Although the game isn’t officially titled just yet, players are more than a little excited about the upcoming Fable 4. Announced in 2020, Fable 4 reignited the hopes of fans of the series after the cancellation of Fable Legends and the closure of Lionhead Studios in 2016. Positioned as a reboot for the series, not much is known about Playground Games’ upcoming title, but players are quietly confident that the new game will embrace all the elements that made the originals so special. Things may have been quiet since the very first glimpse of the game and its fairytale-focused trailer, but this hasn’t stopped fans from speculating on its setting and gameplay.
From Fable in 2004 to Fable 3 in 2010, the series underwent a lot of changes. With a more simplistic focus with the war between good versus evil and heroes versus villains, the first Fable was a classic fantasy yarn with all the sword-swinging melee combat and magic that players might expect from such a setting. By the time Fable 3 came around, the game had shifted to embrace a more steampunk aesthetic, with gamers taking on the role of a member of Albion’s royal family as they seek to depose a tyrannical older sibling. While Fable 3 was well-received, some players longed for a return to the days of old Albion, with aspects like the Guild of Heroes instead of the later game’s more industrial focus.
Fable’s Heroes’ Guild
Located in the Guild Woods, the Guild of Heroes (or the Heroes’ Guild) is home to the mystical warriors of Albion and is a respected organization in the world of Fable, Fable: The Lost Chapters, and Fable Anniversary. It is the headquarters for Heroes and a place for Guild Apprentices to train. The Guild aimed to keep Albion safe from all threats, as Heroes accepted quests to earn gold and renown and managed to keep Albion in a state of relative peace and stability. First introduced in Fable, the Heroes’ Guild was the place that the player was brought to after the attack on their village that led to the death of their father and the abduction of their mother and sister. After receiving their training, they were unleashed on the world of Albion to either perform heroic deeds or carry out nefarious acts.
The Heroes’ Guild was the emotional hub of the first game after the traumatic destruction of Oakvale at the start of Fable’s narrative. The Guildmaster became a surrogate parent, Maze became the aspirational hero players aimed to emulate, and Whisper was the lifelong rival and friend that served a role similar to Pokemon’s Gary Oak. It was a familiar and central location both in terms of story and gameplay, as players could return to find new side quests and level up their Hero. However, the Heroes’ Guild was unfortunately disbanded at some point between the events of Fable and Fable 2, with the sequel set 500 years after the first. This removed the element completely from the next game, although the ruins of the Heroes’ Guild can be explored in the follow-up title.
How It Should Feature in Fable 4
For fans that miss the good old days of guilds and heroes and moral battles, all is not lost. While the Fable reboot remains largely a mystery, the announcement trailer did shed a little light on what players might be able to expect. As well as the references to “legendary heroes and treacherous villains” and the more magical elements like fairies, keen-eyed viewers may have just been able to make out the symbol of the Heroes’ Guild on the hilt of the sword.
With a supposed open-world version of Albion and the familiar action RPG elements, there might be other aspects of Fable’s past that are being resurrected in the reboot. With a return to the more simplistic, fantasy-focused setting of the earlier games, the Guild would fit in perfectly to this refreshed version. While vast open-world games offer plenty of exciting opportunities for exploration and adventure, the best ones have interesting hub worlds or locations that players can return to time and again. They can be places to update and level up their characters, access world maps, seek out new quests, and talk to NPCs, with the story centered on a location that usually takes on an emotional significance. Gamers saw this in the first Fable game, and it would definitely be a welcome feature to the upcoming installment.
Playground Games could update and rework how the Guild appears in Fable 4, perhaps with customization options similar to the extensive character customization that is reportedly going to be on offer. The Guild’s ability to offer players heroic (or sometimes not so heroic) quests in order to make money was a much better feature than the odd jobs available in Fable II, and would be a cool aspect to embrace and expand in Fable 4.
Fable 4 is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
