Year: 2021
Platform: PlayStation 5
Developer: Shedworks
Genre: Adventure
Review Date: 7/26/25
Rating: ***

"I wish I was still on my Gliding. Being a grown up is terrible..."

"Sable" is a coming of age tale about a teenage girl named Sable on a desert planet called Midden. She's about to begin a rite of passage ritual known as "The Gliding," where she leaves her clan and explores the outside world in order to find her calling and/or spiritual awakening. Each clan and vocation are represented by a different mask, and at the end of the game Sable must choose her mask, which effectively locks her into an immutable adult role for the rest of her life. No pressure...

When "Sable" first came out, I was immediately smitten by its premise and art direction. Imagine "The Force Awakens" animated by Moebius, where you play as Rey driving a hoverbike across Jakku, exploring ruins and trading with scrap dealers at local outposts. That's a no-brainer for me. In fact, it was the very first game I bought when I got my PS5, even though it took me a while to finally play it. That said, "Star Wars: Outlaws" takes the whole hoverbike gameplay and perfects it, but "Sable" did it first.

While the brilliant art direction dominates the game, much of its charm lies in the stress-free gameplay. There is no risk, no danger, no combat, and very little in terms of challenge, which lets you focus on exploration and discovery at your own pace. Sable can climb nearly every surface, but since there's no fall damage, the only punishment for missing a jump or running out of stamina is that you have to try again. Throughout her Gliding, Sable meets numerous characters that need her help in one way or another, and she uncovers some interesting history regarding her planet and her people.

Sable is a delightful character, full of youthful energy, optimism, and enthusiasm, but she also exhibits self-doubt and a lack of confidence that comes naturally from her inexperience. She's polite and respectful, but has some adolescent sass as well. She has a nice athletic build and moves like you would expect a young woman to, but she's not sexualized in any way. The masks that everyone wears also do a great job of desexualizing and ungendering the characters in the game. The other characters in the game are written very well for the most part, and become much more interesting once you leave your clan.

While Sable can finish her Gliding in only a few hours, there's tons of extra stuff to do and find in the game, and I spent close to 40 hours tracking down every last item. I'm only missing one chum egg, which is at the top of the game's most challenging climb, and is considerably harder than anything else the game has to offer. What's interesting to me is that based on the PlayStation trophy statistics, less than 25% of players even built their hoverbike and started their Gliding, which is one of the first things you do. That really surprises me, because that's when the game actually starts getting good. That's like quitting before you even finish the tutorial.

As I mentioned before, the game is absolutely gorgeous, especially if you're a fan of graphic art. Day and night cycles result in constant color shifts, which creates a very vibrant and dynamic environment. The only time the art style falls short is with the flora, which tends to lack detail and look sloppy. The music is sparse and minimalistic, and barely noticeable most of the time. It's more ominous and sinister when exploring old technology, and more carefree when you're in the vast desert alone with your thoughts.

Unfortunately, despite how much I loved playing the game, it's very buggy and suffers from serious performance issues. Riding the hoverbike should feel exhilarating and free, but it mostly feels sluggish and choppy due to the stuttering frame rate and poor handling. Sometimes Sable will just disappear and the bike will come to a stop, but dismounting makes her show up again. Graphics clipping is common, and sometimes Sable will climb on the inside of surfaces, which makes her invisible. However, the buggiest and most infuriating problem is with fishing. Yes, there's a fishing mini-game on a desert planet, and the fish live in the sand. Whatever... Anyway, nearly half the time you cast a line, nothing will happen and the game hangs, and then you have to repeatedly hit the cancel button for up to a minute to try and back out, or just reload the game and hope you didn't lose much progress. Which also brings up another issue. The console version, at least, doesn't offer a manual save option and the only way to force a save is to catch a fish. But if you can't fish because the game hangs, then you're in an annoying catch-22 situation. Regardless, the fishing problem caused me a lot of swearing and frustration in an otherwise relaxing and stress-free experience. I even considered giving up on fishing altogether, but the completionist in me wanted to get those badges and fill the Vivarium. And I'd like to say it was worth it, as the results are beautiful.

Another problem with fishing is that it's not intuitive and the game doesn't actually tell you how to do it. The default controls are actually too difficult, but thankfully the developers realized this and offered an "easy fishing" option in the settings menu. Amusingly, it's the only gameplay option that's available. The game also uses extensive and aggressive haptic controller feedback, which is super annoying and distracting. I would have turned that off altogether, except that it's essential for finding hidden items.

As far as the narrative goes, I was very pleased with the writing and how Sable's journey played out. At first I was annoyed that when she started her Gliding, her clan disappeared. I sort of understood it from a gameplay perspective, but from a narrative perspective it bothered me. The point of the Gliding was for Sable to venture out on her own, not for her entire village to disappear with no explanation. What the hell happened? Fortunately, this is explained at the end and I can forgive that. Then, like all coming of age tales, the worst part is the actual coming of age. At the end, Sable is no longer a child and must make a choice that determines the rest of her adult life. And she has to give up all of her freedom in the process. What a depressing reflection of our own lives. Thankfully, after you make your painful choice and the credits roll, you can continue with your existing saved game to track down any remaining items.

So, is "Sable" worth playing? If you're patient and like art games, I would give a resounding yes. If the idea of riding a hoverbike across a faraway planet excites you, "Star Wars: Outlaws" may scratch that itch better, but Sable's journey of growth and self-discovery is more satisfying than Kay Vess's. Overall I'd recommend it, but I can see how its lack of challenge, edginess, and danger could put off some gamers.