When rumors about a new Fable game first cropped up, fans expected Fable 4 to finally emerge. Instead, it looks like Fable is starting from scratch, getting a full reboot under its new developer. Playground Games hasn't revealed much about the game, but many Fable lovers are optimistic that it'll still keep some of the best parts of the franchise. Albion has plenty of potential as a setting, even if Playground Games decides to take the setting back to its beginnings, and that's without mentioning how the country has lots of lore and magical inhabitants of all shapes and sizes waiting to be used again. One of the most recognizable is the balverine.
Balverines are essentially Fable's take on the werewolf; they're humans that can transform into wolf-like humanoids and vice versa. Fable lore tells players that the bite of a balverine can turn the victim into one. Notably, though, players fighting balverines only ever get slashed by their claws—they never bite. In Fable's infancy, it was once promised that players would get the chance to become balverines. That promise fell through, and it has yet to come to fruition even after three franchise entries. Now that Fable is wiping its slate clean, it should finally live up to this promise.
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Fable is famous for slowly corrupting the player's appearance as they turn evil. By the end of the game, a player character that did many evil deeds will look pretty demonic. It's unclear if this mechanic will carry over into the reboot; however, if it does, it doesn't have to be the only way to become a monster in Fable. Games like The Elder Scrolls have long allowed players to become vampires under the right circumstances, so it wouldn't be that strange if Fable allowed for players to be bitten and infected by balverines. Following the path of the balverine might be a great way to spur players more quickly toward evil, if Fable's morality system returns.
Alternatively, players might get rewarded for fighting against their balverine instincts and using the balverine transformation to do good, tearing villains apart with their claws. Balverine characters could earn extra credit toward good deeds. It'd also be interesting if becoming a balverine was a gateway for the player to befriend new characters, perhaps bringing other balverines into everyday society and helping them build peaceful ties with humans. It would be great to assemble a band of balverine followers to explore Albion with, as that could open up a gameplay angle where players abandon morals of society altogether and play a neutrally ethical character only loyal to the wilderness.
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If Playground Games announces balverine transformation mechanics for the Fable reboot, that might be what permanently hooks Fable veterans onto the franchise's fresh start. For one thing, it would mean that Playground Games is interesting in integrating things fans always wanted but never got. For another, it would show how much respect the new developers have for the source material. When rebooting a franchise, it's tempting to strip the IP down to its bare bones and make something totally new from there, and that might not be the right approach for Fable. There's already a lot of things that its fans like about it, so something unrecognizable from the original Fable might not do well.
Balverine transformations would also probably just be the start of a huge amount of things to do in the new Fable. This franchise is getting brought into a whole new generation of technology. It wouldn't be surprising if Fable's setting is huge and filled to the brim with creatures to fight and people to meet. Playground Games has a lot of room to add content, which means it has room to be experimental. It can try new things like the balverine transformation in side adventures while keeping the heart of Fable at the center of the world, yet fans have wanted to turn into balverines for a long time now. If Fable is cleaning house, it can add some new content while it's at it.
Fable is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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