Amid the flurry of Fable 4 furphies and the fervour surrounding the game, Peter Molyneux - the creator of the franchise - has now weighed in on what he would like to see in the next instalment of the franchise.
Speaking to IGN"s Ryan McCaffrey, the former head of the now-defunct Lionhead Studios expressed regret over the massive jumps in time between the different games in the series, and how the decision may have stifled the studio"s creativity in terms of stories. As such, Molyneux"s pitch for the next Fable is for the game to serve as a prequel to the existing games. Molyneux said,
"Fable story hinted at a dramatic time before Fable 1 when the Guild was founded, this would be a perfect setting for Fable 4, the land of Albion would be much more primitive, the magic much more attuned to nature, the combat much more brutal. The story would follow the founding members of the heroes guild, why it was set up."
As fitting for a game known as an action RPG, Molyneux also believes the developers of the new game should tighten up the gameplay with a "brutal, visceral and fluid combat system that left permanent scars." He also believes weapon diversity should be more than a perk, with each different class of weapon having its own "feel and speciality".
A game can"t belong to the Fable franchise, of course, if it doesn"t feature a pet and Molyneux vehemently advocated for the return of the feature, alongside other Fable staples such as a marriage system and commerce. He even pondered over a possible first-person mode for the game.
Alongside these essentials, he also wants to see a whole new bestiary of creatures to populate the world, from new minions to God-sized giants. Dragons have become rather popular in recent years among RPGs and Molyneux too wants the mythical beings in the next Fable - naturally, they must be rideable.
Lastly, he mused over the creation of more organic karma and character progression systems building upon similar versions already found in previous Fable games, adding, "Allowing a player to morph their own alignment, based on their actions, so you would become a Thief if you sneak and steal or a knight if you adhere to a code of honour etc."
Playground Games" next big action RPG, which is believed by many to be the next game in the Fable universe, is still in early development. Even if the people behind the project do decide to give heed to Molyneux"s suggestions, we still likely won"t see the end result for at least a few years.
Molyneux left the Microsoft umbrella a couple years after the release of Fable 3, claiming he felt creatively suffocated working for the company. Since then, he has set up his own studio, 22 Cans, working on various titles such as Godus, a Kickstarted game that seems to be stuck in development hell. He also worked on a walking game called The Trail: Frontier Challenge, and is now working on Legacy, which he describes as "a different kind of game."
Source: IGN
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