The past couple of outings into the Fable universe haven’t been that well received. Though not terrible games, they seem to just fall shy of living up to the first and second game in terms of fun, mechanics, and generally a good experience. This hasn’t killed the franchise, of course, with Fable Legends being announced for the Xbox One and PC, and Microsoft confirming back in January that it will allow cross platform play between the two systems.
If you’re not up to speed, Fable Legends is a bit of a departure from the previous main games in the series. A focus on cooperative play, 4 heroes enter an arena controlled by a 5th player, who lays traps and sets monsters for the group of heroes. It sounds like a good mash up between a multitude of different genres, and seems to be part of the resurgence of games that go for asymmetry in their multiplayer, as opposed to all sides being equal.
Today, Lionhead’s new Fable game has been confirmed as being free to play, with the developer saying you’ll be able to play from beginning to end without spending any money on the product whatsoever. When the Xbox One launched, Killer Instinct adopted a free-to-play model, with many praising it for being a unique and fair way to deal with a fighting game. Fable Legend’s implementation will be somewhat similar to this. Players will get access to a rotating roster of heroes, much like MOBA games on PC – League of Legends being a prime example. These change after a set period of time, cycling in and out, but any progress that the player makes with a specific character is saved, even if they aren’t currently in that rotation. If a player chooses to focus on a certain hero, they can purchase them with the in-game currency, Silver, that is earned during game time.
Here’s where the real money business comes in. Gold can be purchased for real-world money, which players can spend on items and heroes. Lionhead have stated that cosmetic purchases for the game will only be available for Gold. For anyone playing the villain in the game, they can purchase ally creatures and traps for either Silver or Gold. Anything that affects gameplay, as stated in the FAQ on Lionhead’s website, will be able to be earned. This stops the game feeling like “pay to win”, but it does seem like the model favors players who pay money to speed up the progress of unlocking items. Only time will tell how grind-y the game ends up being.
Like the majority of free-to-play games on the Xbox One, Fable Legends will require an Xbox Live Subscription, but nothing extra is required for the Windows 10 version of the game.
For any more information you’re wanting to know, check out the developers’ official FAQ here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAzpP0lSrEc
Source: Polygon
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