| Fez | |
|---|---|
_cover_art.png) Cover art byBryan Lee O'Malley | |
| Developer | Polytron Corporation |
| Publisher | Trapdoor |
| Producers |
|
| Designer | Phil Fish |
| Programmer | Renaud Bédard |
| Composer | Disasterpeace |
| Platforms | Xbox 360,Windows,Linux,OS X,PlayStation 3,PlayStation 4,PlayStation Vita,iOS,Nintendo Switch |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Puzzle-platform |
| Mode | Single-player |
Fez is a 2012indiepuzzle-platform game developed byPolytron Corporation and published byTrapdoor. Theplayer-character Gomez receives afez that reveals histwo-dimensional (2D) world to be one of four sides of athree-dimensional (3D) world. The player rotates between these four 2D views to realign platforms and solve puzzles. The objective is to collect cubes and cube fragments to restore order to the universe.
The game was called an "underdog darling of the indie game scene"[1] during its high-profile and protractedfive-year development cycle.Fez designer and Polytron founderPhil Fish gained celebrity status for his outspoken public persona and his prominence in the 2012 documentaryIndie Game: The Movie, which detailedFez's final stages of development and Polytron's related legal issues.Fez met critical acclaim upon its April 2012 release forXbox Live Arcade. The game wasported to other platforms following the expiration of a yearlong exclusivity agreement.
Reviewers commended the game's emphasis on discovery and freedom, but criticized its technical issues, in-game navigation, and endgame backtracking. They likened the game's rotation mechanic to the 2D–3D shifts ofEchochrome,Nebulus,Super Paper Mario, andCrush.Fez won awards including theSeumas McNally Grand Prize andEurogamer's 2012Game of the Year. It had sold one million copies by the end of 2013, and it influenced games such asMonument Valley,Crossy Road, andSecrets of Rætikon. A planned sequel was canceled when Fish abruptly left game development.
Fez is atwo-dimensional (2D)puzzle platform game set in athree-dimensional (3D) world. Theplayer-character Gomez lives peacefully on a 2D plane until he receives a redfez and witnesses the breakup of a giant, goldenhexahedron that tears the fabric ofspacetime and reveals a third dimension. After the game appears toglitch,reset, andreboot,[2] the player can rotate between four 2D views of the 3D world, as four sides around a cube-like space.[1][3] This rotationmechanic reveals new paths through thelevels by connecting otherwise inaccessible platforms, and is the basis ofFez's puzzles.[4] For example, floating platforms become a solid road, discontinuous ladders become whole, and platforms that move along a track stay on course.[5] The object of the game is to collect cubes and cube fragments,[2] which accrete to restore order to the universe.[4][a] In search of these cubes, Gomez traverses the game environment by jumping between ledges.[1] Other platforming elements change with the level themes, including crates that activate switches, bombs that reveal passages, and pistons that launch Gomez airborne.[5]
The basic idea for the 2D/3D aesthetic really just started with the Trixel idea. I figured that if we built our entire game world from these little cubes, all perfectly aligned on a 3D grid, we'd get this "3D Pixel" look.
The exploratory parts of the game feature a series of arcane codes and glyphs, treasure maps and chests, and secret rooms.[7] Players are left without guidance to determine whether game elements are decipherable subpuzzles or simplyfalse signals.[1] These sorts of puzzles include hiddenwarp gates, enigmatic obelisks,[4] invisible platforms, sequences oftetrominos,[2] a cipheredalphabet,[8] andQR codes.[5] One of the game's recurring themes is an ancient civilization that attempted to make sense of their dimensionality, as told through artifacts.[2]
Fez has no enemies, bosses, or punishments for failure[3]—the player-character quicklyrespawns upon falling to his death.[1] The game's designer describedFez as a"'stop and smell the flowers' kind of game".[3] It prioritizes puzzle-solving and patience over the platforming genre's traditional interest in dexterity.[8][9]Fez features apixelated art style and a limitedcolor palette[1] reminiscent of the8-bit era.[4] Its homage includesTetris tetrominos inscribed on the walls and in the sky,The Legend of Zelda treasure chest animations,Super Mario Bros. mushroom levels, travel by pipe, and floating platforms.[10][12] The game's settings include forests, factories, a coastal lighthouse, an urban city, and a library.[5]Fez'sNew Game Plus mode adds a first-person perspective feature[13] and lets the player revisit areas to collect "anti-cubes" from harder puzzles.[2] This second half of the game is more challenging and focuses oncode cracking.[7]
