Review (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Monday, December 24, 2018, 18:51 (1949 days ago) @ Cody Miller

You're right, of course. "Intend" was the wrong word. But you certainly went in expecting to not like it.

That's fine.

I won't tell you that you're wrong about any of what you said. I understand exactly where you're coming from. I just disagree with most of it. Not in that what you said was wrong, but in that I fundamentally disagree with you on what video games must be.

You say that you'd have lost nothing by just watching someone else play it. I disagree with that fundamentally. Yes, the game is very prescriptive. There's no real exploration to speak of, the mechanics aren't difficult to master. And while I think there's lots of lost potential. I'd love to see a version of the game that is more interactive, where abilities open up new possibilities in previous levels, where there is more mechanical challenge. But that's not the game that GRIS is, and I think that very idea runs counter to what the game is even supposed to be. This is a relaxed game, and I can enjoy that. Sure, the "puzzles," if you can even call them that, are incredibly easy. They're still mechanically interesting and fun. The timing puzzles with the trees are neat, even if you can see how to get through them almost immediately. The boss fight with the bird has a really great feel to it, even though it's impossible to screw up. Those red leaf launch pads just feel awesome.

Yes, it's a game that is all but impossible to lose, with no way to miss the set path forward, but it still fundamentally feels good. It's a case of the entire experience being more than the sum of its parts.