Sable's Grimoire

(This review was made possible by a Patreon Subscriber hebeckner78)

*Note: WARNING some material discussed in this review may not be suitable for all persons that read it. This VN has several paths and discussions that deal with subject matter that not all people may OR may not be able to keep a subjective open mind about. Please understand this is a "Media" and should always remain free from censorship.

Sable's Grimoire is a visual novel currently on sale on the Steam Market place that has 16 different endings pending on the choices that you make through the game. There are up to 5 different love interests within the game with the girl named 'Drakan' being the best girl (seeing she is the one in the Logo). 

There are a couple of gameplay mechanics that I find unique and nice to have. The first one is that the VN gives you the option from the beginning to use a 'safe' feature, which allows you to turn on an 'icon' that tells you if a choice you will make will lead you to a bad ending. I can see where this feature comes in handy if your in it for the good endings. Another nice feature is what I am calling the Decision Tree. You can go to the tree and see all the stories you have found so far, as well you can load from a certain question and choose a different option. 

Game mechanics aside, the artwork is a bit dated and done in a form that isn't what I would call Grade A work, but that being said it isn't bad either. I actually think the graphics work well with this particular Visual Novel, as for music, to be honest, I turned the sound off and just had my music playing as I went through the game. It doesn't have any sound other than the music, which again isn't a bad thing.

In the game, you play as the protag named Sable (it's a unisex name) a highschool aged human male that has been accepted into a magical institute and academy that accepts applicants on their skills and academics alone. Because of this policy that means that anyone from any race may join based on their grades. Sable being human is a rarity to some extent as most humans are not able to use magic and rely heavily on the use of magical artifacts or arcane arts that use glyphs to draw power. Neither of Sable's parents is mages and therefore his power lays in his ability to understand the basic magic theory and advanced use of glyphs to produce the magic he wants.

The story of Sable prior to the introduction of going to the academy is discussed throughout the game but the overall point is that Sable at a young age became interested in magic and began to study it intently. This led to him becoming a shut-in and when he was able to use Magic his parents avoided him as they had negative thoughts and feelings about the use of magic. Because of this Sable hid away studying magic and barely seeing or speaking to his parents, which didn't really want much to do with him, to begin with after he found his magic. 

Eventually, he decided to apply to the academy and after making it in he found himself making the move from his home to the academy dorms where he would meet a variety of people of different races. The academy has few students that are human with the majority of the school being filled with demi-humans from all different backgrounds and areas. The game only gives that in the 1st Year Classes there are actually only two humans, Sable and a boy named Narm. 

Before getting to the academy you are introduced to one of the prospective love interests though at the time of this post I have not made it down her route yet. Rui though appearing human is not a human, she is a Rokurokubi but can pass as a normal human. It isn't until later in the story do you find out that she's not a full-fledged human. After getting to the academy and walking around he meets up with Leshia, which is an Elven girl (and another one of the love interests). 

At the time of this post, I have not made it through Leshia's route yet but what few interactions I have had in-game with her makes her character type of that of a tsundere. She is abrasive and because of her being an Elf she tends to view other races with disdain. Elves live many hundreds of years and are content with remaining in the villages they have made out in the forests of the world with little to no interactions with other races. She appears cold and calculating and believes that when it comes to magic that elves have the advantage. Despite that though she does have a softer more relaxed side that doesn't show often.

During the opening ceremony for the first-year students, Sable bumps into a half-dragon half-human girl named Drakan. Because of her, they both miss the opening ceremony. 

Drakan the half-dragon half-human girl with an overly enthusiastic attitude that also likes to use her flames to burn down anything she doesn't particularly like. Drakan appears to be human-like with dragon wings, horns, and a tail, her skin is also a shade or more so reddish in tint. Her ability to use magic is on a different level than most of the other students due to her dragon side. Dragons are an ancient race that has become extremely scarce and tend to go long periods of time without being seen or heard. They tend to isolate themselves and mostly show no emotion. They are overly possessive and once they find something they want they have an obsessive nature to have that particular item. 

Drakan however shows emotions like a human does. Despite her happy go lucky attitude and an overabundance of enthusiasm she is regarded by the other students as an outcast that they don't want to associate with, this is due to the fact that Dragons are in some sense comparable to humanity in the sense that they place power and riches over all other things and because of that they have burned villages, killed many in all other races, and tend to put themselves as superior to all other races. This has led many of the demi-humans to see dragons as a race to be feared. 

