Overall - 10
Gris is an absolutely stunning experience that perfectly combines beautiful art and music with a purposefully vague yet deep story. The gameplay is simple and easy for anyone to pick up.
Graphics - 10
The art of Gris is really where it shines. The visuals are very vibrant and stylish, with landscapes designed to look like paintings. Though the game is 2D with flat assets, the multi-layered scrolling of the background gives a lot more depth to the environments. The color palettes of the environments change as the story progresses, which of course leads into...
Story - 9
The story follows the protagonist who has lost her voice and must restore color to a dreary world... or something along those lines from what I remember. Forgive me, it's been over a year since I played this (and it's certainly been
a year). The story is told entirely through visuals rather than text, making it largely up to the interpretation of the player. The progression of the story is likely symbolic of the 5 stages of grief, which makes sense considering the protagonist's struggles seem to represent some sort of deeply painful trauma.
Sound - 10
The soundtrack perfectly follows the tone and atmosphere throughout the game. It makes the intense moments even more impactful and . I'm admittedly not much of a video game music guy (it's not something I usually pay attention to at all), but the sountrack for Gris is beautifully composed and ties the whole experience together.
Depth - 7
The game clocks in at about 2 to 3 hours long, making it something you can sit down and play though in one sitting. There's not much to the gameplay beyond simple platforming and puzzle-solving, but you do unlock new mechanics throughout which keeps it fresh.
Replayability - 7
Though the game is short, there are optional achievements and hidden collectibles (known as "mementos") throughout the game, which you might miss on your first playthrough. Unlocking all of the mementos rewards the player with
Spoiler:
a secret ending
.
Difficulty - 3
I mean... I struggled a bit on some of the puzzles, maybe? I don't think anyone who has ever touched a video game would have trouble with this, unless you're Dean Takahashi (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=848Y1Uu5Htk).