for a game with no combat no fail state,and not even much direction to guide you,exploring sables ruined desert was,rarely ever dull,driving a hoverbike through its stylish,open world or climbing giant mountains,and crumbling cities can be a lot of fun,in zen-like fashion,but for all the ways it manages to,delight in its simplicity dull puzzles,distracting bugs and poor camera,controls can occasionally turn sables,peaceful world into a frustrating one,[Music],sable tells a unique coming of age story,giving you control of a silent masked,protagonist in a fascinatingly,mysterious world full of other creepy,masked people and ruined sci-fi,technology,as a child entering adulthood you begin,a solitary quest to figure out who you,are by exploring the vast desert around,you a ritual that plays out a bit like a,mix between dune and my nephews bar,mitzvah what makes this odyssey so,special is that you truly get to make it,your own after a brief introduction the,world completely opens up with no main,quest line and only a few suggestions of,where to go,completing quests given to you by its,excellently written npcs will earn you,magical masks and once youve obtained,just one you could turn around go home,and end your journey right away,i spent 12 plus hours soaking in all,sable has to offer but every players,experience is likely to be different and,the structure of this world is,incredibly well designed to support that,freedom,no matter what path you choose however,the things you do in sable will largely,be the same that includes riding a,hoverbike around its visually stunning,if mostly empty desert areas solving,simple puzzles and doing tons of,platforming platforming is somewhat bare,bones in its design youve got the,ability to jump glide slowly through the,air and climb any surface with a slowly,depleting stamina bar because breath of,the wild made it so that thats just in,every open world game now i guess,but despite those basic building blocks,it manages to be pretty engaging,throughout due in no small part to the,beautiful terrain youll be scrambling,across,that is of course when the camera isnt,getting in the way of an otherwise good,time,like countless 3d platformers before it,sable suffers quite a bit from a wonky,camera thats constantly having dust,kicked up into it when youre riding on,your hover bike or phasing through,objects when youre trying to get it,into the right angle for a jump,thankfully sables platforming is,decidedly low stakes which limits the,frustration it can cause but its still,an underlying annoyance,compared to its amusing minimalist,platforming solving environmental,puzzles doesnt stay engaging nearly as,long,sables puzzles never really presented,any kind of challenge that made me feel,accomplished for solving them with most,obstacles amounting to simply standing,on a button or placing a battery inside,a socket to power something up,its not actively bad by any means but,also not really anything exciting to,write home about either again just like,my nephews bar mitzvah,similarly riding your hoverbike across,the barren deserts is a good way to see,sables gorgeous landscapes but,eventually it amounts to well this,theres just not much to it beyond going,from point a to point b and i was left,wanting some sort of time trial or race,challenge to put my customized bike to,better use,that said the stylish cel-shaded,environments are still so dang,interesting to look at that sometimes i,forgot id been riding in a straight,line for five minutes in the wrong,direction once you do arrive at your,destination theres plenty to do too and,meeting people and taking on quests are,some of the best moments sable has the,writing is excellent across the board,and although you never hear anyone speak,or even see their face theres lots of,memorable characters i seriously wanted,to meet everyone i could and was almost,never disappointed in the hijinx and,banter that followed,in one quest i stole poop from some bugs,for science and in another i climbed,giant floating crystals and ripped,pieces of lightning out of them with my,bare hands seriously the stuff they have,you do is all over the place in the best,possible way,the bugs and glitches you encounter,along the way though are less alluring,and sable is unfortunately teeming with,them,there are visual glitches like these,physics-defying bushes or this weirdness,one time an emotional cutscene was,completely ruined when my bike,inexplicably duplicated itself like this,and on the more dire side of things ive,been locked out of a quest because a,vendors goods werent showing up or had,my bike turn entirely invisible until i,restarted,most issues were resolved by resetting a,few times but not all of them and the,threat of bugs mucking something up was,a constant fear during my enjoyably,peaceful journey,sables unique art style memorable,characters and quests and engaging,open-ended formula are going to stick,with me for a long time,but the numerous technical problems and,bland puzzles sometimes make this,otherwise compelling odyssey a lot,rockier,those issues are distracting but when,they managed to fade into the background,i found myself mesmerized by sables,bizarre world of creepy worms masked,weirdos and hover bikes,for more adventuring check out our,reviews of eastward or kenna bridge of,spirits and for everything else keep it,right here on ign
I strongly recommend: Sable (Review)
