{"id":37381,"date":"2012-05-08T17:10:14","date_gmt":"2012-05-08T15:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=37381"},"modified":"2013-03-18T19:13:33","modified_gmt":"2013-03-18T17:13:33","slug":"fez-review-xbla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/xbox\/37381-fez-review-xbla","title":{"rendered":"Fez review (XBLA)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first thing I thought when I started playing Fez was: “Hey, I feel like I’ve played a game like this before…”<\/p>\n

While most people would immediately spin off and think of Paper Mario, which I’ve read follows a similar mechanic and style as Fez, the game I was actually thinking of was Knytt, a freeware exploration game developed by Nicklas “Nifflas” Nygren.<\/p>\n

Like Knytt, Fez is all about exploration – journeying across different landscapes and settings, seeking out items and experiencing retro visuals that are as charming as they are amazing.<\/p>\n

Unlike Knytt though, Fez takes these 2D retro stylings to a different level, and a new dimension – literally.<\/p>\n

What’s in a hat?<\/h3>\n

Fez follows the story of Gomez, a being who looks entirely comprised of pixellated marshmallows, who lives in a very 2D world. One day, while scaling the heights of his village, he suddenly makes the startling discovery that there’s more to life than being flat.<\/p>\n

Gomez attains the titular fez – the hat Abu wore in Aladdin! – which grants him the ability to shift his world around 90 degrees in 3D, giving him, and us, a new perspective on life.<\/p>\n

The aim of Gomez’ journey is to venture into the world to seek out cube fragments that build up the golden hexahedron – which is as geometric as it sounds – to save his world from getting sucked into a looming void brought about by the sudden shift in dimensions.<\/p>\n

Fez isn’t an action game by any measure – there are no enemies to battle and lives to be lost; the core focus of the game is platform exploration and a healthy portion of puzzle solving (mild, not spicy).<\/p>\n

So you don’t get to kill anything, and there’s nothing alarming pushing you forward along the way – sounds pretty boring right?<\/p>\n

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Exploring new worlds<\/h3>\n

Well, you’d be wrong. What Fez manages to do extremely well is create a beautiful world for you to explore, where each shift in perspective reveals something new and delightful to see.<\/p>\n

Rotating the world is endlessly fun, and opens up the game’s many hidden secrets. The world, while presented as 3D when rotating, is actually strictly 2D in exploration.<\/p>\n

This means that while your spatial reasoning tells you a platform is actually far in the background, the 2D flattening of the scene means it’s exactly where it seems it is. Depth is not a factor.<\/p>\n

Sometimes this 2D-3D-2D juxtaposition can be a little disorientating – something you may read as “Escher-esque” – as what was on the left is now on the right and vice versa, but it reveals more and more of the wonderfully-crafted world.<\/p>\n

Among many of the things you will discover are doors leading to new locations, and where they lead to – who knows? The entire game feels like Alice’s journey down the rabbit hole, with each new location bringing something new.<\/p>\n

From a waterfall paradise, to tree-top tumbling and haunted castles – you never know where you’re going next.<\/p>\n

The game’s retro visuals are definitely its main strength. The overall presentation of the game is what keeps you glued to the adventure and implores you to push ahead.<\/p>\n

That, and collecting things. Man, how we love to collect things. Hidden across the branching world are 32 cubes to find, as well as treasure maps and artefacts – and when you’ve gone and completed it all – you get to do it all again, with tougher challenges and riddles in the New Game+ mode.<\/p>\n

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An experience<\/h3>\n

Fez is just one of those games – and I hate to use this expression – that needs to be “experienced” more than played.<\/p>\n

There’s nothing here that it expressly challenging or daunting – but at the same time, it’s probably more memorable that the countless shooters out there.<\/p>\n

The looks, the sounds and the world you’re set to explore – like with the little Knytt I mentioned at the start of this review – will likely resonate through the years until, one day, you’ll come across another gem of an adventure and say: “Hey, I feel like I’ve played this kind of game before…”<\/p>\n\n\t\t