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Fez's five-year[14] development cycle is known for its protracted length and amount of public exposure.[1] Nathan Grayson ofVG247 likened its rocky history to "an indieDuke Nukem Forever",[15] andPolygon reviewer Arthur Gies noted its standing reputation as an "underdog darling of the indie game scene".[1] Its designer,Phil Fish, became renowned in a way unusual for game developers due to his prominence in the 2012 documentaryIndie Game: The Movie.[16] Apart fromFez, which was released to wide acclaim, Fish himself became known for his outspoken and acerbic public persona.[17][18]
Fez began as a collaboration between Canadian indie developers Fish and Shawn McGrath.[19] They worked on McGrath's idea for a puzzle game in which a 3D space was viewed from four 2D angles. Although their partnership broke down due to creative differences, the entirety ofFez's design, story, and art descends from this game mechanic.[3][b] Fish continued to work on the project in his spare time[19] and solicited for a programmer onDeviantArt, where he found Renaud Bédard.[3]Fez was first announced in July 2007[20] onThe Independent Gaming Source.[21] It was nominated for two awards at the 2008Game Developers ConferenceIndependent Games Festival (GDC IGF).[22] When Fish's employer did not permit him time off to attend the awards, he quit. Fish later recalled this moment as "when [he] became indie".[19] The game won "Excellence in Visual Art", and its presence created a surge of public interest inFez that rode a concurrent swell of interest in indie game development as a whole. Fish received a Canadian government loan to open Polytron Corporation as astartup company and began full-time work onFez.[19] In July 2009, Polytron announced thatFez would launch in early 2010[23] as anXbox Live Arcade exclusive.[c] Development continued with an experimental spirit until the company ran out of money.[24] Fish borrowed from friends and family to keep the company open and considered canceling the project[25] before the nearby Québécois developer-publisherTrapdoor offered to help.[24] Fish felt that the Trapdoor partnership rescued the game.[25][d]
At times it seemed as though the noise surroundingFez might drown out the game's own voice ... There were the controversial outbursts from creator Phil Fish in the press; the rumours of vicious infighting during development; the endless delays and, of course, the big-shot movie documenting the struggling creator's days as his life fell apart around the game in painful slow-motion.
Fez won multiple awards in 2011[27][28] and was a "PAX 10" selection at the 2011Penny Arcade Expo.[29] Fish is shown preparing forFez's booth atPAX East 2011, an earlier show, in the 2012 documentary filmIndie Game: The Movie. The film chronicles the game development stories of several indie developers.[30] As a subplot, the film presents Fish amidst a legal dispute with a former business partner that jeopardizesFez's future.[30][e]Game Informer called Fish the film's "most memorable developer",[36] andRock, Paper, Shotgun wrote that Fish is portrayed as theatrical in a way that exacerbates his already outspoken reputation.[37]Eurogamer said that the part when Fish resolves tokill himself if he does not release his game is "the film's most startling moment".[30] Near the end ofFez's development, Fish told aGamasutra reporter that he had received positive feedback from IGF ChairmanBrandon Boyer andBraid designerJonathan Blow, but that he felt "burnt out".[25] The final game included almost none of the original work from the first two years of development.[38] After several delays,[39]Fez was submitted for certification in February 2012.[40]
Fez was released on April 13, 2012, and sold 200,000 copies during its yearlong exclusivity to the Xbox Live Arcade platform.[41] Fish rebuked Polytron's co-publisher,Microsoft Studios, for botching the game's release by way of lackluster publicity.[42] Several months later, Polytron entered a high-profile[43] dispute withMicrosoft over the cost ofpatchingFez.[17][f] Nearly a year afterFez's launch, Fish announced aWindows PCport for release on May 1, 2013.[41]OS X andLinux ports debuted on September 11, 2013,[45][46] andPlayStation 3,PlayStation 4, andPlayStation Vita ports byBlitWorks debuted on March 25, 2014.[47][48][g]Ouya andiOS ports were also announced;[41] the iOS release began development in April 2017 and was released in December 2017.[51][52] NoAndroid release is planned.[51] Bédard stayed to port the Windows release before joining Toronto'sCapybara Games.[36] He credited Polytron's long development cycle to his own inexperience in game development (compounded by the team's small size and difficulty in setting reasonable milestones), the game's scope, and Fish's perfectionism.[53] Fish had hoped that players would discussFez's nuances online after its release.[38] Players collaborated online for a week to solve the final "monolith" puzzle by using a cryptanalytic attack known asbrute force.[13][54]Ars Technica described the apparent end toFez's harder puzzles as "anticlimactic",[55] but Fish toldEurogamer in March 2013 that hidden in-game secrets remain to be found.[56]
