GRIS

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 194 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 152 out of 194
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 194
  3. Negative: 11 out of 194
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  1. MindWanderer
    Feb 4, 2020
    7
    This game is a metaphor. It's unclear through the actual game what it's a metaphor for, unless you complete various obscure optional challenges and get all the collectables.

    The highlight of the game is the gorgeous, hand-drawn graphics. The world is very pretty, and the cutscenes are reminiscent of indie animated films. It's entirely wordless except for the instructions of what    This game is a metaphor. It's unclear through the actual game what it's a metaphor for, unless you complete various obscure optional challenges and get all the collectables.

    The highlight of the game is the gorgeous, hand-drawn graphics. The world is very pretty, and the cutscenes are reminiscent of indie animated films. It's entirely wordless except for the instructions of what button to press when you get a new ability (which happens only 3 times).

    As for gameplay, it's a puzzle-platformer. None of the platforming is at all challenging, and most of the puzzles are obvious on the face of them. One or two will require a bit of experimentation, but that's about it. There are also hidden collectibles, some of which are moderately challenging, but most of which just involve going the "wrong" way at a juncture. It's not at all obvious which way is right and which is wrong, so you're likely to miss several on your first playthrough. The controls are smooth, but with the game's plodding pace it hardly matters.

    If you want something pretty, slow-paced, and thought-provoking, you'll enjoy this. If you want something exciting or challenging, with a narrative story, you should pass.    … Expand
  2. timmytime
    Jul 10, 2020
    7
    File GRIS on my "wanted to like it more than I did" list. It's a beautiful game, but some of the later levels relied a lot more on backtracking and pixel hunting than I expected. A lot of progression was about interacting with things you could miss and I found myself running around the levels a lot. So, frustrating but not much of a sense of accomplishment when you figure it out.

    INSIDE    File GRIS on my "wanted to like it more than I did" list. It's a beautiful game, but some of the later levels relied a lot more on backtracking and pixel hunting than I expected. A lot of progression was about interacting with things you could miss and I found myself running around the levels a lot. So, frustrating but not much of a sense of accomplishment when you figure it out.

    INSIDE is still the gold standard for character puzzle platformers for me and I liked it's environmental puzzles a lot more.

    Meanwhile GOROGOA is the Rolls Royce of beautiful indie puzzle games with its subtle feedback when you're heading in the right direction. I'd recommend either of those games before Gris, but it's still worth a play.    … Expand
  3. XxAlbertoBuzzxX
    Jun 2, 2020
    7
    Gris
    ......................................................................
  4. Cyber_Angel
    Jan 11, 2020
    7
    Beautiful artstyle, melancholic lyrical story, touching music. The gameplay is rather basic, but still engaging through it's 3 hours of gameplay time.
  5. Dragonfly44
    Feb 24, 2021
    6
    The graphics and music are really nice, but theres not really anything else about this game to make it worth playing. 64/100
  6. SplitMind
    Sep 3, 2020
    7
    There is no doubt that Gris is a beautiful and remarkable game, however the flaws are worth noting also.

    Firstly, the graphics are unique. Gris is distinctive in its colour palettes and growing beauty that evolves as the game progresses. The only real downside of the graphics are that it can be difficult to differentiate what is background and what is an obstacle. This also makes it    There is no doubt that Gris is a beautiful and remarkable game, however the flaws are worth noting also.

    Firstly, the graphics are unique. Gris is distinctive in its colour palettes and growing beauty that evolves as the game progresses. The only real downside of the graphics are that it can be difficult to differentiate what is background and what is an obstacle. This also makes it difficult to notice the subtleties such as breakable blocks in some parts of the game.

    The music is good but inconsistent. It seems to phase in and out during the quiet moments and appropriately become louder and emotional at the right moments.

    The gameplay is where it gets interesting. Most of it involves traversing an evolving environment that is a beauty to explore. One substantial issue I have is that a regular aspect of the game involves collecting little pixels of light to progress. This gets quite stale and repetitive quickly. I would have liked to have seen a good chunk of it removed and it would have made it a more enjoyable experience for me. I thought it caused to game to be a bit drawn out towards the end and tarnished the final sections.

    The story is also a bit odd. A quick search online tells me the story is based in grief, as do five of the trophies. This isn't very obvious in the game but doesn't really detract from my enjoyment unless I begin questioning the point of the whole game. It comes as a bit overly avant-garde and pretentious to make the theme ambiguous (it could be depression, psychosis etc. as well as grief) but again this isn't really an issue for me.

    Overall, it was the last third of the game that felt a tad tedious, however this is still a very good game and I want to see more like this. Despite my score, this was a very welcome change from the AAA garbage commonly flooding the market at present.    … Expand
  7. painava
    May 12, 2020
    7
    Beautiful ambient-puzzle game. Very short and quite easy, definitely relaxing. Would recommend.
  8. PFChangHimself
    May 13, 2020
    6
    While maybe a great piece of art, it is rarely a good game.
    Initially the theme of colour directly and clearly relates to narrative and things are slowly moving forward until everything jolts forward and you are left with a complete, saturated pallette, wondering how it got to this so quickly. Conceptually great, but some more time in the oven would've gone a long way.
    I feel similarly    While maybe a great piece of art, it is rarely a good game.
    Initially the theme of colour directly and clearly relates to narrative and things are slowly moving forward until everything jolts forward and you are left with a complete, saturated pallette, wondering how it got to this so quickly. Conceptually great, but some more time in the oven would've gone a long way.
    I feel similarly about the music, we are constantly teased with sparse instrumentation which is throttling to be released, but when it reaches the crescendo, it loses its personality and becomes forgettable.
    The narrative, whilst very good, lacks a specificity that would elevate the experience. I understand what the story was trying to be, and it achieves that goal perfectly, but is it a worthwhile target to start off with for such a team clearly so capable of being evocotive and dealing with tough issues.
    Devolver keeps indie development just about breathing, once more.    … Expand
  9. karay123
    Jun 20, 2020
    7
    Nice design, short story, should be a little longer, music is fine, the character is a little too slow
  10. MrEBE
    Jan 6, 2023
    6
    Nice little very small and very simple game with nice graphisms and designs...
    But don't expect anything big.. no story.. no context..nearly no action.. very simple and easy puzzle (for Kids I presume).
    Don't let all the 10 make you believe this game is anything more than what it is...
    This is a very simple basic and simple game..

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best PS4 Game of 2019
63
#63 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Jan 9, 2020
    80
    A beautiful puzzle platformer with a clear artistic and mechanical vision. However, its story holds you at arm’s length and makes it tricky to find its heart. [Issue@#171, p.96]
  2. 4P.de
    Dec 11, 2019
    90
    Quotation forthcoming.
    Read full review
  3. PlayStation LifeStyle
    Dec 11, 2019
    85
    What I expected from GRIS was a solid, beautiful, platformer that could occupy a few hours of my time. What I got from GRIS was quite close to that, but somehow more beautiful than I could have ever considered or expected. If you want to see just how artistic games can get, or if you’re like me and just need a few hours occupied by beauty and platforming, then it’s hard to go wrong with GRIS.
    Read full review
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