Fez Reviews
Everything shines in FEZ with the sort of passion you only see in indie projects, and I am so very happy that it found its release and I was able to take part in it myself.
Successful visuality, different puzzle structure, interesting story, cross-buy feature is enough to buy for a single platform, Cross-save.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
In short, Fez is as good now as it has always been. The reason I call this version the best way to experience this indie game is mostly due to the perfect combination of the Switch’s portability and its screen being much larger than the Vita’s. This is easily one of the best indies ever made, and one of the most important games of the past decade.
Fez to this day still remains quite a unique and original puzzle platformer with a charming graphical style to boot. This is a nice fit if you’re looking for a casual experience away from the dexterity and quick reflexes of other platformers. But if you are someone that likes to 100% you may need a guide to discover all the secrets. The Switch version of Fez offers nothing new to the experience so there’s no reason to double dip if you’ve already had your Fez fill on a previous system. But if this is your first venture into the game or you want to introduce a friend to it, then have at it.
Fez has a unique and visionary aesthetic, after all it is not trivial to unite the concept of Ueda with a visual style of the 8-bit era and that can be, at the same time, charismatic and profound; as well as mysterious and humorous. Fez's problems are few, probably the most serious of them being the fact that it is not very challenging: it is very easy to inductively solve the puzzles, and the real challenge is to find the hidden anti-cubes, but they are optional.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Ultimately, I have more positive things than negative to say about FEZ. Sure it can be cumbersome and confusing at times, but it’s still a beautiful and creative game. It’s nice I was finally able to play this one-time exclusive on a Nintendo console. And though I didn’t 100% beat the game, I at least got one of the endings before writing this up. Now armed with my cool shades, I might be able to find the other hidden 32 cubes and maybe learn the true secrets underpinning the world of FEZ. If you enjoy puzzles, platformers, and indies, I’d definitely give this one a shot. Just don’t be ashamed if you need to consult a couple of guides online.
FEZ is the perfect confluence of beautiful visuals, deeply satisfying gameplay, a richly designed world, tightly interconnected systems, an astounding soundtrack, and fantastic pacing. Seldom are games this well composed, and it feels mostly as fresh today as it did the day it came out. This is the definition of a classic; it endures time and shows the mastery of its work as it ages. It will always be one of my favorites, and I can think of no more fitting a place to experience FEZ, be it for the first time or the tenth.
This far into the Switch lifespan the list of outstanding top-notch indie titles that haven’t yet made it to the platform is dwindling...
Fez isn't as fresh as it was two years ago and is purposefully frustrating by design at times with its pretentious refusal to adhere to a few sensible design decisions. There's a lot of effort required to progress and the game offers little back in return. If it could talk, it would say,"Play me or don't, I'm too cool to care." So you may want to punch it right in its Michael Cera, but the forgiving attitude to failure and the admittedly neat world-rotating to explore every surface to find more cubes may pull you in. Try the demo first though.
I used to think that the joy of exploration and unbridled sense of discovery was lost to the games of consoles past, but Fez has not only proven me completely wrong, but it has given me hope for the future.
There’s a touch of brilliance to this game. You feel the incentive to play on, because solving a puzzle unlocks a new door and you enter into another uncharted and mysterious world. We love the music and the retro-style, pixelized art. Fez harks back to 2D classics, so if you’re anything like me, nostalgia should kick in almost instantly.
So what of Fez? Who is it for? The answer to that is everyone. If you haven't played before, then you must pick it up instantly, hell even if you played and completed, it is the sort of game that you will be happy to play through again. If you get it on PSN, you don't even need to settle on a single platform, what we can say is that the PSN release if the definitive version of Fez. Stop what you are doing and buy it now.
Given the amount of development time and the public nature of the game, Fez no longer seems like a revolutionary title. The puzzle mechanics has been used in several different ways in other games (that were released earlier), and the move away from realism and into a more whimsical, older look has also been done by other titles. The graphics and sound are still charming, even if it falters in a few places. More importantly, the game does a great job of throwing in a number of obtuse and brain-melting puzzles, and the sense of elation when you finally solve them is second to none. Those who love a good challenge will have some fun with this well-made puzzle platformer.
For those with any kind of an inclination to the days where games put more effort into enjoyment than just looking good, this is an absolute must play.
The way the game opens up as you play, revealing secrets on top of secrets is something I've never seen another game land quite as well. What stands out most to me about Fez after nine years is that I'm in the midst of my third playthrough and even with some of the sheer novelty being lessened, I'm as enthralled as I was back in 2012. Fez stands as a truly unique indie game that draws inspiration from classics but is wholly its own precious and maddening experience that needs to be played.
Fez is a very easy-going experience for the most part, but it is also very capable of presenting a diabolical challenge to anyone looking for one. The descent to an otherworldly nightmare glitch-world is something that is not often done in video games, yet it makes a lot of sense; especially for something that focuses on a theme of perception and dimension. While the creator of Fez may have his issues, his game has very few and is very pleasant to play.
All that for $18.95? You'd have to be a Square not to.
Over the course of two years, Fez has somehow been able to break out of its Xbox Live Arcade confines, re-releasing on PC and now Sony's platforms. As it remains, this is still one of the most charming, charismatic adventures you will have, leaving those who experience it with a smile across their face for the duration of their play.
Fez, despite what faults I personally found with it, is by no means a bad game, and is easy enough to cope with given the aid of a strategy guide to go along with it. However, I, along with the entire industry can only imagine what Fez 2 would have been like if it had have been developed as originally planned.
But quibbles aside, Fez is brilliant.