Let me preface this post by stating that I get it - Fez has a wonderful message to express to its players. It is an intricately designed puzzle-platformer with depth and exploration to boot.

I love that Phil Fish expresses his view of our universe and the wonder of the unknown through his game, Fez. I really appreciate the game's philosophical nature. But when I strip away my own attachment to the retro chiptunes and graphics as well as the deep message the game holds, it feels empty as a game. I understand that there is more to a game than how it plays, but in this case it is severely lacking.

Fez is a very interesting and unique experience, but soon after realizing that every problem in the game can by solved by rotating the world around. Yes, the language, the puzzle hunting, and exploration do take the game further, but there is no real game to begin with. This is an extremely simple platformer with overly simple puzzles, whose main focus seems to be frivolous treasure hunting and letting you know that Phil Fish absolutely believes in dimensions beyond our 3rd.

Completely beating this game was very unnecessary. It isn't rewarding and I feel stupid for giving Fez all the attention and time I gave it merely because of over-hyped reviews and Fish's personal story.

What do you guys think?

I think Phil Fish is full of shit so I gave this game $0.99 and 10 minutes.

How many japanese developers had to cry so you could post this?

This is what this is about right? Phil Fish is an asshole?

I bought the game on sale and was still disappointed. The rotating mechanic was interesting for a good ten minutes

I think you're wrong and enjoyed playing FEZ immensely. It's a great game.

I don't like the game either but I didn't feel the need to make a thread about it.

but, is it a game!?

It was a really cool experience when it was released and everyone was working away on the various puzzles together. It always seemed crazy to me personally that it was making its way into game of the year lists and such in 2012, though. I can't imagine ever returning to the game.

I picked the game up over Xmas on 369 for about £3 so I guess I'll find out soon enough for myself.

I lost steam on it and never got that far though it because I hated the map system. I also didn't really get all the code cracking stuff, didn't try to either. I play games for the game play generally, and not to say that Fez is bad by any means but it never hooked me.

That said I do want to go back and finish it one day.

I loved it. Played it mostly by myself. I looked up a few things but I was still completely removed from the whole "community" aspect of it. I also had no idea who Phil Fish was.

Definitely one of my favorite games of that year, and hype had nothing to do with it.

Sometimes the best things in the world can be found in simplicity.

And people who keep saying they played it for 10 minutes and gave up on it. You have no clue what you're missing or what the game is about (unless you spoiled it for yourself)

I think FEZ is a recent classic, and the point isn't the platforming or even the perspective mechanic. If after beating it all three times you still think it was bad, then I don't know what kind of games you would consider good.

I can understand that it's maybe not for everyone, but making a statement like it "is a lot of hype" is simply mistaken.

Never mind the "hype," Fez is a lot of graph paper (sold separately). And that's the real problem. I don't do homework with my life.

The map is terrible.

I enjoyed it, but I do think it was a little overrated (some people hate that word around here, I don't care). The only real difficult part of the game was basically brute forced in the end.

I enjoyed it a lot.

I like it. I wish I was around when it was big, but it's still very enjoyable.

Phil Fish is aight.

Spend 3 hours with the game, and never saw anything but a sub par platformer, with a rotate mechanic that didn't really impress me either. That being said, hearing people talking so highly of the game and the supposed intricacies and mind fuckery, I feel like it's on me for not sticking with the game longer. Not seeing myself giving it another shot, though.

Yeah, I think some people could get the wrong impression if they quit early. The game really isn't that much about platforming, and eventually, it's not at all about platforming. Then it's not even about the perspective mechanic.

It's a really cool game. I don't blame some people for giving up early, but there's a lot more there if you go deeper. :)

I didn't finish FEZ so looking back i cant have loved it THAT much but my memories of it are very fond.

I always try my best to disconnect games from their hype though. Doing so leads to great surprises and fewer disappointments.

Wait, Fez has a message? I thought it was a cool puzzley game.

Yeah, but then it's the age old question of, if you have to get dragged kicking and screaming through the first half of a game to get to the good part, how good is that game really?;) Apparently, in Fez's case, it's pretty fucking good. But yeah, I'm not seeing myself putting up with it - plus, it sounds like the magic is gone by now.

