FEZ is Boring, Buggy, Badly Designed Bullshit

[Udderdude]

Isn't this the game with a developer team of over 100+ people or something large anyway? If so I wouldn't even be calling it 'Indie' since we've gone over that definition to death here.

The real test of indie isn't how many people worked on it, but who's publishing/distributing it. The bigger the name, the less independent it is. An exclusive contract with Microsoft is pretty damn big, doesn't get much bigger.

But in any case, any game which eventually ends up on a major service like XBox Live Arcade has a much bigger number of people who worked on it, because there's a much larger testing and Q/A process for the game. Which apparently got majorly bypassed in this case, with all the serious bugs the game has .. >_>

This is different from number of developers/artists/etc.

[ryu]

http://thebestgamers.net/watchvideo.php?vid_id=fez

[Friendly]

So the ending of FEZ is pretentious nonsense? In that case, please allow me to amend the topic once more, by adding another B.

[trap15]

You're surprised that an indie game is pretentious?

[njiska]

So the ending of FEZ is pretentious nonsense? In that case, please allow me to amend the topic once more, by adding another B.

Alliteration! Alliteration everywhere.

[MadScientist]

You're surprised that an indie game is pretentious?

Most indie games aren't remotely pretentious. Yes, there are a handful of high profile indie releases each year that qualify, but the vast majority of games on e.g. XBLIG, Newgrounds or Kongregate, are unimaginative, unpretentious derivative retreads/rip-offs of other games. There are also a number of excellent indie releases every year (e.g. SpaceChem, Frozen Synapse and Dungeons of Dredmor are a few I really liked from last year).

[Udderdude]

http://thebestgamers.net/watchvideo.php?vid_id=fez

I lol'd at the glitchy section at 6:43.

[szycag]

That review is crap. Handing out all zeroes just because a game you hate is critically praised takes away any of your integrity, and goes against a lot of the points he tried to make about pandering to one or another side in gaming. Lots of rambling there too that didn't have anything to do with the game. The guy was just preaching to people who felt like him instead of giving counterpoints to the mainstream reviews, but I don't think he even knew he was doing so. There's obviously something there drawing people in: retro kitsch and nice tunes, but it's all hollow underneath. So just SAY that.

[Eaglet]

lol where were you during the 90's?
It should be quite obvious to anybody watching those videos that they are trollololing.

[szycag]

Oh, gotcha. I was just hoping for a review that properly spelled it all out I guess, and got that guy babbling instead.

[Ed Oscuro]

Alliteration! Alliteration all around is always acceptable.

There we go.

[njiska]

Alliteration! Alliteration all around is always acceptable.

There we go.

And i tip my hat to you sir.

[kid aphex]

Game is amazing.

[kid aphex]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012 ... sh-fez.ars

[Friendly]

Game is amazing.

Not sure if serious.

"I can't say I know [designer Phil Fish's] true intention with this puzzle, but after hearing his comments over the past few months, I might guess that he wanted to frustrate people," Reyher said. "One of the forum posters mentioned that the solution to the monolith was probably encoded by the phrase 'fuck you.'" (Polytron refused a request for comment for this story).

[Damocles]

Five year development eh? Five years to take CRUSH and Super Paper Mario and turn them into the platforming version of Solitaire. Kudos.

[kid aphex]

Game is amazing.

Not sure if serious.

100%

[Udderdude]

Turns out all those crazy riddles and puzzles aren't even required to beat the game. And to even get to them, you need to start a New Game +, which means playing through all the catatonically boring platforming levels not once, but twice. D:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012 ... h-fez.ars/

"One of the forum posters mentioned that the solution to the monolith was probably encoded by the phrase 'fuck you.'" (Polytron refused a request for comment for this story).

hahaha oh wow

[louisg]

Turns out all those crazy riddles and puzzles aren't even required to beat the game. And to even get to them, you need to start a New Game +, which means playing through all the catatonically boring platforming levels not once, but twice. D:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012 ... h-fez.ars/

That's a shame. It sounds to me like that's the actual meat of the game and not the platforming aspect (which didn't seem like a focus of the game to me); I guess the developer didn't recognize that and walled it off. A friend of mine really enjoyed Fez, writing clues down in a notebook and thinking through the puzzles. Somehow I thought that was available from the start.

[Skykid]

You know, I haven't played this, but all the ragging in this thread could perhaps be overkill no?

How many here have actually played it who can testify to its awfulness firsthand?

[kid aphex]

Not many people were responsible for Fez. In fact, it seems as if it was mostly the work of Fish. Maybe he recognized he was incapable of taking this mechanic to it's obvious end?
More likely, he was really only interested in the puzzle solving aspects of the game.

