Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows (Steam Deck OK)
Current goal: Collect more Chum eggs
Buy it at: Humble Bundle
sable was one of the many games on my four-digit wishlist on Steam. Then a dear friend of mine grabbed a copy and we chatted a little about the premise and art style… and I immediately felt very sorry that it had been on my wish list for so long. A quick purchase (and then several hours of playtime) later and I’m very, very excited.
If you are not familiar with it, sable takes place in a vast open world desert, littered with pockets of civilization and crashed spaceships (it was inspired by the desert environments in which Rey begins her journey). The Force Awakens). It features the old, abandoned sci-fi tech vibe that attracted me to various post-civilization works horizon. The world is explained (at least so far) just enough to give you a sense of what might have happened, but for the most part you just wander through echoes of the past and quiet landscapes that are very reminiscent of it Mobius.
It has a beautiful Breath of the Wild Quality, just a little more downtempo and chill, with a refreshing absence of violence and conflict. The result is that I spend more time in a sort of vibe-flow state, letting the sci-fi vistas wash over me without the distracting mandate of swinging a sword or shooting a gun. As Sable, a character going through a rite of passage that amounts to “going out and seeing the world,” people have dozens of little tasks for you to do. But unlike other open worlds where such a structure seems quite contrived and overly practical, in this world it is quite well contextualized. Characters like Sable are assumed to have a lot of time on their hands – and her awesome ability to soar through the air (think Link’s glider) allows her to explore areas that many normal people simply can’t.
It comes to life on the Steam Deck OLED, which is nice since it doesn’t exist on the Switch, making the Steam Deck (and alternatives to it) sableis the first stop for mobile gaming.
If I’m being critical: The soundtrack, while very, very beautiful, contains pianos and guitars… which transport me to our current reality, not to a strange desert landscape where I would rather hear things I can’t hear with understandable instruments connect. But because of the look and mood, it doesn’t usually bother me – and actually, it’s not a problem a normal person should have.
–Claire Jackson
