Sable

An intimate and introspective open world odyssey, with jetbikes.

If the idea of a game that offers you a true sense of freedom appeals to you, you’ll undoubtedly get a kick out of Sable. Its expertly-crafted narrative alone will inspire you to keep going, but repetitive quests and an often barren world may dampen your spirits a little. Still, there’s a lot to enjoy here, and if its art style resonates with you, you’ll find it easy to lose hour after hour in Sable‘s unique world.

Sable is a game about self-discovery that unfortunately, doesn't live up to its potential.

I love the weird beauty of Sable and its coming-of-age adventure story, but there are a lot of small irritants that pile up and - perhaps worst of all - your bike just isn't fun to drive.

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Shedworks has created a gorgeous throwback of an adventure game that settles the player in for a leisurely, minimalist voyage of self-discovery.

There’s a trend I’ve noticed with artsy indie games lately: a weird reluctance to show the faces of its characters. I just finished playing The Artful Escape, in many ways a musically thrilling and downright inspiring game, but every character’s eyes were hidden behind opaque glasses. And now we have Sable, which masks its protagonist and everyone else in the world, besides. If eyes are the windows to the soul, it’s no wonder that these games feel lovely and inventive but, at least to me, emotionally distant.

Take away the technical issues, and Sable is a pretty good game. It's not great, because some fundamental design issues do hold it back, but it would still be worth checking out. As it stands, however, the game is a mess technically speaking, with frame rate drops, pop ins, crashes, hard locks, and long loading times. If there is a good game in here, it's really hard to get to, and it might be best to wait till after some of the technical issues have been ironed out.

When I meet the mask crafter for the first time, I am unsure if I am touching a spirit, god, or machine. The machinists, whose ranks I plan to join today, would probably dismiss the distinction altogether. As I remember this, my hoverbike Simoon purrs outside the tent. She has been a good teacher.

These issues are unfortunate because Sable is a remarkable game that would normally warrant a higher rating. But the problems, although minor for the most part, were encountered with such regularity that they can’t be overlooked. Hopefully, Raw Fury will fix these hiccups quickly because, without those flaws, Sable truly is a beautiful and minimalist journey through an open world that is a joy to explore.

It offers an otherworldly break from the busyness of life, and, when you do return to Earth, you will do so with a smooth landing, and without stress.

Sable will find an audience that truly adores its free-form exploration, stylistic visuals, engaging writing and chill soundtrack, but for me, these redeeming qualities were lost in a sandy sea of emptiness and repetition in its core mechanics. Its messages certainly resonated with me but its gameplay lacked the variety to truly keep me hooked for lengthier sessions. If you're looking for a chill experience and can overlook any performance issues that aren't quite resolved by the time you pick it up, then Sable will deliver. I just can't help shake the feeling of missed potential here.