The Wolf Among Us 2 has Fabletown's "darkest story" yet, but "always wants the player to feel invited in" with its noir gameplay

A detective in a fleece-lined jacket surveys the scene during my first look at The Wolf Among Us 2. Armed with a gruff exterior and a sharp eye, he examines an apartment looking for clues with the aid of police officer Faye, as both law enforcers look to solve a murder. The duo uncover a note which magically forms the name Bigby.

Faye points a gun at the detective, demanding he explain why his name is linked to an apparent crime scene. The detective explains the note is magic, and as Faye looks on in disbelief it's clear that Telltale Games' long-awaited choice-driven fairytale noir is going places the 2013 original didn't – this is a mystery Fabletown alone isn't going to be able to contain.

Return to Fabletown

At Summer Game Fest 2026, I was invited to see The Wolf Among Us 2 in action. Accompanied by creative director Zak Garriss and design director Jess Campbell, I was able to watch the latter play through a small section of the upcoming sequel, choosing how Bigby would act or respond in certain moments of the work-in-progress demo.

It's immediately evident from the dialogue choices that Fabletown's gruffest, sharpest detective Bigby Wolf can be both wise and endearing, a balance that's hard to achieve. "There's something incredibly rich about playing a character, not just a character who's centuries old, but who has the kind of baggage that Bigby has," Zak Gariss explains when I ask about the importance of this setup.

The Wolf Among Us 2 is aiming to give "a deeper look into Bigby, into what makes him tick, into his history, into his scars, in pretty exciting ways, pretty dark ways," Gariss continues. It's a welcome notion given the character's popularity, but another reason behind this is "because great storytelling ultimately comes down to characters". Fabletown is home to some big personalities – a secret community of folklore characters in New York City – which means plenty of conflicting desires, and a whole lot of suspects whenever Bigby has to intervene in a crime.

As Bigby walks around the suspected murderer's residence, with a third-person camera following his movements instead of remaining fixed on a frame like in the previous game, Gariss opens up about the narrative; "It leads to an interlocking series of mysteries that go from something as simple as a murder case to something far more complicated that points to a conspiracy that threatens to undermine the structure of Fabletown."

It's at this point that Gariss talks about how The Wolf Among Us 2 is a noir, with its hard-boiled detective protagonist Bigby and his place in the game's story. "There's always a cost to something, and so Bigby is always going to be standing at the crossroads of having to make an impossible decision around what's the best version of a series of bad outcomes." When I press Gariss on the value of this type of character, he concludes that "within that framework vulnerability abounds, and there's a lot of opportunity to really resonate with the wounds that he's incurring or has incurred, and it kind of carries through the narrative."

But who is Bigby's companion anyway? Gariss tells me that "Faye is a new type of character for the franchise that represents what it's like when a mundy starts knocking on the door, and it's a particularly charged challenge for Bigby because it's a mundy cop." Given that the player can have Bigby tell Faye about the magical secrets of Fabletown, it presents a luscious prospect with serious ramifications down the line, but the demo is over well before I can see a meaningful conclusion.

Once upon a playtime

The Wolf Among Us 2 improves on the original's sleuthing gameplay. The player can move freely around environments, exploring the scenery at their own pace. "We always want the player to feel invited in, deeply respected," Gariss tells me, highlighting the mindset behind the enhanced design.

There's even the option to bypass puzzles should they prove difficult, something I ask Jess Campbell about. "We don't want people having to put the controller down and go look it up online, because that means we didn't do it right," the design director explains. While I can quite enjoy hitting my head against a metaphorical brick wall (or a straw or wooden one, for that matter), I've seen firsthand how frustrating it is for the momentum to stall over a challenge, so it's easy to admire the inclusion of such a feature.

Just as the game's mechanics reach new depths, so too does the narrative. "It is truly the darkest story in Fabletown yet. We're going to go to some dark places," Gariss asserts, refusing to say too much more for fear of spoilers – a restraint I'm thankful for – but he does tease a bit more for the sequel after I ask about an in-game clue seemingly inspired by The Wizard of Oz: "There are many characters that are returning from the first game, reprised by the actors who played them, and it's a reunion [...] but we're also bringing in new kind of legends from the lore, and we're really excited about that too, and that extends – that newness – to some of the places."

Compared to the tight rooms of the original, it's clear even in this work-in-progress demo that the sense of scale is much larger, and will see Bigby whisked between lots of new locations – though, again, quite where is still tightly under wraps.

As our session comes to a close, my last question for the developers is whether players need to have played through the first game in order to enjoy The Wolf Among Us 2. Gariss fields this one: "While this is a true sequel, our Bigby is the Bigby who went through the adventure in the first game – it's six months later in his life – you don't need to have experienced that adventure to jump right in here and enjoy the experience that unfolds. And if you have, you will see context, you will understand, you will see characters that you get to interact with, fight, build friendships with, but it's by no means required, and if you do play Wolf 2, and really love it, you can absolutely go back and experience the first one."

The Wolf Among Us 2 will release on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 in 2027, although there's no exact launch date yet. Lucky for us the first game is getting a remaster later this year, so we've got the perfect excuse to revisit Fabletown before the sequel drops.

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