More than three years after its digital launch,Fez received a physical release designed by Fish and limited to a signed edition of 500 in December 2015. The deluxe package included the soundtrack and a stylized red notebook with gold foil inlay.[57] Though Bédard had moved on to another company, he continued to work on the game in secret. In August 2016, he released a final patch for the computer releases ofFez that included performance improvements, as a result of a unified codebase under anopen sourcesoftware library,[58] and features such as aspeedrun mode.[59]
ANintendo Switch version was released on April 14, 2021.[60]
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Bédard wroteFez inMicrosoft Visual C# Express andXNA Game Studio Express.[6] He coded the level editor[53] and thegame engine, Trixel, which converts 2D tiles ("triles") into four-sided 3Dvoxels ("trixels").[3] Fish made 2D pixel art inPhotoshop for each side of the trixel,[h] which Bédard's custom software compiled into 3D game assets. Fish would then design levels in the level editor byextruding surfaces,[6] a process he found "overwhelming"[38] but akin to playing withLego blocks.[6] In their workflow, Fish first proposed ideas that Bédard would implement. The two would then discuss and fine-tune the addition[53]—they worked well together.[3]
The game came to adoptMetroidvania mechanics, with "secret passages, warp gates, andcheat codes".[24] Fish citedMyst as an inspiration and compared its open world, nonlinear narrative, and "obtuse metapuzzles" toFez's own alphabet, numeric system, and an "almost unfairly hard to get ... second set of collectibles".[38][i] He was also inspired by the Nintendo Entertainment System games of his youth (particularly those of theSuper Mario andThe Legend of Zelda series),Hayao Miyazaki's signature "open blue sky", "feel-good" atmosphere,[6] andFumito Ueda'sIco. Fish sought to emulateIco's feeling of nostalgic and isolated loneliness, and Ueda's development philosophy wherein all nonessential game elements are removed ("design by subtraction"). Fish made a personal challenge of designing a game without relying on "established mechanics".[38] As such,Fez was always a peaceful game that never contained an antagonist.[38]
Rich Vreeland, also known asDisasterpeace, composed the game'schiptune-esque[5]electronic soundtrack. Despite his background in chiptune, Vreeland limited his use of that genre's mannerisms in the score. He worked with softsynth pads andreverb to push the score closer to a 1980s synthesizer sound. He also reduced reliance on percussion and incorporateddistortion techniques likebitcrushing andwow. Vreeland opted for slower passages with varying tempos that could "ebb, flow, and breathe with the player".[34] He left some portions ofFez without music. Vreeland worked on its soundtrack at night for about 14 months while scoringShoot Many Robots.[34] Brandon McCartin ofAquaria contributed the game's sound effects.[35]
Vreeland's first composition for the game ("Adventure") became the soundtrack's first track. He wrote it after meeting Bédard but before discussing the soundtrack with Fish, and based the composition onFez audio created prior to his arrival. Vreeland wanted to use tape recorders for their distinctive sound, but potential audio synching issues with this method led him to employ digital recording.[61] Portions of the soundtrack dynamically change between several dozen constituent elements and react to the game environment. For example, the "Puzzle" track's elements changemusical key based on the in-game time of day.[62] Certain tracks were intended to imitate real-world sounds, such as those ofbats,thunderstorms,[63]taiko,[64] and water falling fromstalactites.[65] Other tracks expanded from improvisations.[66] Vreeland was also inspired byThe Lord of the Rings Shire theme,[67] 1980s horror media,[68] the soundtrack ofdemoscene gameJasper's Journeys,[69] theLegend of Zelda dungeon music,[70] theMass Effect soundtrack,Tangerine Dream,[71] andSteve Reich.[72] "Continuum" is a synthesized rendition ofFrédéric Chopin'sPrelude, Op. 28, No. 4.[73] Instruments used in recording include the Sonic Charge Synplant,[62]minimoog,[74] "syntheticflute", andBoomwhacker.[75]
