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Our first post of 2019 starts with the search for a very complex definition. What is art? One of the descriptions that Aurélio gives us is: “Activity that supposes the creation of sensations or characteristic states of mind, loaded with personal and profound experience, which may arouse in others the desire for extension or renewal”. But would a video game be able to come close to this concept? GREY is the biggest proof that the answer to this question is “yes”. 4l334w
A PC (Steam) of the game for testing, and after a few weeks of enjoying the beauty of this emotional experience, we bring you a complete review of this wonderfully simple game.
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GREY Means "gray" in French. And the choice of this name for the game is very clear in the first moments of the experience. The player is put in the shoes of an unnamed young woman who suddenly loses her voice, at the same time her world crumbles and loses its colors.
From there, it's up to the player to guide our intrepid protagonist through a surreal world to recover what was lost. Gameplay is simple, combining platform elements with puzzles. As you explore the world you need to collect stars to unlock new abilities and complete constellations to restore colors.
Through the stars that you gather when solving puzzles, not only are you able to access new abilities that allow you to go to previously inaccessible places, but you can also create bridges and activate mechanisms that bring the girl closer and closer to her ultimate goal: to bring her back harmony to your world.
All of this is done in the most natural way possible. There are no dialogues, tutorials and no danger of death. GREY is an emotional and artistic experience where you control a character through a living painting. The game gives you some information when you conquer a new skill or even move the camera in the direction you need to go.
However, given the dimensions of the world of GREY it's amazing how there is no danger of the player getting lost in it. The game is not a linear experience, but the camera creates subtle angles in certain situations that end up instructing the player in which direction to take or which object to investigate. It's a fantastic way to guide the player, even if unconsciously.
Each part of this ruined world that has its colors restored represents a catharsis of feelings (for both the character and the player). The new colors drip onto the canvas that the game transforms into, as if the emotions lost in this empty world were suddenly found and brought to the surface.
This instant, GREY it is no longer just a game, but an emotional experience that follows in the footsteps of a young woman who tries to look for light at the end of the tunnel. In a way, we can relate the context created by the game to diseases such as depression and anxiety disorder.
It's a very subtle approach, almost as if the game wanted the player to realize this fact alone. Gradually, the character realizes that she is not alone, that if she explores and doesn't give up looking for an answer, everything can be solved, from bringing a world back to life to recovering her beautiful voice and being able to express her feelings.
This concern to address this topic so stigmatized by society is more evident when analyzing the way the game explores enemies. There are few times when you will face villains in the game, but you cannot die.
Instead, they materialize as an omnipotent presence that oppresses the character and impedes her progress, whether in the form of a giant bird or a fearsome lamprey. It's as if our fears take shape and the only way to overcome them is to move on, no matter how terrible they can be.
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the first game of Monada Studios masterfully follows the style of play created by ThatGameCompany, another indie game developer responsible for big hits like Flower e Journey. In both titles, an emotional experience is created through simple gameplay mechanics, immersive soundtrack and breathtaking visuals.
The great focus of GREY it's in its visual style, which is without a doubt the most beautiful aesthetic I've ever seen in a game. The art mixes an animation style with watercolor brush strokes. It is surprising that the artistic team was able to create this realistic effect only with computer tools and not with manual work.
Each step taken is as if the player is walking inside a painting, or watching a drawing that he controls the plot. The absence of sounds other than the wonderful soundtrack does not harm the experience at all. On the contrary, this feature enhances the range of emotions that the game can convey.
For some players, the excessive simplicity of some puzzles can be a little uncomfortable, but it is important to realize that these elements are not the key part of the game, they are only present as a tool to help involve the player in the experience. Otherwise, it could be said that the player would be just any spectator.
We also pack any GREY it's a short game. On the one hand this is good, but on the other it seems very limiting. The advantage is that it creates a compact experience, which conveys a necessary intimacy when dealing with a delicate and subjective topic in the game as depression.
The bad thing about this approach is that many elements are underused, such as the last skills that the young woman acquires at the end of the adventure and the player sees few opportunities to use them. Not to mention that our character's world seems to be so interesting and hides so many stories that we certainly wouldn't mind knowing a little more about it.
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GREY is a touching digital experience made with love and dedication by a team of developers aware that they were creating a fantastic way to tell a story of overcoming, even if without dialogue.
In this way, it was possible to create a work that goes beyond the realm of video games and directly approaches a purely artistic creation. GREY it's much more than a simple game, and it's up to the player to realize this with every step taken in this colorless world.
Inheriting visual styles coined by the beautiful Child of Light and in the gameplay of Journey, GREY touches on the theme of depression in an even more beautiful, striking and, at the same time, subtle way than another successful game, Celeste's, also did. And the result is wonderful.
