Perhaps resigned to the fact that the core Fable titles failed to revolutionize the RPG genre as intended, Lionhead is taking the series on multiple spin-off directions, likely small detours to fill the void until an inevitable Fable 4 comes around. Fable: The Journey was announced last E3, a Kinect-exclusive adventure which appears to be a first-person spellcasting shooter of sorts. Now another spin-off has been announced, and it’s an even more unexpected twist.
Fable Heroes, in development for an Xbox Live Arcade release this spring, is a four-player hack-and-slash romp set within a cartoony tabletop board game reimagination of the series’ realm of Albion. Competitive co-op will be the focus of this out-of-nowhere spin-off as players, controlling their choice of hero represented by adorable patchwork doll avatars, will both work together to slay foes and compete to collect coins, win mini-games, outdo one another in time trials, and jockey for higher leaderboard position. Gold coins will serve as a currency to level up your hero and unlock bonus items in The Journey when it ships later this year.
I’m totally getting a Costume Quest vibe from the cutesy characters and cartoon aesthetic, but obviously the gameplay is very different from that game’s turn-based battle system–Castle Crashers seems to be a more accurate gameplay comparison.
Here’s the first gameplay footage and screenshots. What do you think of Fable‘s new look?
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Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
