Sometimes the way a game is described before it releases is just as influential on its legacy as the way it’s actually received once it comes out. If a game’s final form doesn’t totally line up with the vision that developers presented, it can make or break the sales of the game, as well as the future of a potential franchise. One game that eventually overcame this kind of controversy was the originalFable.Longtime fans ofFablemight remember frustration among fans when Lionhead Games co-founder Peter Molyneux teased all kinds of features that didn’t make it into the game. Even so, the firstFablegame blossomed into a highly influential fantasy RPG trilogy.
There’s a more recent example of this phenomenon. CD Projekt Red’sCyberpunk 2077is also missing tons of features that the studio once promised or indicated would be in the game. That’s one of many reasons that fans were extremelyfrustrated and disappointed withCyberpunk 2077after release. Both the originalFablegame andCyberpunk 2077offer an important lesson to developers: follow through on your promises. Both of these games could’ve been greatly improved by actually making use of their lost ideas. In contrast, they abandoned some solid concepts and faced a ton of fan frustration because of it.
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Fable and Cyberpunk 2077’s Abandoned Ideas
Fablelost a lot of really interesting ideasin development. For instance, a gameplay demo forFableonce indicated that the game’s combat system would be extremely dynamic, allowing players to use tons of environmental objects to attack enemies or get the high ground. Those elements never materialized in the final game. There are also important customization and roleplay elements that never made it intoFable.For example, Peter Molyneux once said that players could become werewolf-like balverines if they were infected by one, but that feature never appeared. The originalFablealso didn’t let players have children, even though Molyneux once said children would be an important part of the game.
Cyberpunk 2077dropped major featuresin some similar departments.Cyberpunkfans were extremely excited about the game’s wall-running feature, for instance. It would’ve allowed for some fantastic movement options in combat, but CD Projekt Red announced months before the game’s release that wall running had been axed. Character customization is also an important part ofCyberpunk 2077that suffered somewhat. Although on the whole, the game’s character creator is still extremely detailed and revolutionary, players were frustrated to learn that some backstory options for their character didn’t make it intoCyberpunk,and that characters couldn’t have their appearances edited after the start of the game.
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Fable and Cyberpunk 2077’s Lessons
FableandCyberpunk 2077have had very different experiences in the wake of dropping these features. The firstFablegame was still very well received on the whole, with its core content largely making up for missing promises, giving the franchise a bright future. On the other hand,Cyberpunk 2077still struggles with bugsand performance issues on some platforms, even after nearly a year of regular updates and patches.Cyberpunk’s reputation for bugginess makes it much harder to make up for its missing features, compared toFable,which was strong in spite of missing features. These two stories show that it’s possible to make up for broken promises, but it’s best not to gamble on uncertain promises when advertising a game.
Both of these stories should inform the development of Playground Games' newFabletitle.Fable 4seemingly won’t be on Xbox One, which means it’ll probably avoid many ofCyberpunk 2077’s cross-generation performance problems, but it’s still at risk of overpromising and underdelivering. Without a doubt,Playground wants itsFablegame to shine, especially since it’s the developer’s first foray into RPGs. However, it should be mindful not to advertise anything that it can’t deliver on in the hopes of winning over doubtful fans. Playground should tend carefully to the new garden it’s planting by taking on theFablefranchise, rather than setting off fireworks, only to catch its crops on fire.
Fableis in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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