Sable

Glide on… Sable follows the titular character on a journey of spiritual discovery known as “the Gliding.” Those who embark on the journey, known also as “Gliders,” are given a compass, a speeder bike, and a wide, desert world to explore as they come to discover their place within it. The story of Sable is minimal, though the more you explore and interact with the world of the game (known as Midden) the more you will come to learn just what this place is. Sable’s story certainly has its moments, but it takes a decidedly light approach on an ages-old story: the journey of self-discovery. Perhaps this is because it’s such a tired trope that the game doesn’t feel the need to reinvent the wheel, but who knows? Admittedly, I didn’t expect Sable to be an open-world game, so when I completed the prologue and was given the aforementioned compass and speeder, I was surprised to see the world quite literally open up before me. The map itself is modestly sized and features several unique biomes and landmarks to explore, but much of it feels barren; I suppose that makes sense, given the desert setting, but much of my time speeding around was spent whipping the camera from left to right and back again to see if there was anything around me interesting enough to explore. But however empty the world might seem, Sable does a good job of drawing your attention of where to go. Littered throughout the world are various towers, encampments, and crashed spaceships for you to explore. Some of these locations are quite interesting and fun, including a massive spaceship aptly named “The Whale,” a bustling market town, and a calcified sandworm that you may or may not be able to stumble your way into… Many of these hide valuable artifacts, which are usually Cuts (the in-game currency), dyes for your speeder bike, and scrap metal that you can eventually sell. Your speeder bike will be your primary means of transportation around the map, and thankfully there are upgrades to its speed and overall performance. However, even after I upgraded my bike’s speed to the max, it still felt like I was going slower than I should be. Odd, but what can you do. There are some colour customization options as well, but I didn’t really bother with these. I also didn’t bother much with the clothing customization, apart from changing my headgear to complete one objective during one quest. Most of your time with Sable will be spent meeting and interacting with various NPCs, whose sole job is to espouse their thoughts and feelings on any given topic under the hot, desert sun, and give you quests to complete. Most of these are simple fetch quests but, like any good open-world game, they force you to explore the more hidden parts of the map and learn more about the world around you. I was also very, very surprised to find that Sable is yet another game that has an oddly-tacked-on fishing minigame! Fishing? In the desert!? Go figure! The minigame is remarkably simple, as you can cast your rod into just about any sandy surface and catch the little critters and creatures hidden beneath. So… reverse fishing. Speaking of, it got a good chuckle out of me the first time I curiously cast my rod into one of the game’s few bodies of water only to discover that no, you can’t fish there. There’s also a neat climbing mechanic where you can attach yourself to just about any vertical or sloped surface and climb your way up it so long as you have enough stamina, very Breath of the Wild-esque. I was constantly impressed by the game’s sense of scale and verticality, and climbing never got boring or old – just occasionally frustrating when you realize not every surface is scalable. There are also ways to upgrade your stamina, and I remember feeling overwhelming joy when I got my first upgrade, because all it meant to me was that I could climb higher! Now, my biggest problem with Sable is one that everyone seems to have: performance. Many times when I was coasting along on my speeder along the desert dunes the framerate would just take a massive hit out of nowhere. The game was good at correcting this, but the frequency of it was just something I couldn’t ignore. Also, several times when I interacted with vendors and tried to buy something, the Buy/Sell menu just wouldn’t work, or I had to sell something first to get it to work – this wasn’t told to me by a vendor, I just brute-forced it once and realized it was a quick fix. There were also a few moments where I had to leave an area and return because NPCs vital to my current quest couldn’t stop acting erratically, thereby blocking my progress. However, I wouldn’t say that any one bug or glitch were particularly “game breaking,” but they sure felt the part. Though a fair chunk of my time with Sable was plagued by performance issues and gameplay bugs, I still very much enjoyed this visually striking coming-of-age story.

