Fez

[Mr March]

Late last year I watched a trailer for a Documentary film called Indie Game: The Movie which was, obviously, about independent video game developers. One of the three games they are going to be covering in their upcoming movie was a game called Fez. Fez is a call back to old school 2D platformers but rather than just make a nostalgia piece, Fez adds a unique 2D/3D element to the traditional platformer format that plays with 2D and 3D space and physics in very clever and fun ways. Not only that, the visual style is inventive and takes full advantage of advances in technology, merging old 8-bit style character design and structure graphics with high resolution effects. To top it all off, the music is great, both being reminiscent of the limited soundtracks of the older gaming eras but clearly diving into new territory.

Fez is set to be released this Friday, April 13, 2012. Reviews have been very strong and I've been waiting for this game almost half a year now. If you're at all interested, I recommend checking out the gameplay video below and visiting the website of the game designer, Polytron.

Developer Website

http://polytroncorporation.com/

Post any thoughts.

[Graham]

Android or iOS?

Graham

[Oihan]

Late last year I watched a trailer for a Documentary film called Indie Game: The Movie which was, obviously, about independent video game developers. One of the three games they are going to be covering in their upcoming movie was a game called Fez. Fez is a call back to old school 2D platformers but rather than just make a nostalgia piece, Fez adds a unique 2D/3D element to the traditional platformer format that plays with 2D and 3D space and physics in very clever and fun ways. Not only that, the visual style is inventive and takes full advantage of advances in technology, merging old 8-bit style character design and structure graphics with high resolution effects. To top it all off, the music is great, both being reminiscent of the limited soundtracks of the older gaming eras but clearly diving into new territory.

Fez is set to be released this Friday, April 13, 2012. Reviews have been very strong and I've been waiting for this game almost half a year now. If you're at all interested, I recommend checking out the gameplay video below and visiting the website of the game designer, Polytron.

Developer Website

http://polytroncorporation.com/

Post any thoughts.

That is such a trip!!! Haha, I love it! Thanks for sharing this! I'm looking forward to picking this up.

Edit:

Android or iOS?

Graham

From the looks of things, it's going to be released on the Xbox 360 as a Live Arcade game.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Oihan

[Mr March]

Graham

As far as I know, Fez is for X-Box 360. Like most other similar types of games, I'm sure it will be ported to other platforms, but I'm grabbing it for my X-Box today.

Oihan

Yeah, I can't wait. I love the music

[UN Spacy]

No PS3 or Smartphone. No Care.

Games looks awesome though...very innovative platforming.

[Mommar]

Hey Man, have you had a chance to check this game out yet? I just downloaded it after work/daily exercise routine and it's a real charmer. I've caught myself sitting grinning like a moron the whole time I've played it. Also, the painting in the background of your room is a nice touch... obviously this guy likes The Legend of Zelda.

[Tober]

Yeah, I can't wait. I love the music

I've had an eye on this too, but with no PC or PS3 version it's no use to me yet. I pick up the Humble Indie Bundles each year (for about $25 incase you're wondering, but you can pay as much/little as you want). The games are pretty good but I end up enjoying the music a lot more than the games.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Tober

[Mr March]

Finally grabbed myself a 1400 point Fastcard for the X-Box and then downloaded Fez. It's amazing. Pretty much everything I expected and then some. The first level (with "reboot") is hilarious and shows this fella clearly has a great sense of humor. Control is tight, 3D works beautifully and the music is amazing. So fun to explore. I can't wait to play more.

Mommar

I think there is going to be more than a few tips of the hat during this game. I also find some of the Engrish used in the dialog amusing

Tober

I've no doubt this this will be ported to other platforms. I got Limbo on the PC about 8 months after it came to the X-Box. Might be a wait, but it's worth it. To be honest, I'm likely going to buy this game again when the PC port happens. Plus I'm going to get that soundtrack too. Love this game

[Agent ONE]

looks like something that would make a great iphone game. Console? I dunno. I think the "retro-cool" would wear off in about 10 min.

[Mr March]

IMO, you've clearly got the wrong impression of this game.

[Graham]

IMO, you've clearly got the wrong impression of this game.

