ScreenCritics Emily takes a look back at the Fable franchise - asking why it went wrong and ultimately hoping that Microsoft will bring it back one day.
The news of Fable’s delay has undoubtedly sparked mixed reactions among Xbox fans. As one of the most anticipated exclusives, expectations are sky-high for Playground Games to deliver a modern RPG that lives up to the franchise’s legacy. While delays are often met with frustration, this setback could ultimately be a strategic win for both Fable and Xbox.
Delay it all you like. If it makes me feel like when I first played fable 2. I'll live on it
Publisher Xbox Game Studios and developers Playground Games and Eidos Montreal have delayed Fable from its previously planned 2025 release window to 2026.
Heh. Inb4 that article from a week ago about ms having more games in the pipeline for 2025 than sony is outdated because of delays like this one ^^ https://n4g.com/news/265436...
Right. So now Microsoft's first party for 2025 has gone from 5 to 4 that we know of so far. And Sony's has gone from 1 to 1. Man, what a massive difference.
Can you really compare the two anymore anyway?
Sony may has only 1 big first party game for 2025 announced but they have multiple games they publish and /or helped to create like Lost Soul Aside and Death Stranding 2 and the excellent looking The Midnight Walk as well. Beside that..MS is just a third party developer now. Its like saying "oh..EA releases more games than Microsoft this year..they are better than MS" which is bs. Quantity does not matter.
***Can you really compare the two anymore anyway? ***
Yes. Both have their own hardware with their own storefront. Both have their own first-party studios. Both pay for second and third-party exclusives (in their own way).
I dont understand the Avowed hate its not as good as skyrim but its the closest we are going to get till the next elder scrolls .
Is MS putting out 4 exclusives this year? Not defending Sony's decrease in output of course, but making sure we're comparing apples to apples.
If the point is that the collective studios that MS has bought are putting out more as a third party than the exclusive 1st party studios under Sony, I'd say that's expected... That was the case even before MS bought them.
I think if the goal is to compare exclusives it's a more meaningful comparison because Sony isn't competing to be the biggest third party publisher... But also more difficult to do given the fluid state of Xbox exclusivity
i am glad they are giving more time to make the game. No need to rush it with other games releasing this year from MS. On this site it has become a trend to hate on xbox but they are still the biggest publisher by a long wide margin
Gotta adjust that content drip for the GP Ultimate subs. Can't have them having too many 1st day 1st party launch games per year. Save some for next year.
***I think if the goal is to compare exclusives it's a more meaningful comparison because Sony isn't competing to be the biggest third party publisher.***
What is it with this silly goal post moving attempts?
Microsoft's first-party studios are putting out 4 games this year.
Sony's first-party studios are putting out only 1.
Microsoft's studios are producing more content for gamers, regardless if half of them go to PS5.
Yotei, the show, and marathon. Thats 3 right there. Add in ps published games like death stranding 2, midnight murder club and lost soul aside. That makes 6. Days gone remaster and the rumored God of war greek trilogy remaster being announced next month, bumps it to 8.
Next yr will certainly be bigger for playstation, but it's not like there aren't any 1st party games in 2025.
'Microsoft's studios are producing more content for gamers, regardless if half of them go to PS5.'.
Isn't that like saying Toyota manufacturers more cars than GM?
'That we know of so far'
Yeah. Well, let's review the situation at the end of December.
The goal posts have been the consoles. Console wars right? For Sony it's still the console.
What are you counting? Multiplatform games? If they release on Xbox and PlayStation both platforms win - they cancel out. This isn't Third Party Wars. We don't pit EA vs. Ubisoft....
Tbh there’s so many great games, 1st party doesn’t even matter to me anymore. You can play any MS game in PC or your TV without a box. Just grab a PS5 and everything is covered.
I just live great games
I don't understand why people are trying to give Sony a pass on not utilizing their studios when this was the criticism made against Microsoft for almost a decade. Where the games goes doesn't matter, it's about utilizing those studios to make games.Those studios that keep game prices higher and increase the price of PSN services over time. If they're not producing, we're paying more for nothing.
^
This is a thread about MS, not Sony.
I'm not giving Sony a pass.
I had no interest in Concord (but they did deliver a game though)
I wanted Factions as I played quite a lot of LoU multiplayer (mainly on PS3). However, Intergalactic is my most wanted game, followed by Saros.
I wanted Days Gone 2, not whatever Bend were working on. I've been vocal about liking that game since Day 1. Have beaten it 3 times.
Think that's everything, or is there something else I should be mad at?
Currently playing Death Stranding Director's Cut. Beat the original game on PS4. Got it Day 1. Looking forward to 2, and I'll be playing it on PS5. Firstgame isn't perfect, and theBT fights are too forced and dumb for my liking. Like on Tuesday I gotinto multiple BT fights. The first insta-killed me and caused a voidout. Great. Then the next two I just ran away from; pointless waste of time. Then the final onethe game just wanted to have its way as it knew I was taking the piss. Gold BTs popped out of the ground that I could do nothing about and the game forced a 'game over' saying I was unable to escape from the BTs! At which point I powered off the PS5.
