Fable is getting rid of the old games’ horrible dog, who I hate

Great news everyone: they’re deep-sixing the dog. In a chat with IGN, Playground general manager Ralph Fulton said that, in contrast to the preceding two Fable games, this autumn’s Fable reboot won’t give you a furry canine companion to venture alongside.

I’m sure I speak for us all when I say: thank god.

Well, not all of us. To hear Fulton tell it, cutting the dog is a cross he has to bear at the studio. “I did know I was going to get this question. And do you know what? There are some folks on the team that were relishing me getting this question because I cut it a while back.”

Why did Fulton Old-Yeller Old Yeller? He seems almost too irate at the social cost it’s incurred to say: “For development reasons, right? I don’t need to go into any more detail than that, except to say there are a substantial number of people on the team who have yet to forgive me for that decision.” In response to IGN prodding him about maybe sticking a dog in the sequel, he concedes, “I hear you on that. Hey, for those people that still bear a grudge, this is my penance.”

Which, you have to admit, is quite funny. Fulton is clearly catching no end of flak from his peers for taking the dog away, but I’m brave enough to say it: he’s right. Or, well, he’s right according to my memory of Fable 2.

He ruined everything. (Image credit: Lionhead)

Here’s the thing: I love dogs. I love dogs in reality, and I love them, in general, in videogames. But I hate Fable 2’s dog. First up, it’s the most naked bit of emotional manipulation in videogame history. When I played that game, even as a kid, I knew the second that little pooch approached me that it would at some point be yanked cruelly away to tug at my heartstrings. I resented it.

But more than that: the dog was mechanically important. Your mutt would identify spots for you to dig, revealing treasure and silver keys and other goodies. When he gets taken away, you no longer have the capacity to access that anymore, and screw you if you got used to having it (there is a way to bring him back, but it involves making a very selfish end-game decision that has the game’s only good character berate the hell out of you).

So you know what? Good. I’m glad the dog is gone, purely because of how much I disliked absolutely everything Fable 2 did with its own canine. I said it, and I’m sure the comments will now be filled with people agreeing with me.

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