I’m very excited about Playground Games’ reboot of Fable, my early impression is that the studio understands what made the original series so captivating and charming. It’s all been positive so far, and we’ll assuredly find out more specifics of the setting as we approach the game’s release date next year.

However, I do have some concerns about the continuity of the series. This is a reboot, Playground isn’t subject to the narrative decisions of the series’ creators Lionhead Studios. That being said, it would be a shame if Playground opted to start again from the ground-up. I have great memories of Fable and I quite enjoyed seeing the continuity from game to game as communities changed, history was forgotten or rewritten and technology advanced.

A Return to Roots

While we haven’t seen much of the new Fable, the brief glimpses of the town we saw in the game’s most recent trailer suggests Albion has not undergone the industrial revolution we saw in Fable 3. I prefer this as one of the charming aspects of Fable is how rural it is; the environments of Fable and Fable 2 are idyllic and rustic.

My prediction is that this new Fable is a complete reboot and won’t include the lore of the previous trilogy, and I completely understand why this would be the case. Albion was changed irrevocably during the events of Fable 3, and fans of the series would likely prefer the Albion we saw in Fable 2 (arguably the most popular entry in the series).

To portray a technological decline in Albion would be narrative hand-waving, and would essentially be the same story as we saw in the interval between the first two games, 500 years went by and society didn’t really progress, except now they have guns. You’d need some kind of apocalyptic or cataclysmic event to explain the regression of society between Fable 3 and this new Fable, which is possible but doesn’t seem like the tone that Playground is trying to hit.

So, that leaves us with a full reboot and a discarding of existing canon. A reasonable move and yet, one that brings me a feeling of disappointment. I’ve grown attached to the stories of Fable’s three protagonists, and some of the recurring characters like Reaver and Theresa (though she was overused as a plot device).

I wonder if there’s a middle ground that can be found, something between the complete scrapping of the old Fable and Playground inheriting the bloated canvass of three games worth of iteration. In the trailer, we see Humphrey welcome our protagonist to “Albion’s most exclusive club” as they enter a grand-looking room. I can’t help but wonder if that’s a new Heroes Guild, a prominent part of the original Fable.

I’d like to see Playground graft some of the original Fable’s lore into the new setting, aspects of the world that remain interesting for modern audiences. The concept of ‘true’ heroes being descended from the original hero William Black, and minor heroes with mastery over one aspect of will, but not all of them. I like these little details and I hope they’re preserved.

If it’s a full reboot, it’s a full reboot. Even so, I’d like to see some of the lore aspects of the original Fable games maintained. Playground Games has almost assuredly struck the correct tone from what we’ve seen, let’s hope the studio can also incorporate some of the old lore, too.

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