Reality is Relative to Perception
Imagine what life would be like if you were able to merge two structures together just by looking at them at an angle that made them appear as one. You could look at a long stretch of road head on and be able to get to work quicker, ignoring all of that pesky depth. Well, that is the basic concept of Fez.
In Fez, you play as Gomez, who receives a magic fez hat that allows him to see three dimensions in a two-dimensional world. Fez uses this power to switch his perception in order to rearrange the environment to platform across levels and solve puzzles. The power to change the perception of the world is key to solving puzzles. It's easy to get stumped on a puzzle, but taking a fresh look at things can reveal a hidden clue or a missing piece.
Gomez's goal is to collect cubes hidden throughout the unknown world. This game goes beyond solving puzzles and involves discovering more and more about this strange world. It's easy to run through and collect the minimal amount of cubes necessary to complete the game, but there is way more to this game. It is important to pay close attention to everything that goes on in the world. The more challenging puzzles involve deciphering different languages and cracking codes that are not even noticeable when first encountered.
The puzzles, themselves, are incredibly inventive. The game often incorporates unorthodox methods of solving these puzzles. Some even involve going outside of the game to solve. Most of the challenge in Fez lies in discovering these puzzles. The puzzles themselves are fairly simple which keeps everything from getting frustrating.
The world of Fez is the cherry on top of this delightful sundae. The world is beautiful, mysterious, bizarre, and engrossing. The 8-bit style and NES inspired ambient music create a sense of wonder and charm that is hard to forget. Careful craftsmanship is taken to create nuanced details and subtle references to video games.
There are a couple of issues with Fez that can disrupt the otherwise delightful experience. The most apparent is the slow frame rate during the auto-save. The game slows down significantly when entering and leaving certain rooms causing some uncontrollable deaths. The second problem doesn't show up until later when most of the world is discovered. The map doesn't come with any kind of handy dandy fast travel, which is needed as backtracking becomes more important. There are warp gates that can help with this situation, but they are few and far between.
Other than a couple of small problems, Fez is a wonderfully detailed and rewarding game. Every element plays off the others creating a well-oiled machine. If you are looking for a truly unique and challenging experience, you can't go wrong with Fez.
Final Verdict: 9.5/10
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