In Fable for the original Xbox, one’s choices were all that truly mattered. Your character existed in a world where what you did had an effect on everything around you: the people, the places and the going’s on. This was the major allure of the game, and while the original shipped incomplete, the second version, Fable: The Lost Chapters delivered completely on the game’s promise and became one of the most popular titles on Xbox.

Coming soon to Xbox 360 is the tentatively titled Fable 2, from the same development team as Fable and Fable: The Lost Chapters. Set 500 years ahead of the original, Fable 2 will take place in a slightly more industrialized world, where the advances made by the civilization are quite obvious, resulting in a more organized, populated and far more active world.

Interesting to note are two new features; first, the player will encounter a dog, which will travel with the player and in a clever twist, eliminate the mini-map of the previous game. The canine will defend you against enemies (depending of course, on the weapon the player uses) and without giving the player away, will alert him of danger. The dog is a constant companion, one whose attitudes will change and its bond to you will grow stronger and more evident as the game progresses.

The player can be rid of the dog, but not without experiencing the tenacity in getting rid of a beloved pet. To be rid of the companion, the player literally needs to abandon the pooch, and multiple times at that: the dog will attempt more than once to reunite with you and it will take several tries to be finally rid of him. Ouch.

Also, this new quest will take place over the character's lifetime. So in that, many parts of the game are in the player’s direct control. You can have a family or not, if you are female you can become pregnant (thus having to take the time birth the kid!), if you’re evil, your family will be evil and because of your plundered spoils your kids will be fat and spoiled and your wife a hideous nag. Less money and power will breed a different, if not opposite, result.

Areas and land will change organically. For example, if the player is evil, he can destroy a village and kill many of its inhabitants. This will result in the desertion of the destroyed town or its non-existent reconstruction.

The 360 will obviously allow for what made the original Fable so engrossing while definitely sending the concept into fantastically deep new territory with Fable 2.