izigame.me

🤢😞🙁😐🙂😊>😍<

Before writing this review, I decided to pay a little visit to the Community Hub (Discussions and Guides) to see what theories people had about GRIS. It tells a story without a single line of dialogue – without a single word, actually – which means that the game's message (if there is one) is pretty much open to interpretation: take from it what you will. Needless to say, the fan theories run the gamut – we have just about everything here, from innocent allusions to teenage problems like taking care of pets all the way to... rape, abortion, terminal illness, death, bereavement. Each theory has fairly compelling arguments, and this is precisely why I will be reviewing GRIS the game, not GRIS the enigma – our opinions on the former may at least in some way converge, whilst the latter – the riddle you're presented with – has too many solutions, one seemingly nastier and more disturbing than the other, so I believe it's more fitting for you to draw your own conclusions, whatever they might be.
Alternatively, you can just play this puzzle platformer, look at all the pretty colours and enjoy the brilliant soundtrack – this is just as valid of a way to appreciate GRIS as any other.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2800691564
The first thing you will probably notice when you start playing is that GRIS' visual style and many design choices are quite similar to Journey – though instead of simply being derivative, it feels as if the developers decided to pay homage to the game that inspired them by including the famous sliding-down-sandy-slopes-through-dilapidated-remains-of-castles-and-palaces scene at the beginning, with the enormous glaring sun in the background and all; in some way, the main heroine's story is also a journey, but more equivocal and metaphorical.
In a game where not a single word is said, the visual aspect runs the show, and it's apparent that the devs poured their hearts and souls into making GRIS into an art exhibition. Every single frame here is screenshot-worthy, so allow me to digress and express my sincerest condolences for your F12 key if you do decide to purchase; even the most philistine among us will scratch their heads and admit that yeah, sure, it's a bloody eye-gasmic masterpiece. F12. F12 ad nauseam.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2800691575
What about the music? The ambient soundtrack largely seems as ignorable as it is interesting and understandably runs as a timid companion to the visuals, save for the main theme that is repeated several times throughout, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head for the past three days – seriously, send help! There is one more song that plays after an intense 'boss battle' kind of sequence, and it is such a raw, emotional moment that I find it impossible to put into words. You absolutely don't expect it, and that's why it hits you like a train, like Mike Tyson in his prime with his mean right uppercut – the most devastating punches are the ones you never saw coming. I was devastated, too, and driven to the verge of tears, and I think I'm literally having goosebumps just writing about that scene now; the music plays a very important role there. Everyone must experience it, regardless of what your taste in videogames might be.
The main gameplay loop consists of traversing rooms and solving puzzles, many of which exist just to let you do something, not to provide any kind of serious challenge; the longest I've spent trying to find a solution was maybe five minutes, but that's only because I am severely retarded sometimes. All encounters with 'bosses' I mentioned before are the same – you can't really lose, hence the inverted commas – and to tell the truth, you're not meant to. You can't lose if you go to a museum or if you read a book. GRIS erases boundaries between forms of art; videogame, painting, concert, film? It's really just a little bit of everything.
One of the things you can do is undertaking extra platforming challenges to gather 'mementos'. Mementos are simple collectibles that play a very satisfying sound when you pick them up; they also unlock a secret cutscene at the end if you manage to collect them all. Completionists can relax and just play GRIS without stressing over skipping anything important – you can always come back later to get the mementos you missed. In fact, you will come back later, as it's nigh impossible to do everything in one playthrough and without consulting any guides – one collectible is so sneaky that I'm not even sure how the devs intended for us to find it by ourselves.
As you progress through the story, you gain new abilities, which help keep the gameplay fresh and exciting. Many 'walking simulators' catch flack for being too monotonous and sluggish; thankfully, this is not the case here. I won't spoil what these abilities are exactly, but they allow a certain degree of free movement that I'd wager is somewhere in the Goldilocks zone between the extremes of Dear Esther and Super Meat Boy – it's fast enough to make it fun to traverse the environment, and it's slow enough to let you soak in the atmosphere and appreciate the breathtaking beauty of every carefully-crafted frame.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2800691588
On a final note, I'd like to address a sentiment that probably not the majority, but still a big number of people might have about GRIS: 'Sure, it's pretty, but I feel like it's just not my kind of game.'
Actually, this is precisely why you need to try it; the less jaded you are for such artsy games, the bigger the emotional impact will be. I have been playing nothing but the Yakuza franchise for the past 6 months, and I believe that's why I was so impressed by the audiovisual splendour of GRIS – sorry for the battered cliché, but it swept me off my feet. And if you've played nothing you whole life but Counter Strikes and Team Fortresses and then somehow ended up on this Store page by a curious twist of fate, then it's even better. Consider this your sign, then; enjoy!