The Good
+ Amazing art style
+ Dreamy soundtrack
+ Huge open world
+ Zero violence
+ Imaginative
The Bad
- Slightly confusing level design
- Tight space camera angles
- Too many fetch quests
- Sluggish controls
- No mini-map
The Ugly
- Bugs, bugs, and more bugs!
- Very poorly optimized
- Audio / video stuttering
- Corrupted saves
- Frame drops
(I played it on gamepass) I was going to buy it after I'd given it a whirl on gamepass, because who knew when it would leave the roster... and I genuinely was- I was playing this game religiously after work for days- but... God damn, I found a bug where I went out of bounds to a later part of the game, and I thought I'd found a secret.... but no; I could not return to the part of the game I'd come from, and I was stuck, with no hope of getting back to the main game. Countless hours of gameplay down the toilet; There was no way I was starting from the beginning again, despite me loving this game to pieces.
It makes it very sad and frustrating, because underneath the bugs, there definitely is a brilliant, tight game, which scratches an itch few games really can. Other reviewers mention the bugs they experienced, and I mentioned the presence of other bugs above- and they definitely do exist- but really all of them are minor, and can totally be forgiven/plain ignored without it affecting the enjoyment, or even without breaking the immersion of the game. I really was not phased one bit... until the big bug that took me out of the main game, and into an out of bounds area. That was the last straw.
My final thoughts: What this game does well is that it is an incredibly built world, with compelling interactions, a humdrum childlike atmosphere, with beautiful graphics- meant to emulate Moebius' style, and just so much intrigue, and mystery to get lost in. I will pick this up and play it from the beginning in the future, but I need to let some serious time put a wedge between when I do that, I'm still salty about the out of bounds bug. But if you are considering picking it up, I'd say... do it. buy it cheap, try it on gamepass. There's a lot to get lost in with this game... just don't go too near the top of the cliffs- there is no collision there.
You would have thought with all the money the devs made, they could hire a QA team, and make some patches... we'll see.
I played this game and let me tell you music , artwork, day and night routine is just i would say is amazing. I would say the game interms of experience is not too close but for sure near to the game "THE JOURNEY".
I think pros and cons is better way to judge this game here.
Pros:
Great art
Great music and soundtracks.
Big area of lands to explore.
Puzzles are not that hard to solve.
The day and night routine is just great and you can sit on top of mountain and enjoy view, sound of wind likr meditation i would say.
Cons:
There is no compass dial like no navigation so its hard to know where you are going.
No mini map so you have to go back to menu again again.
Still quirks in graphics but controls are ok.
The bike which is your main transportation sometimes does not respond to your whistle
Some players might find puzzles easy to solve and get frustrated with game like the hardcore puzzle solvers.
Sable is a girl coming of age into her desert tribe, and tradition has it that she now has to go through the Gliding. Nothing is spoken about what the Gliding actually is, but one can easily grasp it.
You are alone. In the wide desert, and the whole world beyond. And now? Now do what you want.
I remember the atmosphere in my home when I was about to leave for college. The excitement, the fear, the deep, dismissed sadness of my parents. The same air can be breathed as you speak to the members of your tribes, from the tutors to the children. You are about to part ways with them: maybe you'd want to stay, but the rules are clear. You have to go.
Sable is a wonderful journey in a world filled with inspired environments and unexpected levels. A coming of age story that leaves space for your mind to wonder as you travel through the endless dunes, the canyons, the salt wastes.
Sable will have to make a choice at the end of her journey, one common to all of us: what will she choose do with her life?
The choice will not be easy...but it will make for one of the best video games endings I've ever played.
I suggest Sable to any patient gamer out there that enjoys exploration, meditation and inspired art direction, and as a side note, I really wanted to thank the developers for making this game. Hope they have already their mind set on a new title!
The game is pretty, and chill, and would be very enjoyable if it weren't spoiled by a pletora of bugs. None of them are game-breaking, but they happen all the time.
The most recurring offender for me was the camera. It does whatever in a desperate attempt to look smooth or smart, and as a result won't let you look in the direction you want to look at, or hug the character way to close.
Of all the things I expected would be fun, riding the hoverbike across the desert should have been one of them. But the unpredictable physics of the bike makes it go ballistic on the smallest bump of the road, and it doesn't feel like you're really in control sometimes.