Fable (video game series)

Fable franchise
The official logo of the series since Fable II
Genres	Action RPG, sandbox
Developers	Lionhead Studios, Big Blue Box, Robosoft Technologies (Mac)
Publishers	Microsoft Studios, Feral Interactive (Mac)
Creators	Peter Molyneux
Composers	Danny Elfman, Russell Shaw
Platforms	Xbox, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Xbox One
First release	Fable 8 October 2004
Latest release	Fable Anniversary 4 February 2014

Fable is a series of action role-playing video games for Xbox, Xbox 360, Windows, and Mac OS X platforms. The series is developed by Lionhead Studios and is published by Microsoft Studios.

Setting

The Fable series takes place in the fictional nation of Albion, a state that, at the time of the first game, is composed of numerous autonomous city-states with vast areas of countryside or wilderness in between. The setting originally resembles Medieval England ("Albion" being the oldest name for the island of Great Britain), or traditional fantasy settings like that of The Lord of the Rings. However, the period of time progresses with each game; in Fable II, Albion has advanced to an era similar to that of the Age of Enlightenment, and by Fable III the nation has been unified under a monarchy and is undergoing an "Age of Industry" similar to the real-world 19th-century Industrial Revolution.

In the first Fable, players assume the role of an orphaned boy who is forced into a life of heroism when bandits attack his village, and kidnap his sister. The choices players make in the game affect the perception and reaction to their Hero by the characters of Albion and change the Hero's appearance to mirror what good or evil deeds he has performed. In addition to undertaking quests to learn what happened to the Hero's family, players can engage in optional quests and pursuits such as trading, romance and married life, pub gaming, boxing, and theft. Even so, set quests are the motor of the story development. It is an era between the year 1100 and 1300.^[1]

Fable II takes place 500 years after the events of the first game.^[2] The world slightly resembles a Europe between 1600 and 1800, the time of highwaymen and the Enlightenment. Science and more modern ideas have suppressed the religion and magic of old Albion. Its towns have developed into cities, weaponry is slowly taking advantage of gunpowder, and social, family and economic life present more possibilities - as well as challenges. The sequel basically expands most or all parts of the gaming experience from the previous game, without changing the elementary modes of playing. The continent of Albion is smaller as a game world, since it contains fewer locations, but the locations that remain are more developed and detailed. In contrast to Fable, the solving of set quests is not the basis of the story; rather, the story develops from the player's situation in time and place. This gives the game a sense of more interactivity than the first installment of the series.

In Fable III the setting is 50 years after that of Fable II.^[3] The historical development is further advanced since the last version: Albion is experiencing the Industrial Revolution. In all of the versions, the moral development (in a negative or a positive way) is at the core of the gameplay. In this latest version, this moral development is expanded to include not only the personal or psychological but also a more political aspect, as the goal of the game is to overthrow the oppressive king of Albion, as well as defend the continent from attacks from abroad.

Gameplay

As a role-playing game (RPG), the Fable series constructs the development of a protagonist controlled by the player, and the development is related to the same character's interaction with the game world. A major part of this interaction is for the Fable series related to interaction with people, be it conversation, story-telling, education, trading, gaming, courting and relationships, or fighting.

The player is able to develop the protagonist following several parameters, such as magic, strength and social skills. The player may also direct the moral quality of the protagonist, so that skills may be developed in equal terms and conditions both in the negative and positive field.

In addition to this basis of the gameplay, some of the version focus on set quest that together give the protagonist the opportunity to develop, as well as unveiling strands of the story of the game.

Fable II and III also include cooperative gameplay, where two players with their own character can join forces in their different tasks.

Installments and releases

The first version of the game, Fable, shipped for Xbox on 14 September 2004. An extended version of this first installment, Fable: The Lost Chapters, was released for Windows and Xbox in September 2005; Feral Interactive ported the game to the Mac platform on 31 March 2008.

The proper sequel of the series, Fable II, was released for Xbox 360 24 October 2008. A third installment of the game, Fable III, was released for Xbox 360 29 October 2010, with a Microsoft Windows release confirmed for 17 March 2011.

According to Peter Molyneux, Lionhead Studios currently has plans for the fourth and fifth main series installments.^[4]

In April, 2012, Lionhead Studios announced Fable Heroes, an Xbox Live Arcade game. It was released on 2 May 2012.

At E3 2011, the latest installment in the series was announced, entitled Fable: The Journey. The Journey should not be confused with Fable IV, which has not yet been officially announced. Fable: The Journey is a spin-off within the series and differentiates from the first three games, with the protagonist not having come from the Hero bloodline. It was released in North America on 9 October 2012 and in Europe on 12 October 2012.

On 4 June 2013, Lionhead Studios posted a teaser trailer to YouTube and updated their Fable display picture on Facebook with Jack of Blades, the antagonist from Fable, arousing speculation that he would return in the next Fable release. This was later confirmed on their official website as a teaser to their upcoming Xbox 360 remake of the original game, "Fable Anniversary."^[5]

On 20 August 2013, Lionhead Studios debuted a teaser trailer for Fable Legends, an Xbox One exclusive set during the "Age of Heroes," long before the events of the first game. The trailer emphasizes that in the game you will play alongside four other players and may choose to be the Hero of the story or the Villain.

Fable Trilogy, a compilation that includes Fable Anniversary, Fable II and Fable III is set for release on 7 February 2014.^[6]

Cast and characters

References

External links

• Developer website