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| Fez cover art |
You start out as a youngling in your little village. Quickly the holy object of the Fez is conferred upon you by a village elder. The scene is reminiscent, probably deliberately so, of the scene in The legend of Zelda: A link to the past where an old man gives you a sword and says It's dangerous to go alone! Take this. And so begins your adventure.
There is no sense of any coming- of age theme, or any other heavy sub-literal thematic in Fez. Instead you are presented with unfettered exploration! The most visible and visceral being the game's core mechanic - turning the 2- dimensional fixed perspective around 90- degrees to get a new fixed perspective. The 3D world underneath the 2D illusion neatly opens up, shifts around and folds back in again - not quite inconsequentially: Your flat world becomes accessible, and perspective shift are also reality shifts. Ladders that seemed to be appart are now whole.
Fez never develops as a character. He is cute but nondescript. He is only an avatar for your exploration. This becomes very clear as you start to piece together some of the games deeper puzzles - which will undoubtedly have you scribbling on your very real and un- digital paper. The whole story becomes even more beautiful as you go headlong into it's mythology.
Maybe here is the clue to Fez' main problem. Much of the more interesting parts of the mythos is sorely unattainable for most players. Many of the game's puzzles requires starting a new game after the first run- through has been completed - and even eschewing that the idea of noting down chicken scratches on the wall may be so far fetched that they never think of it at all.
From a technical standpoint I'd say some mechanics are underused - traversal is a bit on the easy side - jumping isn't as precise as it could have been - and the what- the- bugger moments of utter confusion comes with an alarming frequency. Still - many of these points are points of preference - and not at any point in time did i turn off the console in sheer exasperation. Maybe it has to do with attitude. Puzzles can intrigue - underused is synonymous with novel.
Fez will be one of the games I'll talk about for at least a decade. As time goes on and the general interest in it wanes - I'll rejoice in revealing it's parables to real- world ontology, rant about it's excellent use of music and discuss it's video- game lineage. Fellow fans and I will undoubtedly trawl the internet to find like minded people - and we'll discuss similarities in other titles such as Rez and Sword & Sworcery EP.
Fez is one of those few games parent and child can enjoy together. But I assure you - it is equally enjoyable alone - in the dark, and with your eyes, ears and mind tuned into the beautiful world of Fez.
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| The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past |
Maybe here is the clue to Fez' main problem. Much of the more interesting parts of the mythos is sorely unattainable for most players. Many of the game's puzzles requires starting a new game after the first run- through has been completed - and even eschewing that the idea of noting down chicken scratches on the wall may be so far fetched that they never think of it at all.
From a technical standpoint I'd say some mechanics are underused - traversal is a bit on the easy side - jumping isn't as precise as it could have been - and the what- the- bugger moments of utter confusion comes with an alarming frequency. Still - many of these points are points of preference - and not at any point in time did i turn off the console in sheer exasperation. Maybe it has to do with attitude. Puzzles can intrigue - underused is synonymous with novel.
Fez will be one of the games I'll talk about for at least a decade. As time goes on and the general interest in it wanes - I'll rejoice in revealing it's parables to real- world ontology, rant about it's excellent use of music and discuss it's video- game lineage. Fellow fans and I will undoubtedly trawl the internet to find like minded people - and we'll discuss similarities in other titles such as Rez and Sword & Sworcery EP.
Fez is one of those few games parent and child can enjoy together. But I assure you - it is equally enjoyable alone - in the dark, and with your eyes, ears and mind tuned into the beautiful world of Fez.
