Fable - the story of a man who promised much and too much

To this day, exactly fifteen years ago, came out a game that was supposed to be "the best game ever." She wasn't.

Some games will live "forever" based on what they have achieved. But there are those who will be remembered precisely for the opposite reason - because they did not achieve what was expected of them. One such is Fable, a game of the former Lionhead Studios that was built as a major RPG exclusive for the Xbox console.

Fable has changed many names throughout its four-year development. First it was called "Thingy", then Wishworld and Project Ego. Regardless of the title, project manager Peter Molyneux has every time announced his project as "the best game ever made".

Molyneux then had the credibility of having previously delivered successful series such as Black & White and Populous. However, it was precisely because of Fable that he later earned the stigma of a man who promised what was not quite feasible at the time, and therefore did not deliver.


Fable was a fantasy RPG title where we were able to trace the life of a hero and his ascent to the savior of Albion or his oppressor. It turned out to be a very good game, with a great presentation at the time, an interesting story and an elaborate combat system.

Still, Molyneux promised far more for the game. He promised multiplayer, which eventually did not exist, he promised to dynamically change the appearance of the character (eg he should change his skin color if he was too much in the sun), he promised to grow vegetation in real time, start a family and develop it…


The promise list was longer, and although Fable didn't quite meet many of them in the end, some things were truly revolutionary (and still are). For example, the main character changed his appearance depending on his playing style - he was getting scars, and his horns could grow out at one point if he was mean. Some of the promised things came later in the PC version, and some were left for sequels.

The game has sold 1.4 million copies in the half-year. A year later, she received an expanded release called Fable: The Lost Chapters (a PC-based version) that supplemented the story and brought in new enemies, weapons, regions, and more.


Fable later received two sequels and several spin-off games. In 2014, it received a remastered release called Fable Anniversary that appeared on both the PC and Xbox 360 consoles. The future of the series became questionable after the cancellation of the multiplayer title Fable Legends, but it is a public secret that Microsoft is working to revive this series, for which it hired the creators of the Forza Horizon series.