[Music],sable is a girl who embarks on a,pilgrimage of passage coming of age its,now time to choose her place either,within the tribe or outside of it the,choice is represented by the masks she,chooses to don each mask representing an,established societal role climber,guardian machinist scrapper so on to,earn the right to wear these masks she,must aid those who have already walked,this path,reach places others cant build and,maintain machinery collect scrap theres,nothing grand about these endeavors they,represent the day-to-day existence of,those who make a life on these sands,sable isnt about doing extraordinary,things its about doing ordinary things,in an extraordinary place,[Music],sables world is ruined but it is still,full of beauty its desert regions are,loosely divided by their topography and,their features endless rolling sand,dunes towering maces salt flats,graveyards of bone and steel in all this,emptiness and desolation there is,serenity and splendor every new landmark,stands so alone like an installation at,a gallery all of the noise and space,around it has been cleared to focus your,attention on the subject you view it,from different angles to take it all in,you move in close to observe its finer,details when you feel like you have a,grasp of the story its trying to tell,you move on to the next one,[Music],exploring the stories of each of these,landmarks is as important as exploring,the structures themselves the land has,played host to so many visitors both,terrestrial and interstellar and what,theyve left behind is all that remains,of their story their ruined spaceships,their crumbling architecture their bones,their towering colossi each of these,things represents a puzzle for the,player to solve how can i climb that,thing how can i unlock that door but as,you solve these puzzles youre,constantly turning over in your own mind,why any of this exists in the first,place who built this mighty sundial and,for what purpose was this sand worm ever,alive or is it still alive what did,these other worldly visitors come to,this planet for and what cast them from,the sky,some of the answers youll receive but,many you wont leaving space for your,imagination and curiosity to fill the,blanks,[Music],at the heart of sable is curiosity when,you are sent out into the world to begin,your pilgrimage you are pointed to a,nearby town and that is all the guidance,you get there youll meet people who,will send you to places but this,directed activity represents only a,small portion of what sable is about,most of it is the curiosity driven,exploration that is all but absent in,modern video games sable isnt about,your quest log or your checklist its,about whats over there over that hill,on that distant horizon at the top of,that mountain peak at the bottom of that,cave you push forward into most of sable,having no clue at all what youre moving,toward usually theres something,sometimes theres nothing but even when,there was nothing i never once felt like,a single second of my time had been,wasted the tick box the macguffin the,progression none of that ever mattered,to me how often do you completely,disconnect from the objectives and,reward systems that a game builds for,you and just play,wander explore see that disconnection,rarely happens but it happens here in,sable,there is no point in me attempting to,describe sables stunning art style to,you you can see it here for yourself i,will say though that the color you see,is not as constant as this video might,suggest there is a day and night cycle,at work that radically transforms,everything the oranges and yellows and,reds that dominate the landscape will,sink into sullen blues and purples,eventually settling into a washed out,grey when this happens everything is,reduced to almost wireframe the black,lines that separate color become the,predominant visual feature nighttime,feels starved as though the world was,unfairly denied the color that nourishes,it i remember disliking this at first,because it seemed like such a waste,later on though i came to realize that,darkness made me appreciate the games,color more because it was fleeting when,i chanced upon a new monument in broad,daylight i was thankful that i arrived,there in the daylight hours because it,would let me see it in all its glory,when i arrived somewhere else at night i,imagined what it would look like when,the sun did come up sometimes i would,stay and wait just to see and that,patience was always rewarded,[Music],sable follows in the rich tradition of,sensory and exploratory games like,journey abzu and griss the difference,though is in how unscripted sable is the,game cannot anticipate from which,direction youll approach a structure or,what time of day youll arrive it cant,frame specific points of interest with,cinematic camera angles or cure a moment,in the score to precisely coincide with,your actions stables achievement is,that it manages to achieve the same,impact that its contemporaries do,without ever taking control away from,the player and without ever stage,managing its moments every one of the,experiences you have in sable is wholly,unique because you created them you are,always the author of your story and no,two peoples stories will be the same,[Music],sable is out on pc and xbox and its,available through game pass it will only,appeal to a very small subset of players,but i really do believe that this is,some of the best open world exploration,ive ever experienced it is a truly open,world and you truly explore it much like,outer wilds i think sable has a lot to,teach about open world game design and,how important intrinsic motivation is,within the open world formula if you,have a few hours spare i very strongly,recommend you set aside some time to,play sable,[Music],[Music],foreign,you