The soundtrack was released in a digital format on April 20, 2012.[34] Pre-orders for the soundtrack topped theBandcamp charts.[76] Kirk Hamilton ofKotaku wrote thatFez's sound effects evokedJim Guthrie'sSuperbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP audio.[34] Janus Kopfstein ofThe Verge called the work "fantastic" and described it as a cross between a "1980sVangelis synth odyssey" and a submerged vinyl record from an arcade.[76]Game Informer's Matt Miller wrote that the soundtrack contributed toFez's "80s Nostalgia vibe".[4]Eurogamer described the music as "lush, spooky, and electrifying",[2] andEdge compared it to "Holst put through aMega Drive".[5] Oli Welsh ofEurogamer wrote that the music matched the game's themes of "hidden depth".[7] Welsh heard influences of 1960s English psychedelia (Pink Floyd,Soft Machine), 1970sKrautrock (Tangerine Dream andKraftwerk), 1980s synth (Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis), andErik Satie. He added that the soundtrack's contribution toFez was "incalculable".[7] Damian Kastbauer ofGame Developer used Vreeland's soundtrack to show that a retrogaming aesthetic in sound and visuals could be both "futuristic and nostalgic" and provide the "right 'voice' to support the game's design intentions".[77]
Game Developer listed Vreeland in their 2012 Power 50 for his work on the soundtrack, which they described as "atmospheric, pensive, and maybe even a little bit melancholy".[78] In keeping withFez's theme of secrets, images visible only throughspectrogram were embedded into the soundtrack audio.[79][j] Vreeland released a remix album,FZ: Side F, a year later on April 20, 2013. It features tracks from other artists, including Jim Guthrie.[80] Vreeland later released another remix album,FZ: Side Z, and all three albums were included in the August 2013 Game Music Bundle 5.[81]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | X360: 89/100[82] PC: 91/100[83] PS4: 90/100[84] VITA: 91/100[85] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Edge | 9/10[5] |
| Eurogamer | 10/10[2] |
| Game Informer | 9.25/10[4] |
| GameSpot | 8/10[86] |
| IGN | 9.5/10[11] |
| Polygon | 8/10[1] |
| TouchArcade | 4.5/5[87] |
Reviews uponFez's original release were "generally favorable", according toreview aggregatorMetacritic.[82] Later releases received "universal acclaim".[83][85][84] Each release was consistently among the top-rated releases for each platform's year.[83][84][82] While in development,Fez had won the 2012 GDC Independent Games Festival'sSeumas McNally Grand Prize,[88][k] the 2011Indiecade Best in Show and Best Story/World Design,[28] the 2011Fantastic Arcade Audience Choice Award,[27] and the 2008 GDC Independent Games Festival's Excellence in Visual Art.[19]Eurogamer gaveFez their highest rating[2] and named the "perfect, wordlesssci-fiparable" their 2012 Game of the Year.[7]Digital Spy listedFez eighth in its Best Games of 2012, ahead of high-budget games likeCall of Duty: Black Ops 2 andHalo 4.[91][92]Fez was chosen as the 2012 game of the year byDiamond Trust of London developerJason Rohrer andHalo 4 lead game designer Scott Warner.[93] During the16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominatedFez for "Downloadable Game of the Year".[94] The Windows PC port was Metacritic's tenth best-reviewed video game of 2013.[95] Jake Kleinman ofInverse called it one ofthe best indie games of all time.[96] Metacritic ranksFez within its 500 best games of all time.[97][l]
The New York Times calledFez Fish's "tribute to 1980s gaming ... lovingly, almost excessively, devoted to the golden age of Nintendo".[10] Arthur Gies ofPolygon described its aesthetics as "so retro it hurts", citing itspixelated look, chiptune soundtrack, and ways of clueing the player without explicit guidance. Gies felt that though "8-bit nostalgia" was outmoded,Fez showed an understanding of its influences and was the "most authentic" of the style.[1] Jeremy Parish of1UP.com called the game's minimalism "admirable" and likened its art style to that ofCave Story.[9]Kotaku describedFez's nostalgic manner as "the video game aesthetic".[34] Oli Welsh ofEurogamer lamented how "retro pixel art" became an indie game cliché during the game's development, but felt thatFez transcended such stereotypes through its dedication to the wonderment of early Nintendo titles. "Fish clearly worships the Nintendo of his boyhood", he wrote.[2] Welsh likenedFez to a 1970s, peace-loving,surrealist version of2001: A Space Odyssey as imagined byShigeru Miyamoto, and foresaw its social status as "the darling of a certain indie clique" with "studied hipster cool".[2]Edge described the game as "a place built from gaming's history", whose playfulness makes it "an unexpected heir toSuper Mario Bros." with levels like well-crafted toys,[5] andIGN's video review said the game "drags the 8-bit era into the future".[11] Robert Purchese ofEurogamer called the game "timeless", falling in line with other Nintendo games.[101]
No other game managed such coherence in 2012. No other game's voice could be heard so loudly over the din of the surrounding story.
