Molyneux Does What He Does Best: Says Stuff

In an open public statement to several different gaming journalists, Peter Molyneux claimed that he made a huge mistake, something as we all know, has never happened before.  Everyone and their mother picked up on the fact that Fable:  the Journey seemed to be an on-rails shooter, which is a rather stark departure from the rest of the series, which was apparently an unintended coincidence.  Because he decided to remove Navigation Controls from the demo shown off.  Because, as we all know, if something in place of navigation is shown where navigation would be, nobody will assume navigation is not there.  In the wake of on-rails shooters and Star Wars:  Kinect, he decides to remove the controls before he shows it off and doesn't see what that will do to his game.

At least he does go on record by saying that it was, indeed, a mistake (a 'horrendous' one, his words) because that is indeed what it is.  And one has to wonder now if this is just Molyneux saying stuff to make sure word of mouth on the game is as positive as it can be before it comes out and disappoints thousands, or if he's actually going to figure out some way to implement navigation in a Kinect heavy game.  About the only way I can figure it is if there's some sort of on-screen toggle that you can wave at to switch between combat and movement, and you move by gesturing to a landmark here or there.  Sort of like a point-and-click game but about 20 years after it's time.

Were it anyone else, I would likely give him the benefit of the doubt, but I, as has most people, have felt a little burned by Molyneux personally, and we've learned to take everything he says with a grain of salt.  Fable 1, after all the bluster, all the hype wasn't even mediocre, but below that.  Without even taking all the talk into consideration (as that will tend to color your perception eventually) I can't say the game was passable, much less good.  Because Fable has the illustrious award of being one of the two games I've ever fallen asleep while playing.  (The other being pokemon red because I played it for hours on end through the night on my Super Game Boy and I was a little kid.)  So while there'll always be people who get a modicum of enjoyment out of the Fable series and it's future, there'll always be those like me who are too wary to believe anything but the final product.