Sable doesnt ask you to save the world,fight a war or tickle a demon instead it,just asks you to find yourself Sable,sets out from the village shes called,home her entire life in search of a,place in the world this is a,coming-of-age story told through,exploration and Discovery its an,interactive road trip films like come,The Road Less Despair and ugly crying,you spend your time looking for new,discoveries completing simple quests and,just taking in the sights,this is a different world the visual and,Sonic landscape make every moment of,exploration feel special even traveling,over the dunes the undulating hum of,your bike the wistful soundtrack and the,ever-changing Horizon theres a sort of,Giddy and ease to it youre looking for,something new but youre alone and you,feel it then you see something on the,horizon be it a wrecked ship eclectic,town or an abandoned ruin as you get,closer it dominates the landscape,towering above you youre like a curious,little ant skittering and climbing,across the world when you delve into,these places theres always something,new and slightly weird to find it could,be an Arcane light puzzle a labyrinth,theme mechanical ship or even just a,town where you play,kids this Points of Light structure in,the distinct areas makes explanation,almost natural and the truly Great,Moments come when you just happen to see,something on the horizon and go have a,look this world invites you to explore,by making everything so intriguing but,the mechanics make the act of,exploration,theres no real fighting and scrapping,the systems are mostly about movement,and environmental puzzles Sable can,climb almost any surface and glide,through the air in a big bubble turning,the world itself into a puzzle any,mountain is climbable if only you could,find enough stamina and,stamina is often where I have problems,but the mechanics are pliable enough,that you always feel like you solved it,your way the more explicit puzzles mix,this movement with large animated,Machinery theyre tangible and,well-constructed head scratches even the,travel of Open Spaces is rhythmically,rewarding you develop a bond with your,glider its a joy to ride it doesnt,feel quite like any vehicle in games,theres a sort of motion of the sand,ocean you gotta manage which sounds kind,of uncomfortable but is actually quite,fun,the story and quests that guide this,experience have just enough direction to,not feel aimless youre pointed in a,general direction but everything after,that feels like your adventure,essentially the main goal is to get,masks each type of mask is related to a,specific profession like Merchant,machinist or cartographer when you get a,mask you can return to your village and,pick that vocation its a fun bit of,wild building and less emotionally,attacking than a three-stage corporate,interview and much less emotionally,taxing than the road to get any of these,masks you collect three badges from that,specific profession conversations with,these professionals and everybody in,this game is honest cheeky and a bit,otherworldly its consistently Charming,they usually give you simple quests to,explore a specific location or return,with a specific item its simple but,effective at getting you out of bed and,exploring this enchanting world every,piece of lore and history you discover,is an intriguing treat but this world,doesnt need to pop a lux to get you,exploring its good enough without that,Band-Aid when I finished the Witcher 3 I,took geralt out on one last horse ride,across the continent and left them,outside a cottage surrounded by people,he loves it was a slightly ridiculous,farewell to a world Id fallen in love,with across my hundred hours of play,Sable got under my skin so quickly that,I wanted to do the same after just six,hours you see Coming of Age stories,dont just pull us back to our younger,years they speak to that giddy mixture,of excitement and apprehension that,comes with any transition getting a new,job moving cities or starting a family,Sable perfectly distills that feeling,into a dense and phenomenally well,presented package and that is why its,so good,[Music]
[Music],[Music],[Music],sable should be an incredible game it,should at very least be a game that i,love,if you just look at the elevator pitch,it practically sells itself a game all,about meditative exploration and,discovery in a stylized and distinctive,world without combat and with intriguing,rich lore and incredible ambiance,a game with an approach to exploration,and navigation inspired in very large,part by the seminal breath of the wild,which rewrote the book on open world,exploration and discovery in 2017,a game that respects and indeed relies,on player agency and curiosity and gets,out of their way to let them do their,own thing,its the kind of game that should be a,slam dunk a home run a,you know whatever other sports analogy,you want to use to convey the fact that,this game should be excellent,but,its not,a total lack of polish leading to a,whole host of technical major issues as,well as some minor unforced errors in,terms of design make this game really,hard to enjoy in its present state,the core of sable is what is probably an,incredible game but its impossible to,get there because everything surrounding,that core is a total and absolute mess,the premise of sable is simple and in,keeping with the minimalism the game is,going for you play as the eponymous,sable who has to undergo a rite of,passage a sort of coming of age,which sees her having to traverse the,world go exploring ruins and forage,materials and items of various kinds to,ultimately find masks,theres not much of a narrative in the,traditional sense so theres a lot of,story to be told here but the game does,a great job of telling it in the,background mostly the environmental cues,and by some key exposition drops during,dialogue that helps orient the player in,terms of what the broader world around,them is and suggests some answers to the,questions of how or why it is the way it,is,this is handled incredibly well to be,honest and i have zero issues here,the world itself is aided by some really,memorable characters which is a hell of,an achievement because theyre wearing,masks and have no voice acting meaning,the connection you form with them,entirely comes down to their dialogue,and what you learn about them from that,but sable the game makes it work well,especially since every character is,consistently viewed and presented to the,player via the lens of sable the,character,the gameplay also keeps these values as,simplicity and minimalism as mentioned,there is no combat in this game and the,bulk of what you do is traversal,the game uses a breath of the wild style,stamina system that governs sprinting,and climbing and fairly early on in the,game it gives you the ability to hover,via a special item as well,you also get a vehicle initially a,barely held together hand-me-down but,ultimately a hoverbike to help you track,across the vast expanses of this games,gorgeous world,but really its here that the game,starts straining at the seams a game,about traversal and only traversal,across a vast world should feel actually,good to control,sable does not,the controls are outright clumsy ranging,from weird and unintuitive button,mapping choices which you cant change,to movement for sable herself that just,doesnt feel right,theres a strange sense of inertia to,her movement and that is entirely at,odds with how you see her move on screen,and it can take a lot of time before,coming to terms with the controls i,personally never did,and these control issues are compounded,by camera issues on top as well,the camera ensable does not control well,there is some weird acceleration to its,movement that never quite feels right,you can actually change this in the,settings which give you the option to,tweak x and y axis sensitivity,individually and that may help you,figure out a setting that works well for,you,but again as far as my experience goes i,kept butting heads with the camera,this comes to a head when you are trying,to navigate in cramped spaces of which,there are,many in stable because the camera simply,doesnt know what to do there and ends,up trying to cut through the geometry to,sable herself and showing you a whole,lot of,well nothing helpful really mostly it,just serves to infuriatingly change your,field of vision from where you need it,to be,but to be honest there are many games,that have poor controls or cameras that,ive been able to abide with because the,core game is compelling,sable certainly has some great core,design that just invites the player to,lose themselves in its endless expanses,the minimalist approach it takes to,everything else translates to the,exploration and discovery as well giving,the players very little in the way of a,hud or markets and generally relying on,diegetic and in-game cues to orient and,guide the player,you ultimately do get a compass which is,excellently implemented in that when you,press the left bumper it gives you the,general direction of your current quest,objective and then disappears shortly,thereafter for players that need to,orient themselves,ultimately you also get the ability to,place beacons and markers in the world,to help you navigate further these are,all great ideas and i sincerely hope the,other open world games learn from sable,in this regard particularly ones that,rely on diegetic queues for navigation,and immersion,unfortunately we run into issues here as,well the world is gorgeous thanks to the,art style though this art style has,issues of its own more on that in a bit,but a lot of the content and it feels,disappointing a lot of the puzzles are,bland and unremarkable and a lot of the,quests are very straightforward and,trite,that means that not only is the actual,act of traversal and playing the game,made unpleasant thanks to the controls,on camera,but that what you are doing after you,have finished fighting said controls or,camera isnt very compelling either,definitely not compelling enough to,justify the friction necessary to get to,it in the first place and thats before,i get into the technical issues,and oh,the technical issues i played sable on,an xbox one x now i understand that this,isnt the latest and greatest hardware,anymore but its still an xbox one x,its pretty damn powerful certainly more,than capable of running this game,however sable falls apart like a pinata,spilling its guts out all over the floor,it barely runs on xbox one,i had two crashes while running the game,including one where it refused to start,the first time i booted it which should,have cued me in on what to expect really,and once where the game just froze and,my xbox itself stopped responding,needing me to unplug the whole thing,after waiting a few minutes to address,the freeze but the crashes are actually,the least i was put off by the games,technical issues no the technical,problems that bothered me the most are,all graphical and performance related,lets talk about the performance issues,first sable can barely hold a steady,frame rate at all at any time simply,walking across the world with nothing,going on can cause huge stutters and,drops now remember,sable has no combat so were not talking,about drops during encounters with loads,of enemies on screen and loads of,calculations happening in the background,it drops frames simply as youre walking,through the world or talking to npcs,with zero provocation and it drops them,aggressively,and then theres the pop-in which you,wouldnt think is possible in a game,like sable which is hyper stylized but,no i see the game populating colors and,textures literally right as i step next,to them which combined with the frame,rate can be extremely distracting indeed,the camera acceleration the frame rate,drops and the game randomly popping in,colors and textures as you walk up to,them combined,create a package of a game that is so,uneven to play and control that it made,me physically nauseous,now i have an extremely high tolerance,for poor frame rates im able to play,most games on switch that are notorious,for poor performa
Sable Review – Noisy Pixel
[Music],throughout our lives we wear different,masks to fit the context of our,environment but what if the mask you,choose determines your fate in life,developed by two-person studio shed,works sable tells a story of a young,girl named well sable in the vast desert,land of mid-den children must depart,from their homes in search of their,purpose in life a rite of passage known,as the gliding as you roam the lands you,participate in various experiences,learning more about yourself and the,world once youre ready you get to,choose the mask you don the path in life,you plan to pursue,at the title screen of sable i became,entranced by a sweet and soft melody,with captivating vocals upon some,research i was happy to see the music,was made by the indie rock band japanese,breakfast a group i thoroughly enjoy for,their dreamlike sound this encapsulating,tune perfectly sets the scene for much,of the experience with every area you,hear various tracks to add to the,atmosphere while retaining an ethereal,quality for example when visiting an,eccentric town there are upbeat refrains,woven into the track whereas if you,visit a desolate forest the tone becomes,eerie and somber to complement the sound,design is quite the unique visual,component the art style is reminiscent,of an intricate sketchbook with,exceptional line work framing every,scene on top of that is the use of flat,coloring and minimal shading dynamically,fitting the environments when the sun,goes down you see the colors become dull,and lifeless stripping the essence of,the world around you yet in the daytime,the world is vibrant and full of life,each major area and civilization has its,own identities and the coloring is a,significant part of shaping that,identity to see all the areas and,landscapes you gain abilities and,devices to help you navigate the terrain,you begin with being able to sprint and,climb both of which run on a stamina bar,as you roam around you come upon cute,creatures known as chums that playfully,offer you eggs the more eggs you gather,the more you can trade with the chum,queen to increase your stamina gauge,alongside those abilities you get access,to a gliding stone a relic that allows,you to hover in the air for long periods,of time as soon as you are ready to,leave your home camp you get a hoverbike,named sumoon which can be customized by,color and parts as you acquire them over,time sable is a game that emphasizes,exploration so using every tool and,ability at your disposal is essential,regarding exploration midden offers,plenty of original ideas regarding,culture and the formation of society the,whole region has a fair amount to,discover ranging from desolate,spacecrafts to unique civilizations in,addition there are quests to find hidden,beetle stations in search of desirable,items such as,beetle poop,the spaceships have interesting puzzles,to keep you engaged and they offer a,tiny look into the history of the,mid-den region further the clans all,have their own customs and ways of life,with members all over the region donning,mass to represent the role in society as,sable you must go in search of your role,in life to do that you can go on quests,or discover the mysteries hidden within,the land once you perform enough tasks,or find enough secrets you gain various,badges such as a climbing badge or an,entertainer badge when you gather three,badges of each type you can go to the,mask caster to get the mask representing,those roles in society you can get as,many or as few masks as you desire,before making your final decision about,what you want to be in life throughout,the game you also find other clothes to,add to your wardrobe allowing you to,customize your look sable emphasizes,freedom of choice obliging you to make,this open world adventure your own kind,of journey theres always a reason to,roam around on your hoverbike as you try,to find the next area of interest,fortunately you have a map with the,ability to set marker points for,objectives youll need this,functionality as the size of mid den is,enormous a bit too enormous the runtime,for sable ranges from 10 to 20 hours,depending on how much you want to,achieve yet most of my playtime was on,my bike trying to get to the next area,while staring at the scenery can be fun,at first the aesthetics diminish in,value as youre trying to find something,to do to see the map in full detail you,must find the cartographer in each,region to buy the map for that area when,i first opened the map i was thrilled to,see just how massive mid den was however,i was really disappointed to see that,much of the map is insignificant and,full of vast spaces of nothingness very,few points of interest are scattered,around leaving me unimpressed with the,amount of content the game has to offer,the lack of depth doesnt end here while,the ideas behind the civilizations and,history