Release Date: 13/12/2018
Played On: Win
Available On: Droid / iOS / Mac / NS / PS4 / Win
Time Played: 3h 08m
Progress: Completed
Developer: Nomada Studio
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Are all games art? Or are art games actually games? How much art makes a game art instead of a game? At what point does a game with great art become nothing like a game, leaving only the art? What if the art is split between visuals and music, while the game focuses on generic elements, overshadowed by the art? When does a game become art, or when does art become a game? After all, games are an artform, but they rarely contain beautiful art.
That might all sound a bit silly and just a fun way to start a post about an otherwise arty game, but there's an element of truth in it as well. Most of the time when I'm playing a game, I don't really notice the artwork beyond its functional relation to the interactive elements of the game. In other words, even if a game has wonderful graphics, I feel it tends to serve the functions of the game's systems, rather than being artistic simply for art's sake.
Now, there's nothing wrong with that, as games exist to be played and if their appearance doesn't enhance the player's interactions with the game itself, then the art serves no purpose. In fact, in some of the worst cases, a game's visual landscape can actively impede a player's enjoyment of the game, as well as obscure key elements of gameplay that need to be communicated. I'm sure we've all played a game that presents us with a screen full of graphical elements that leave us wondering what the hell is going on.
At the same time, I do believe that video games are an art form in their own right, as they present their own unique methods of telling stories and entertaining the player. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there are certain things that games are able to do that other forms of media have no way of achieving.
Unfortunately though, when we talk about artistic games, or games that focus on their visual message as much as their interactive communication, they're often looked down on as less than other games. It's no mystery that many gamers look to complex mechanics and systems along with technical innovations in order to assess the value of a game. All you need to do is read just about any review on the internet, and you'll find that they rarely talk about the game's art, or it's soundtrack.
Overall it's a bit of a shame, as the variety available in the gaming world means that there's loads of room for super artistic games, just as there is for purely mechanics driven experiences. As a gamer, sometimes I don't want to be immersed in an artistic experience and all I want is to push some buttons and kill some bad guys. The very nature of any art form is that the form should be able to communicate different ideas and serve different purposes. I love a good story-driven game, or one with beautiful art and music, but I also love a mindless shoot-em-up, or basic point-and-click.
The point is that games are able to be just about anything, so I'm always surprised that there aren't more visually artistic games out there. I would argue that these are becoming more popular as time goes by, but there always seems to be more "challenging" games than pure "experiences". It's something I put down to the evolution of gaming and how young the medium actually is, as it feels like we're only just getting to the point where game makers are able to start thinking about how games can provide abstract experiences as well as challenges and action.
These days there are loads of experiential games that shed all of the traditional "video game" elements to present the player with an entirely different experience. Many get called "walking simulators", and often with derision as it indicates that there's little to do but move through the game world, even though that's something I find interesting. After all, games have the ability to take us to incredible places and show us creative and imaginative worlds. I'd much rather spend some time in a beautifully realised fictional utopia, than play another Mario game, so I'm all for further abstraction and artistic expression.
However, the Mario reference isn't an accident, as this post is meant to be talking about Gris, not just the merits of art in video games. Although Gris is a game that often gets talked about as an artistic game with beautiful graphics and music, even though it manages to cross genres and combine its visuals with its gameplay in beautiful and interesting ways. So this is a game whose strongest feature is its art, but it still maintains some traditional platform gameplay mechanics and puzzles, which hopefully means that it can appeal to just about every gamer. Although, I'm the guy who hates platformers, so when I say that I enjoyed playing Gris from start to finish, it happens to be in spite of the mechanics, not thanks to them.
Except that I do appreciate the way that Gris ties its visuals and gameplay together in a way that makes sense and provides context for the game's otherwise abstract narrative. To be honest, I'm not really sure what the story is meant to be about in Gris, as it only hints at various plot points here and there, leaving most of its tale open to interpretation. Even though I didn't come to any concrete ideas about that story being told, I do enjoy ambiguous narratives enough to not be bothered, as the moment to moment gameplay made enough sense to keep pressing on.
