Fez

Fez is not a perfect game by any means. The map, as mentioned, could use some tweaking and there are some hitches as well as occasional slow-down when transitioning from one area to the next. In all likelihood, players will get lost, confused, and even a bit stumped (in a good way) at some point during their journey, but none of that compares with the experience of being inside this vibrant world. Fez is an homage to classic gaming, yet something entirely modern.

The sum of Fez’s intelligent level designs, perception mechanic, massive number of stages and secrets, and incredible art is so much more than just a shout-out to old-school gaming. Fez is a game in love with games. It has a respect for classic ideals and a confidence in its original ideas. Polytron draws on this to remind players why they fell in love with video games in the first place, all the while daring to make them think about the medium from a new perspective.

Take two small objects and hold them out in either hand directly in front of your left and right eyes. Now move them both to the center point between your two eyes, like both objects are rotating a quarter turn around an invisible center axis. In your perception, those two objects now look like one; they’ve merged on the horizontal plane in front of your eyes. This simple optical illusion is the foundation of Fez, the brilliant new puzzle/platformer from Polytron. While others have teased the potential of this trick – most notably Echochrome and Paper Mario – no other game captures the potenti...

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Gomez can steadily jump between platforms in order to make up the rest of the platforming mechanics. There are no foes or bosses within the game, which will turn some players away, but I felt that this allowed me to enjoy the game and play it at my own pace. It allowed me to be able to enjoy the world to the fullest and really experience the game in the way that I wanted to.