Fable Xbox Series SX: 10 Things It Can Learn From Yakuza
5. Create NPCs That Live In The World
The Fable games have some of the most wasted NPCs in RPG history. Who can forget Gorgoron the Soulslicer, scourge of all that is holy and pure, after all?
Well, you'd better because, like every interesting NPC in Fable, that little girl is just set dressing designed to show up in one mission and never be seen again no matter how much sense it makes for them to appear elsewhere.
Contrast that with Yakuza, a series that does progression like no other role-playing game because it isn't just Kiryu that grows as a person, but the whole world that advances over time.
As mentioned in the last segment, characters in the Yakuza sub-stories often seem to be there simply for a silly moment that brings a bit of light to otherwise quite dark storylines… until, that is, they show up in a later mission or game, with an extension to their storylines.
Each of these cross-game appearances assumes that Kiryu has completed their sub-story from the previous games and they greet him like a friend, giving even more of a feeling that Kiryu gains allies and comes to the aid of different organizations as part of his life in this world.