This game is no Super Meat Boy... but honestly, who expected that? If you did, you were misinformed/ignorant. Since the initial trailer, the game has been portrayed (marketed) as a spacey, abstract, chill-out puzzle-solving traversal game; and it pulls that off amazingly well. It's one of the most consistent videogame worlds that I've ever explored; after 25 years of playing videogames, I've come to understand that as a feat in and of itself, and I respect it.

The platforming is serviceable--- it's not the focus of the game, and that is OBVIOUS. If you're attacking the game based on the depth of that mechanic, or even the rotation mechanic, you just don't get it.


Edit---- And about writing stuff down in notebooks, etc. Yes! That is awesome. Just one of the many ways this game reminds me of Myst.

[Hagane]

Noitu Love 2 is not terrible, but still flawed in my opinion (mostly because of retarded mouse controls

Haven't played it that much, but I really like the mouse controls. If anything, I think they are too good for the game's difficulty level. Not a fan of the huge lifebar, but seems to be a solid game, much better than most of the indie Western crap.

[Drum]

^ Dealing with what followed that quote (about the timer): Your grade at the end of the level is affected by how much time you took, so it's a junk criticism from somebody who didn't really grasp even the basics of grading.
And yes, the controls are excellent - standard-setting even. Play Psychic Assassin Taromaru and tell me it wouldn't be better with Noitu Love 2's setup - you can't do it.

Game is coming out on Steam soon for a ridiculously low price. No excuse not to buy the best 2D brawler ever made.

[Ghegs]

Turns out all those crazy riddles and puzzles aren't even required to beat the game. And to even get to them, you need to start a New Game +, which means playing through all the catatonically boring platforming levels not once, but twice. D:

That's a shame. It sounds to me like that's the actual meat of the game and not the platforming aspect (which didn't seem like a focus of the game to me)

Somehow that reminds me how in Super Mario 3D Land, after beating the game's normal eight worlds which are pretty easy, you unlock eight additional worlds that are actually hard and not just an extended tutorial. Why not give at least an option for the player to dive right into the deep end, if they want to?

Noitu Love 2 is not terrible, but still flawed in my opinion (mostly because of retarded mouse controls

Haven't played it that much, but I really like the mouse controls.

They do take a moment to take used to, but I find they are pretty good. However, I absolutely did not like having to clickclickclickclick constantly so I made a simple AutoHotkey script that allows me to just hold down the middle mouse button for rapid clicking. Game became much more comfortable afterwards.

(OMG autofire is cheating rawrawrawrgrrrr)

@kid aphex: I haven't followed Fez's trailers and hype much at all, so basically my first exposure to the game happened with the trial. It didn't do much to convey the game's puzzle-solving aspects, there was all of one simple crate-pushing puzzle in it? Reading your post makes the game seem a bit more intriguing.

[kid aphex]

@kid aphex: I haven't followed Fez's trailers and hype much at all, so basically my first exposure to the game happened with the trial. It didn't do much to convey the game's puzzle-solving aspects, there was all of one simple crate-pushing puzzle in it? Reading your post makes the game seem a bit more intriguing.

Yeah, totally. Most of the real puzzles are pretty "meta" in design.
For instance, one requires you to use a QR code reader app from your mobile device.
Others require you to pay attention to aspects of the game you'd only ever consider background art
Still others require a basic knowledge of cryptography (or access to gamefaqs...)
None of this is obvious, or explained (except the QR code, which is recognizable as such); everything is left up to the player. Some people will definitely fault the game for this, but I love it. Like I said it reminds me a lot of Myst, in that I haven't played a game since it that's been as dependent on the player
It's a challenging game, in every sense of the word

[BulletMagnet]

For instance, one requires you to use a QR code reader app from your mobile device.

Well, that rules me out then, considering I'm one of those grumpy old dinosaurs who doesn't even have a cell phone.

[Ed Oscuro]

For instance, one requires you to use a QR code reader app from your mobile device.

Well, that rules me out then, considering I'm one of those grumpy old dinosaurs who doesn't even have a cell phone.

I don't know the specifics, but you can always upload an image here:

http://zxing.org/w/decode.jspx

Dunno how well it does with photographs, but it works well from the URLs of QR code pics.

[Elixir]

Couldn't even get through the demo. I loathe puzzle games, and this is basically just Echochrome as a platformer.

[Udderdude]

An excellent post, from GameFAQs of all places

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/961239-f ... /698914030

[Smraedis]

A lot of people I know seem to be in love with the game, but they don't know the history of it's creator, and just think it's a completely new game that nothing before is ever like. I can't be bothered to argue with them