Jump into a world of color
As far as beautiful, artistic indies games go, Gris has to be up there as one of the greats. It’s got an elegant, watercolor-esque art style, and what the gameplay lacks in hardcore, traditional mechanics it makes up for in emotionally resonant, albeit vague, storytelling vignettes — just how I like it. To boot, the game actually has some nice platforming sections, which absolutely gave me trouble as someone who is horrible at platformers. Gris certainly isn’t a game everyone will enjoy, but I do think it’s a game everyone should at least try. If you haven’t played it yet, now you won’t have any excuse, because Gris is finally getting ported to the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One on December 13.
The gorgeous story of GRIS from @NomadaStudioBCN arrives on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X with 4K resolution and 120 fps options!
PS5 | XB S/X | XB1 | December 13 pic.twitter.com/upfVyHVysJ
— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) December 6, 2022
The game follows the titular character Gris, 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.” The Steam description also bills Gris as a game “free of danger, frustration or death,” which is true in terms of it not having a fail state, but I have to admit that the aforementioned platforming sections did frustrate me a bit. That’s more of a me problem, though.
Gris ended up winning a ton of well-deserved awards back in 2019 after its release, including Best Visual Art at the Game Developers Choice Awards and Games for Impact at the Game Awards. It’s a short game, too, so you could finish it in an afternoon if you wanted to. Personally, I played on the Switch, and it made for a great lazing-on-the-couch-during-a-rainy-day game. I’ll have no problems at all running on the most recent gen consoles, and I’ll be interested to see if they use the DualSense to add some extra haptics to enhance the experience.
