Sable

« Sable's lonely, heartfelt journey of self-discovery will sit with me for a lifetime. »

« The occasional bug and missing stamina upgrades are really the only negatives I can lodge at Sable. I can think of very few games that have presented such a beautiful harmony of its attributes. Everything supports everything else. The story implores you to go out into the world, to see all that there is to see. The gameplay ensures that the focus is always on the vistas that lay before you, and it's all stylised beautifully. The game creates a view of which I cannot tire. This is truly one of the most well-conceived and executed games that I have seen in a very long time. It's one of those games that truly is using everything to its maximum potential. »

« The occasional bug and missing stamina upgrades are really the only negatives I can lodge at Sable. I can think of very few games that have presented such a beautiful harmony of its attributes. Everything supports everything else. The story implores you to go out into the world, to see all that there is to see. The gameplay ensures that the focus is always on the vistas that lay before you, and it's all stylised beautifully. The game creates a view of which I cannot tire. This is truly one of the most well-conceived and executed games that I have seen in a very long time. It's one of those games that truly is using everything to its maximum potential. »

« For those yearning to explore, Sable offers the chance to do it at your own speed, with your own goals, and without the need to exert violence or experience shocking twists. Sable is confident the world is interesting enough and is completely right in that regard. »

« Playing Sable very well may be as close as one can get to a meditative experience while playing a game. Few games feel as good to simply exist within as Sable. The game’s gorgeous visuals, warm and comforting music, and intuitive game design all come together to create a unique experience about trying to find one’s place in the world through an expression of an individual’s freedom. »

« Sable is high on the list of game of the year contenders in one jam packed with them. It’s a gorgeous, immersive coming of age story that happens organically and at your own pace - you can see as much or as little of the game as you like. While it certainly has its share of issues, Midden is just a place you have to visit. »

« Striking, peaceful, and wholly focused on exploring at your own pace, Sable is a joy to play. The optimization could use some serious work, but this is an extremely compelling game that offers a better open-world experience than many AAA developers have crafted. »

« Sable is a little rough around the edges, then, yet these shortcomings are far outweighed by its numerous strengths. This is a relaxing adventure that's both familiar and quite unlike anything else. It gives you the freedom to approach things at your own pace--in your own way--while managing to dispel any notions of aimlessness. Even if you don't have a particular objective in mind, you're guaranteed to discover new sights and sounds by hopping on your hoverbike and simply exploring. It's the antithesis to most open-world design, where the onus is on getting you to the next point of interest as soon as possible, and so it stands out even if you remove its beautiful art style from the equation. Sable is methodical, introspective, comforting, and fully deserving of your time. »

« Agréablement surpris au début du jeu jusqu'à la grande ville et ses quêtes. C'est après que les faiblesses du jeu se font sentir. Le jeu se transforme en jeu de quêtes FedEx ce qui est dommage car la DA est magnifique et l'histoire aurait pû être sympas si les quêtes étaient plus intéressantes. Les + - DA - Gameplay Les - - Quêtes - Histoire »

« Short and cozy, it did what it wanted to do in a very simple way. Wouldn't replay it, but certainly a good piece of media. »

« Jogo lindo , estética diferente e gameplay suave. Puzzles simples mundo aberto clean game! »

« My first impression was actually very positive. I was kinda burnt out by the games where you constantly have to kill someone, so finding an open world with a kinda unique cell-shaded look to it, where your main objective is to just explore the world sounded very promising. Ultimately, though, all that potential went to waste, as the developers couldn't think of anything better to do in this world then to solve lame puzzles, perform very repetitive and often quite frustrating platforming, and talk to NPCs who have little to nothing interesting to say. All the great discovery pretty much amounts to nothing. You either find the same-looking junk to sell or eggs that increase your stamina, so that you can reach more places where you - you guessed it - can find more of the same junk. You can find rare cosmetics here and there, but they don't affect anything. There's also the bike customization, but it's very primitive. Even the best parts only make your bike marginally faster / better controlled, and overall it just comes down to cosmetic changes again. Worse yet, you have to buy all parts blindly and it's not until you bring them to the machinist that you can see how will they affect your bike's stats, which is extremely dumb, irritating, and simply illogical. Maps are also pointless since they don't reveal any points of interest, and I'm not sure why buying them was even included in the game. And then there are, of course, the bugs. The game is very poorly optimized, across all platforms, judging by what I've read online. Some areas only have minor stutters and FPS drops, while others, like Eccria, are just borderline unplayable with framerate dipping to 10-15 region. Instead of just choosing one platform and properly polishing the game, the developers instead chose the big buck and ported the game to both Xbox and Playstation, with PS5 port being particularly messy. Four years after the release, none of the game's bugs were eliminated. On top of the aforementioned horrendous FPS drops, you also gets objects popping up out of nowhere, prompts that don't work (or work but don't show up), trade screen not working (even though many quests straight out require you to buy / sell things in order to be completed), etc. And it's not like the devs didn't have the money. They were backed by Raw Fury, one of the world's largest indie game publishers. They've been able to hire some big names like composer Michelle Zauner of the band Japanese Breakfast and writer Meg Jayanth, the writer of Horizon Zero Dawn. There was a physical issue art book, and the soundtrack was released physically as well on both the CD and vinyl. So apparently they've had funds for all of that additional stuff, but not for fixing the game. Clearly they have problems with setting their priorities straight. »

« The game's concept came from Star Wars, its art style was also inspired by The Legend of Zelda and the sci-fi works of Jean Giraud. »

« For me, this is definitely a boring gaming experience. Everything in terms of characters, plot, and music is still within the norm. But everything related to gameplay is boring for me personally. Of course, you can praise the map, which is filled with interesting objects, and the large amount of background music. But other than that, there is nothing else. The visuals are not the best either. I understand that this is the style, but this style is not very pleasing to the eye. »

« English : Took me a while to get into it as the game is very slow, but the aesthetics manage to make you dive into this relaxing, meditative atmosphere. Nonetheless, the game seems unbalanced to me. It's all about an initiatic journey but I didn't feel like I had discovered much in the end. Some quests are FedEx, some others repeat themselves, and none of them is really remarkable. You are supposed to choose a mask as a way of life, but don't get a good grasp of what the choosing of this life or another would mean. Français : Il m'a fallu un moment pour entrer dedans car le jeu est très lent mais l'esthétique finit par vous plonger dans l'ambiance méditative recherchée. Cependant, l'ensemble m'a paru déséquilibré. Tout tourne autour d'un voyage initiatique mais je n'avais pas l'impression d'avoir découvert tant de choses à la fin. Plusieurs quêtes sont des Fedex, d'autres se répètent, aucune ne se distingue vraiment. On doit choisir un masque qui représente notre choix de vie, mais on n'a pas vraiment d'aperçu concret de ce à quoi ressemblerait chaque choix. »

« While the controls are occasionally awkward, the beautiful settings and deeply personal story keep this game as a favorite. Exploration is fun and deeply rewarding, with lots of fun characters, set pieces, and secrets. Think Breath of the Wild without the combat. »