present originality they dont,have much detail to them as soon as they,became invested in learning more about a,particular culture there was nothing,left to do in the area the inside is,minuscule and lackluster even within the,spaceship where you learn about the,worlds history its a shame since sable,has so much potential to provide a,captivating or at the very least a,thought-provoking narrative you get,these snippets of potentially compelling,themes such as identity and,self-actualization but there are no,impactful interactions or moments that,keep you absorbed theres a solid,foundation here of world building and,thematic structure but nothing gets,built out over time on any of those,aspects with these issues theres no,replayability factor as it felt like a,one-time experience i should also,mention that the launch release of sable,contains a few glitches and performance,issues which are said to be patched out,shortly after launch but i want to,mention i did experience plenty of them,during my playthrough in fact i even had,it crash on me a few times,when it comes to sound design and visual,style sable blew me away i couldnt help,but smile and prepare to get lost in a,beautiful world unfortunately that,feeling doesnt take long to fade away,theres definitely enough to keep you,engaged and interested but i just,yearned to get more out of this game,especially as it has compelling elements,within the groundwork noisypixel is,giving sable a 7 out of 10. thanks for,watching feel free to check out the full,review at noisypixel.net noisy pixel is,run by a group of gamers who work hard,to provide news reviews previews and,more please subscribe to keep up to date,with all of our future content,[Music],noisy pixel
Sable Nails The Whole Video Games Are Art Thing | My Fav Thing In… (Sable Review)
from trailers it does look quite sandy,it is quite sandy its sort of like,tatooine of star wars if i had to,describe it as a kind of punk i would,say like its sand punk,hello and welcome to rock paper shotgun,and my favorite thing in this is where i,call my heart chat to an rps staffer,about a span new video game theyve been,playing and i get them to tell me about,their favorite thing in it today im,talking to deputy editor alice bell,about an open world exploration game,thats been popping up on most,anticipated lists for years sable alice,has been playing it for review so i,wanted to get her on to chat to her,about her thoughts on the game and,specifically the one aspect of sable,that she enjoys more than anything else,so alice what is your favorite thing in,sable my favorite thing in sable is,probably the art style the look of the,thing but it was close i think the story,and the writing is really good as well,okay well what is it about the art,specifically that you enjoy i know even,leading up to release it was the one,thing that people were really latching,on to but now youve played the game it,never loses its luster im guessing its,inspired by a lot of different things,you know french and european comics and,illustrations and animation and,especially this french artist called,mobius whos got this very illustrative,style and drew a lot of weird sort of,desert scapes its got a similar color,palette as well and sable is you play,sable sable as you and sable is part of,a,slightly post-apocalyptic desert nomad,culture where you go out on something,called your gliding when you reach sort,of adolescence and you go out into the,world and you explore and you find,different people in the different jobs,there are in the world and by doing,tasks for them you collect badges little,tokens and then you can have a mask made,for that job so if you help out the,mechanists the mechanics then you can,become a mechanism and thats what you,are forever like at the end of your,gliding you decide this is the mask im,going to wear for the rest of my life i,will always be a climber or a scrapper,or a guard so you spend a lot of time,exploring this huge desert scape and,first of all its a very delicate almost,wire frame style to it sort of like a,very fine line pen drawing that has,sketched the edges of everything which,is very delicate and nice and people and,table move in almost a slightly,stop-motiony way almost like inside the,animations for people dropped a couple,of frames and its really nice in,context and the other thing is that its,on a day and night cycle which is,constantly moving so you get a constant,kind of change of colors as the sun,moves and then the sun sets and the moon,rises and its night and everything,becomes kind of this inky bluey color,which is very nice and then you get to,see the sun come up again and everything,becomes pinky and orange and then yellow,its really nice from trailers it does,look quite sandy it looks quite barren,is there variation there in this world,uh yes and no it is quite sandy its a,its a desert world its sort of like,tatooine of star wars if i had to,describe it as a kind of punk i would,say like its sand punk i will say that,you have your little glider which is,like a sort of floating desert motorbike,has little wings and you can strafe and,stuff that isnt as smooth as it looks,in trailers its not like you know in,journey where you feel like youre this,elegant sand surfer it can get a little,bit boring if youre just chantering,along to somewhere the other side of the,map but there is fast travel as well it,is mostly a desert but the different,areas have quite a different feel to,them and they have a subtly different,color palette and when you cross from,one to the other its quite fun because,suddenly everything might be a bit,slightly