Journalists likenedFez's rotation mechanic to the 2D–3D shifts of games likeEchochrome,Super Paper Mario,[1][4][9][23] andCrush.[5][40] Early in development, Fish himself said that the idea is "nothing mind-blowing" and that the game could have been made "at any point in the last 15 years".[3]Polygon's Gies preferred howEchochrome used the perspective mechanic,[1] and Tom McShea ofGameSpot consideredFez's mechanic a gimmick.[86] Matt Miller ofGame Informer thought thatFez realized the mechanic's potential better than other perspective-shifting games, and further commendedFez's puzzle design and pacing up until the endgame. Miller also compared its story to that of the novellaFlatland, whose protagonist similarly discovers the complexities of another dimension.[4]1UP.com's Parish said thatFez's rotation mechanic was deeper than that ofSuper Paper Mario and not as dependent onM. C. Escher themes asEchochrome.[9]Edge felt that the mechanic was "far less self-conscious" and "more harmonious" than inEchochrome andCrush. The magazine wrote thatFez's indoor puzzles were its best.[5]Eurogamer's Welsh compared the game's "wraparound platforming" to the 1980s gameNebulus and described the rotation mechanic as among the console generation's "most unusual technical challenges".[2]
Reviewers commended the game's emphasis on discovery and freedom,[2][4][5] but found its reliance on backtracking, particularly in the endgame, tedious.[4][8] Parish of1UP.com wrote that open-world action games likeMetroid Prime all have these issues.[8]Edge comparedFez's esoteric tricks to an older age of game development that packed games withEaster eggs, secrets, and codes, citing titles such asExile andJet Set Willy. The magazine also came to appreciate the 3D map.[5]IGN's Mitch Dyer contrasted the game's riddles to theMetal Gear Solid codec frequency puzzle.[11][m] Jeffrey Matulef ofEurogamer related his experience to the feeling of first playing the 1994Myst,[7] andThe New York Times calledFez "aFinnegans Wake of video games" for its codebreaking that "makes the player feel likeJohn Nash as portrayed byRussell Crowe inA Beautiful Mind".[10]Game Informer recommendedFez for completionists who seek challenges.[4]Polygon's Gies was uncertain as to whether the game's technicalframe rate issues were intentional, and described this dilemma as having a "certain genius".[1] Other reviewers noted its technical faults:Game Informer as minor,[4] and1UP.com as "easily the glitchiest game I've played on my 360".[8]
Fez sold 20,000 copies in its first day,[102] 100,000 in less than two months,[103] 200,000 within a year,[104] and, after the Humble Bundle, one million by the end of 2013.[105] It was Xbox Live's 13th best-selling Arcade title of 2012.[106]Fez was cited as an inspiration for 2014 indie gamesMonument Valley,[107]Crossy Road,[108] andSecrets of Rætikon,[109] as well as later gamesTunic[110] andAnimal Well.[111]
Fez 2 is cancelled. I am done. I take the money and I run. This is as much as I can stomach. This isn't the result of any one thing, but the end of a long, bloody campaign. You win.
Fez 2 was announced as "one more thing" at the end of the June 2013 Horizon indie game press conference, held during the annualElectronic Entertainment Expo.[113] The project was canceled a month later following a Twitter argument between Fish andvideo game journalist Marcus Beer. In an episode of theGameTrailers showInvisible Walls, Beer criticized Fish's response to questions about Microsoft'sXbox One self-publishing policy change. Fish replied on Twitter with condemnation for the industry's negativity and, in a final tweet, announced bothFez 2's cancellation and his exit from the industry.[112] The news came as a surprise to the rest of Polytron,[114] which has not commented on upcoming projects other than ports since the cancellation.[115]Polygon listed Fish in their top 50 newsmakers of 2013 for the social power of his "caustic use of Twitter".[116]
In a 2023 interview, Fish said his decision to cancelFez 2 was primarily motivated by his lack of interest in a sequel rather than the argument with Beer. He described the argument as "an out" stemming from his frustration afterIndie Game: The Movie made him a public figure and the obligation of trying to build onFez's success by creating a sequel he did not care to make. According to Fish, no serious development or investment inFez 2 beyond creating concept art had taken place, which made canceling it easy.[117]
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