I didn’t play the original Fable (although I may now it’s available on Xbox Originals) but Peter Molyneux’s hyping of the original and subsequent apology for the game not having many of the previously hyped features is well documented. It was a game where trees would grow as time past and your character would change appearance depending on whether or not you chose the good or evil alignment. When the game shipped lacking many of the features that had sent the hype into overdrive it subsequently disappointed a lot of people. Now Molyneux wishes to make up for these disappointments and with a far more powerful console now in his hands there’s really no reason why Fable 2 should be stripped down like it’s predecessor.

So what are the big promises this time? A wonderful cuddly pet dog! While it’s hardly exciting it’s part of Molyneux’s big plan for you to actually feel emotional while playing the game. Basically your dog will act as your traveling companion, radar and help you out in combat. Molyneux is confident that you’ll never feel like the dog is in the way and that you’ll become so emotionally attached to it that you can’t help but feel a bit sad when the dog becomes injured at you see it limping around on three legs. The dog will also know who poses the biggest threat amongst a group of enemies, although hopefully this won’t mean he’ll get injured far easily. I can see myself nursing the dog already!

Other innovations include one-button combat, which sees melee weapons, ranged weapons and magic all assigned to a button each. I’m a bit concerned about how much depth this decision will allow the combat system to have as contextual combat can be cool at first but a bit boring after re-use (see Assassins Creed). You’ll also be allowed to get married and have kids, which should hopefully add some more emotional impact to the game. All these can be done with a friend in co-op - but beware that whatever they do in your world will have the same long-term effects.

Molyneux has taken a big gamble by again being the very public face of Fable 2. You can make all the promises in the world but if you don’t deliver on them come release date the gaming community can be a pretty fearsome thing. The pressure Molyneux is under must be immense, but let’s not forget that he’s delivered in the past and that he intentionally creates the hype himself. I have big hopes for Fable 2, but that’s exactly what worries me.

Update:  Fable 2 will be released in the US on October 21st and over here in Europe on the 24th.