Fable III RPG Mechanic Analysis

We’ve already posted about 1UP’s recent Fable III preview, but now the site has added an entry to their RPG blog that analyzes Molyneux’s decision to remove a few RPG mechanic staples from the sequel.

Long before we can came to associate Molyneux with Black and White or Fable, he was best known for his work on Populous. It was the first “god game,” and the game that has informed his design ever since. Taken through the lens of Populous, Molyneux saying that Fable isn’t an RPG makes a lot of sense.

Consider the difference between Fable and, say, Fallout 3. In Fallout 3, you’re one person exploring a shattered world, with the ultimate goal being to get from Point A to Point B. There are plenty of things to do along the way — and you can be as good or evil as you want in the pursuit of your objectives — but you’re ultimately taking part in a certain number of static events. By contrast, Fable has always been concerned with allowing players to live in a world they’ve helped to develop, with some adventuring on the side.

Molyneux has always taken this sort of approach. Take Dungeon Keeper, for example, which basically turns the standard dungeon crawler on its head. The whole point of that game is to build a dungeon with enough in the way of nefarious traps to destroy the invading heroes, all the while recruiting monsters with the promise of torture chambers and treasure. If Molyneux plays Dungeons & Dragons, I’m willing to bet that he is always the GM. It’s just the way the guy thinks.

I’m still not convinced on this one. The Fable series has never sought to provide a stats-heavy role-playing experience anyway, so I don’t think the removal of a health bar and the replacement of experience points with followers is going to suddenly make it less RPG-like.