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Pictures at an Exhibition

One thing that can be consistently heard about GRIS is that the game is pure art. But what does that actually mean? Certainly the first thing that impresses upon you is an exquisite hand-drawn minimalistic and stylised art reminiscent of 70s sci-fi comics, like Mœbius, with a bit of Golden Age of Illustration and Art Nouveau touch. Hailed as a feat of visual storytelling graciously helped by a memorable and imposing soundtrack, there's no denying that GRIS is an absolute audio-visual delight in game form.
It's been called an interactive animated movie which, turns out, is a cause for praise and derision alike. It's certainly not every day you encounter a game that lets its visual art be the star. Sure, there are many beautiful looking games, but visuals are usually in service of the story, gameplay or showcasing latest technology. In GRIS, it's literally the main character, the point, the first thing around everything else is created. The whole game can be seen as a showcase, an exhibition you're waltzing through while admiring pictures.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2776833982
This is most evident in the elemental level design, the idea to start with an almost blank canvas, a simple black and white drawing, a sketch, and slowly add colours to it, bringing it to life, ending with a lush, flourishing, vibrant world that is a total feast for the eyes. This is basically a creative painting process at the very core of the game, which then dictates every facet of it. And that's what GRIS is: a watercolour painting come alive as you dance through it.
I don't have a problem with that. To me, it's as valid a choice as any to build a game around. If we can have completely narrative games where storytelling art is front and center, then why not visual art. Telling a story wordlessly through visual and audio means of expression is very appealing to me. But, it would've also worked if they hadn't been used in service of storytelling, but let loose in all their associative and abstract glory to paint the canvas with sensory overload. I believe GRIS didn't need to tell some vague sob story at all.
This story about loss and going through five stages of grief is the weakest part of it. The way it's expressed is too vague to be really impactful and yet not ambiguous enough to be less obvious. Visual metaphors and symbolism are blatant and too transparent, associations very surface-level: red is for anger, blue is sad, bell is salvation, dark caverns for depression, there's even a black bird and eel representing inner demons and fears etc. Her whole world is broken, literally, as seen in all the architectural ruins and cracks on numerous mind palaces. The structure of her being has collapsed and needs to be rebuilt. But the way this rebuilding is achieved, through bringing colours to the grey world, strikes me as superficial paint job that just masks the cracks. Sadly, the game didn't actually pose this question and this metaphorical story didn't do much to tickle my imagination.
Whose grief is this, broken statue representing the Mother, or Daughter's? I just didn't care for the answer. And yet, at least this kind of grounding is needed as basis for emotional impact. It's like where the story shouldn't be vague, it was, but where it should, it wasn't. It's all about the floating ineffable feeling lacking any real heaviness and weight. Kind of like the art style. From the architecture and landscape to the girl's reduced stick figure, everything is graceful and elegant, light and tender, airy and weightless, floaty, silky... thin... insubstantial. Such a minimalistic and delicate, highly lyrical style is perfect for expressing fragility, but has a hard time depicting darker, heavier sides of pain and agony... not to mention uglier. Gentle, translucent pastels sprawling over the 2D plane also have that neat and smooth quality; and even though the colours are spilling and (over)flowing, it's a controlled and choreographed movement. There's no messiness and chaos here and yet we're supposed to be undertaking the emotional journey through a grief-stricken soul.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2765209982
But there's one element that complements the visuals and perfectly jumps in to fill the void left by them - music. Vast empty spaces composed with just a few elements are filled with monumental music, which is at its most grand when a new colour appears. There's synesthesia at work here; as you unlock a colour, new music piece forms which also helps establish an emotional progression through the game. First there's a simple melody with a few instruments, then as colours unlock, composition becomes longer, richer, denser, full orchestra at the end and a regained voice. It's a very effective, if predictable, manipulation, going from sad and depressed to uplifting and cathartic. It wouldn't surprise me that people cry here without really knowing why.
Simply put, it's all in the service of specific aesthetic which takes the center stage. GRIS is dedicated to being beautiful. It wants to be pretty and attractive at all times... and accessible to all. And that is perfectly reflected in the gameplay as well. This is a side-scrolling platformer, stripped-down and simplistic by platforming standards, careful not to overshadow the beautiful picture and suffocate the flow. It's designed to appeal to a broad audience. There's no dying, no real danger of failure. Developers were deliberately trying to avoid one feeling - frustration... so that you could feel all the pretty emotions, not ugly, not even depression which is represented with dark colours, deep in underground tunnels, and yet everything is still sparkly and glittery. The game is chill and relaxed, wants you to look at her and marvel at the scenery.
I was actually ok with this easier and casual gameplay, and not just because I'm a bit rusty with platformers, but because there's one thing in it that completes this magical sounded picture - movement. Everything has a smooth flow and fluidity, platforming feels like dancing. To me, GRIS is ballet. There's only a forward moving drive though, with some tangents for collectables which are the most challenging parts of the gameplay, but tend to break the established rhythm. Otherwise, you can't go back, you're basically locked from ever being lost. Not letting you feel lost and anxious in a game about overcoming pain is making those emotional beats the music was trying its hardest to achieve feel artificial and undermined. But I digress. There are dramatic, tense moments, almost completely automated and yet they still feel exciting riding on audio-visual bonanza alone. Last level is such a culmination in artistic and gameplay sense that I can just call it heavenly. Dramatic zooming in and out, sudden falls and cathartic soarings, changing dress shape with new abilities and crisp sound effects (heavy cube with a thud, diving with a cute pop, fluttering with double jump) and finally a life-giving song - it feels so good and pleasant to play in this world. It's enchanting and bewitching... even if it doesn't really have anything meaningful to say. But that's ok. I just wish it didn't pretend it had.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2777743052
GRIS doesn't challenge the mind, but tickles the senses and manipulates emotions. It works best when it's all about the simple pleasure. I don't really see it as a narrative game per se, but I enjoyed it as a full sensory spectacle. It wasn't so much an emotional journey for me but an 'indulging my eyes and ears' one. As an appreciator of visual arts I let it seduce me even though it didn't quite manage to deceive me.
Curated by Drugoja In The Dreaming