Fez
Review
Into another dimension
by Christopher Coke
reviewed on PC
Puzzle-filled World (CNTD)
The world is also a joy to explore. It feels both familiar and wonderfully expressive. The sprites and pixel graphics appear 16-bit but that is only a surface level appraisal. Birds and small animals flutter and chitter to and fro. Day cycles into night and Gomez, if left unmoved, will curl up and begin to doze. I knew the first time I saw a shooting star streak across the evening sky that this was a world I wanted to spend time in. Houses often have hidden rooms and bits of color that breathe life into their surroundings. Sometimes mysterious things happen, such as a velvet lined cabin acting as a portal to a thundery world of cemeteries. A winsome MIDI soundtrack underlies it all, pulsing, atmospheric, and all together heightening the experience.
Classic Callbacks, Modern Mentions
The callbacks to classic gaming are frequent and welcome. Zelda is a regular influence, with a guide who sparkles like a minimalist Navi and says things like “Hey, listen!”. Opening a chest also recalls the triumphant, crescendoing musical cue so prominent in that series. The princess-rescuing plumber is also an omnipresent inspiration but never more so than when Gomez plucks a bomb from the ground and rushes to plant it before a crumbling wall.
While Fez carefully appreciates the shoulders upon which it stands, it pushes its own set of boundaries. QR codes appear in the game – yes, those smartphone scannable boxes found on product flyers – and reveal hidden clues. In another game, I might have hated these being included, even in as limited capacity as they are. But Fez is self-aware from the outset, restarting the game after the cosmic tear with a full on PC boot sequence is one such example of this. Each of these things are delightfully “meta” and lighten an already tranquil mood.
All of that said, I was disappointed at the sparse nature of the port. It functions, is stable, and brings with it the achievements of the previous iteration, but that's about it. The keyboard control scheme is odd and inelegant. In this day and age, games are designed with full left-hand control in mind but Fez requires both, and for little reason. Worse, Polytron failed to change any of the button prompts, so even if you have no gamepad, you will still be prompted to hit A, B, X, and Y. It feels lazy and unfinished. There is also no additional content, so players looking for goodies or extras after their one year wait are out of luck.
Fez is a marvel of a game. Rotating its 2D world on the third axis transforms what would otherwise be a forgettable platformer into an instant classic. Paired with smart and satisfying puzzles, Fez provides hours of entertainment at a budget price. It is disappointing that PC controls and additional content come up short but the quality is unquestionable. Fez is a must buy.
9.0
fun score
Pros
Clever puzzle-platforming. Engrossing game world.
Cons
Poor keyboard controls.
