Fable ditches horns and halos for a subjective, multifaceted reputation system

The upcoming Fable replaces the series' straight good-versus-evil binary with regional reputations, so settlements will react to a character's wealth, shrewdness or murderous tendencies rather than rewarding horns or halos. Playground Games' decision to drop Lionhead's morality-based character morphing has drawn some controversy, and associate game director Craig Littler explained the change during a behind-the-scenes demo.

Littler says the reputation system "goes so much further than good versus evil" and lets players "build a complex, nuanced identity" that splits NPC opinion. "They all have a slightly different take on who I am and what I mean to them," he adds. A gameplay example shows one villager enamoured by the hero's home ownership and entrepreneurship while another raises her prices by 80% in protest at perceived snobbery.

Where Lionhead's trilogy applied visible markers—grow horns for cruelty or halos for virtue—this Fable acknowledges people will judge actions differently.

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