Sable

Sable is an artsy game. It’s designed to be the antithesis of a typical “video game ass” video game; there is no high score to reach, heads to shoot off or levels to gain. Sable encourages players to wander out into the dunes and discover their own fun, instead of telling players what to do and where to go. Unfortunately the game suffers from a litany of technical issues including frame stuttering and a glitchy camera. Bugs aside, I found Sable to be an enlightening open world experience.

You play as Sable, a member of a nomadic tribe known as the Ibexii. She is about to embark on a rite of passage known as The Gliding. Sable must leave her tribe to learn about the world and return wearing a new mask that symbolizes her growth. In this fantasy world, the identity of a person is based on the mask they wear. People such as the Machinists, Scrappers and Merchants each have their own unique masks. By exploring the world and doing quests, Sable earns badges which she can exchange for masks. Once Sable obtains a new mask, she can end the game at any time by returning to her tribe.

Sable’s open ended nature is refreshingly liberating compared to padded games that long overstay their welcome. Sable can either be finished in a single sitting or extend to a dozen hours. The game reminds me of an indie game called Her Story, where players can choose to end it whenever they want. Sable does not demand players to tick all the checkboxes. In fact, I didn’t even explore every single biome when I finished the game. As far as I know, there is no secret ending or bonus content for doing every single quest or getting all the masks.

Sable plays almost identically to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. There is a stamina bar that drains when running or climbing environments. Sable can use the Gliding Stone to traverse great distances from a high point. She can set navigation waypoints based on her point of view. There are cartographers located in high points in each region who can fill out the map. There are also puzzle rooms, albeit not as complex as Zelda, that often involve transferring batteries to power on and off machinery. Instead of a horse, there is a hover bike that Sable can ride which can be upgraded with new parts with scrap earned exploring the world and completing quests. The only noticeable feature that Sable does not copy is the combat, because there is no combat at all. In a sense, it’s a bit disappointing coming from someone who also enjoys traditional video games because there is no danger or conflict. Sable can fall for thousands of feet and come out unharmed. You cannot lose in Sable.

The game has a unique stop-motion comic book aesthetic set in an imaginative desert world. It is artistically striking, but not technically impressive. There is very little fauna outside of towns making traveling from point to point very bleak. Outside of the fantastic opening title theme “Glider” by Japanese Breakfast, the rest of the music is forgettable. On paper, hopping on a hoverbike and traveling across the landscape sounds thrilling but in practice it is very boring. In fact, riding the hoverbike was my least favorite part due to the game’s technical issues.

You don’t need to read just my review to know about it, but Sable is technically incompetent. The game suffers from horrendous frame stuttering when riding the hoverbike. I was experiencing frame stutters even while using an Adaptive Sync Display with the lowest possible settings. My PC rig doesn’t have the beefiest CPU and GPU out there, but can play AAA games like the Witcher 3 at 1440p with medium settings at a steady 60 FPS. Playing Sable in the meantime was a nightmare, my framerate would constantly fluctuate between 40 and 120 FPS. Sable isn’t exactly a technical masterpiece so there should be no reason for these frame stutters. Outside of frame stutters, the camera would occasionally glitch out. There are numerous times when I would talk to an NPC and the camera would be obscured by the environment. The camera would also clip through the floor or ceiling in narrow rooms that involve stairs. Other annoying bugs include an NPC that I could not buy from and texture glitches where the lighting on it would strobe intermittently.

Sable is a low-stakes, chill adventure game about discovering yourself and who you want to be. The rite of passage that Sable goes on can be perceived as a metaphor for working or studying abroad. It’s about exploring a foreign land to figure out what clicks and what doesn’t. And when the adventure is over and Sable returns to her tribe, it is enlightening to see how much she has changed. I enjoyed exploring the world, but due to the numerous frame stuttering issues I ended the journey earlier than preferred. I don’t know when these technical issues will be resolved, but I cannot wholeheartedly recommend Sable at this state.