It has been revealed that the original Fable should have been a completely different game, one that made it far enough into development to actually be played.
Fable isn't as popular as it used to be but is still a favorite among gamers. And, with a fourth installment expected to be revealed at E3 this month, that should definitely change.
The role-playing game made its way onto the scene back in 2004, bringing with it consequences for good and evil acts as opposed to many other titles which don't punish, and even reward, negative behavior.
As it turns out, that's quite far from what the game was supposed to be. The original game, called "Project Ego" back then, wasn't even supposed to be an RPG. In fact, it was a magic-combat game set in a wizard academy and was supposed to be named Wishworld.
Players would have been put through capture-the-flag style challenges in which enemies would try stealing their hearts in order to win a duel. An empty void that hosted battles would awaken in various ways, depending on the type of magic a player specialized in. So a plant-based magic user might be able to create a winding forest while a fire-based magician would have probably been able to split the earth and cause magma rivers to form.
That is all according to Fable co-creator Peter Molyneux, who divulged as much in an interview with journalist Chris Bratt. Fortunately, former Lionhead design director Charlie Edwards kept the build for the game after the company shut down in 2016 and Bratt had the opportunity to play it.
He has also posted some of the original design documents for Wishworld on Twitter.
The game is still very far from being complete and it doesn't scream quality either. Yet one has to wonder just how good Wishworld would have been if it were released in the 2000s.
That wasn't the case as Lionhead could not find the funding to complete the game's development and had to rehash it into something that would capture the attention of investors. So the protagonist started out as a wizard, but it was later decided that players should choose what type of wizard they want to be. From this idea, Fable was born.
It went on to be a real hit that saw two more titles follow up, but it's hard not to wish that Wishworld was also an option back then.