GRIS

The best thing about Gris can be seen on screenshots above - it's beautiful, with interesting art style and atmosphere. But the spell is broken as soon as you get your hands on it - gameplay turns out to be slow and clunky, music forgettable, and world - rather boring. It's just doesn't work: movement is too slow, with locations rather empty and puzzles almost non-existent. Maybe this hollow feeling is what authors intended for the player to feel, but it's mixed with moments when the story tries to be emotional; and when music plays louder, and you're watching unskippable cutscene with your controller vibrating, this is the time when Gris is at its worst. All this seams cheap - simple plot, with "deep" meaning (grief, but you probably already knew that), stiff gameplay, locations that feel like they miss final touch or two, utter lack of novelty. For such gorgeous visuals and grim backstory, the game is shallow and drags, even though it's possible to finish it under three hours.

I honestly feel riped off. Calling it a game is honestly decieving. I was expecting some sort of puzzle/platformer, but there was no platforming to speak of, and the puzzles were so easy it is really hard to even call them puzzles, and i wish that was an exageration. The game kept introducing some cool mechanics, and i was really looking foward to when i was gonna need to use multiple of them to solve puzzles or go trough some challenging platforming, but neither of those things ever happened. Instead, when you finally learn the last mechanic (some singing that alters the map a bit), the game ends about 15mins later. There is also no plot in the game. I give it 2 stars because the visuals are incredible, and also very unique, and the audio score was pretty good too. But there is no level design, no puzzles, no story, basically no gameplay. 2 stars is generous. This game could have been a short film and nothing would have been lost, in fact, it would have been improoved. I bought the game on a sale, paid half the price. I wouldnt pay that much again. If you see this game for 1 or 2 bucks, or for free, go for it. Any more than that is overpriced.

Artists: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE learn to tell a story if you want to make a player (who PAID MONEY FOR YOUR WORK) sit through your game. Games are art, but understand the art form before you try to push the envelope. The first hour of playtime is tedious. The writing and pacing is deeply flawed. Protaganist starts the game by singing. She is happy. Then she loses her voice. She is sad. Lets be sad and lonely for an hour while looking at this gorgeous art and this melodramatic music. Given that there is barely any dramatic development or emotional engagement for the first hour, there should have been some major exploration of the play mechanics or at least something thought-provoking to do. Unfortunately, the mechanics lack depth. There is no inertia, no sense of mass to anything in the environment or the player character; nothing 'connects'. While beautifully animated, every input feels like a string of miniature cutscenes. That feeling extends to the game as a whole. I'd say this game is very similar to Candle, another horribly directed 'artist' game; some visual artists and musicians were looking to add game development to their resumes without considering the well established storytelling devices and play mechanics the medium has to offer. Lots of talent with no direction.

The story is very simple, but beautifully written. The gameplay is fairly short, as it's between 4 and 5h. The most striking thing are the colors,as the game progresses you paint the world with lost colors and with each color the world becomes more and more magical. The single word isn't spoken or written throughout the whole game, yet in the end with all of the scenery and music tears come to your eyes. It's a money well spent, but could be a little cheaper, because of short play time.

I have been playing this masterpiece during Christmas holidays. It was released on 13th december 2018, a week later I knew about its ecistence: the images captivated me, an heartfelt review sold it to me, 10 minutes after reading it I bought it here on GOG, downloaded, installed it and started plying. Half an hour later I purhcased with no shadow of a doubt the OST. I could delve into specific, but I'll just report here the comment I posted on Gris' FB page right after my first seating: This experience has a soul and I am thankful for every second of it. every transition is worth a screenshot. Gris has a deep sensitivity and is a clear, inspired philosophical example of why videogames are the most evolved form of art, in my humble opinion. every music note, intertwined with each graceful jump and each stroke of brush and pencil gives the player the chills, profund suggestion and food for thought. I personally thank Nomada Studios to be the off-key in the too-often bareboned musical sheet of a gaming world so impoverished. thank you for having delivered to the history Gris.