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[Irock]

Just figured a thing out. I feel great!

I know! I figured something out and felt really good too. Like, I hadn't felt that good about figuring something out in a game in years!

[Gabriel Verdon]

I have a feeling it'll get released on PC after Xbox exclusivity is up. The IGF build for judges/jurists was a PC build, after all, and the framework isn't exactly bad for porting.

Played a little last night. Opinions are much the same as build I played earlier: really bad intro (mechanically, not aesthetically; the intro is very visually and aurally pleasing). It's definitely a "designed for dumb competition judges/dumb convention passerbys" intro, with hardly any challenge. So full of itself and its gimmick.

But I know the game starts to get real great at around the 8-16 cube mark, so I'm not disappointed that much.

How would you do the intro if you were the designer?

[threesided]

Just did the same! These puzzles are pretty darn engaging. Now at 41 cubes :3

[Dragonmaw]

I have a feeling it'll get released on PC after Xbox exclusivity is up. The IGF build for judges/jurists was a PC build, after all, and the framework isn't exactly bad for porting.

Played a little last night. Opinions are much the same as build I played earlier: really bad intro (mechanically, not aesthetically; the intro is very visually and aurally pleasing). It's definitely a "designed for dumb competition judges/dumb convention passerbys" intro, with hardly any challenge. So full of itself and its gimmick.

But I know the game starts to get real great at around the 8-16 cube mark, so I'm not disappointed that much.

How would you do the intro if you were the designer?

I dunno. I'd probably make the platforming a little more challenging. There are a few spots of good intro design (the house with the fireplace you have to switch to walk through comes to mind) but for the most part it's "tap left/right. get cube."

[Gabriel Verdon]

I dunno. I'd probably make the platforming a little more challenging. There are a few spots of good intro design (the house with the fireplace you have to switch to walk through comes to mind) but for the most part it's "tap left/right. get cube."

The point of an intro is to introduce the mechanics without being challenging. That's why it's the intro. You know, the introduction. To introduce things. And not the middle of the game.

[Dragonmaw]

No need to be rude.

I'm just not a big fan of drawn-out intros. They hand-hold too much. And Fez's intro definitely takes a bit to get going before I finally feel like the game isn't just giving me the answers. As one of my friends pointed out to me, it's part of the fact that it was shown so heavily at conventions and competitions. The hand-holding assists the people that are frazzled and tired and have five minutes to check out a game and see if it's neat. It's just that, given the excellent design of the mid-to-late game stuff, the intro is just... well, to make a bad pun, flat.

PS: oh god no i criticized fez! a minor criticism! lynch him!

[ham and brie]

The intro is gentle and gives time for people to get a feel for the mechanic and enjoy the setting, but I don't see it hand holding.

My criticism would be that I think it's let down a bit by technical issues. I've had 3 crashes (the 360 reset completely, not the fake crash). Pushable blocks feel pretty glitchy. It's so easy to glitch out of a room that I thought it might have been an intentional part of the mechanics (but I've not seen it used and I'm at 187.5%). There's unpleasant chugs. Etc. It all adds up to detract from fantastic attention to detail in the rest of it, but it's a fantastic game and hopefully some stuff can be ironed out (I ought to send a bug report about the crashes...).

[Hangedman]

I agree that the beginning was slow. But for me I found that was because I already knew what I was doing, basically. The basics were already in my head thanks to previous interest in the game, trailers, trying Babel, etc.
For an average player trying to wrap their head around it, I can see how a slow start might be better.

In any case, this gets really good. Kind of overwhelming at some points. I figured out a few secrets and felt like a genius and then got stuck for a while until I realised I had missed a single door that led to a whole new hub, which then kind of exploded with stuff to do all over the place.

I am really enjoying the way this game makes my head buzz. The suggestions at more secrets, the lateral thinking required even for the simple puzzles. And I've had no bugs or control problems at all besides occasionally missing jumps because I expected it to be more floaty than it is, maybe due to the visual style.

The music is perfect.

[threesided]

... I just found something that has no place in the inventory........ wtf! Agh, this boils my brain!

[Eric McQuiggan]

I got the puzzle wrong that I was excited about earlier I messed up and missed a clue! Whoops.

Edit: Good thing I wrote my notes in pencil.

[Manuel Magalhães]

PS: oh god no i criticized fez! a minor criticism! lynch him!

IN TODAY'S NEWS: DRAGONMAW GAVE FEZ A CRITICISM. "IT'S TRULY UNBELIEVABLE. FEZ IS FLAWLESS." SAID DAVE, A REVIEWER THAT GAVE FEZ A 9.75/10.
(seriously though, Fez is a really nice game, bugs aside)

[wademcgillis]

The following two smileys are an accurate representation of me after playing for ~8 hours last night:
 

[Gabriel Verdon]

No need to be rude.

I'm just not a big fan of drawn-out intros. They hand-hold too much. And Fez's intro definitely takes a bit to get going before I finally feel like the game isn't just giving me the answers. As one of my friends pointed out to me, it's part of the fact that it was shown so heavily at conventions and competitions. The hand-holding assists the people that are frazzled and tired and have five minutes to check out a game and see if it's neat. It's just that, given the excellent design of the mid-to-late game stuff, the intro is just... well, to make a bad pun, flat.

PS: oh god no i criticized fez! a minor criticism! lynch him!

Sorry, didn't mean for that to come across as rude, just a little cheeky. I can totally understand not having a taste for slow intros. But I don't think it's fair to call it "really bad" either. Just slow. I thought it was appropriate for the style of the game. The game is a slow burn. The climbing is slow, the music is calm. I think a quick intro would've felt wrong.

[C.D Buckmaster]

Unfortunately I don't have internet at my house (headaches with ISPs) so I will have to wait longer to get this game.

[Andrio]

Unfortunately I don't have internet at my house (headaches with ISPs) so I will have to wait longer to get this game.

The exact same thing happened to me. Although I decided to drive for an hour in the middle of the night to where there was Internet to download FEZ. Brought my Xbox and monitor with me and everything.

Pretty insane dedication. Absolutely loving this game.