When the next Fable game was announced as a Kinect-only title, we were as suspicious (and frankly, disappointed) as you. Although the series has never been the deepest or most complex of RPGs, we couldn’t imagine navigating through an RPG with motion controls at all.

But our latest look at Fable: The Journey, which included significant hands “on” time, has us cautiously optimistic again. Here’s why we could see the move to Kinect working for Fable after all, as well as a few reasons it still might not.

Peter Molyneux, famed designer of the Fable franchise, started our recent demo by assuring us that he and his team had the same concerns about Kinect as we did. They worried about adding “imprecise controls” to the series, and about players growing “exhausted” by moving around so much for a full-length game. They “chose” to make Fable: The Journey a Kinect game only once they’d made certain the concerns wouldn’t translate into actual gameplay problems.

Much of Fable: The Journey takes place behind the backside of a horse – your hero traverses the fantasy kingdom of Albion on a drawn carriage, with you taking control of the imaginary reins in real life. And just like real life, you won’t need to flail your arms around continuously to get anywhere. If that’s how it worked, why would anyone have ever used this method of transportation to begin with? Just lean back, relax and guide the carriage’s direction with small, easy movements of the hands (or spur the horse on with your voice, which it will learn to recognize). It’s almost easier than pushing buttons.

Molyneux hyped the dog in Fable II so much that it became an industry joke. To some degree, though, he was right – we really did grow to care for the furry little guy. And that was before we were the controller! In Fable: The Journey, you can pet and pat your horse exactly as you would an actual horse. And try not to bond with the virtual animal when you’re pulling an arrow out of its side, then healing the wound with a wave of your hands.

When you leave your horse, it’ll usually be to engage in combat with surrounding enemies. Magic is the primary weapon in Fable: The Journey, at least in what’s been shown of the game so far, and it’s fun. You can shoot fire and lightning at individual baddies, or at a whole group. You can shoot a spell out of each hand simultaneously. And, most entertainingly, you can use a tentacle-like spell to fling monsters into the air, then shoot them… or grab them and throw them into a nearby pillar. Does this fun last longer than a few minutes? Hard to say at this point. But it has at least the potential for diversity, if enough different spells are introduced.

After the fight, we solved a simple puzzle to unlock a large stone door. What’s exciting about that? Well, the puzzle required that we rotate concentric circles until a series of orbs were lined up in a perfectly straight line. We did so in about ten seconds, which is a positive sign that the Kinect controls can be precise as necessary, when necessary.

Editor’s note: The image above is from Fable III, as the puzzle we describe from Fable: The Journey is not shown in any screens or videos available so far.

We can’t speak to this one from personal experience, as we’ve experienced limited sections of the game so far. Molyneux promises, however, that Fable: The Journey is not a casual, dumbed-down version of his franchise. There’s exploration, there’s leveling, there are collectibles. To the same extent as previous Fables? That remains to be seen.

Now for the lingering worries…

During our demo, Molyneux said that Fable: The Journey doesn’t have to explain movement controls to the player because they’re so natural and instinctual. With one minor (edit: major) exception. To move around the world outside of your horse and carriage, you must lean forward to walk forward, lean back to slow down or stop and lean left or right to turn. That’s kind of the opposite of natural, wouldn’t you agree?

Despite the apparent preciseness of the Kinect controls, Molyneux confirmed for us that Fable: The Journey does “assist” you in targeting enemies with your magic. He elaborated that the more magic you use – and presumably, the better you learn the movements – the less the game will take pity on and help you, but for critics of auto-targeting, that will be small consolation.

We know for a fact that Fable: The Journey is not a completely on-rails game. You can choose your path across Albion, and choose where to get off your carriage to interact with the world. What we don’t know is if those sections are on-rails or not. After dispatching a group of enemies in the combat section of our demo, we were automatically placed in front of a treasure chest and asked to open it by mimicking the real motions of opening a box. That’s neat, but we didn’t walk up to the chest of our own volition like we would in Skyrim… or even an older Fable game. We’ve heard a lot about true freedom in Fable: The Journey, but we have yet to witness it.

Are you excited or worried about Fable: The Journey? Do you consider this an authentic entry in the series, or a mutant Kinect spinoff? Let us know in the comments below.