How ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ Inspired ‘Sable’
Indie gamers will soon be able to explore a gorgeous desert with Sable, arriving on Sept. 23. Those who enjoyed Nintendo’s hit video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will likely enjoy this title, as the two are similar in terms of gameplay. In fact, Sable‘s developer, Shedworks, even drew a bit of inspiration from Breath of the Wild. Here’s what the studio said about the making of Sable.
What is ‘Sable’?
Sable follows a young girl of the same name, living in a stunning desert town. Sable is approaching her coming-of-age Gliding ritual, but first, she must go on a journey to find a sacred stone and return home. The indie game features an open-world exploration format, where Sable can interact with fellow townspeople, solve puzzles, and discover everything the desert has to offer.
There are also many ways to get around the desert, including a hoverbike, climbing, leaping, and the coveted gliding. According to Shedworks, gliding is “a rite of passage that will take her across vast deserts and mesmerizing landscapes, capped by the remains of spaceships and ancient wonders.”
Shedworks has already released a few first looks at Sable ahead of release, including the video below. Sable meets a few of the desert’s creatures in the clip, including beetles, Chums, and Chum Queens. She also greets some townspeople in need of help, launching the game’s quests.
‘Sable’s developers looked at ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ for inspiration
Breath of the Wild players might notice upon starting Sable that the vibes are very similar. Both single-player experiences follow a character on an explorative journey through gorgeous, massive lands. Additionally, both games rely heavily on puzzles, and they even both use gliding and climbing as ways of getting around.
Speaking to Polygon, Shedworks’ creative director and co-founder, Gregorios Kythreotis, said that Breath of the Wild heavily influenced Sable.
“There’s so much clever design work in that game, especially if you’re making an open-world game, it’s hard not to learn everything you can from it,” Kythreotis said.
Shedworks took the gliding from Breath of the Wild and turned it into a significant focus in Sable. Since the mode of transportation is a “rite of passage,” Kythreotis said the studio “wanted it to feel a little bit more ethereal and otherworldly.”
The biggest difference between ‘Breath of the Wild’ and ‘Sable’ is combat
Of course, there is one crucial difference between Breath of the Wild and Sable. In the latter, there’s no combat at all. Breath of the Wild players can generally avoid engaging in battles if they’d rather explore, but the game would never technically be complete that way. In contrast, Sable focuses solely on puzzles and exploration.
As Shedworks’ other co-founder, Daniel Fineberg, told Screen Rant, the studio wanted players to enjoy the atmosphere above all else.
“We really want the appeal of the game to be … just sort of being in the world. Just the act of traveling across the desert and being in control of where you’re going and what you’re doing…We want it to be thoughtful,” Fineberg said. “I guess it takes a certain kind of player to want that, but we’d like to think that that’s appealing to a lot of people looking to escape killing stuff.”
Sable launches on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on Sept. 23. It will be available to download via Xbox Game Pass on day one.
