I’m going to make this review as brief as possible for two reasons. Reason one is that there really isn’t much to talk about and for the most part I really enjoyed my time with this game. Reason number two is that even if I did want to dive deep into this game and criticize bit by bit, there would be a lot of late game events and elements that would end up being spoiled. Remember that, “Not much to talk about,” doesn’t mean it's bad or not worth your time. I highly recommend this game and it may be one of the more relaxing experiences I had recently. Okay, here we go.
Once upon a time there lived two Ubisoft employees, Roger Mendoza and Adrian Cuevas, and their main goal amongst this big industry was to help develop video games. During a company party being held to celebrate Cuevas moving away to work on Rainbow Six Siege, the two developers met a talented artist named Conrad Roset and were amazed with the work he had to offer. Roset explained to the two that he has always had an interest in working in the video game industry, but due to lack of knowledge in programming he would never be able to create his own game. The two developers were still amazed with Roset’s artwork and then had the idea for a game where they could bring his artwork to life. What if they were to create a game where the soul focus was on the artwork and nothing else. A couple of problems could arise though. One is that there would be too much focus on the art design and the game design could end up fumbling around. The other is that making a game of this scale would take a lot of time and dedication. They were determined to achieve this goal and that’s why these three individuals decided to break away from Ubisoft and decided to form their very own independent game studio. Probably for the best, especially with what has been going on with Ubisoft recently. Anyways, to the wonderful world of independent development and not having to meet company deadlines!
The three drafted their concept for their dream game until a suitable format was met. They got to work and soon a couple more ideas popped into their minds. They wanted to make the game as accessible as possible, so they would design each area to give the player the most straightforward pointer towards the right direction and that the game wouldn’t contain any fail states. Otherwise, points where the player could die and be kicked back to a previous checkpoint. The small team then transformed into Nomada Studio, and their project would be picked up by Devolver Digital. A company well known for publishing small indie games and getting them out to the public. Their new game was published in late 2018, and the response to this game was ever so positive.
Critics and reviewers loved their new found project and stated that while it wasn’t mechanically compelling, what was on display was truly worth appreciating. It was one of those games where you thought to yourself, “people made this”. It was astonishing and the game was nominated for dozens of awards. The name of the game is Gris, based on the Spanish word for the color grey, and I’m so glad I finally took the time to sit down and play it. It has been sitting on my planner since the day of release, and I never understood why I didn’t pick it up. Got the physical copy on the Nintendo Switch, and dear god it’s brilliant. Today I want to talk to you all about why I love Gris and why it deserves your attention. Remember that this review will be very short.
Story and Gameplay
We follow a blue haired girl waking up in the hands of a statue. The sky and clouds painted above glistens with vibrant color, and from there we see the girl sing. To her heart’s content, she sings to the statue above as if she is trying to bring it back to life, but before that could happen the statue begins to crumble. Shattering into dozens of pieces and sending the girl rocketing to the earth below. The world below is devoid of life and color, and the girl is left alone to explore this abyss that is the world. She’s weak and no longer has the will to sing or push forward. She does try to do so and soon she is back up on her feet. Moving forward she encounters strange structures and by interacting with them she gains new abilities. One of these structures restores one of the numerous colors to the world, and that is what the girl plans to do. Locate these structures and bring life back to the colorless world. Maybe she’ll make it back to where she laid first. The story isn’t really all that much and the game doesn’t make many references to it, but it is there to remind us and serve a a form of symbolism.
The gameplay of Gris really isn’t that much to worry about either. It’s a side-scrolling platformer where you navigate through open areas, solve extremely light puzzles, and gain new powers like a traditional metroidvania. However, I can't really consider Gris a platformer, a puzzle game, or a metroidvania because it doesn’t lean heavily into either three categories. The puzzles require a bit of thinking, but they are never too complex and the solutions for them are made obvious within a couple of minutes. The platforming does require skill in navigation, but even if you miss a jump you don’t lose a ton of progress and these platforming challenges don’t overstay their welcome. You unlock powers that open up new areas like a metroidvania and the main hub area is where you access pathways to other worlds, but as the game progresses they block off areas you have already completed and make it obvious where to go next. It’s all too simplistic…. and that’s what makes the game design for Gris great. Yes, it’s very linear and every area can all be gone through at once, but it does fix a couple of problems these types of games have. Like losing sense of direction in a metroidvania, or being too confused in a puzzle game. Personally, I don’t mind these problems in the respective genres, because they actually help with the core game design or create those satisfying moments in challenging experiences like Hollow Knight or Return of The Obra Dinn, but it makes the game accessible to even those who suck at games. It’s nice and serves as a break that a lot of other games have. That’s all that I really have to say about the gameplay and story. Too much explanation can lead towards spoilers of late game sections. As stated at the beginning of this review. Hopefully you can bring color back to the world and free yourself from the void that tries to drag you down.
Thoughts
Gris is a brilliant work of art and like I stated at the beginning, I do highly recommend it. The story isn’t cinematic and is very light when being told to the player, however it is there and it is expressed wonderfully. The game is about sadness, more specifically depression, and it expresses that theme through the art design and the music. You start off in this bland colorless setting otherwise the rock bottom we sit in when we aren’t feeling it all. It reminded me of Omori and how the main character sits in this depressing colorless room, but outside it is a colorful fantasy dream world that is designed to try and cheer him up. You bring life back into this colorless void and overtime you are made slightly happier. There are those beautiful moments where you are being dragged through beautiful environments, and all you can do is sit there in awe. The music is great too as it tries to make you feel something during these segments. Gameplay really isn’t that much and to be honest it’s not a selling point for Gris, but it’s well designed with the idea of accessibility in mind. Puzzles, platforming, exploration, and even the chase sequences are all dumbed down not to a point where they insult the player’s intelligence but praise it for sitting through and just enjoying it. That’s what Gris was designed to do. Entice the player. Cheer up the player. Make the player feel several emotions without having to shove words and messages down their throat. I look at Gris and I tell myself, “People made this. People made this work of art”. It is not a game for everyone, and it’s hard to justify the sixteen dollar price tag when the game goes on for only two hours and highly lacks replay value. However, it is so damn brilliant and once you go through Gris you learn to appreciate every bit of this game. Gris is brilliant and it demonstrates what every independent game studio aims to do. Show what hard work can achieve and serve as a work of art. In the end I am going to give Gris a 9/10 for excellence at best. What a wonderful experience.
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