Summary
TheFableseries has long been a prime example of choice-driven gameplay, as its innovative morality system helped to pioneer similar mechanics in many of the RPGs that have since followed. Despite its influence, however,Fable’s morality systemhas also proven over time to be rather limiting, as it ultimately boils complex moral decisions down to a binary fight between good and evil. Now, with the upcomingFablereboot, Playground Games has a unique opportunity to evolve this system into something deeper, more nuanced, and truly reflective of the complexities of morality.
One of the clearest ways to help any choice-driven game be more morally complex is to ensure its choices offer more than just two distinct choices. ForFable, this would mean replacing its binary morality system with more ambiguous choices — options that make it difficult to tell black from white. However, that much is a given and often doesn’t truly put players in a difficult spot when it comes to choices. Instead,Fablemay need to go the extra mile with its choice-driven gameplay, perhaps by making morality more contextual and featuring villains that are more relatable.
How Fable Can Bring More Color to the Series' Black-and-White Nature
Fable Could Make Morality More Contextual
In addition to incorporating choices that are more complex than traditional binary morality,Fablecould increase the difficulty of decisions made in the game by making morality more contextual than universal. Specifically, contextual morality would mean it is more based on the needs of the people involved or the immediate situation at hand, rather than relying on an overarching sense of good and evil. In pastgames in theFableseries, the player’s actions were judged more universally as either good or evil, regardless of the context. TheFablereboot, on the other hand, could change that by introducing situations that aren’t as clear as they might initially appear to be.
Fablemay need to go the extra mile with its choice-driven gameplay, perhaps by making morality more contextual and featuring villains that are more relatable.
To do this,Fablewill need to introduce scenarios where the morality of a situation depends more on who and what is directly involved in said situation. A great way to implement this would be to include unique factions or sub-regions inFable’s Albionthat have their own interpretation of what is right and wrong, thereby challenging players to think differently. For example, perhaps players might encounter a group of people that feels oppressed by their leaders, even though the actions of the leaders are entirely justifiable. In a circumstance like that, it would then be more for players to decide which to side with, rather than the game simply telling them which is the better side.
Fable Could Feature Villains With Relatable Backstories and Motivations
Another very significant move thatFablecould make toward moral ambiguity is to feature villains that have more relatable backstories and motivations. Fortunately, based on what has been revealed so far, this might actually be the case for the reboot. According to one of its most recent trailers,Fable’s Humphryhas a history with who appears to be the game’s antagonist. Whether she is the primary antagonist or not, however, it seems as thoughFable’s protagonist will interact with the character in such a way that could make her more relatable.
What amore relatable villainwould do forFableis make their actions appear justifiable at times, which would ultimately complicate things for players when it comes to making choices to stand either for them or against them. This, in addition to making morality more contextual inFable, would undoubtedly turn the series' binary choice system on its head and offer players an unprecedented degree of ambiguity. Hopefully, Playground Games has considered the criticism ofFable’s binary morality system and has implemented something more complex than ever before.
