Do whatever you want and the world will react. That’s the pitch of so many video games, at their core, whether the reaction means you gain more power for leveling up, a character feels differently about you because of your words, or a field of crops grows after you planted it. What changes is how much a game makes space for you to make your own decisions, and how much it pushes back in return. Twenty years ago, one game promised a world so real that playing it would feel like living another life. It didn’t come close, but it set a precedent for others to follow and founded a beloved series, nonetheless.
When Fable launched on the original Xbox on September 14, 2004, it came after years of unbelievable hype. That’s “unbelievable” in the sense of extraordinary, and in the sense of impossible to take seriously. Lead designer Peter Molyneux famously declared “it’s gonna be the best game ever,” along with plenty of equally outrageous proclamations, which built anticipation for the game to a frankly unattainable level. Fable would follow its protagonist from birth. Characters would hold grudges for their entire lives and come seeking revenge if you wronged them. You could sow an acorn as a child and watch it grow into an oak tree by the time the game ended.
