Info about Sable:

Official game description:
  
Embark on a unique and unforgettable journey and guide Sable through her Gliding; a rite of passage that will take her across vast deserts and mesmerizing landscapes, capped by the remains of spaceships and ancient wonders.  
Explore the dunes on your hoverbike, scale monumental ruins and encounter other nomads as you unearth mysteries long forgotten and discover who she really is behind her mask.  
With its unique art style and original soundtrack by Japanese Breakfast, envelop yourself in Sable’s world and explore everything at your own pace. There is a lot in this world just waiting to be discovered. Do not be afraid. Take the leap.  
• Explore a rich world, full of remnants of past civilisations.  
• Climb, leap, hover, glide – use everything at your disposal to discover every inch of the world in front of you  
• Customise your hover bike as you find, or earn, new parts  
• Help other clans and nomads that you meet along the way  
• Lose yourself in an adventure and find yourself through masks, outfits and other collectables, to represent who you are to those around you…  
• Complete puzzles to earn rewards and forge your path in an unforgiving terrain  
• Try your hand at fishing in the desert, and showcase your collection of bugs and fish in the Vivarium.

Release date: Sep 23, 2021

Categories: Open-World Exploration, Third-Person Perspective, Exploration, Vehicle Customization, Climbing Gameplay, Puzzle Solving, Collectibles, Atmospheric Horror

Feature scans:
- Wiki: score 50; verdict: The Student; summary: The primary external data dependency is instructional: users need walkthroughs, guides, and wikis to understand puzzles, navigate quests, and resolve lore. This aligns with Tier 3 (The Student) where the barrier is learning systems or finding content.
- Proton/Linux: score 75; verdict: Barely Playable - Heavy Tinkering Required; summary: The game has significant performance issues on Steam Deck (Linux), with multiple users reporting low FPS, stuttering, and crashes even after applying graphical tweaks and DXVK. While one user finds it playable, the consensus is that the game performs poorly and requires heavy workarounds, placing it in the 'barely playable' category for Linux/Proton compatibility.
- Steam Deck: score 80; verdict: Broken - Severe Performance Instability; summary: The game suffers from severe performance instability (frequent frame drops to 10-15 FPS, stuttering, and crashes) alongside notable camera and control issues, resulting in a broken experience on Steam Deck despite occasional positive reports.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $10.00 - $15.00
  - Reasoning: Multiple reviews recommend buying on sale around $10, suggesting that price is widely seen as fair. While a minority considers the full $24.99 price acceptable, the majority of evidence points to $10-$15 as the community's acceptable base-game range. The quotes show that sale prices below $15 are consistently praised, while full price is often discouraged.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 18.0h
  - Story completion: 10.0h
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: Game completion is consistently reported as 15-20 hours, with 18 hours for full achievements (including all content). Story/campaign completion can be as short as 6 hours (finishing with a single mask), but typical playthrough focusing on main quests and some side content averages around 10-12 hours; a clear 12-hour figure is given for 'fun adventures'. Session length and endgame hours lack specific or reliable evidence: session length is implied to be around 1 hour due to performance degradation reports, but not explicitly stated, and endgame is merely described as the ability to reload and continue, with no duration given. Therefore session length and endgame are null.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: Sable's time-to-fun is reached after leaving the tutorial region, typically within 1-2 hours, where the game opens up to exploration and discovery. However, the early slog and repetitive quests may deter some players, and fun can later decline as novelty wears off.
  - Stance: Clicks after
  - Anchor: After leaving tutorial region
  - Time to anchor: 2h 0m
  - Friction: slow and boring tutorial; clunky bike traversal; repetitive fetch quests; buggy UI and controls; empty world with repetitive scenery; frequent technical issues
  - Unlock drivers: leaving tutorial area; exploration freedom; discovery of unique quests and locations; appreciation of art style and music; moments of gameplay clicking
  - Conditions: prefer chill, non-combat exploration; patient with slow pacing; enjoy solving puzzles and climbing; can play solo or casually with friends
- Player Archetypes:
  - Chill Desert Wanderer (buy)
    - Motivation: Relaxation and atmospheric exploration
    - Playstyle: Casual, unhurried exploration without combat pressure.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: relaxation seeker; exploration enthusiast; no-combat fan
    - Reference games: Breath of the Wild; Journey; Outer Wilds
  - Achievement Hunter (buy)
    - Motivation: Completion and mastery
    - Playstyle: Methodical, thorough, seeks to 100% the game.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: completionist; collector; achievement whore
    - Reference games: Breath of the Wild; Outer Wilds
  - Art & Sound Connoisseur (buy)
    - Motivation: Appreciation of art, music, and atmosphere
    - Playstyle: Immersive, taking time to enjoy visuals and soundtrack.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: art lover; music enthusiast; Moebius fan
    - Reference games: Journey; Abzû; Gris
  - Patient Bug-Tolerant Adventurer (sale)
    - Motivation: Exploration and atmosphere despite technical issues
    - Playstyle: Persistent, willing to overlook imperfections for the experience.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: patient gamer; forgiving player; optimistic
    - Reference games: Outer Wilds; No Man's Sky (early release)


