Kai Arcos Jiménez

Thoughts

Before Sable’s release in 2021, I loosely followed its development on Twitter for a while. I’m not sure why it took me so long to pick it up, but I’m glad I eventually got around to it. There were several things I liked about this game that become obvious within the first few hours of gameplay.

First off, I loved the prose and dialogue. Particularly, Sable’s thoughts are beautifully written. Another aspect of the writing that I enjoyed was the way Simoon (Sable’s hoverbike) is treated like a character. The sound design helped sell this idea by making her sound like a creature rather than a machine. She’ll respond with a call of her own when Sable summons her, and complain with a high pitched whine if she crashes. I liked the idea of her being a companion, rather than simply a vehicle.

The world is sparsely populated to provide enough space for adventuring with Simoon, but there are more secrets to discover than I expected. You come across them organically, and there isn’t always some NPC to trigger a quest. You’ll find spots that slowly reveal new lore, side quests led by charismatic characters, and pieces of environmental storytelling that will have you asking questions.

This game actually motivated me to go for a completionist run, which I rarely do! It wasn’t too difficult to complete all the achievements, with it taking around 18 hours in total. I thought the game was long enough without dragging out, and the achievements did not involve too many repetitive tasks. However, if you’re someone that needs to tick all the boxes, there are plenty of collectibles to go through outside of those needed for the achievements.

Unfortunately, Sable suffers from some glitches that can make the experience a bit annoying or difficult. They were often funny and not too frustrating, but I can see how someone with less patience might struggle to push through them. That said, it’s definitely worth it!

Sneak peek