@LtSarge interesting that the Devs worked on those specific features for PS5 as the game is older than current Gen. I never tried the dualsense but vibration is something that I turn off if used too much so I am not sure I would be very fond of the triggers thing. I would like Xbox controller to have motion sensors for fine aiming though...
All votes added to the list!
Well better late than never, I made it to the end of Ori will of the wisps. That final stretch of platforming including a bloody portal puzzle , which I thought was a cool touch. I have to be honest, whilst I think every bit of the mechanics of will of the wisps was better than blind forrest, I found I had less connection with any of the characters in will of the wisps. I suspect the death of a certain boss might have meant more if I hadn't just spent the previous minute roaring like a spartan at finally bloody beating him. Still a cracking game, visually stunning, mechanically tight with epic set pieces. Also whoever decided to have checkpoints in the final boss battle deserves employee of the month!!
Just finished Gris. I think it took me around 3 hours and it was honestly the perfect length. Fun, artistic game that constantly does something that you won't expect. The artstyle was absolutely gorgeous, like a water painting come to life.
I also have to say that this is the first time I've ever considered buying gaming headphones just to listen to the soundtrack and the sound effects of this game. They actually felt a bit like ASMR and it probably would've sounded even better with headphones.
Anyway, fantastic experience and the perfect palate cleanser for September considering all the new releases.
@LtSarge Great write up. This is almost exactly how I felt about the game. A short but worthwhile play. I played it on a long haul flight with noise cancelling headphones and the hours disappeared, youa re right about the ASMR like sound. There were also some tougher challenges for completionists, to complete the constellation murals, I found about half of these but didn't go out of my way or look for them after. I don't know if it changes anything. Well done getting in there before Starfield.
@themightyant Thanks mate! Yeah, some of the secrets in this game are rather obtuse based on the trophy list. Could be fun looking for them, but that won't be something I'll do.
@Balta666 Thanks mate! Well to be fair, the game wasn't even on Game Pass until today so I basically had a headstart since I already owned the game lol.
Gris is both gorgeous and with an amazing soundtrack (specially the muffled sounds while under water) however I was happily surprised to find that the gameplay is very enjoyable and allways changing.
On the other hand I find the "storytelling" really strange as if not for a couple of secret achievements off the beaten path I would not have a clue about the meaning of it (while those are very on the nose from the name of them only but not from the game itself). Also found very strange that the last cutscene had ZERO sound and I am not sure if it was a bug or intended (I believe it is intended but imo does not work).
Said so I highly recommend it at its length.
@Balta666 I think I bought it on sale a couple of months ago, so it hasn't been in my backlog for too long.
Very impressive that you finished the game in one day! I've been following your posts in other threads and it's impressive in general how many games you beat in such a short period of time.
I really need focus on my backlog but I've become distracted ever since I bought a month of PS+ Extra. I was actually kinda forced to buy it since I wanted to transfer my save files from PS4 to PS5 with an external hard drive and it just wouldn't let me. So I figured I might as well buy Extra instead of Essential and get some use out of my subscription. But now I've found like 20+ games that I want to play lol. That's why I only use subscription services in moderate amounts.
@LtSarge hahaha, I had a forced break a few weeks ago and I am not much of a summer person so I stayed mostly home playing games lol. Also I live on my own so most of my free time at home is either gaming or watching series/movies. Even on week days I put easily 2/3h if into it.
@Balta666 Nice man, same here. I've never done anything else besides play video games during summer. Great time to go through your backlog considering the low amount of new releases!
I started Gris last night and it seems ok. It's definitely got a distinct art style and is very chilled. I have no idea what the story is but that kind of seems immaterial to enjoying the game. It could do with being a bit faster for traversal. Looks like a fairly easy 100% completion too.
@crippyd I feel that is true for achievements if you follow a guide as in my first playthrough I got like 5/6 achievements only and most of them look like they are hidden off the beaten path (I got a couple of those)
Sooo, I played through Gris today. I will write a brief trail-of-thought review of my time with it but I'll preface it with the context of me not feeling great anyway. I put my back out on Monday, I'm feeling pretty useless and that's in the middle of on going depression as it is anyway. So if it comes across as a bit mean, that's probably why. Unless my criticisms are justified, well I still feel bad being mean but hopefully it will make some people laugh.
I did think about not writing anything but I suppose it's not in the spirit of game club to just not write anything even if I had a dull time with a game. So without further ado...
Gris, the story of a girl who appears to lose her singing voice and thereby her perception of colour. She journeys until all of that comes back.
So the good, it's a very well animated game with a striking art style. It performs well. There are some throwbacks to popular platforming conventions. Some gravity wobbling VVVVVV style jumping toward the end and some Ori style chase sequences thrown in for good measure.
The bad, what's the fudging point? When I wasn't bored, I was depressed and and when I wasn't depressed, I was just bored.
I did look up what on earth I just played was all about and apparently it's about the 5 stages of grief. Not that that comes across at all during the game. Or maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. And what is the grief about? Losing her voice? She gets that back so the final stage of acceptance isn't really acceptance because she gets back what she lost.
Further reading suggests that she didn't lose her voice, she became too choked up to sing because she was grieving her late mother. Which is symbolised by a broken statue. Well I guess that makes more sense but I wouldn't have been able to explain that without looking it up on Wikipedia after.
In fact, did anybody realise that was what this game was about? Or did the developers have to add that detail to their own Wikipedia page. I very very much sympathise with the personal experiences that may have led to the creation of this game but sometimes an artistic expression of a personal experience just isn't very entertaining as a game. Maybe it's not supposed to be.
I haven't spoiler tagged all of that because it's not in the game and frankly, if you read it before you play the game, the added context might actually allow you to enjoy it and appreciate it better for what it actually is.
Unfortunately this game is just so abstract that the experience of playing it becomes dull and listless. Without context to anchor the on screen occurrences, your only role as a player is that of an art exhibit attendee trying to work out what the fudge you are looking at. Maybe that's the point though? Maybe you are supposed to feel as dull and listless as the protagonist. Maybe the creators of the game intended to make something open to interpretation like the boring yet somehow popular art that occupies galleries around the world. Though the achievement list that refers specifically to the 5 stages of grief would suggest otherwise.
Overall I would say I'm not very fond of this game. Just like I'm not very fond of visiting art galleries.
@ralphdibny Hi there mate! I know, depression sucks big time. At the start of the year I was feeling very bad, very depressed 'cause of some family and work-related issues (that's the reason I have been a little away from the club, actually). So, I get you and, well, here we are if we can help with anything.
On the issue at hand, about Gris...well, I pretty much agree with your comments. I played most of it (on Switch) but I didn't beat it. IIRC, I left it almost at the final couple of hours or so. Then, I sorta lost interest. I can't quite say it did bore me, I think it is a good platformer/puzzle kind of game with a top-notch art design (this one is the one feature of the game that really stands out). But I wasn't really interested enough to go through to the end. Gameplay wise didn't grab me as I think it would. Maybe some day I'll come back to it to beat it finally.
Maybe it isn't so similar to Gris, but I found The Artful Escape a much more appealing story-driven platformer, even if it is a little less challenging.
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