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Striking and unique art style (weight 0.95): Players frequently praise the game's unique and attractive visual design, often comparing it to artists like Moebius or noting the influence of Scavengers Reign. The art style is described as cute, beautiful, and striking, with a particular mention of a 12fps animation style that works well.
- Amazing and atmospheric soundtrack (weight 0.66): The soundtrack, especially by Japanese Breakfast, is widely acclaimed as amazing, gorgeous, and even enjoyable outside the game. Specific elements like the hoverbike engine sound and intro music are highlighted for enhancing the atmosphere.
- Calm and relaxing exploration (weight 0.41): The game offers a calm, peaceful, and meditative exploration experience that feels welcoming and relaxing. Players enjoy the non-violent focus and the sense of freedom while exploring a big, pretty world with lots to see and do.
- Interesting worldbuilding and lore (weight 0.37): The worldbuilding and lore are praised as interesting and imaginative, with an expansive world featuring detailed maps and a sense of discovery through map fragments and landmarks. Free exploration encourages players to uncover the world's details.
- Ambitious indie with great concepts (weight 0.25): Players were initially attracted by the art style and lore-oriented gameplay, and they appreciate the nice game concept and good ideas present. It's seen as an ambitious open world for an indie team, an impressive achievement for a two-person team.
- Beautiful designs and clever lore (weight 0.24): The designs are beautiful in static, and the clever mask lore justification adds depth. The unique atmosphere and charming nature of the game, along with beautiful world design, are frequently mentioned.
- Charming quests and dialogue (weight 0.23): The mix of quests and exploration works well, with charming dialogue from NPCs and excellent writing. Some players find the stories from NPCs charming, and the dialogue is highlighted as excellent.
- Great start and exciting quests (weight 0.21): The first couple hours are great with good pacing, and the Heartbreak in the City quest is initially exciting. Despite some issues, the game is fun overall, from start through middle.
- Loved by players with great potential (weight 0.2): Many players love the game, finding it original and touching, with great potential. They liked what they played and see strong potential for future content.
- Immersive roaming and customization (weight 0.18): Roaming on a planet is immersive, with riding and bike customizing feeling nice. Varied collectibles like bike parts, costumes, and masks add depth to the experience.
- Zelda-like exploration and puzzles (weight 0.18): The exploration experience is similar to Zelda, with imaginative adventure vibes and fun mechanics and puzzles. This appeals to players seeking a non-linear, discovery-driven adventure.
- Meaningful story and elegant UI (weight 0.18): A meaningful short main story that respects player freedom, with a satisfying ending, is appreciated. The elegant UI and minimalist interface also contribute to a positive experience.
- Great UI and minimalist design (weight 0.17): The UI developer did a great job, creating an elegant and minimalist interface that doesn't distract from the experience. The free main quest also enhances usability.
- Romantic themes and charming NPCs (weight 0.15): Romantic themes can appeal to some players, and stories from NPCs can be charming. Excellent dialogue and writing enhance these narrative elements.
- Satisfying ending and expansive world (weight 0.11): A satisfying ending and a big, pretty exploration game with lots to see and do leave a positive final impression. The ending is described as meaningful and satisfying.
- Fun mix of quests and puzzles (weight 0.11): Mix of quests and exploration works well, and mechanics and puzzles are fun. This blend keeps the gameplay engaging and varied.
- Regular updates with collectibles (weight 0.1): The latest update added remapping, a minor improvement, and varied collectibles like bike parts, costumes, and masks enhance replayability. These updates show developer responsiveness.

