Fez (2012)

If you've the documentary Indie Game: The Movie (which is on Netflix - you should check it out),  then you've probably heard of Fez. At its core, it's an amalgamation of many different games, riding high on something of a nostalgia trip. Influences include The Legend of Zelda, Super Paper Mario, Myst, with, as strange as it sounds, a little bit of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The story is pretty basic. Gomez lives in a completely two dimensional world. It's a simple place and a simple time, until one day he is recruited to save his world. After obtaining his signature red fez hat, he learns that his 2D world is actually just one side of a three dimensional one. You then set off to find little yellow cubes, artifacts, keys, and anti-cubes.

Designed as more of a low-stress type game, players must figure out how to get through the levels by adjusting the perspective. Quite literally, you rotate the world, changing the 2D perspective so that you can move onto the other sides. It's an interesting mechanic, even if not wholly original, but it's also executed well.

Beating the game doesn't require a ton of brain power, but getting all of the secret anti-cubes and special items for a 100% completion rate can. Scattered throughout the game are classic Tetris symbols that evidently make up a sort of code. The game also features something of its own little language. At one point to unlock an anti-cube, there's a giant QR code in the background, so you have to scan that with your phone, which then takes you to a site with a new input code that unlocks the anti-cube.

A number of puzzles can't be solved until after you've beaten it once and replay it in New Game Plus. This means not everything is accessible your first go. To beat the game, you must find thirty-two cubes total, which sounds a lot easier than it is. In fact, one of the constant criticisms of the game is how much backtracking you are likely to do. You go back and forth throughout the worlds a lot, and the warp system in place is not adequate enough to traverse the whole universe efficiently. It's also pretty easy to get lost, given how many levels there are and how the map itself is also a three dimensional thing you rotate to read.

On the other hand though, it speaks to the size of the world that this is a problem. A little game like Fez could easily feel small or linear. While many levels aren't particularly large overall, they've also got four sides each, and often lead off to another section of the world. It is surprisingly large, making non-linear exploration a big part of the game too. It just also means that it can be easy to get lost.

Unfortunately, the game is often riddled with bugs. This is probably the result of a small team that ultimately became increasingly rushed. Most of the tech issues aren't bad, but there is one nasty bug that prevents you from even loading the game at all. (I had to delete the game file and save file, then redownload and start all over again just to be able to play it again.) It happens on a very small percentage of players, but it is killer when it occurs. (It also gives you a heart attack when you get to one of the "staged glitches" that come up as part of the game's story.)

The final noteworthy element of the game is its incredible and atmospheric chiptune score, composed by Disasterpeace. It further pushes the nostalgia factor, and is a glowing example of excellent sound design the way he works sound effects into the musical track. And it only slightly terrifies you by reminding you of It Follows.

All in all, there was a reason Fez became this little indie heart throb of a game, and garnered much attention and critical praise before it even released. It is a great game with plenty of noteworthy design elements. Its creator, Phil Fish, is a controversial figure, and understandably so, but his game is a fun and clever game.

Hmmm...why does that sound a tad familiar? Why does it creep me out so bad? Waaaaait a minute...