Fez

Platform: PC
Release: 2013
Genre: Puzzle, Platformer, Third-person
Gameplay metrics: 7.1 hours, 8/12 achievements, 35/64 cubes

I didn't follow any of the hype leading up to the release of this game, so I don't really have any hate for Phil Fish.  I've seen Indie Game: The Movie and found his sections very interesting, but hopefully that doesn't bleed over into my review overly much.

Visuals: This game is displayed in an 8-bit, blocky style. It's got a retro aesthetic at first, but the tiles used for the game are pretty complicated, so to call it 8-bit would be over simplifying. The creators went through a bit of trouble to make sure that the background tiles weren't repetitive and it really shows through that this was a passion project. The animations were smooth and it was always easy to tell what you were looking at. The only complaint I have in this department was the map. It was kind of frustrating trying to get back to a particular area by looking at the map since it showed minimal information and in such a way that it was confusing at times to see which rooms were connected. I can see how it is visually pleasing the way it is, but it sacrifices much of the function of a map, showing you how to get places.

Audio: I think this was the weak point of the game in all honesty. Fez was meant to be a relaxing sort of game, and that definitely came through in the music in the game. The soundtrack was good, but it was so relaxing as to keep me from getting as enthusiastic about the game. It took me several sittings to complete this game, but I only spent around 7 hours playing. The sound effects were quite good as well.

Gameplay: I played this game with an X360 controller and used the analog stick. I had several of the normal frustrations that come with trying to map 360 degrees of movement to only 8 degrees of input. Lots of unnecessary ducking and grabbing ladders and the like, but that's hardly this game's fault. I wish I'd played with an actual d-pad. The moving and jumping was at a pretty pleasant speed, albeit a little floaty. The game did a pretty good job of communicating the objectives of the game with minimal text and hand holding. Switching the perspectives of the game was handled fluidly and felt great using the bumpers. I wish I had realized early on that there was another language that I could have translated with some effort. Looking over a few things after completing the game revealed that many of the little blocky designs in the game were actually communication on the part of the developers. Since some of the characters spoke English, I took for granted that that would be the method of conveyance and assumed all the blocks were only present for aesthetics. I was wrong! There were also tall strings of Tetris shapes that communicated sequences of button presses to the player that opened secrets but that fact was lost on me. There were also QR-codes in a few places in the game that were a very nice touch assuming you had a smart phone capable of reading them.

Overall: I really liked this game! I will probably recommend it to people and maybe even give it as a gift. I'm debating right now if I should go back and try to 100% the game before I move on. 8.5/10