Sable and Drakan hit it off pretty well and when it is said and done Sable openly feels that despite her half-dragon side he finds her as a unique and charming individual. Upon being done with lessons and the opening ceremony Sable heads to his dorm to sleep only to find out that his roommate is not what he was expecting.

Tix is a pixie not to be confused with a fairy (in lore the pixies and fairies were close allies but a series of unfortunate events leads to a bitter war and struggle that leads to the two hating one another.) When Sable first meets Tix he is surprised not just by the fact that there is a girl living in his dorm room, but the fact that she appears to be human size as most pixies are much much smaller. Later she explains that she uses muscle enhancement magic to change her size from the standard pixie size (rough 4 inches in height) to human size. 

Tix is an interesting character in her own right and one of the love interests. She is for the most part seems happy and cheerful, she has a bit of a mischievous side and is very adept in spiritual and healing magic. Tix also has a bad temper and though she may try to hide it she usually fails which she then tends to run off. Tix however isn't your normal student in the sense that she's there just to learn magic and to improve her own skills, she is actually there for a different purpose and that is to find a mate. 

All Pixies are female and because of this, they seek out strong males from different humanoid-like races to procreate with. Pixies for the most part try to stick with human males but some have also procreated with other races. Pixies are a weaker physical race and tend to be a 'prey' race that falls victim to magical beasts and predator races, they are also very susceptible to illness and sickness. 

Pixies have many children at one time and can procreate many times. However many Pixies will only have a few that survive. Pixie mothers show little interest in their children's lives until they reach maturity due to the fact that many will perish prior to reaching that age. Once they do reach maturity through the mother's will dedicated themselves to a loving family environment and teach their daughters magic, survival, and show a great deal of love.

Sable knowing little about Pixie culture and the ins and outs of how they view things, in general, tends to make it hard for him to engage with Tix at first. Further, into the game, you will make a choice and that choice will lead you down a path you can get Tix as a lover or will have her leaving the school entirely. 

Sable though never really admitting to it also spends a great deal of his time, mostly at lunch, with the duo of Eth and Rui. Rui the Rokurokubi and Eth the Mandragora are both love interests in the game as well. At the time of this post, these are two of the girls that I have not got to their end yet.

Rui is always hungry and always blowing through her weekly budget on food. However, as a Rokurokubi she requires large sums of food due to her high metabolism. She is a bit of an airhead and tends to only think about food, she isn't very adept at learning as well as she is ranked last in the entire class and yet still maintains the scores to say in the school. Other students of other races tend to view Rui and Rokurokubi as a whole with a sense of weariness. While other races have been hunted and killed by humankind because Rokurokubi look pretty much human they have not been hunted down or killed like the others and tend to blend into human culture. 

Eth is a quiet and shy girl that is classified as a 'prey' race. Her race has at different times been brought to the edge of extinction by several races including humans. Because of this, she at first is shy and scared of Sable. But after getting to know him she considers him a friend. During an event in the game there comes a point where you can make her upset and mad which pushes her away as a love interest. Eth being a plant with human shape and form doesn't require food but instead sunlight and water. She can't move as fast as others due to her root-like legs and feet. She has Sable carry her around a few times to help her get from one place to another quickly.

 There is another girl that you don't end up in a relationship with at least not at the end of the story of this game but it is possible maybe in a different after story it could be possible. Before talking about her, however, I need to make it known that this particular character's path is full of dark and anti-human views. It discusses the issues of human's way of viewing different demi-humans, how they are treated, and the dark horrors that demi-humans have faced while under human domination and control. 

The Jorōgumo girl that Sable calls by her nickname Jojo is a third-year student that acts as a transcriber and librarian. She for the most part is quiet and full of knowledge from the books of the library. She will eat the pages of a book and then transcribe it onto digital media to upload to the network. She appears more human than a spider with her spider-like legs and red eyes being the only viewable spider-like features. She is normally found wearing a metal mask over her mouth and nose. 

Jojo is also the primary caretaker for the underground dorms/prison. The Underground is used for nocturnal demi-humans, or at least that is half of it. It also acts as a safe place for demi-humans that are rescued during the school-mandated 'hunts'. The 'Hunt' is a school-based group that is tasked with helping demi-humans with multiple different problems, however, sometimes they are tasked with capturing or killing demi-humans that are aggressive and have harmed humans or other demi-humans. Because of this those that join in the hunts are referred to as 'Hunters' and they are looked down upon by all demi-humans. Most demi-humans see it as a group created by humans as a way to keep demi-humans inline.

Sable while out one night finds a door leading down to the Underground and he is stopped by Jojo and a girl named Hira. At first, they run him off, but his curiosity led him to discuss things with Jojo. At first, she's hesitant about discussing it with him but eventually she caves and tells him if he really wants to know she will show him but once he knows the truth, he may wish he didn't. From what I have seen you are given the option to not go down that path but I had to because I was curious if Jojo would become a love interest or not.

Sable is taken to the underground and then to a dorm cell where three demi-human females had been placed. A fox girl, bunny girl, and a Harpy. Upon seeing Sable the three girls react differently but their reaction is over the same idea, the three girls are not accepting of humans. The Harpy with multiple lacerations and other physical injury retreats and cowards to the back of the cell unable to say or do much. The Fox girl with multiple old injuries on her body and tail takes a defensive stance ready to lash out in anger. Lastly, the Bunny Girl places herself upon the ground stating she will do whatever the human asks of her, she will be 'good' and do anything. She too is covered in whip marks, cuts, and other injuries. 

Jojo informs Sable that humanity to many demi-humans is the greatest scourge of the world. Humanity over the many hundreds of years has eradicated entire races of demi-humans, they have taken others as slaves. Others are simply mistreated because of humans wanting to ensure that other demi-humans don't attempt to rise up against humanity. These girls were saved during the 'hunt' and brought to the underground for either rehabilitation or to be caged for the rest of their lives. 

Sable thinks long about what he's seen and eventually, he decides to help Jojo with her work in helping the different demi-humans in the Underground to recover. He takes the part of a therapist of sorts and works with different ones that at first have no real problem with humanity but other issues that keep them from attending regular school. Eventually, he does make it work with some of the more extreme cases. It is at this point he begins to realize that Jojo isn't who she said she was and in fact, he finds out she is actually one of the ones that were rescued during a 'hunt' from a group of human mercenaries. 

 Eventually, Jojo shows Sable her body and the damage to her body including her face, and the fact that a couple of her spider legs have been broke or shortened. At first, Sable is beside himself but later he finds out that while there are many scars on her body from the mercenaries that other wounds are self-inflicted. Jojo is of a distinct spider demi-human that she isn't fully aware of, however, she does know their kind. She leads Sable to believe that her losing her family was on the part of the mercenaries. However, eventually, she does tell him the truth, this particular spider race is killing itself off, when the mother lays her eggs she kills the father. As the spider children hatch they begin to kill off the weak ones and consume them. At the end usually of several children, only one will remain. 

Eventually, that child when reaching a certain age will kill off their mother and consume her. Because of this inherent trait, this particular group of spiders is killing off their own race. Jojo has longed to become more human, she wants to live in human society, she wants to be able to do all the things that humans do, but because of her spider appearance, she has always been pushed away. One of the things her race is known for is its speedy recovery time, she attempted multiple times to break or remove the spider appendages from her body only for them to grow back quickly. This obsession with becoming a human has caused her to be mentally unstable. 

She had shown signs of improving but they were false signs. She is a master manipulator and uses lies and deceit to get what she wants. That said though she is also one to do what she needs to do to be seen in a certain way, the only reason why she relapsed into anger was due to stress and malnutrition imposed on herself. Sable after speaking with Hira is given 3 options. Two are bad endings, one is better than bad at least. If you choose that one Sable decides to become Jojo's caretaker and through becoming her friend and helping her he hopes to get her past the mental instability. He spends time helping her in class, and with her duties in the library. He and several other Underground students take turns making sure she eats three good meals a day and ensuring she is resting. 

I still have several endings to get but, overall though this VN is very well thought out and done as far as history and race development go. It isn't overly fast pace nor is it too slow. There are some parts that can get slow but that is to be expected. Sable himself is one of those characters that is a bit less believable to some extent but his character development is solid. His character is based on the idea that he is rational on just about everything which can cause problems with others who focus heavily on emotions. That doesn't mean he doesn't have emotions just means he tends to see things in a rational manner. His power is derived from his pursuit of knowledge and the idea of creating new glyphs and spells, which is something that not many in history can do. 

All in all this VN is a great find and while it does have some dark moments in it and does discuss some heavy subjects which while some people may not appreciate or like, I personally enjoy the discussion of the deep subject matter. I think that anyone with an open mind would enjoy this visual novel to its fullest, good or bad endings alike.