La historia es simple: una chica debe encontrar el sentido de su vida, elegir su máscara. Hay muchas; sin embargo, yo elegí la máscara del clan. ¿Por què? Porque viajé por 16 horas en un vasto mundo solitariamente, conocí personas, tuve aventuras, sí, hice todo eso, pero me sentí solo, no me sentía cómodo, no como en esos primeros 20 minutos del juego donde estás en el clan Ibice, con tu familia y te sientes en casa. Al final elegí la máscara de mi clan y me quedé con ellos. Pude irme a cualquier lugar del mundo, elegir otro propósito, pero ese era el que a mí más me gustaba, no solo por el personaje, que creo que eso era lo que ella quería, sino también como jugador. Por primera vez tuve una familia; fue en un juego, pero la tuve. El juego es genial. Pero hey, detente ahí, ¿qué pensabas, que todo es color de rosas? El juego está plagado de bugs y su rendimiento es asqueroso. Mi PC puede con Red Dead Redemption 2, pero no con este juego; me va a 40 fps con tirones de 15, y son constantes. Y es un insulto que estos desarrolladores no hayan mejorado el rendimiento y los cientos de bugs, como el de la cámara que se buguea con el más mínimo movimiento cerca de una estructura, en 4 años desde su lanzamiento. El juego está bien, y te diría que lo compres, pero mejor te diré que no, porque si los desarrolladores no se dignaron a arreglar el juego después de 4 años de su lanzamiento, entonces tú no te dignes a comprarlo. Le daría una calificación neutra, pero no se puede, así que le daré el pulgar arriba solo porque la idea general del juego es muy buena.

Обидно, когда долго думаешь об игре, хочешь в неё поиграть, покупаешь наконец, а тут такое разочарование. Томно и мучительно рассекаешь по пустыне на своём коряво управляемом ховербайке, как на «Буханке» по Каспию, и ищешь точки активностей, ищешь, выполняешь однообразные задания и снова ищешь. Собственно, в этом вся игра и заключается. Что в ней делать дольше часа — для меня загадка. Производит впечатление недоделанного, сырого продукта. Стиль игры мне тоже не зашёл. Вердикт: [b]3/10.[/b]

Low stress,. puzzle adventure across an ever growing map and storyline. The music and little sound effects add to experience <3.

^^^^^ so called "free-thinking" Jean Giraud Moebius enjoyers when there's an open world science fantasy RPG set in a surrealist desert planetscape with Arab-futurist aesthetics and environmental worldbuilding heavily inspired by New Age metaphysics

I was actually really excited about this game when I first watched the trailer but this game is not worth the full price its (to me) VERY VERY boring. Its trying to have BOTW gameplay but it feels WAYYY too big and there isn't much to do. The music is even boring.

Exploration, collection, customization, and zen, without any combat. There is a destination, but this is much more about the journey itself. There is a dedicated "sit" button; climb up to a vista where you can drink in this game's strong distinct art style, and press it. That feeling you get when you allow yourself to just exist in a world like this is just...priceless.

Sable é um jogo sobre liberdade e amadurecimento, a busca de quem eu quero me tornar, por meio do avoo você enfrenta essa jornada em busca da máscara que lhe represente. O jogo em si baseia-se na exploração e resolução de puzzles e sidequests, não há a existência de combate, grande parte da gameplay é você e simon (sua nave) desvendando os segredos desse planeta desértico, entre acampamentos, cidades e ruínas de um passado longínquo você se vê escalando e flutuando para descobrir o que está por trás de certa área, uma nave abandonada? resquícios de civilizações antigas? ou só uma paisagem bonita, no fim é sobre a jornada e o caminho que você escolhe e decide seguir. Apesar dos bugs (que sinceramente não atrapalham em nada), foi uma ótima experiência, recomendo a todos que queiram um jogo tranquilo para se aventurar, não tem pressa para decidir quem você quer ser, curta seu avoo a sua maneira.

I've only played this game a little over 3 hours and it's been REALLY buggy. The call bike feature worked once and never again no matter the distance or obstacle. Things will have dialog/interact boxes one second, then disappear, then eventually reappear. Climbing is a core component of the game and it's barely possible, even on easier climbs. My character has just diappeard a few times for no apparent reason. The camera goes wild sometimes when I do manage to get a conversation going with an NPC. It seems like a really neat game, but when it's bugging out every few minutes, it really takes me out of it.