Fans still don’t know much about the Fable reboot’s gameplay, other than it being an open-world RPG made using the ForzaTech Engine. Only time will tell how well the game engine converts to a third-person action RPG, however there are a few Forza features that Fable might benefit from directly. While players probably won’t be racing through Albion using high-end sports cars, Forza Horizon 5’s Car Decoration system could translate well to Fable’s armor and weapon customization.
RELATED: Fable’s Childhood Openings Could Find New Life in the Reboot
Customization in Fable, Fable 2, and Fable 3
Character customization has always been important to Fable. Fable 2 and 3 let players choose a male or female protagonist, but none of the three installments featured a conventional customization. Instead, all player characters start with the same baseline appearance can be altered throughout the game. While these include haircuts and tattoos, the player also indirectly changes their character through Fable’s Morphing system. Fable’s Heroes gain or lose weight based on their diet, develop horns or halos based on where they fit within Fable’s morality system, and grow taller or more muscular by improving various stats.
The Fable games also allowed players to customize their character’s look with a variety of clothing and armor options. Clothing options were relatively modest in the original Fable, with Light, Dark, and neutral versions of most armor and outfits existing. Fable 2 expanded this significantly, giving players more clothing options while introducing dyes that let players change their character’s hair and clothing.
Meanwhile, 2010’s Fable 3 introduced weapon customization as an extension of the Morphing system. Non-Legendary weapons start out looking generic and Morph into different shapes depending on which enemies a player fought, along with other factors. As with many new ideas in Fable 3, this turned out to be a mixed bag in-part because the results were harder for players to control than character Morphing. However, just because Fable 3’s approach wasn’t ideal doesn’t mean fans wouldn’t like expanded options for weapon customization in the next title.
RELATED: Followers Could Bring the Fable Reboot’s World to Life
Customization in Forza Horizon 5 and Fable 4
Playground’s last game before Fable was 2021’s Forza Horizon 5, which featured a robust vehicle customization system that could expand upon Fable’s customization options. In addition to swapping between a handful of preset paint jobs, the game offers a wide range of colors. Forza Horizon 5 players can also fine-tune the car’s paint job with sliders for Hue, Brightness, and Saturation. Players can also choose to apply paints to the whole vehicle or individual sections like the hood or rims.
Forza Horizon 5 also lets players apply multiple layers of vinyl decals. The game offered a wide range of designs to choose from, and gave players a great deal of freedom regarding size, color, and placement. This allows Forza Horizon 5 players to create some impressive custom livery, and then share their custom vehicle skins with others.
It’s not hard to imagine Playground Games implementing a similar system in Fable, letting players precisely tweak the paint and dye colors on their weapons, armor, and clothing. Instead of vinyl decals, an almost identical system could let players design custom engravings for their armor and swords. Some specific designs would probably have to be different, but there’s no reason that Forza Horizon 5’s car customization system couldn’t translate almost 1-to-1 for Playground Games rebooted Fable.
Fable is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE: The Fable Reboot’s Setting Could Benefit From Expanding on the Void
