I think there are a lot of people who would be disappointed about Sable. I know I was the first time I played it. Its marketing presents a beautiful and refined experience that wears its influences like a badge of honour; unfortunately in reality, Sable comes off as simplistic compared to its contemporaries and rather bug-prone. But that does not mean there is no fun to be had, and during a second playthrough and with more grounded expectations, I found a lot to enjoy.

I think the first thing people will notice about the world of Sable is that it is large but barren, you’ll spend most of the game gliding between large areas of interest, but you won’t find any little secrets to discover, and you won’t be rewarded for climbing anything outside of key areas. It makes the world more like a cluster of playgrounds rather than one large one, and these playgrounds are sufficiently far apart for the gliding to become grating more than a few hours in. There is a fast travel feature, but I didn’t expect to use it as often as I did.

Probably the most fun you’re going to have is during the platforming set pieces. They are all focused and linear and make good use of the mechanics and are visually interesting. Platforming is relaxed and methodical, requiring making observations about your environment rather than quick thinking. You can take on riskier climbs for collectibles, which I recommend because a lot of the mandatory platforming can be too easy. I was disappointed to not find any climbing challenges outside of the main areas of the game. The world is full of mesas and pillars that look like they could hold collectibles at the top, but if there are any, I never found one. Puzzle sections are simple and a nice addition. I never found that they ruined the pacing, though I felt like they ran out of new ideas quickly.

Sable makes great use of passive storytelling, the only main direction you’ll be given is to find badges to create masks. There's a sense of freedom the game captures very well. Everywhere is available from the start, but it avoids ever feeling aimless. You'll always have a bunch of quests to focus on, and roaming in a new area will always reveal a couple of locations to check out on the way. Quests are hit or miss, often lacking compelling justifications other than saying: “What else is there to do?” But they guide you to the fun content of the game, so I guess they are correct in that regard. Though perhaps a letdown considering how hard Sable attempts to present itself as a believable world. Sable's world is one of little agency, in fact, the only thing people seem to care about is giving badges to children in some elaborate school career day. At times it often feels like a horrifying Matrix-like facade that no one has lives outside of the context of what you’re doing. You never meet any other gliders on your travels. The game seems to be missing an equal perspective, as you find yourself mostly conversing with authority figures.

The game is beautiful, but you probably already knew that from the screenshots. Its striking colour palette and shaders make Sable’s unique visual experience hold up in motion and includes a photo mode for those inclined. I did encounter significant performance issues when using a GTX 1060 6GB. I locked the game to 30 FPS to remove the constant stuttering, and I found the game perfectly playable at this frame rate, though the game could drop to as low as 15 FPS while standing in some of the busier areas of the game, and performance degraded over time, making me restart the game every hour or so. This game has not been updated in a few years, so I wouldn’t expect a fix.

Perhaps my favourite part of Sable is the soundtrack produced by Japanese Breakfast. I’m sure, like many others, my interest in the game was piqued after she performed the song “Glider” at Summer Games Fest. I would go as far as saying that this is one of the best game soundtracks of the 2010s, perfectly setting the mood when roaming across the sands or sneaking to catch some skittish insects.

Despite Sable’s flaws, I can empathise with the fact that this game was created mostly by two people who were handling a very ambitious project. If you’re a fan of laid-back experience-type games and slower-paced platforms, then I think there’s enough to enjoy in Sable to make it worth your time.