As I look out over what was once the familiar wilderness of Albion, wearing a ridiculous stick-on beard designed to dupe the comically English bandits hiding up ahead, I can’t help but wonder if Fable 3 is the new Fable fans need. Hear me out: yes, that’s an absurd claim to make about a 16-year-old RPG that divided Xbox 360 players with its aging morality system and mandatory performative dance for menu interaction, but Microsoft’s buried PC version feels weirdly fresh.
I'm finding it hard to get excited for Fable 4 right now, given the wider situation with Xbox. Rising console prices, the cutting of 3,200 jobs, and numerous other shadows hanging over Microsoft mean I’m less hyped about Playground Games’ take on Albion than a longstanding fan of the series should be. That, and a lingering anxiety over whether the reboot will recapture Fable's original vibe, drove me to the questionable act of reinstalling my physical PC copy of Fable 3.
