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When it arrives in early October, Lionhead Studios' Fable: The Journey promises to be the most expansive Kinect game yet. In contrast to the wealth of kid-friendly mini-game collections and dancing simulations that make up much of Kinect's library, The Journey is a full-on action RPG, and though we don't yet know how long the game will be, we do know that the world of Albion will be three times larger than it was in Fable III.

Needless to say, as a Kinect-required game with a first-person perspective, Fable: The Journey is a very different game from its predecessors. To help prepare prospective players, Microsoft and Lionhead have released a new trailer covering the game's story. Even better is word that a playable Fable: The Journey demo will arrive on the Xbox Marketplace in September.

The Journey marks a number of "firsts" for the Fable series. Perhaps most notably, it'll be the first retail Lionhead game released since Peter Molyneux left the studio (though he did work on the game, and continued to consult on it after his departure). Molyneux being Molyneux, he painted a grand vision of the game shortly after its announcement at E3 2011, promising that despite its Kinect interface, The Journey is designed to appeal to hardcore players, and explaining its focus on magic rather than guns.

That focus on magical attacks may well have contributed to another of the game's "firsts" -- Fable: The Journey is the first game in the series (discounting XBLA's Fable Heroes, which -- trust me -- is for the best) not to receive an "M" rating from the ESRB. Instead, the game carries a "T" rating, for "Mild Blood, Mild Language, Violence," which may not be received as good news by fans of the previous Fable titles.

Finally, The Journey is the first Fable game developed on the Unreal Engine 3. As a result, it could easily end up being the best looking Fable game yet. The Journey certainly looks nice enough in the trailer at the top of the page, but there is no substitute for seeing a game in action on your very own television. Players will get a chance to do exactly that, and experience the game's toned-down content, for themselves on Monday, September 17th -- just one month from today.

Will The Journey be the first Fable game to make good on all of Molyneux's promises? Are you looking forward to giving the demo a try? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Fable: The Journey, which requires Kinect, releases October 9, 2012, for Xbox 360.

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Source: Lionhead Studios