Fable's combat system is intended to be 'approachable' while still meeting modern expectations, Playground Games says — 'We wanted there to be breadth and depth to it, so we landed on wanting to have style-weaving combat'

September 10, 2026 at 01:00 PM

Fable associate game director Will Kennedy says the game's combat system will be "faithful" to the classic RPG series However, Playground Games wanted to make the game "approachable" for modern audiences Kennedy says the game's "Style-weaving combat" offers more "breadth and depth" to achieve that F

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li>Fable associate game director Will Kennedy says the game's combat system will be "faithful" to the classic RPG series</li><li>However, Playground Games wanted to make the game "approachable" for modern audiences</li><li>Kennedy says the game's "Style-weaving combat" offers more "breadth and depth" to achieve that</li></ul><a href="https://www.techradar.com/gaming/fable-summer-game-fest-2026-preview">Fable</a>'s "style-weaving" combat system is designed for a modern audience, while remaining faithful to the classic role-playing game (RPG) series, according to Playground Games.That's according to associate game director Will Kennedy during a Q&A session at <a href="https://www.techradar.com/gaming/everything-announced-atgamescom-opening-night-live-2026">Gamescom 2026</a>, where he discussed the game's humor and how that has also been woven into the battle system by allowing players to turn enemies into chickens.Speaking more about the design intention behind what Playground Games calls "style-weaving combat," which lets players mix and match different weapons and spells, Kennedy said the team wanted to balance what long-time fans of the series are familiar with, while making combat approachable for new players."When we're talking about being faithful to the classic franchise, we thought about how there was an approachability to combat there, and we knew that we wanted to be able to capture some of that for our game as well," Kennedy said. "But at the same time, we're making a game for gaming today."He added, "We wanted there to be breadth and depth to it, so we landed on wanting to have style-weaving combat. We wanted to be able to move from move to move really smoothly and easily, and that combined with the level expression that you've got."Kennedy explained that players can customize every element of their loadout, including ranged and melee weapons, and the four spell slots, which can be upgraded, and "by the time you play the game for even a little bit of time, you have a really broad, deep, rich suite of options to choose from.""But being able to move so freely between the moves, and it feeling so responsive and so satisfying, is something we're really proud of," Kennedy continued, "because I think we've landed somewhere that is still approachable but has that depth that we want and so therefore is faithful but works in gaming today as well for players, which is sometimes to be proud of."Fable is set to launch on February 23, 2027, for <a href="https://www.techradar.com/reviews/ps5">PlayStation 5</a>, <a href="https://www.techradar.com/reviews/xbox-series-x">Xbox Series X</a>, <a href="https://www.techradar.com/reviews/xbox-series-s">Series S</a>, and PC. Kennedy also confirmed that <a href="https://www.techradar.com/gaming/playground-games-says-fables-story-will-last-between-15-20-hours-or-double-that-with-other-open-world-content-and-the-life-systems-are-limitless">Fable's main storyline will take up to 20 hours to beat, but the game's life systems are "limitless."</a> </article> ]]>