Critical Play: Fez
For this critical play, I chose to explore Fez, a 2D puzzle-platform game that is set in a 3D world. Playing as the character Gomez, the player must collect golden cubes to save his universe .The player is able to switch the view between the 4 sides that make up the 3D world, solving various puzzles as they go.
The rotation mechanic that allows the player to switch through the 4 different sides of the 3D world allows for a more unique experience and also expands the possibilities of puzzles that the game can include. Puzzles using this rotation mechanic can take advantage of the fact that a user can change their perspective to provide hints based on this perspective and also hide puzzle-related information in different planes. Additionally, the solution to puzzles is no longer limited to a single 2D plane, but can be expanded to include any subset of the 4 sides of the 3D world.
This rotation mechanic also makes for an interesting journey on top of interesting puzzles. Suddenly exploring a 2D room isn’t just about walking as far right as you can and as far left as you can, but also rotating the world to investigate all 4 walls to ensure that you don’t miss an extra door or a small hint.