greener maybe like a little,greener tinge to everything and they,also have different geographical,features so theres one that has steamy,hot water vents and also lightning and,crystals with fireflies around them,another has sort of like a ship,graveyard lots of junky scrapped ships i,came upon this place like i was driving,directly into the moonrise the moon kind,of rose behind all these jagged bits of,metal that looked really cool theres,another place that has a lot of giant,skeletons that kind of look like dragons,and theres camp in almost every area,where you can go and sort of trade and,find work and the camp in that area is,inside like a giant rib cage which is,pretty cool its variations within a,theme and i think it does that pretty,well as well you mentioned that the,story and the writing was nearly your,your favorite thing do tell me more,because i dont know i wouldnt have,thought that sable would have been,replete with dialogue and clever quips,from characters but they do get chatty a,little bit it doesnt have loads but it,does this really interesting thing where,when youre talking to someone in the,conversation you will have the dialogue,but then youll also get snippets of,sables internal thoughts about the,issue you know she might say like well i,could have told him about my political,opinions but i decided to keep quiet so,you get little snippets of like how,sable feels about someone she meets,there are cartographers whose job is to,sort of map the desert area and you the,first thing you kind of do when you get,to a new area is you look for the,balloon on the horizon which is usually,quite high up when you climb up to meet,them you can buy a map of the area and,also ask them if theres anything,interesting nearby and one of them was,really like grumpy it was like why did,you come all the way up here dont you,think thered be a reason for me being,up here by myself i didnt want,interruptions and stable sort of like i,dont reply that i assume its because,hes the cartographer you know,so shes a little bit smart and,internally a bit snarky and i like,seeing like her as a character because,itd be quite easy for sable to be just,a kind of faceless blank slate for you,to put a mask on but shes not and i,like the way thats drawn out here and,there its nice but still overall it is,the,look of the thing that kind of really,grabbed you yeah the day night cycle,especially keeps it fresh i do sometimes,wish the day cycle was longer so you get,more of those colors but its so lovely,like being somewhere at night and then,having the sun come up and you see it,completely transformed in gradual layers,as well it starts getting a bit brighter,and you start seeing into some of the,colors and then eventually its fully,risen the suns fully risen you can see,the full palette of the landscape around,you and its really nice,thanks very much for chatting with me,today alice and if you dear viewers like,to check out alices full thoughts on,sable then be sure to read for written,review on the website thanks very much,for watching you absolute star we hope,to see you again soon as we learn more,about peoples favorite things in video,games but before you go do remember for,all of your pc gaming needs keep it on,rockpapershotgun.com,[Music]
sable is a game about you
[Music],sable begins in a rather odd way the,titular protagonist sable sat down face,to face with the statue of a god deep in,thought a preliminary visit for today is,the day of sables gliding the gliding is,a pilgrimage of sorts that people of,this world undertake when they have come,of age they leave their friends and,family behind and travel the world,seeing the sights helping people and,getting into trouble in equal measure,so at the start of sable youre a little,bit removed from the situation these,people arent your family after all,youve only just met them and yet it,works so well because weve all been in,this situation before weve all had to,move on take a step into the unknown,into something new it might be a new,school or job a new place to live saying,goodbye to friends a loved one maybe,its a perfect encapsulation of that,restless energy before the big moment,the anticipation the peaceful moments of,reflection talking to people weve known,for years with the knowledge that youre,not going to see them for a while,struggling to find the right words to,say struggling to find the right words,to say while fighting back tears walking,around the same place that youve walked,up and down so many times thinking that,this is the last time youre gonna be,doing that a sorrowful farewell so much,wanting to be said but not the emotional,strength to say it,then as quickly as any moment in life,you fly the nest and venture out into,the unknown a journey for sable of,course but also,maybe a journey,for you,[Music],if youre interested in videos like this,one then youve probably seen the one,thats in front of you right now about,the shantification of fallout if you,havent ill link it below but the short,version is in a fictional world the,setting is a part of the story if you,want to make a world it has to be fully,realized if youve not heard of this,video then youve almost certainly heard,someone ask the question,what do they eat as a sort of litmus,test if theres farms and infrastructure,then congratulations youve made a good,fictional world,and i agree with this,mostly at the same time its important,not to get too caught up in it and not,to drag yourself down in the quest for,realism because its not what the world,of sable is about the world of sable is,fantastical,its a world of many different deserts,each with