GRIS

AMAZING

This is in a weird spot for me. Were there a no thumbs up option, I would give this that. It is incredibly beautiful, with wonderful art direction and music and sound design. However, the game itself doesn't ever really come together for me personally. In a weird way, this game most reminds me of Dark Souls. You travel silently through a sullen world marked by loss, progressing through ruins to discover their secrets. Though by the end of that analogy it's a bit tortured, I do think it aligns, and I don't think this game comes out the better in comparison. There is a lack of progress to this - I genuinely have no idea how far I've gotten, how far there is to go, and so it feels eternal. I'm honestly shocked at how little I've played this, it feels like I've played for hours and hours. In Dark Souls, you can see the castles you are ascending - see further locations you go to both above and below, can see where you've come from, etc. I think this game would've benefited from that sort of visual progress. Other than that it's a 2d side scroller, where you discover additional gameplay mechanics as the game goes on such as different jumps, heavy mode, etc. The gameplay feels very dated and juvenile compared to the rest of the work, which is so high effort I can't in good conscience give this a thumbs down. I think if you are a little less curmudgeonly than I, you will like this. I think I would prefer this as a short animated series, rather than a game.