifics of why. And Fable: The Journey... I just... I can't even talk about that. And the man behind all those highs and lows? Why, who else but your good friend Peter Molyneux! Despite his famous nature of over-promising time and time again, I really do like that guy. He is clearly a creative genius in his own right, and has pioneered some really great concepts. But looking back, his days at Lionhead certainly were numbered, and I think it's for the best that he's stepped down as lead developer (over a year ago now). His vision of Fable was becoming too emotion-centric - that is all well and good in a game, but when you are sacrificing the quality of key components of action RPG gameplay for attempting to indulge the player's emotions, it's just a no no. So, with Molyneux out, Lionhead had the chance to take a step back and really think: what is it that has made Fable so successful? What are its weak points? How can we make a Fable game which is innovative, yet sticks to the essence of the older games which the fans loved so much? They could have brought Fable back to its former glory. Alas, I am starting to believe that its just not meant to be. Is a game called Fable 4 too much to ask for? Sure, there are a lot of single player, open world RPGs out there, but Fable has always felt like a breath of fresh air; it's uniquely fun styled world blends a nice mix of humour and darkness. Being able to experience this world through your own hero, your own choices, your own
story, was always a joy. But instead of bringing us more of what we love, they present to us Fable Legends. Now lets talk a bit about that...