The new Fable game by Playground Games, simply titled Fable, gets a new trailer at the Xbox Showcase 2023. It has no gameplay, just “in-engine footage” but sure knows what sort of fable it wants to tell: a very British one.
There’s a specific tone that comes from British media. The dryness and deadpan of its comedy is one striking element, which comes across clearly in this trailer.
The star of the show, Dave the “vegetable enthusiast”, is being interviewed where he shares his opinion of heroes, which is cut in-between shots of what seems to be the “hero” Fable doing shenanigans like chucking a chicken, fighting bandits with their sword and magic abilities, being called names and going all rough drinking in the pub.
It all builds up to a giant reveal of.. well, a giant. Dave is then confronted by said hero, minuscule in size compared to him, which doesn’t go well for him in the end.
Dave here is portrayed by British comedian Richard Ayoade, a familiar face for folks who watch British panel shows.
It’s not the most exciting way to reveal a game, but at the core of Lionhead’s Fable series was that charming British humour and the way it lets players have at it and mess around in its RPGs. Which this new Fable trailer has successfully conveyed. In that aspect, fans have one less thing to worry about. But the disappointment to still not see much after this long wait is understandable.
The Fable reboot was first revealed in 2020, and so far we have yet to see proper gameplay. This will be the first game by Playground Games that isn’t in the Forza Horizon series.
There’s no release date for Fable yet.