More exclusives maybe they are neck and neck, but more first party exclusives. That goes to MS.
Yup, neck and neck that’s why M$ is crushing it in sales, from all that great 1st party exclusives.
/s
By that logic you need to add one for the thps 3+4 remake that is being released early this year.
So it doesn't change but most of not all of their pipeline will be multiplat so more Xbox games benifits PS and Nintendo players to
aye, looking forward to play the Tony Hawks 3+4 remake someday. Loved the first two but never played 3 and 4 actually.
I'm not an MSXbox person, but Fable is one of those series that I've always loved.
A delay means they'll get it right and polished.
"Can you really compare the two anymore anyway?"
You directly compared it in your first Post, then when you were checked, you then said, "you can't compare it".
Wtf?
I think it helps them to spread out the RPGs, to be honest. That's potentially 3 RPGs in a single year versus delaying Fable and getting it as pristine as possible and with more for the future. Might just be good marketing.
@thesoftware730
It definitely feels like more work to be done and to get away from GTA 6.
ES6 got a title screen teaser and Fable we actually saw “Gameplay” so it shows you how far off these games are. Years away minimum but M$ hypes them up for their rabid devoted fan base that eats up disappointment like it’s nourishment.
FFS. This is why the Xbox console failed, not because it was bad but because over a decade Phil Spencer couldn’t properly manage his game studios. If Microsoft had the ball’s and for him then the Xbox console would’ve still been in the game.
@venom can you imagine the boats being rocked if MS had made ALL of their games exclusives? That could have very well shifted some fates, albeit at great short term expense.
I still believe MS culture will likely poison these studios over time, but there's no denying that MS has some healthy horses in their barn right now
At 16:00 and the 16:24 the Fable alpha footage is looking pretty good. Forzatech engine scaled pretty well for RPG requirements. Combat might need abit smoothening, tho.
We'll have to wait. Graphics, animations and physics is not all with this kind of game. Inventory, character relations and organization, decision branch and many other aspects are critical and engines dedicated to RPGs usually have problems with that.
I agree,
Playground Games are pretty spot on dev studio till now, with no to negligible misses. Hope they continue with that, in this 'out of their comfort zone' project? That's all we can do, now. Hope. Hope that the game we get to play is done pretty well? Fanboi hate aside.
Didn't even know there's another Fable on its way. Probably I don't really follow MS news or that I missed Fable announcement. Either way, when a game is delayed, it isn't a big deal, there's plenty of other MS games to play..... I think.
"Crank: 14 Score: 315630"
"Contributor"
Bro you even post stories with Fable in them!
Here's when you followed MS news less than three weeks ago, with Fable photod and talked about: "2025 Is A Make Or Break Year For Xbox"
One of next year's most anticipated games is undoubtedly Fable. The fantasy RPG franchise originally created by Lionhead is returning fifteen years after its previous mainline installment, and fans are understandably excited.
Also it´s good to have new RPGs which draws inspiration from The Witcher 3 rather than Dark Souls games.
Playground craves for perfection and Fable will certainly turn out a masterpiece.
How about waiting since you know....they've only ever made racing games.
Fingers crossed though
Please make it have kingdom of amular combat. Witcher 3 got a lot right but combat sure wasn't one of its strongest features. That's just my opinion
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Didn't say i did either, but the combat was fun, witcher 3s combat was not after a few hours
The combo meter and gates to open based on actions was fun. A sense of being either OP or to weak was palpable. But yeah...not great.
The combat in fable is like an old version of Witcher...it's pretty bland.
But I wouldn't read too much into it....media these days love throwing labels like Witcher like and soul's like, etc.
Agreed. and even still, I love all those games. So long as it's better than Fable 3's combat
Man I can't wait for this. I even liked Fable 3 that people insult so if it's an improvement on that I'll take it
I was disappointed in Fable III,
Felt like an obligatory 3rd part to complete a trilogy
Fable 3 was thatbone where u do everything but in the end your actions to stop the army is all thst matters right?
I remember draining a lake to get to the iron and they hated me. Peasents.
That's the one. Felt like it could have been excellent with a little more time and a less mind-numbingly simple combat system. Hat this feeling that they had to cut some stuff to get it out the door. Although that can probably be said for all of them. Still, I enjoyed it.
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Microsoft isn't bringing this franchise back
The downfall of Lionhead is another example of an arrogant publisher refusing to accept that they fucked up, and instead putting all the blame on the developer. If MS was truly after quality and cared about profit, they should have given all their IPs to Lionhead then shut themselfs down.
Fable III and Legends sucked because MS refused to let Lionhead make the games properly. Lionhead did not even want to make Legends, they wanted to do a proper Fable 4, MS forced them to do Legends instead, then shut them down when the idea didn't pan out, even though it was MS's idea. They also forced the casualized development path and premature release of Fable III.
Microsoft refused to sell Fable when they had the chance. I believe Phil will now bring fable back.
Shame really . Enjoyed the first 2 but 3 was terrible. Dumbed down to appeal to a wider audience and ultimately killing the franchise.
Fable needs to come back.