Sable’s Grimoire — Review
(Review copy provided by Gamuzumi. Reviewed on Nintendo Switch)
Sable’s Grimoire is a magical yet still grounded and accommodating visual novel with a fun cast of fantastical characters.
Sable’s Grimoire follows the titular main character as he goes through his time at Amadronia Academy. A school filled with many different fantasy races, magic to learn, and lively characters to forge relationships with. From an enthusiastic dragon, abrasive pixies, kind and gentle spiders, or sweet mandragoras, the cast of characters is a huge standout from what could be expected from the premise. There were even a few creatures and monsters that were very welcome surprises that kept the setting from being too predictable.
Everything isn’t perfect however. The opening can drag for quite a while and not in a particularly interesting manner. Sable is already a very well educated character prior to the start of the game so it’s not too long before he starts explaining something about the world to the player. Exposition when you’re dealing with a setting that’s based around humans and other magical races with a web of complex history between each of them can be difficult to make organically flow. Even more so when also implementing the rules for magic, fantasy physiology, and a school setting. A lot of information is dumped on the player through Sable lecturing you about things he has learned or experienced before and it can really grind the pace of a scene to a halt.
What makes the early exposition dumps such a negative is that there are some really standout moments of very diegetic conversations. Early on, there’s a very interesting conversation with a fairy about their race’s breeding practices since they’re from a race entirely made up of extremely fragile, and small female creatures. There are other talks regarding humanity’s persecution of the other races and even about the currently fragile racial peace amongst one another. The setting allows for a lot of these talks to carry out and it does so extremely well for a number of the more heavy and grounded subjects. It’s just a shame that more of the opening exposition couldn’t have been done this way earlier.
On the note of heavy subjects, the game does come with a mature content toggle. What this does is prevent the player from accidently straying down a route or seeing certain CGs that are much more dark than what they may be looking for. It also highlights certain routes that have mature and distressing themes that could bother players as a type of warning sign. Along with that is a “Bad Ending Hints” toggle which will display a little symbol next to choices that lead down a bad path. The game also includes commonplace volume, text speed, and skip options that allow the player to customize their experience appropriate to their own reading speed.
As for the music, it’s fairly low-key. It’s never very over powering and serves its purpose. With no voice over in the game, there’s never a fear of a performance getting overshadowed by the accompaniment. Nothing particularly stands out but it does aid in setting the tone of the scenes. Same mostly goes for the general user interface. It’s very bare bones outside of the aesthetic connection to the magical menu that Sable uses. The game was made with a very small team and it shows which isn’t a bad thing. If you’re used to more highly budgeted VNs then it might take a moment for you adjust to what Sable’s Grimoire offers but that style does not detract from the expressive character writing, fun gags, and impressive CGs.
Sable’s Grimoire serves as a fun dip into a fantastical setting filled with all sorts of multi-dimensional characters and some fearsome creatures. While it does take some time to get to the interesting parts, there is plenty of content for players who want to get lost in this setting and forge bonds with these characters. It’s fairly limited in its scope but it does bring some quality of life options that lets players make the experience as comfortable for them as possible. If spending a few extra semesters to chat with self-described dragon best friend, and finding all 16 different possible endings sounds like fun, then Sable’s Grimoire is definitely worth your time.
