Game Fez

[Fwiss 29]

Fez is a 2D puzzle-platformer in a 3D world developed by Polytron Corporation for several years. It was first released on the Xbox 360 in 2012, and now it's available for PC via Steam (On May 1, 2013).

The gameplay consists of rotating the perspective of Gomez, the fez-hat-wielding protagonist, to discover secrets in his newly discovered 3D world. It's a massively open-world game. "There are no enemies in FEZ. No bosses, no combat. In fact, no conflict of any kind. You can die, but there is no penalty for doing so. FEZ aims to create a non-threatening world rich with ambiance, a pleasant place to spend time in."

Fez seems like a really fun game to play. It was featured in Indie Game: The Movie, and I really enjoy open-world games, especially with a kind of funny, silent character like Gomez. Generally, puzzle-style games don't float my boat (Braid was scary), but this seems like it will be a very relaxed game which won't tax my planning skills very much. The art also looks very good, especially the 3D 8-bit parts. It kind of reminds me of a lighter version on Cave Story's art. What do you guys think of this game?

[឴ 13]

឴

Edited 5 Jan 2017 by ឴

[Fwiss 29]

Well, a work's artistic value is the same no matter who created it. It may be better or worse-recieved, but it's still a work. By this reasoning, Fish's actions are unrelated to whether or not the game is good or bad. Of course, if there are bugs in the game itself, that's a different story, and detracts from the work as a whole. In that case, then the developer's actions are relevant to whether the game will be improved. If he acts immature and asanine, it implies an unwillingness to improve himself, and possibly an unwillingness to patch his game.

Nevertheless, a mass-torrenting of the game is just a terrible. That's not what piracy is all about, yo. I'm not going to stop them, but it does reflect badly on pirates and really all consumers when somebody pirates for this reason. It's sure as hell not going to lead to Fish's emotional development, and he can't really say "sorry" in any meaningful way now. It's a pointless escalation of a minor conflict.

Let's put it this way: the Internet generally cannot punish everybody who acts like/is an ignoramus. He's harmed easier because he is a game developer; we can't do that to most McDonalds employees or CEOs. Not to mention its easier to reach a huge amount of gamers to organize a boycott than it is to reach most consumers to boycott a soap company or something. The point I'm trying to make is that while boycotts are cool and all, but Fish is at most your common case of inflated ego, and I don't feel like such severe sanctions should be taken against the dude. There are a lot worse people out there -- torturers, corrupt officers, murderers, backpacker murderers, poison jellyfish, razor-sharp coral -- who aren't so much as scolded, and we choose this guy to attack?

As for the pixel-art style -- I just don't get tired of it. As long as it's done well (Cave Story, Sword and Sworcery, DustForce arguably), it can be beautiful. The screenshots look good, so I can't say anything bad. Of course, it's developed by one dude, and pixel art is much easier to make than 3D models or even HD sprites, so it's not just an artistic choice. That said, single-man developers are not limited to that 8-bit style; ZUN draws great modern sprites and things (the only thing he can't do well is character portraits, and most regular people can't do as well as him even at that).

I still plan to purchase the game when I get the time (exams are keeping me down, even though they are my favorite part of the year), so I can't say anything about it right now.