I think people that were amazed by the necessity to actually note things down in order to solve puzzles in Fez had never played Myst or puzzle games from the past. I also agree with the assumption that as a game it feels a bit hollow considering that all the puzzle solving amounts to very little (I mean the language stuff not the motor skill puzzle solving which is banal for the most part). Some might feel a bit cheated because if you listen to the Bombcast, and I assume if you're posting on the forums you listen to it, then Jeff's enthusiasm can be very infectious. The way he talks about games that he's really into make them seem like the most amazing things on the planet and then you buy them yourself and don't experience the same level of euphoria making it somehow feel like you've been swindled. It's not even hype, it's just that Jeff is really passionate about what he enjoys. Gunpoint was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it for the clever writing that didn't stray too far beyond the 4th wall and it's neat puzzle concept. I bought it because of the GOTY talks. Was Gunpoint one of the most amazing games I played all year? Not really, but listening to Jeff on the GOTY podcast you'd think it was some sort of once in a lifetime experience.

Isn't that your fault, and not the game's?

I wouldn't consider the initial 1/4 of the game to be bad, but it fits into the larger point of the game. I mean, you're basically playing a man's personal ode to the evolution of videogames. So, sure, it is initially more basic, but I think it works as part of the larger game.

The magic is still there as long as you don't jump to the Internet too quick, and you can still find helpful tips by posting in the Fez forum. People such as myself love to give what guidance we can if you get stuck. :D

FEZ is one of the best games I have ever played, right up there with Braid.

I concur!

What a fantasting little game. Played it early this year for the first time on PC = GOTY.

You're entitled to your own opinion of course but when I hear that sort of stuff I always think back to this golden moment

@humanity: Except: http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/braid-review/2300-24/

Enslaved was a action adventure game with platforming, how AMAZING. Braid had a ton of cool puzzles the few games can reproduce. I dunno about Fez, cause I never played it, but both Ryan and Jeff loved Fez and in particular Phil Fish.... so uh yah. Also, despite Jeff's talking up the game, he only gave it 4/5 stars.

I've never played Fez, but Jeff's review of the game is pretty clear: http://www.giantbomb.com/reviews/fez-review/1900-488/

The weird, wonderful world of Fez operates on multiple levels, but only the people who are willing to dig all the way down to its core will come away satisfied.

With Fez, you get as much out of it as you're willing to put in. That is, the game works on multiple layers. On the surface, it's a breezy little platformer that you should be able to cruise through without much difficulty. After all, there are no real enemies, and very few spots along the main path through the game that require actual skill with a controller to complete. As a result, you're given a flashy little ending and the ability to go back into the world and find anything you may have missed. But if you just collect 32 cubes and "finish" the game, you're barely seeing what Fez actually has to offer. And the puzzles you must solve to get everything else are occasionally inventive, often maddening, and always interesting.

Everything feels empty once you STRIP IT OF EVERYTHING.

@billymaysrip: Fez is a mediocre platformer that has some clever puzzles which amount to very little. Braid is a side scroller with time slowdown. You can be incredibly dismissive about anything if you try hard enough. My point wasn't that Enslaved was great or anything (although I did enjoy it) it's my reaction to people saying this side scrolling platformer, is THE BEST game they've ever played that makes me roll my eyes. Like really, jumping around and collecting golden bits is the best thing you have ever experienced?

Fez is an amazing game. Case closed!

Few games have held as many surprises and been as fun to uncover. And lets not forget the soundtrack, which is really one of my favorite albums ever (in all music). Unbelievable work by Disasterpeace.

I sorta got bored quickly.

Lol was thinking the same thing

That game was a lot of zeitgeist. I'm never gonna touch Fez again and I wouldn't recommend playing it now. But that magic week where everyone came together to solve puzzles was the shit.