I only watched about 2 minutes of the video, but I really thought this was a smartphone game from the video.

Really doesn't look like an X-box 360 game.

Graham

[Mr March]

I don't even know what that means.

[Graham]

It means that graphically and gameplay-wise, it looks like an iPhone or Android game, not something you expect to see on a current gen console like the X-Box 360, where everything is pretty, pretty graphics and movie style cut scenes ala Mass Effect 3 etc.

Simple is good, but i'ts not often you see something like this on consoles (not that I monitor the console scene too closely).

These days, I'm only into casual gaming on smartphones, which is why when I saw the vid I thought it was a smartphone game.

Graham

[Mommar]

It means that graphically and gameplay-wise, it looks like an iPhone or Android game, not something you expect to see on a current gen console like the X-Box 360, where everything is pretty, pretty graphics and movie style cut scenes ala Mass Effect 3 etc.

Simple is good, but i'ts not often you see something like this on consoles (not that I monitor the console scene too closely).

These days, I'm only into casual gaming on smartphones, which is why when I saw the vid I thought it was a smartphone game.

Graham

This mindset is why gamers can't have fun things that aren't shooters. It's done in a pixelated way but it still uses a lot of 3D tricks for the makeup of it's levels. Besides, a platformer would SUCK to play on a crappy smartphone. You must not be aware of the HUGE downloadable game component to most consoles these days either as XBox Live the PSN and the Wii all have games like this for download on them. They're not sold as boxed items. They're $8 downloads.

[Graham]

This mindset is why gamers can't have fun things that aren't shooters. It's done in a pixelated way but it still uses a lot of 3D tricks for the makeup of it's levels. Besides, a platformer would SUCK to play on a crappy smartphone. You must not be aware of the HUGE downloadable game component to most consoles these days either as XBox Live the PSN and the Wii all have games like this for download on them. They're not sold as boxed items. They're $8 downloads.

Correct, I don't even have a current generation console. My last console was a PS2 (which now mostly just sits gathering dust). In the 8 years since me son was born, I just don't have the time or energy for console games anymore. All my gaming these days is mobile gaming and occasionally PSP, while on the long commute to and from work.

Graham

[Oihan]

I meant to reply back to this thread. I bought the game the morning it came out. I was up till 4AM in the morning playing it. I haven't had much time to play the game since, but when I have found time I've really enjoyed it. I've found 16 of the 32 cubes so far...and 3 anti-cubes. I'm really digging the music too. I need to acquire the soundtrack. Thanks again for informing me about the game, Mr March.

[Mr March]

Graham

Fair enough, but just to clarify, modern gaming includes a large market now for small, indie games on all the major platforms. X-Box Live, PSN and especially Steam are the major platforms for all kinds of games because of the market potential/penetration of these platforms. For example, Limbo - a game you'd classify as a mobile-style game - is the third-highest selling game on the X-Box Live Arcade and has produced over $7M in sales. I'm not saying mobile gaming isn't also lucrative (it is), but I think there is a mistaken impression of how video games are sold and played. And some of us don't have a commute

Oihan

Glad to hear you're digging it. I'm still playing Fez too, but also doing Journey. I agree Fez is crazy fun and addictive. The soundtrack is amazing too. You can get it directly from the Disasterpeace website.

http://disasterpeace.com/album/fez

Can't recall how far I am into the game, but I've played several dozen hours. I'm mostly screwing around with it because it's just so much fun to explore and become absorbed by the soundtrack. I must say I'm also really gettign a kick out of the modern capabilities and visual effects merged with the low-res polygonal characters and environments. It's a chamring marriage of styles which I wouldn't have pegged for a great game.

[VF5SS]

isn't this just a more developed version of Sky Island?

http://armorgames.com/play/10899/sky-island

[Mommar]

isn't this just a more developed version of Sky Island?

http://armorgames.co...0899/sky-island

Same principles, in some instances, but then that's true of most games. Fez is infinitely more fun then that little Flash game you posted. It was also in development a lot longer. Besides, moving 2D planes around isn't a new concept as Paper Mario has been doing this sort of thing for a decade.