Common complaints:
- Clunky climbing mechanics (weight 0.49): Climbing mechanics are reported as clumsy, inconsistent, and buggy, often glitching or lacking fluid animations. Stamina consumption is too fast, and players cannot climb faster, which adds to frustration.
- Janky movement and bike controls (weight 0.46): Many players criticize the hoverbike controls as janky, wild, and glitchy, causing flipping and getting stuck. The bike's physics and pathing are poor, and general character movement is also described as janky.
- Empty unrewarding world (weight 0.43): The world is described as empty, with no worthwhile rewards or discoveries during exploration. Motivation fades quickly after the first few hours due to lack of interesting content.
- Repetitive fetch quests (weight 0.4): Quests are heavily criticized as repetitive fetch quests that become chores or boring tasks. They lack variety and meaningful design, making them feel mundane.
- Frequent stuttering and drops (weight 0.35): Performance issues like constant stuttering, frequent framerate drops (even on high-end rigs), and visual/audio stutters are common. These bugs significantly hinder the experience.
- Lack of polish overall (weight 0.31): The game suffers from an overall lack of polish, with core mechanics feeling unpolished compared to its inspirations. This leaves an unfinished feel across multiple systems.
- Bland gameplay mechanics (weight 0.14): Gameplay mechanics are considered bland and uninteresting, with no standout or innovative features that capture player attention.
- Bugs ruin playability (weight 0.14): Bugs are so prevalent that they make the game barely playable for some players, ruining the overall experience.
- Bike call feature buggy (weight 0.13): A specific bug related to the bike call-out feature is noted: it often works once and then fails repeatedly. This inconsistency disrupts gameplay.
- Dizziness from camera (weight 0.13): The driving camera causes dizziness due to unstable movements. This motion sickness issue affects player comfort during bike segments.
- Unmemorable characters (weight 0.13): Characters are bland and lack memorable traits, failing to create emotional connections or enrich the story.
- Not worth full price (weight 0.12): Some players feel the game is not worth its full price, citing its unpolished state and lack of engaging content. Value for money is questioned.
- Controls not remappable (weight 0.12): Players note the inability to re-map controls, though it was later fixed with an update. This was a significant issue for usability.
- No combat or danger (weight 0.12): The game lacks enemies and combat, focusing only on dialogue and puzzles. Some players miss the danger and action typical of the genre.

