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Beer, swearing, and aggressive strangers. Just your average Thursday night in a North London pub. Turns out fantasy isn\u2019t too far from reality, though, with a stroll around Fable delivering the exact same ingredients for an eventful afternoon. A hands-off presentation at gamescom 2026 gave me new insight into developer Playground Games\u2019 Albion and the stories taking place in it. Here, I\u2019ll walk you through everything that was shown, ahead of me going hands-on with Fable and its combat systems later \u2014 stay tuned for my impressions of that very soon. For now, it\u2019s time to take a trip through Bowerstone and see what a full quest brings with it.<\/p>\n
For those uninitiated in the original Fable trilogy, Bowerstone is the capital of the fantasy world of Albion, and it\u2019s never looked better than it does here. At the beginning of my roughly 15-minute live gameplay demo, our hero, a young woman with a sword on her back, rode up to the portcullis of the looming city. What could be an intimidating sight quickly turned into one of awe, though, with its central keep towering over crooked, smaller buildings that stack up towards it. There\u2019s a pleasing off-kilterness to the town, reflecting the imbalance in its world as good struggles to outweigh evil. The askew rooftops and twisty brickwork marry beautifully with the winding nature of the city\u2019s streets and the uneven cobblestones that make them. It all makes this world feel entirely handcrafted and believably constructed by the people that live there, rather than a dull geometric pattern laid down by an unimaginative city planner.<\/p>\n
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Fable – June 2026 Screenshots<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/output><\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just a sight to behold, though, but a city full of purpose. Over 30 businesses are dotted across it, from hairdressers to clothes shops to tattoo parlours. Playground really wants you to create a character entirely in your own image, and make them feel as married to the world you walk them through as possible. Speaking of marriage, our first stop in Bowerstone takes us to the hero\u2019s family home \u2014 a cosy, well-kept cottage warmed by a roaring fireplace. Waiting for us are our daughter, Daisy, and spouse, Elliott. The love between him and our hero is still strong, it seems \u2013 as she walks away from him, he can\u2019t help but remark, \u201cOoph, so glad I married all of that\u201d. Steady on, Elliott, we\u2019ve got a village to save.<\/p>\n
Briar Hill is that village, and the crux of Fable\u2019s main story. A mysterious red-cloaked figure called Isabel has turned the people of our hometown to stone, and it’s up to us to reanimate them. This quest we\u2019re on now seems fairly early on in the plot, and has taken us to the capital to gain access to the Heroes Guild. A previous mission has popped the key to the Guild\u2019s headquarters in our inventory, and so we stroll up to the huge doors with ease. Again, both the exterior and interior architecture and art design on show are wonderful, with a delightful mix of grandeur and deliberate rough edges on show.<\/p>\n
Fable is packed full of both big and small decisions that will impact everything from minor character relationships to major story moments.
\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\nSitting inside the guild is Humphry the Golden, a legendary figure in Albion folklore who appears to have seen better days. Played by Peep Show\u2019s Super Hans supremo, Matt King, he cuts the figure of a bedraggled alcoholic, slumped in a large chair in the darkness. Never meet your heroes has never proved a truer phrase. Proving my point, in a stupor, he asks for a large beer, and we\u2019re presented with our first choice \u2014 Playground promises Fable is packed full of both big and small decisions that will impact everything from minor character relationships to major story moments. Do you give Humphry the tankard full of hoppy goodness, or throw it over him in an attempt to wake him up? The latter is chosen, and a pop-up appears on the left of the screen letting us know that he now thinks we\u2019re an arsehole. <\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Humphry needs our help. In debt and on the cusp of being evicted, in order to gain his guidance, we\u2019ll need to dig him out of a hole. It turns out that this once-respected hero gambled away the ownership rights of the guild and lost them to Slick Ronnie, a local Bowerstone gang leader. So, it\u2019s now our job to get them back. It doesn\u2019t take us long to get in trouble with this gang, either. One step back onto the streets and we\u2019re faced with a trio of Ronnie\u2019s lackeys who are bothering Billie, described by Playground as a \u201cpart-time playwright, full-time orphan.\u201d Dialogue options are given, and an attempt to defuse the situation is made. Unfortunately, for them, violence is deemed necessary.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s the first opportunity for us to get a proper look at Fable\u2019s combat, and I\u2019m impressed. It\u2019s always difficult to know how good a game\u2019s action is until you get your hands on it yourself \u2014 something I\u2019ll be doing in mere hours \u2014 but it certainly looks slick. Sweeping sword slashes are executed. A bow and arrow is fired satisfyingly with a ping into someone’s head. A long electric whip is conjured and sent crashing down onto the group. A fireball is sculpted from our hero\u2019s palms and sent blazing into a chest containing a now-unbeating heart. The flexibility on show is great to see, and it appears this won\u2019t be an RPG that restricts your combat options depending on a strict class structure<\/p>\n
That encounter earns us a skill point, and a fairly extensive skill tree is flashed up on screen and then closed before I have time to study it in any depth. However, I did see what the skill point was spent on: magical blades, a spell any Fable veteran will no doubt fondly remember. We\u2019ll see in action shortly. <\/p>\n
First, it\u2019s time to head to a more down-on-its-luck part of town where Slick Ronnie\u2019s hideout can be found. Of course, the trail takes us to a pub. The Poor House is Ronnie\u2019s chosen watering hole, and after talking to its clientele, it becomes apparent we need access to the back area of the establishment. There are multiple ways in, but we choose the easy road and pay for entry to save time. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\nOnce through the door, we find ourselves faced with another lock we don\u2019t have the key for. This door is unguarded, however, so we put our trusty lockpicking skills to the test and gain swift entry. There\u2019s no Fallout-esque tumbler-rotating minigame to play here, just a simple hold of a button instead. Ronnie\u2019s office waits on the other side, and the deeds to the guild are there to be plundered. Just walking away would be far too simple, though, wouldn\u2019t it? On the way out, Ronnie isn\u2019t very happy to see us, and a quick attempt to bluff her by saying we wandered into this restricted area after a few too many drinks doesn\u2019t go down well. It\u2019s time to fight again, and the perfect opportunity for those magical blades to see some action. <\/p>\n
Upon triggering the attack, three glowing blue swords float above our heads before darting towards an enemy each \u2013 it\u2019s very much the spell you remember, and a good indicator that Playground has no intention of abandoning Fable\u2019s history. It appears to be a great crowd control tool when surrounded by multiple attackers, as we are here. A follow-up arrow to one of their knees makes one satisfyingly stumble as they react to the target damage, and then met with the pointed end of our sword. Things then get a little trickier here, as a bulky brute wielding a two-handed axe enters the fight. It\u2019s instantly noticeable how many more hits he can take, so instead it seems wise to focus on building up his stagger bar through sustained attacks so a big damage window opens. Again, I\u2019m impressed by the fluidity of the action.<\/p>\n
This battle signals the end of our time with Fable for now, but it’s that combat that I can\u2019t wait to get my hands on. I\u2019m left convinced by the enjoyably British tone of the world, the range of characters that inhabit it, and the stories they\u2019re eager to tell us. I\u2019m left hopeful the combat matches that quality, though, and will be finding out very soon if Fable feels as slick to play as it looks. I\u2019ll let you know very soon.<\/p>\n
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at <\/em>@cardy.bsky.social.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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