Sable's E3 demo made me fall more in love with its words than its art

Sable is one of the many hundreds of Steam Next Fest demos you can play at the moment, and cor, it's a real beauty. Sure, we've known for a while now that Shedworks' desert-roaming hover bike 'em up is stone-cold stunner (especially since much of its art style has been inspired by the equally gorgeous work of the artist Moebius), but seeing it in action is something else. I love gazing at the clearly defined rock strata around Sable's home; I love how the gentle day and night cycle bathes the world in cool blues and purples at dusk and dawn before roaring to life in bright, punchy primaries during the day; and woof, I love the gentle twangs of its lilting soundtrack.

But the thing that surprised me most during its hour-long demo was the way we got to hear Sable's inner thoughts as she chatted to her fellow camp mates. For whatever reason, I wasn't expecting this, and at times it almost felt like I was reading a book - and what a lovely book it was, too.