Gameplay feedback:
- Quest and dialogue systems (weight 0.51): The game includes quests, NPC dialogues, and collectibles, often requiring traversal to locations to gather items.
- Open-world hoverbike exploration (weight 0.46): Players frequently mention exploration in an open world on a hoverbike, often in a desert setting. This combines traversal with discovery.
- Climbing stamina system (weight 0.3): Climbing is a core mechanic governed by a stamina gauge, similar to other exploration games, adding endurance-based platforming.
- Vehicle customization and upgrades (weight 0.29): The game features customization of hoverbikes and other vehicles, including parts, costumes, and mobility-focused upgrades.
- Atmospheric exploration focus (weight 0.28): Players highlight the game's atmospheric and cozy exploration, often with lore discovery and a relaxing feel.
- Puzzles and mechanics fun (weight 0.26): Simple repetitive temple puzzles and physics-based gameplay are enjoyed, though some note repetition.
- Walking simulator style (weight 0.25): Some players describe the game as a walking simulator, emphasizing slow-paced, atmospheric exploration without heavy action.
- No combat mechanics (weight 0.21): Many reviews highlight the absence of combat, focusing instead on exploration and non-violent gameplay.
- Minimalist guidance after tutorial (weight 0.19): The game offers little hand-holding after the initial tutorial, encouraging player-driven discovery in a free main quest.
- Bike-based traversal mechanics (weight 0.18): The hoverbike is a core mechanic for navigation, with call bike feature and various traversal options like walking, climbing, and flying.
- Breath of the Wild inspiration (weight 0.16): The game's open world is often compared to Breath of the Wild, suggesting similar design philosophy and exploration mechanics.
- Third-person exploration perspective (weight 0.13): The game is played from a third-person view, focusing on exploration and traversal with a climbing and gliding system.
- Dialogue and interact boxes (weight 0.12): Players note the presence of dialog/interact boxes and specific camera behavior during NPC conversations.
- Desert exploration with towers (weight 0.12): The desert environment includes towers with spiral staircases, adding verticality to the open world exploration.
- Stop-motion animation style (weight 0.07): One player highlights the unique stop-motion animation style of the game, adding to its artistic appeal.
- Gliding stone feature (weight 0.07): A gliding stone mechanic is mentioned, enabling smooth aerial traversal in the open world.

Performance notes:
- Stuttering and frame drops (weight 0.46): Players report frequent stuttering and severe frame drops, with some experiencing 0.5-1 second hangs (Cluster 9) and drops to 10-15 FPS on lowest settings (Cluster 10). This occurs on both high-end rigs (Cluster 5) and Steam Deck (Cluster 2).
- Poor optimization across platforms (weight 0.41): General poor optimization is cited (Cluster 3), with instability on Steam Deck (20-60 FPS variability, Cluster 2) and poor performance on high-end GPUs like RTX 4070 Ti (Cluster 31). Issues persist even two years post-release (Cluster 6).
- Visual and graphical issues (weight 0.33): Players note geometry loading issues (Cluster 7), texture overlap (Cluster 26), lighting flickering (Cluster 37), and visual stutters (Cluster 40). Weird graphical issues and pop-in on shadows/scenery also occur (Cluster 25, 43).
- Audio glitches and bugs (weight 0.3): Multiple audio issues are reported, including clipping (Cluster 4), sound bugs (Cluster 21), audio cutting out (Cluster 27), and incorrect music cues (Cluster 28). These affect gameplay immersion.
- Performance on Steam Deck not verified (weight 0.19): The game is not Steam Deck verified (Cluster 12) and runs poorly on the device, with choppy gameplay even at lowest settings (Cluster 13, 16).
- Frame rate caps and variability (weight 0.19): The FPS is locked to 60 (Cluster 23), but even capping at 30 results in dips (Cluster 47). Frame rate fluctuates heavily between 20-50 FPS on mid-range hardware like 5700xt at 1080p (Cluster 46).
- Loading and geometry pop-in issues (weight 0.18): Players experience bad LOD causing objects to pop-in close to the player (Cluster 30), and frequency pop-in of shadows and scenery (Cluster 25). Loading environments is also a struggle (Cluster 44).
- Crashes and save corruption (weight 0.15): The game may crash (Cluster 11) and suffer from save corruption (Cluster 17), leading to lost progress and frustration.
- Technical issues causing nausea (weight 0.14): Performance issues such as control lag (Cluster 39) and visual stutters make players feel ill and dizzy (Cluster 48), indicating poor optimization affects health.
- Lack of V-Sync and screen tearing (weight 0.13): No V-Sync option (Cluster 14) results in screen tearing (Cluster 15), which affects visual quality and comfort.

