Fable: The Journey Inspired In Part By Black & White Creature Relationships

Fable: The Journey continues the tradition of creature interaction Lionhead Studios and Peter Molyneux started a decade ago with god game Black & White, Molyneux said in an interview with Gaming Union. Specifically, in case you're wondering, we're talking about the horse.

"There was a bond we built up over the course of that game, and a lot of it was about rewarding and punishing your creature. People built up strong bonds with their creatures, and the one thing we learned from that is you've got to allow time for that bond to build up," Molyneux said before explaining that it's a difficult concept to relay in brief snippets, which might explain why that wasn't the focus of The Journey's E3 2011 presence.

• VIDEO: Fable: The Journey E3 Gameplay Demo

In fact, Molyneux himself called the Fable: The Journey demo at the Microsoft press conference "a horrendous mistake," as it gave the impression the game was on-rails, which it is, in fact, not. Couple this with the difficulty of conveying an emotional connection in five minutes and it might help explain why the game hasn't garnered much support.

"I can't give you five minutes of gameplay and expect you to care about the horse, but within about two or three hours of [Fable: The Journey] you will start caring," Molyneux said.

Sounds good to me. I actually grew up on a farm with tons of horses - you know... real ones - so I know how attached people can become to creatures that aren't as huggable as a fluffy lap-warming dog. Aww, now I miss good ol' Buddy and Sonya. Yes, I named my mare after a character in Mortal Kombat. Even as a farm girl I was a huge nerd. Don't judge.