Gris Review and Notes

From games for change:

“Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality. Gris will grow emotionally and see her world in a different way.

GRIS is a serene and evocative experience, free of danger, frustration, or death. Players will explore a meticulously designed world brought to life with delicate art, detailed animation, and an elegant original score. Through the game light puzzles, platforming sequences, and optional skill-based challenges will reveal themselves as more of Gris’s world becomes accessible.”

Notes from online

• Gris = grey in French or Spanish 
• Colors represent the stages of grief
  • Denial – grey 
  • Anger – red 
  • Bargaining – green 
  • Depression – blue 
  • Acceptance – yellow 

Review

• Was it fun? Yes! I love puzzle platformer games like this and it was super easy to become immersed in the gameplay. 
• What were the player interactions? While you don’t interact with other players, your character is able to interact with various objects which are integral to completing the puzzles. I especially enjoyed interacting with the little cute creatures in the forest. 
• How long did it take to learn? The mechanics of this game were super easy and quick to learn, but I think it would have been different had I played on a different platform. Based on the demo we played during class, the tablet version seems a lot harder to control the girl, which makes sense for the game. On the Switch, I had no issue moving her. 
• Would you play it again? Absolutely, I haven’t finished the game yet, but even when I do complete all of the main objectives I can already see myself going back to complete some of the smaller puzzles and challenges that I missed along the way. 
• What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The game is about a girl that is going through the process of grief. The game starts out with little to no color and no character abilities, but as you progress through the game you unlock more colors and abilities. Each of the colors is representative of the stages of grief, and that is one of the standouts for me. The fact that the character abilities that you unlock are representative of that specific stage of grief and the things that you experience during it, it is so beautifully poetic. 
• What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Once you get past a certain point, you can’t go back to the area you were just at. For instance, I was exploring the world a little bit before completing one of the puzzle challenges, but then I fell down a big hole and couldn’t return to finish that puzzle. As a completionist, I was not very happy about this, but I respect why the game developers chose to do that. I read online that I can revisit this at the end of the game so at least there’s that. 
• What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? Honestly, everything. The game so cohesively goes together. The soundtrack and the visuals make the game such an immersive experience and at times it is very emotionally moving. The game doesn’t have any words that tell you about the process of grief, but you are able to feel it in your soul. 
• Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I wanted to go back and finish those earlier challenges!
• If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Absolutely nothing! 
• What was the game’s message? The game is about a girl who is navigating through the process of grief and sorrow
• Describe the game in 3 words. Beautiful, moving, breathtaking 

Also here is a gallery of screenshots I took, just because it is so pretty and I need to share: