Gris
2 March 2021
Rating: ★★★★★
A couple of years ago some good friends, Austin Peel and Justin Burks, introduced me to an indie game called Gris (Spanish and Catalan word for grey). I was very impressed but at the time we only played for a few minutes so I kind of forgot about it. I recently bought a digital copy of the game on my PS4 and was able to rediscover and fully immerse myself in this pretty incredible game.
Contents
What is it?
Gris is a platform-adventure game developed by Barcelona based Nomada Studio available on most platforms (macOs, Windows, Nitendo Switch, PS4, iOS and Android). In the game you play as a young woman named Gris and spend most of your time exploring a 2D platform environment seeking to restore colour to an initially monochrome world and find stars to complete a constellation.
The Good Stuff
I really only have good things to say about this game. In this section I will simply break down what I found so appealing about it.
The Visuals
The first impression you are likely to have is just how incredibly beautiful the artwork is. From the moment I started the game until the very end, I was continuously in awe of the visuals.
The Character Design
Gris herself has a captivating and unique character design. The opening animation provides a detailed watercolour styled introduction to Gris and from then on you are left with a simple but impactful design. Her arms and legs are essentially just black sticks, but your eyes are immediately drawn to her blue hair and flowing poncho. The character movement animations, while limited, are smooth and graceful.
Even though you know very little about Gris and never hear her speak, you immediately form a bond to the character. I believe this is entirely down to the excellent character design.
The Environment Design
The relatively simple character design is contrasted by incredibly rich and ofter breathtaking environments. This is where the game really shines. Most games put focus on certain objectives, get from A to B, gather a certain amount of X, etc. In Gris it feels like the real objective is just to stop and appreciate the beauty of the game itself.
The Music
There is no dialogue in Gris and there are only a handful of sound effects. A big part of the immersion and emotion is provided by the excellent soundtrack. The music, composed by Berlinist, tracks every environment perfectly and sets the mood throughout.
The Story
I may be mistaken but I have the impression that a lot of the story is left open to interpretation by the player. There are constant themes regarding the various stages of coping with grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance). Perhaps one could look at the grey environment at the start as one’s mental state and the journey to restore colour to this environment as a form of therapy.
The main antagonist of the game is a swarm of darkness that takes the form of various animals, perhaps meant to represent the depression from which you have to escape. Beyond this, the abstract world is full of cute creatures and solarpunk style contraptions.
As there is no dialogue or writing within the game, most of the story telling is done through simple but very clever character animations, the environment and the emotive music.
The Experience
What sets Gris apart from a lot of video games is that, while it does have some standard platforming mechanics and some basic puzzle solving, it is for the most part an artistic audio-visual experience. The game has a somewhat melancholic tone and a few moments of tension, however overall I found myself feeling very relaxed and even uplifted while playing it.
The Bad Stuff
I can’t think of anything bad to say about this game. The only criticism one might have is that the game is fairly short, but I don’t really think this takes anything away from the overall experience. There are plenty of details that make it worth replaying.
Summary
Gris is a really touching and beautiful game, both visually and in terms of the music. It is an excellent example of a video game being used as a new form of artistic expression. The only thing left to say is that you should go play this game right now!