Fez Review

by Corey McCrea

October 3, 2015

PS4/PC

 

Released in 2012, Fez is an award winning puzzle game 5 years in the making that had people very excited leading up to the release. It ended up being a “love it” or “hate it” game, and I just happened to fall in love with this game just last summer (A little late on the hype-train, I know). Initially I was unsure about buying this game given everyone’s opinion on Phil Fish after his tantrum on social media. Friends told me that I shouldn’t even bother with Fez given that Fish was a “dick,” but I feel that sometimes you should separate a creator from his/her work, and boy was I happy to put my opinions aside and just play this game.

 

ART

If I had to pick one word to describe the art of Fez it would be COLOR. The color pallets in this game are super pleasing. Each world offers its own “color pallet,” giving each world a unique feel, and while playing the hues in the environment actually change to simulate a passing day. Shifting the colors of the sky through hues of blue and orange. Also, animals and bugs in the game act alive and move around. Birds will get spooked and fly away if you approach them and turtles will spin in their shells. They are little details really, but these little aspects add a whole new layer to the atmosphere of the game. Seeing the changes in the sky and these harmless, cute creatures exploring the land make it so much more immersive. Often times I find myself taking a second to stop playing and admire the artistic beauty of the game, much like a weary adventurer resting for a moment to gather his bearings.

 

GAMEPLAY

I LOVE when the spirit of adventure is captured in a game, which is probably why I love Fez so much. The whole point of the game is to go out and do something, specifically collect cube bits that unlock different worlds in the game. The open world adds to the feeling of freedom, allowing you to wander about. And seldom does the game tell you what you have to do, especially with puzzles (Like, really especially with puzzles. No one will be mad at you if you look up some of the answers. You’re going to have to at some point, trust me). In a way I love the lack of information they give you. It’s like the game knows you’re an intelligent human being and doesn’t want to be treated like a child, so it skirts around those boring tutorial levels and gets right to the good juicy meat of the game.

           

ISSUES

I’ve played this game twice now. First time was on the PlayStation4 (to completion) then on Steam (I’m getting there), and the two experiences have actually been very different. While the game's controls and maneuverability have remained the same, the only difference that I’ve experienced is the amount of noticeable glitches on the Steam version. Playing Fez PS4 I had no memory of anything being out of the ordinary. On Steam though, it seems I can’t play twenty minutes without something going wrong and pulling me out of the experience. I’d be lying if I said it’s something I can easily dismiss.

 

MUSIC

Finally, one of my favorite aspects of the game is the soundtrack, composed by Disasterpeace. The music is super dynamic to the story, changing as you play to fit what’s going on around you. For example, the music playing in the forest scene will be different depending on if it’s day or night, which is super simple actually, but there’s so much more to it that I can’t describe. I’ll let the artist himself him self do that. Here’s a youtube video of Disasterpeace doing a workshop on the music to Fez. Honestly I can ramble on and on about how awesome the music is and how Disasterpeace is one of my favorite artists (seriously you should check out his Bandcamp) but he’s just an awesome piece of this amazing puzzle.

 

CONCLUSION

Fez will always be dear to my heart because it’s the game that reignited my passion for videogames. Now, one could argue that I may have a skewed, blinded-by-love, vision of this game and that I’m over looking some serious issues. I wouldn’t argue with that logic. But, isn’t that what videogames are all about sometimes? We don’t always play old videogames for the quality and legitimacy; we play it for old times sake, for nostalgia. We play videogames to let go. That’s why I love Fez. It reminds me of a time when I’d sit down and play the Gameboy with my friends in elementary school without a care in the world.

 

EXCELLENT/10

+Fantastic art

+Adventure

+No tutorials

+Great soundtrack

- Glitches depending on system

- Some extremely difficult puzzles

 

If you liked Corey's review, you can check out his other stuff on his Youtube channel, CoreyView!