The wait forFable 4has been arduous because of how little Playground Games has revealed. The new installation in the franchise was announced over a year-and-a-half ago, yet all fans were left with is its reveal trailer. Nevertheless,Fablefans might be able to glean some valuable details from the trailer’s aesthetic. AlthoughFablefamously turned toward an industrial revolution inFable 3,the lush forest and distant castle shown inFable 4’s announcement trailer suggest the franchise will return to its medieval roots, opting for high fantasy over a blend of magic and technology.
Focusing on fantasy over any other genre sounds great forFable 4.Playground is wise to bring the franchise back to basics, especially since this is its first RPG; a standard high fantasy experience will allow Playground to stretch its legs. Perhaps more importantly, returning to the basics could help Playground expandthe fundamentals of theFableworld. While the previousFablegames included plenty of fantasy creatures,Fable 4is a great opportunity to make that roster even more diverse, pulling from British folklore and other European myths to give players memorable combat encounters and NPC interactions.
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Fable’s Fantasy Creatures
There’s plenty of fun takes on classic fantasy creatures in the originalFablegames.Balverines spring to mind immediatelyas a type of werewolf with multiple forms. Swarms of Hollow Men provide a spooky undead threat to players, meanwhile hobbes threaten the player in forests and caves, much like goblins. Like most fantasy RPGs,Fablefeatures plenty of human enemies like bandits and highwaymen, but the various monsters that also crop up inFableencounters keep combat more interesting since developers can only come up with so many variations of bandits.
Monsters and magical creatures can have more unique attacks than human enemies because of their magical talents, soFable 4should work to bring more of these creatures into the franchise. The game is supposedly taking a lot of inspiration from Great Britain, so it’d be great to see stories about the fae and other magical entities result in a litany ofnew creatures forFableplayers to encounter. Maybe there will be more minor dragons to battle inFable 4,deceptive fae who trick players into dangerous situations, or woodland witches who summon malevolent forces to attackFable 4’s heroes.
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Playground’s New Fable Brand
Bringing more fantasy creatures intoFableas a part ofFable 4would help Playground establish itself as the franchise’s new developer. While Playground hasn’t gone into detail on whether it’s going to reusethe original trilogy’s land of Albionor not, odds are that Albion will look very different if it does return. Playground’sFableteam will certainly have a different vision for the franchise than the original developers at Lionhead Studios. Since change is inevitable, Playground ought to lean into that change and find creative ways to leave its mark onFable.
Fablemay have its share of goblins, fairies, and werewolves, but these only scratch the surface of potential fantasy creatures that can populateFable 4’s landscape. Digging deep into European mythology will help Playground come up with all kinds of compelling new monsters that support the setting’s British theme. Ideally,Fable 4will revive some of the franchise’s most beloved conceptslike its morality system, while introducing tons of new content that builds on top of those core features. New monsters and magical creatures referencing some of Great Britain’s oldest myths and stories would help create memorable characters that players can work with, as well as notorious enemies who are always satisfying to defeat.
Fable 4is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