I personally think Fez created its own mountain to climb by being exactly what it is. If you were there for the revelations, right there when the game was released, your perspective of the game is skewed. If you're picking up the game afterwards, your perspective is still skewed because of the "hype" and glory the game received from the people who played it initially - but nothing lives up to Internet hype, so you'll probably be disappointed. But if you're picking it up knowing nothing about it, you're getting the face of a mediocre 3D puzzle/platformer and may never see what the game has to offer, because why push through it when you spent pennies on the dollar for it? You might be the ideal someone who pushes hype and reviews aside, gave the game a shot, and ended up uncovering a lot of it on your own with absolutely no help. Even as the ideal player, you're going to give the entirety of the game the credit it probably deserves, but credit that the early parts of the game don't live up to.

A game like Fez's shelf life plummets the minute it goes for sale in the age of the Internet. Back in the NES, SNES, and PS1 days, a game like this would have probably spread like wildfire among gamers and may have been at legendary status today, since the whispers of the secrets would spread around, and there would be no Internet to spoil the entire thing. Or hype it up to be something it isn't or bring it down to something it isn't.

To wrap it up, people like to put Fez on a pedestal that I think it deserves, but don't forget that the early part of the game feels like a mediocre and clunky platformer that's also just downright confusing. Even if someone told me the secret to all life lay at the end of Home Improvement on the SNES, it would take a lot of willpower to push through it. Fez isn't that bad, but I like that analogy.

@hamst3r said:

Why do you think I'm wrong?

The sections I put in bold are great points. I did buy this game on steam for $.99, but decided not to look anything up and complete everything on my own. You're right, if this game was a SNES cartridge, it would make so much more sense. I consider the SNES to be the golden age, and by that I mean my nostolgia for this era kept me playing Fez. It's graphics and exploration/secrets really carried the experience for me personally, and like I said, I get the fact that Fez has the meaning of life hidden inside it (which is of course priceless).

Now taking all of that into consideration, my main problem with this game was the overwhelming hype it received. I think it is unfair that websites like Giantbomb rate this game so high when, in reality, this game plays very weak. All of the optional exploration in the game is great, the return to retro style is awesome, the initial dimension change gimmick is fun (until you realize that it is the solution for the entire game), and the broader perspective it can offer to the player can be life changing. But critics must remember to evaluate a game based on what it is, not on the fact that "if this game came out in the SNES days, man it wouldve been awesome to try and find all the secrets with your friends". Fez is what it is, and that is a short, over-simplified, over-hyped homage to the retro spirit of video games.

No one has more respect for the classics than I, trust me on that. But excluding everything around it, Fez is not a fun game at all. It's actually very boring.

And for anyone who did not catch phil fish's philosophical expression, here it is essentially:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVUU3p5iHMA

You just proved you have no idea what FEZ is about! "Jumping around and collecting golden bits" has literally nothing to do with why FEZ was sweet. Everything else it does puts it on another level. Also Enslaved wasn't a sidescrolling platformer, so I still have literally no idea what your point was with that video.

For the record, I consider Super Mario World to be the best game ever made, not because I think jumping around is the most amazing thing ever, but because it's damn near perfect game design.

Fez is such a great game. I wish I could replay it for the first time again. The spinning mechanic is unique and fun. There are lots of touches that make the world come alive. The music is fantastic too. Man... Fez is so great.

Fez was good. I enjoyed it a lot when I played it through the first time. I definitely can agree with the view that it's overhyped, but it was a great game nonetheless.

I don't actually think Fez has any kind of deep philosophical message beyond "Games with lots of old-school secrets are cool", but I don't think it's an empty game at all. I may not have enjoyed it as much as other people, but the way you're talking about the game makes me suspect that you haven't gotten into Fez's less immediately obvious challenges. I think it's a valid criticism that a lot of its puzzles can be solved through simple world rotation and that it provides little line between very light puzzle-platforming and fiendishly crazy puzzle solving, but those harder, deeper puzzles are there.

@chavtheworld: Everything I wrote seemed to have sailed completely past you so in short: Fez is a cool game, it's not the greatest game in the world.

This is silly.

Fez is great just on the music alone.

"Super Mario Bros is a game that can be completely overcome by jumping and moving to the right. 2/10."

Right. Except that when it was released, SMB was mind-blowing and more involved and mechanically deep than anything that came before it. Fez is another platformer that happens to have a neat gimmick, and code-cracking. Beyond that, it's not a very fun game.

i should play this, still untouched in my steam library

You're a lot of hype.