Gris - Review

Bringing back colour to a grieving world. 

Console: PlayStation 5

Well, you can put this game on my very small 'impulse buy' list! In that Nintendo Indie + Partner Showcase combo from a while back, one of the indies shown was Neva. A title I recognized from an earlier presentation thanks to its art style but what really caught my attention was that I learned who the developer was. Nomada Studio AKA the team behind Gris. 

'I know that game!' I thought to myself. ´I've seen that boxart pop up a few times.´ Most of all, I even contemplated picking it up recently. I didn't do so because, while discounted, it was still above the budget I had set for myself. 

After the presentations ended, I figured that chances were high that there might be a discount or two as a tie-in. Lo and behold, there was. Gris was just 2.99 on the PS store. For that low of a price, even the Scrooge McDuck in me couldn't say no.

With all of that said, while I knew of Gris for a few years, I actually knew next to nothing about it. What the gameplay is, why it won all those awards etc. Quite refreshing honestly. That meant I went into the game blind, without any baggage, and experienced it almost like I was booting up on release day way back in 2018 (PS5 notwithstanding, of course).

Without further ado, let's dive into the Indie darling that is Gris and see what it's all about!

Gris is a game that has easy-to-understand and easy-to-play gameplay that pulls you in with its themes, style and feels. Said style is set at the very first second; with its water-painted-like graphics, piano music and the nonverbal way the opening shows Gris losing her voice and tumbling down below, the first word that jumped to mind was 'artsy'. 

A bit of confirmation bias for you, yes, but I'm pretty sure that this was exactly what Nomada Studios was going for, and it works out beautifully. The game looks striking because of its visual style and the way it plays with colours, lighting and perspective. Combine that with the rustic piano score, you get a very serene and calming experience. Yet, one that when it wants to, can tense you up. 

This is not a cutscene. This is an in-game shot from before the title card. 

That brings us to those 'feels'. This game clearly does all it can to set a tone. To set an atmosphere and pull you into it. And pulling me in it did; only a few minutes in I felt serene, yet had a thightness in my chest. The game calms me but also keeps me in suspense with the emotional undertones the title is clearly building up. 

That brings us to this title's core theme: Gris is about grief. About loss. It doesn't take a lot to see that.  We start with the protagonist losing her voice, crying and falling down to a world without colour. Many animations give the impression that she's crying and those are just two, relatively non-spoiler, things that tip their hand.  

That Gris is dealing with grief is obvious but what is less clear is what lies beneath the surface. Why is Gris grieving? What do the developers want to say exactly? How do these puzzle pieces fit together? For that, you need to keep playing the game and that is why I did. Because I wanted to know more and experience more. And yes, feel more.

So, what is that "easy to understand, easy to get into" gameplay exactly? Gris is a simple platform adventure. Gris can run, jump and not much else. You get an ability or two once you progress for some light puzzle solving but they are nothing complex. They are the definition of easy-to-understand in concept and execution. It´s the level design that makes you think. 

 

The loop here is that Gris has to find and collect a certain number of 'stars' for the next level to open up. You do this by some basic puzzling like figuring out how to get to that shiny star you see in the distance, that kind of stuff. Spicing things things up are some level-specific gimmicks that pose their own challenge like a very strong wind that pushes you back. Something to season each level with gameplay-wise, you know. 

There is also a collectable here that is basically more of the same but placed out of the way so you have to do a little exploring and with more taxing solutions. You have to take a leap of faith once in a while or think just a bit more about how you need to time your jumps and glides. I didn't go after all of them but I hear that if you do, there is something of a pot of gold waiting for you at the end. 

Yes, there really isn't much to this gameplay loop. It´s very rudimentary but that it´s simple doesn´t mean it's bad. The platforming is fun and satisfying. When I figured out how to get to that ledge or timed things just right it felt quite nice indeed. I do wish that it wasn't so hard to tell at times what was a background and what was a foreground element. Sometimes I hit a pillar when I thought I could move in front of it, other times I fell through something like a pot which I thought I could stand on. 

This game is also perfectly relaxing, another aspect I enjoy about Gris and one that positively reminds me of another indie game I played years ago, Aer: Memories of Old. Anyhoo, I digress. Where your typical Mario is very much about getting into a rhythm and precise jumping, here, you get all the time in the world that figure out how you need to move and then to do so. 

There are no game-overs, there's always a safety net just out of your view, and the boss 'fights' are more just boss encounters. You never actually fight them, you have to find other ways to get them off your back, so while they are tense, they are never frustrating. 

One ability, in particular, should've been explained a bit better though. You can only activate it when you're surrounded by butterflies and only then. I didn't catch this initially so I spent a solid 10 minutes in this 4-hour game trying to figure out when I got it to work the one time, but not the other. 

Here. Right Here. This is the spot I spent over 10 minutes trying to get from the left to the right. 

One last thing before the closing remark. I played Gris on my PlayStation 5 and not my primary console, the Nintendo Switch. It very much came down to that big discount and not any unique features. That said, Nomada Studios did not neglect the PS5's DualSense. The game has plenty of rumble, sounds big and small coming out of its tiny speakers and it even does a neat little thing in which the colour bar matches the level you´re currently in. 

These aren´t what I call decisive features in favour of the PS5 but I very much appreciate them. There are AAA developers that do a whole lot less in this department. 

Conclusion

Gris is quite a beautiful little game. It's a very simple game with a few flaws, yes, but one that is oh-so effective in executing its ideas. The straightforward gameplay is the perfect vehicle to explore themes of grief and loss. Combine this with the often breathtaking, painter-like, art style, excellent piano-focused soundtrack, and an atmosphere that can be serene, suspenseful or both and you get one of those truly memorable indie experiences. 

For a 2.99 impulse buy, it turned out to be one of the strongest games I’ve played all year—and one I highly recommend.