Xbox recently took the wraps off Playground Games’ Fable reboot at the Xbox Games Showcase, revealing a fun and whimsical take on the classic franchise. The trailer was well-received, but some observers criticized its lack of gameplay.
Peter Molyneux, who helped design the original Fable and has more recently been dabbling in NFTs, agrees.
“Like you, I would have loved to see more gameplay, but I loved when the hero threw the fireball. I loved the sensation of the impact. I thought it was truly promising. So yes, my expectations are high,” Molyneux told GameReactor in a recent interview.
He went on to praise the IT Crowd’s Richard Ayoade as a “perfect choice” for the game, and that “making him be obsessed with vegetables was very Fable-like.”
The original Fable was an early hit for Xbox thanks in part to Molyneux’s big promises of a constantly-evolving world; one where players could plant an acorn and watch it grown into a mighty oak tree. Molyneux departed Lionhead in 2012, and the studio was shuttered in 2016.
Recalling his work on the original Fable, Molyneux says that Playground Games’ trailer captures
“You know, the thing you have to remember about Fable — I remember sitting down when we were originally designing Fable and saying ‘I think we all agree that Fable would be fun because of what the players do. Its not fun because it has a ton of jokes.’ In reality, it didn’t have any jokes, but it was funny because we let the players react in absurd ways, and that ridiculous energy is there in the trailer,” Molyneux said.
Fable was originally announced back in 2020 as a “new beginning” for the series and went quiet soon after. Little else is known about its world or gameplay.
Peter Molyneux talks about his next game
In the meantime, Molyneux shed some light on a new game that his studio, 22cans, is developing for PC and console. Promising that he wouldn’t call it “the most brilliant game in the world,” he did nevertheless hint that it would feature a “never been seen mechanic.”
“I think that we’ve stumbled onto a mechanic that has never been seen before in a game. I think we’re exploiting this mechanic in a world and an environment that end up being familiar for people. And because it is in this familiar environment, it will be fresh. A lot of this sounds mystical because I’m trying to avoid telling you exactly what it is. But its going to be something a lot closer to an experience you’d get in Fable – Black and White – Dungeon Keeper,” Molyneux said.
“We’ve almost made the decision for this to be a title for PC and consoles instead of mobile devices. I’m not saying we wont ever make it for mobile devices, but without a doubt we’ve decided PC and consoles as the primary platforms, mainly because we need power.”
It appears that Molyneux is referring to a separate game from Legacy, his blockchain-powered project that made millions selling land to players. Legacy is still in early access.
Molyneux has frequently been criticized for making big promises in his games only for those promises to fail to materialize, and 22cans’ track record to date has not been positive. Whether his next project is able to revive his reputation as a genuine innovator remains to be seen.
As for Fable, it still does not have a release date.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.