their own characteristics its,often that youll see the biome of a,desert represented in video games but,its very rare to see so many different,kinds of deserts fantastical or,otherwise sable does answer the question,of what do they eat but its not,shackled by it they eat bugs i suppose i,mean theres some goats here as well,maybe these are crops theres,infrastructure in this game look theres,a big town here and its powered by this,thing and theres merchants roaming the,land this person harvests salt this,person harvests lightning crystals,its wildly different from our own,society but theres enough here to keep,us grounded for more information please,watch the japanese television show,cowboy bebop but yes for the nerds among,us this game does heavily draw,inspiration from french sci-fi artist,mobius or jean gerard if you want to,hear me mispronounce her name but it,also resembles a world born from studio,ghibli not necessarily in look but and,feel this is important because the,player is going on a journey theyve,crossed their magic circle into a place,where they can ignite their sense of,adventure while the world is not,necessarily the story of sable its,still there to accommodate it and what,is the story of sable its about an,internal conflict,contrary to hopefully unpopular belief,conflict isnt just about shooting,people with guns or fighting or anything,like that so long as theres a clash of,something be that ideologies or whether,you should eat subway for lunch there is,a conflict theres been a trend recently,of games wanting to be quite unquote,wholesome this is fine of course its,fine but i hope were not fooling,ourselves into thinking that some games,shouldnt have conflict because thats a,huge misreading of the lets be honest,here movies that these games are trying,to follow conflict isnt just a theme,and stories its the very essence of,stories and the very essence of sables,conflict is a question,who do you want to be,thats a weighty question are you able,to answer that question right now who do,you want to be not just who you want to,be but who you want to be for the rest,of your life im not sure that i can,answer the question hangs over the,entire game a heavy cloud of turret,sable is not an open world game its a,game about introspection that uses its,open world as a tool in service of that,introspection basically what im trying,to say is that video games are kind of,rubbish because with all of this said,how do i describe to you the,moment-to-moment gameplay of sable if i,said it was a game with collectibles,scattered around the map a map that you,can expand by climbing to very tall,places in the landscape if i said it has,fetch quests and fast travel and you can,climb up things and glide off them id,be doing the game a disservice even the,game that you might have in your head,breath of the wild its still not a fair,point of comparison breath of the wild,is a game about becoming more powerful,an open world where you cant,necessarily go everywhere you cant,b-line it to the final area unless you,know what youre doing everything that,exists in the world serves to make links,stronger shines to increase your health,and stamina cross seeds for expanding,your inventory ingredients for food and,powerful potions i do understand the,comparisons and theyre obviously,correct in the mechanical sense but in a,narrative sense they couldnt be more,opposed in fact the worst part about,sable is the part where your character,does get stronger the kirk seed,equivalents the chum x dotted around the,map it doesnt do much to further the,games themes and mechanically its,quite dull too,the mechanics of sable may look similar,to breath of the wild but what theyre,being used for couldnt be more,different brother the world is about,becoming more powerful sable is about,self-discovery the strongest parts of,the game are those spent alone with your,bike traveling from one place to another,and just,thinking,[Music],a big issue you find in open world games,is getting the player to care about the,thing if someone comes up to you and,says please madam my automated taxis,have gone missing can you help me get,them back no matter how interesting that,premise is im gonna have to say no,because,well no spoilers for cyberpunk 2077 but,theres something else i need to do,thats a bit more pressing sable decides,to solve this by throwing out the baby,along with the bath water but then,replace the baby with a new better one,theres no reason to do anything in,sable its all side quests this shifts,the game quite a bit because if you meet,someone in a distant trading station,that wants you to collect beetle poop,for them then its very easy to just say,no you wont want to though because this,is what youre here for youre here to,help people the game doesnt have a main,story when youve got nothing but time,the smaller things tend to matter a lot,more theres no stakes youre not here,to save the world youre here to see it,the most insignificant thing even,playing hide and seek with a group of,kids it matters here theres an,extrinsic reward sure but the entire,setup the very nature of sable means,that the intrinsic motivation for doing,this quest means so much more,each quest you do each person you meet,brings you closer to answering that big,heavy question your experiences informed,by others,everyone with a few exceptions having,their own warmth and kindness that is,only matched by sables own child like,wondrous monologue and maybe that,internal monologue is the problem maybe,thats where the dichotomy lies,youre not sable no matter what kind of,relationship the player might have with,sable