To break it down, we play as a girl who attempts to sing right at the start of the game, but finds her voice has gone . What's more, a lot of the colour in the world is missing, but as we travel through the sometimes bizarre landscape, colour and life is restored. Herein lies the basic gameplay loop, as we are able to explore different environments in order to restore them to life and gain new abilities. This is all done through some basic platform systems, meaning that all you can do is run and jump, or use abilities that you unlock. For example, one of the first abilities you discover, is being able to turn into an immovable block of stone. This comes in handy when you want to smash through a floor (jump and turn to stone), or not get blown away by strong winds (turn to stone to anchor yourself in place).
While this might sound like just about every other progression system in any other platformer, it actually serves the game well. Don't expect any real challenge though, as the core mechanics are pretty easy to master and there are very few challenging areas in the game of note. In fact, the most difficulty I had in Gris was with identify foreground and background elements in the environment. There were a few times where I was stuck on a puzzle for longer than normal, simply because I didn't see a platform to jump on, as it blended in with the background a little too much. Other times I found myself experimenting with different parts of the level to try and discern which parts I was able to interact with, if any.
In these moments it felt like the detailed art in Gris came into conflict with the otherwise generic gameplay mechanics that we've all seen before. Perhaps there's a lot of assumptions that we make as gamers when we play a game with typical platforming mechanics, as there are certain rules and regular elements that are common to just about every title in the genre. However, while other games would sign-post their platforming elements clearly, often at the expense of their visuals, Gris places more importance on the artistic aesthetic.
This can obviously be a problem here and there, but I'm pleased to say that the vast majority of the game didn't have any problems and it was easy to traverse different lands with ease. In fact, despite a few confusing areas, the whole game features a beautiful combination of art and gameplay that is a pleasure to witness. I'm glad that the platforming is simplistic, as I probably would not have reached the end otherwise. Suffice to say that I've started playing many platformers that look interesting, only to retire them quickly after wanting to throw my gamepad out the window.
There can be no question that Gris is a beautiful game through and through. The consistent watercolour aesthetic is realised wonderfully in each area you visit, and the game's premise of restoring colour and life to the world fits perfectly. After all, bringing colour to a bland world is one way to really highlight how gorgeous the art really can be.
What's more, the game features beautifully smooth and flowing animations that tie everything together .Even something abstract, like trees that appear and disappear, has been treated with an bit of flair as they flutter in and out of existence as if a brush were painting and erasing them in sequence. It's always a credit to a game's art when it's the only thing I can really remember about playing, but most of what I recall about Gris features incredibly lovely scenes and visuals at every opportunity.
Of course there are other games out there that compete for having beautiful art, and whether or not you like the style is purely subjective, but there's no denying that this is a game that has focused on using a strong artistic palette to tell its story. For every scene where it's hard to see what counts as foreground elements, there are twenty that show a flawless realisation of the game's creative world. This is why I managed to finish a platformer, because thankfully it's not about the platforming.
I don't think that Gris is the kind of game that would appeal to every gamer out there. Sure it has platforming mechanics, but they're relatively simplistic and offer virtually no challenge at all. It might not even appeal to the hardcore fans of "art" games, as it requires a little bit of persistence and having to deal with platforming mechanics. I'm curious to discover what others like and don't like about this game, as I feel like it occupies a relatively niche space in between the arty game crowd and the mechanical platforming mob.
Truth is though, that I had a lovely time playing through hall the beautiful environments and witnessing those beautiful animations and colourful explosions of aesthetics. If the story had a left more of an impression on me, I think I would have enjoyed it all the more, but Gris remains to be a beautiful little game that's a joy to experience. It's not pushing the boat out, but it's definitely worth a look.