I’m not sure whether it is the lack of combat or the utterly relaxing environment, but there’s something about Shedworks’ Sable that caused me to fall asleep a couple of times when I was playing the game. To be honest, I can’t help but wonder is this also the main reason why seemingly achievable Achievements are only attained by a minority of players.
I’m willing to posit that Sable is not for everyone. Taking very heavy inspiration from Breath of the Wild (another game that I’ve fallen asleep to… I blame the music), Sable eschews combat totally and instead has you, the player, do whatever else that BotW has to offer including exploring, climbing, solve puzzles and updating your wardrobe.
Settings-wise, Sable takes place on a desert planet, not unlike Dune. Armed with a gliding stone that enables the titular character to “glide” and a hovering bike (which can be upgraded throughout the course of the game), Sable sets out on a journey of self-discovery, with the aim of collecting masks… and er… making contact with her clan again.
The game’s art-style, heavily inspired by French artist Jean Giraud (Moebius) is pretty cool to look at and lends itself well to the whole desert planet vibe. Colours are reserved to very odd encounters with large head sculptures which seem to be a thing as well with Moebius’ art.
I dig the whole exploration vibe, and the game is vast. Sand dunes and rock formations hide secrets including ancient spaceship wrecks. There are towns and settlements to explore, with hard-to-reach cartographer stations in between. Interacting with characters and completing quests for them can net you badges, which in turn allow you to create masks.
Performance wise the game seems to hold up quite well on the Xbox Series S, but the game did stutter from time to time in environment-heavy scenes such as the sea of trees that I’ve to pass through to get to a town.
If you manage to push pass the temptation to fall asleep, Sable is a surprising experience. I would rather much go with Sable rather than revisit BotW because I find combat in the latter to be infuriating. Sable is available on Game Pass as well as on Steam.
We rate that game at a 4/5. Do check it out.
