Review (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Monday, December 24, 2018, 20:18 (2170 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by cheapLEY, Monday, December 24, 2018, 20:25

You just read as good a review as you're going to get from me, to be honest. I'm not very good at that kind of writing, or even that sort of critical analysis.

Ultimately, I just think it's an enjoyable experience, and it doesn't need to be any more than that. Music is the form of entertainment that means the most to me. I'd give up movies, books, video games, and just about any other entertainment before I gave up music. So games with good music, that make music a core part of the experience, really speak to me. That's a huge reason I love Tetris Effect so much. It's part of why I like GRIS (and Journey) so much. GRIS is more interactive soundtrack than anything else to me, and that is enough justification for me to really enjoy it.

I do think the game could be a stronger game, for all the reasons you mentioned. It's story feels like a little cliched, in that there isn't a definitive story, and didn't feel like it had a real message. It's the typical "interpret this however you want as a generic metaphor for anxiety/depression/grief/whatever." That said, I do think it was affecting, and effective, in that at least the music and visuals are effective at eliciting some sort of emotional response, in me at least. I personally see it as a story about shifting perspectives more than overcoming challenge, in that restoring colors allows you to see new things in the same environment, but that's a simplistic reading that still doesn't really say anything.

I also think there could be a better, stronger game in there if they had leaned on the mechanics to build truly difficult platforming sections, or at least expanded the exploration aspect. But again, I think that's fundamentally counter to the experience the game is trying to present, which is supposed to be more relaxed. I personally found a lot of value in spending a couple of evenings just making my way through the pretty environments with a great soundtrack, and the gameplay, simple as it is, was more than engaging enough to carry the experience for me.