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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