RPGs from high-profile Western studios have been offering sprawling open worlds to explore for decades, touting 100-hour campaigns and gigantic map sizes as value-focused features. The sheer volume of glowing icons that are crammed into these spaces alone is staggering at times. The upcoming Fable reboot from Playground Games, however, is looking to break this tradition.
Recently, the project's Associate Game Director, Will Kennedy, went on record to say that the studio's first venture into the RPG space will offer a main campaign that will be 15-20 hours in length. Those exploring the side content will see another 15-20 hours of gameplay being added to the playtime.
This feels like a breath of fresh air in a genre that almost seems to have forgotten about pacing and tightly written storylines. Even booting up a game that demands 80 hours just to reach the credits is exhausting, especially if you're returning to the game after a break. The entire world can feel like a complete stranger that's filled with unending fetch quests and escort missions. Of course, without grinding them, the long-forgotten main quests usually can't progress either.
Longtime fans of Fable may also remember that the franchise has never had overly long playtimes either. The main quests for the original three games all clocked in at around 12-14 hours. Playground is actually delivering the biggest campaign in the series' history, without mutating the game into a bloated checklist simulator.
Playground has plenty of experience making absolutely massive open worlds that have 100+ hour content rides already in its Forza Horizon racing games. It had the opportunity to apply the same design decisions to its first RPG. But by directing all the attention towards making a 20-hour plotline, the studio has all the tools at hand to deliver a tightly paced, high-quality story without padding it out with the usual cliches.
For those who might want to linger a little longer in the fantasy lands of Fable, don't forget about all of the life simulation systems that the game will be carrying too. If you want to hang out in Albion, raise a family, buy an entire town’s property, and kick chickens for the rest of the year while ignoring the main quest completely, you have the freedom to stay as long as you want when the game drops in February next year.
