FLASHSALE! Fez – Steam Review

I adore a good puzzle game so, when a friend of mine told me to try out Fez, I thought it was worth a look. At only £6.99, it does not break the bank, and I simply was not prepared for how mind-bending, charming and utterly fun the game is – although it is now seven years old, Fez is still a brilliant puzzle experience.

The game initially appears to be a classic 2D platformer – you control Gomez, an adorable 2D sprite. However, you quickly learn the world’s secret, as you are gifted a fez with a power – to temporarily introduce a third dimension, rotating the screen by 90 degrees to totally alter your perspective. A platform that is too far away to jump to can suddenly be right next to you as the world turns, in an example of an early puzzle. Your challenge is to collect cubes and cube fragments, restoring order to the universe.

Characters compliment you on your flatness

This may sound complicated, Fez feels amazingly intuitive, and that is down to some brilliant level design (the levels, as with everything else in this game, look stunning). You will want to explore every area, and the game rewards this kind of exploration – there are no enemies or bosses, and the punishment for failure is quickly respawning in the same area. This gentle experience that prioritises puzzle solving and being patient over racing to the finish, and that suited me perfectly (though, if you are in a hurry, you could probably get through the main game in six or seven hours).

The amusing writing is also fantastic. Characters compliment you on your flatness, happily discussing the nonexistence of other dimensions, but their tone changes quickly when a mysterious cube appears and blows up. You also have an extremely unhelpful companion called Dot, who knows nothing (it even bursts out a “Hey, listen!”, to hammer home some of the Navi comparisons). There are tons of references – Fez is a game made by people who clearly love games.

I have never played anything quite like Fez before

There are minor niggles – the game was ported from the Xbox 360, and sometimes the controls and graphics feel as though they want that console (apparently creator Phil Fish never wanted to make a PC version at all, which may help explain that). Some of the puzzle solutions are a little bit out-there – if you figure them all out right away, you have a very devious mind. There is also a bit of an overreliance on backtracking in the endgame – it did not ruin my experience, and there are always clues hinting at what you should do, but it adds time in a way that does not feel compatible with the Fez experience.

Fez is so charming, and it had my brain working hard, eager to find and unlock all of its secrets. I like games that do not hold my hand, giving me just enough breadcrumbs to find my own way through and letting me take my time to think and reflect. I have never played anything quite like Fez before and, given its price, it is certainly worth playing.