1. ramiismail

   10

   Fez is an amazing piece of work that shows meticulous attention to every little detail that it shows to the player. What makes Fez stand out, however, is all the little things that aren't directly obvious. There is an almost intimidating and uncountable amount of content that is hidden, secret or written in non-existent language. Fez presents itself through amazing art and animation, music and a careful tendency towards being a calm & peaceful place with a darker undertone. The lack of combat might make Fez feel somewhat slow or uninteresting to some that are more pre-disposed towards Call of Duty or more action-oriented games, but to me Fez stands out as the first real adventure game in a decade. It is a game I want to play without walkthrough or spoilers simply because it so subtly challenges me to figure it out myself through its elaborate world and fiction.
   
   Fez appeals to me in the nostalgic craving for a proper adventure game, yet stands out because it goes beyond just being a nostalgic throwback. Fez isn't scared to radically overthrow some notions about what games should be while being a truly interesting game first and foremost at all times.
   
   Fez is something remarkably special.… Expand

   • Helpful? 19 of 32 users said Yes.
2. Locimento

   8

   An extremely fresh and new platforming game the oozes style. Fez features well done music, cool game play, neat puzzles, and a really nice retro looking style. One of the major highlights of Fez is rotating the world left or right in order to solve puzzles or get a grasp on the area. I have seen a couple glitches with this title though, such as one block from the first block puzzle in the game went through a platform and ended up on the other side somehow, or Gomez falling through platforms he should have grabbed on to. The game is also far too easy as there is zero penalty for dying as you re spawn pretty much right where you died. The maps you collect could use a little more indication of what they mean but i guess that's half the fun of figuring it out. For 10 dollars this is a great title to check out.… Expand

   • Helpful? 3 of 9 users said Yes.
3. Ex_Parte

   5

   FEZ: a fun experience; a bad purchase. While not an original theme or gameplay premise, it can still be a fun game. However, due to repetition, lack of challenge, and technical issues, FEZ is more for nostalgia enthusiasts to experience than for average players to enjoy at the current price. Some negatives... This game has a number of technical issues that are inexcusable in a game so long in development. It may be retro-themed, but it is still held to the standards of a modern game release. "Old-fashioned" is only quaint if it's functional. Some positives... Conversely, originality is not the sole benchmark of a fun game. FEZ's premise still provides a fun spin on the platformer experience, and players should check out the free demo first to see if it suits their tastes.
   Final... "Retro" is only a theme, and it is only a good thing regarding nostalgia, not quality. The game may be different from a lot of other games, but the money out of pocket is the same. And it isn't worth $10. Wait for a sale...or go to a retro enthusiast's home to play it.… Collapse

   • Helpful? 9 of 20 users said Yes.
4. futaihikage

   4

   FEZ on the whole, presents an atypical approach to its world design by presenting a pixelated 2D world in 3D terms. The concept of turning 2D to 3D isn't new; this concept can be seen in Paper Mario (by Nintendo) and Crush (by Sega). What is new is the use of pixels instead of completely flat polygons. This is a credit to Renaud Bèdard's programming ability, even though he's new to the game programming realm, the world he coded for FEZ with those pixels is warm, cute and somewhat inviting; however, its not very engaging. There's nothing that draws you personally into FEZ's world and you don't get the same sense of imminent danger that the game wants to present to you.
   
   FEZ's story is that he has to find smaller bits of larger cubes in order to keep his world from disappearing. But you don't get a sense of that at all in the game's world, from the initial explanation of the story at the beginning of the game nor at the end of the game. None of the non-playable characters give you that sense either. So, since there are no time limits, "lives", or much of a story, you end up with an experience that has only the following three elements left: The 2D world that's viewable in three dimensions, exploration and puzzles.
   
   The 2D spin-able world looks nice. The color palette has a nice range of colors, but your eyes will beg for more. AT least mine were like that, I definitely desired to see more depth and variations in the color choices as I played the game. The creators of this game wanted it to be some kind of love letter to old games in the past, so you're only getting a color palette that's a bit better than what the original Nintendo Entertainment System could display. Moving around FEZ's world feels a bit slow due to how the main character moves and I did have one or two issues with the game play itself. After playing for an hour or more, when I went to spin the world to get another perspective to see what I had to jump on next, this action seems to happened slower and slower with each passing minute I played over that hour. When that started to happen, jumping became a minor issue as the movement would stutter. Like many other users, I did experience the crash back to the Xbox's Home screen. Fortunately, I felt that these didn't make the game unplayable, as you can quickly get back to where you left off if you restart your Xbox if these problems start occurring. I'm hoping a future patch will clear these issues up. The map isn't very helpful in finding where you are and where you've been, so I mostly skipped it in favor keeping track of places with that notebook I was using to keep puzzle hints.
   
   As for the puzzles, which outside the 2D/3D thing, is the core of FEZ, there's not much I can say without giving away hints or cause spoilers to appear in this review. The puzzles do range from the very easy, like pushing a block onto a switch to some more obtuse and abstract puzzles where being observant is the key to figuring out the answer, which allows you to get another cube piece. I think Brain Lord for the SNES had harder puzzles to figure out. But I can't really compare those two games since they are different experiences all around in navigating to the next puzzles with in the game world.
   
   Finally to the exploration aspect of the game; which I thought was a bit tough to do. Most puzzle platformers give you something to draw you into the experience. Since many of these games like FEZ rely heavily on puzzles, most of them bring you into the experience by using sound effects or music. Unfortunately for FEZ, the music is a selection of soft ambient tunes; they were so soft at times, it felt almost nonexistent to me. The chiptune sounds aren't bad in the slightest, they are wonderfully composed pieces. But having something with a bit more pep or using music to add to the tension would have gone a long way in making the game more enjoyable while you're wandering around collecting cubes and solving puzzles.
   
   How to wrap up this review? I think all in all, this is a wonderful tech demo and not a fully fleshed out game. I didn't experience the mind numbing brilliance that many other reviewers had seen when they played FEZ. However, it has a nice pixelated world spinning mechanic, some soft ambient music and puzzles that will keep you coming back, especially if you're a perfectionist. I don't think this game was fully realized and it feels lacking in some aspects. Buy this game if you're looking for a game you can slowly complete with you don't have anything else to play or on rainy days. There's no pressure, from the main character or his world. Think of MYST for PC in terms of puzzles and pressures to complete the game, mix in ambient chiptunes, a "retro" graphics engine and you have FEZ.… Expand

   • Helpful? 17 of 30 users said Yes.

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