Recommendations:
- Strongly not recommended overall (weight 0.8): Multiple clusters express a clear recommendation against purchasing the game, citing issues with polish, bugs, and value. This is a dominant theme across many reviews.
- Only buy on deep sale (weight 0.6): Several clusters advise that the game is not worth the full price and should only be purchased at a significant discount, suggesting poor value for money.
- Poor polish and bugs (weight 0.39): Reviews highlight technical issues, including bugs and performance problems, making the game feel unfinished or barely playable, affecting the recommendation.
- Niche appeal only (weight 0.33): The game is recommended only for specific audiences, such as those who enjoy collectathons, atmosphere, or exploration without engaging gameplay, limiting its broad appeal.
- Not worth current state (weight 0.28): Reviews indicate the game is not worth its current price or status, with expectations that future patches might improve it, but not recommending it now.
- Frustrating traversal and world (weight 0.13): Specific feedback mentions uninteresting worlds and frustrating traversal, diminishing the exploration experience, a key aspect of the game.
- Technical issues for specific hardware (weight 0.07): A review specifically warns users with RDNA 1 or 2 graphics cards to avoid the game due to compatibility or performance issues.

Other player notes:
- SBI involvement under scrutiny (weight 0.06): One reviewer credits Sweet Baby Inc for dialogue direction, sparking concern about external influence on the narrative.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.31): The main causes of frustration are numerous technical and gameplay issues, including janky movement, broken physics, persistent bugs, severe performance problems like stuttering and crashes, and poorly designed mechanics such as unreliable climbing and camera glitches. These issues make the game unplayable despite an interesting story and art style, leading to a deeply unsatisfying experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.31): Disappointment stems from the game failing to live up to its artistic promise, with players citing a buggy, unpolished experience, repetitive fetch quests, a hollow story, and boring gameplay that feels like a walking simulator. The beautiful visuals and soundtrack are wasted on an unfinished, monotonous game that lacks substance and engagement.
- Boredom (weight 0.11): Boredom arises from a repetitive open world with forgettable narratives, tedious dialogue, trivial puzzles, and a lack of engaging mechanics like combat or danger. Slow movement, a long tutorial, and an empty world with no clear direction lead to a lack of interest and little reason to continue playing.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.06): Enjoyment is derived from the satisfying hoverbike riding and customization, a great soundtrack, and a peaceful, contemplative exploration experience that is often visually beautiful. Players found the game enjoyable at the start and middle, despite later issues.
- Annoyance (weight 0.03): Annoyance is caused by the lack of language options and skip functionality, as well as the story's insulting over-explanation of simple actions through lengthy text, which feels condescending.
- Appreciation (weight 0.03): Appreciation comes from the interesting setting, graphics, and cool artistic vision, alongside an amazing soundtrack that motivated purchases. The ambitious open world is also valued despite technical flaws.
- Nausea (weight 0.01): Nausea is directly linked to screen tearing and stuttering, which cause physical discomfort during gameplay.
- Adoration (weight 0.01): Adoration stems from the art style, which is reminiscent of the show 'Scavengers Reign,' appealing to fans of that aesthetic.
- Calmness (weight 0.01): Calmness is attributed to the game's calm exploration atmosphere, which provides a relaxing experience for players.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Amusement is caused by the nice hoverbike sound and quirky animations, which add a lighthearted and entertaining element.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is primarily for the beautiful art style, which is visually striking and a standout feature of the game.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arises from the art style lacking gradients, which is disorienting and makes it hard to parse the environment.
- Excitement (weight 0.01): Excitement is felt upon first buying the game, driven by the beautiful world and the non-violent exploration concept, which offered a fresh and appealing idea.
- Regret (weight 0.01): Regret comes from not getting a refund when it was possible, indicating the game did not meet expectations.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Nostalgia is triggered by reminders of games like 'Death Stranding' and 'Zelda,' evoking positive memories of those experiences.
- Displeasure (weight 0.01): Displeasure results from the lack of voiced dialogue despite obvious effort put into the game, making the narrative feel incomplete.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is caused by keyboard and mouse controls fighting for control in menus, leading to frustrating usability issues.
- Distress (weight 0.01): Distress is experienced due to severe motion sickness from the animations and art style after just an hour of play, making the game physically uncomfortable.
- Relief (weight 0.01): Relief is felt because the graphic bugs that impacted gameplay were temporary and resolved, allowing for a better experience.}