GRIS – Nindie Spotlight – Powerful Journey Through Emotions
Seldomly do video games come our way that break us. Most of the time we are too busy saving the world or destroying something evil, but GRIS is something entirely different. This is a journey about breaking down emotional walls, conquering the negativity spawned within, and coming to a point of healthy acceptance. It is one of the most powerful and emotionally charged games I have ever played, and it is something everyone needs to experience.
My name is Jason, and this is your Nindie Spotlight for this week: GRIS.
GRIS
Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality.
As the story unfolds, Gris will grow emotionally and see her world in a different way, revealing new paths to explore using her new abilities.
GRIS is a serene and evocative experience, free of danger, frustration, or death. Players will explore a meticulously designed world brought to life with delicate art, detailed animation, and an elegant original score. Through the light puzzles, platforming sequences and optional skill-based challenges will reveal themselves as more of Gris’s world becomes accessible.
The Art and Music
GRIS‘s art style is magnificent. It feels like you are constantly existing within paintings, and at many points, the splashes of water color change the scenes and atmosphere of the game itself. The title is living and breathing with each screen, and all too often you get lost just staring at the background, mesmerized by the beauty and serenity.
As the game progresses, new colors are introduced giving new life to areas you may backtrack to. It is a stellar visual experience unlike any other, but it is complimented even more by the gentle, and at times haunting, soundtrack.
Berlinist performs some of their best music for this game, and it shows. The perfect harmony of the visuals and the sounds is profound, and it makes all of the emotional transitions happening in the game mean so much more.
My Own Journey
When I purchased GRIS on the Switch in early 2019, I didn’t know what to expect. At the time, I was dealing with a lot of inner turmoil, and my family and I were experiencing a lot of loss that was killing us deep inside. As I started playing the game, I couldn’t finish it. Each section tore me apart, and tears would rain down my face as if the game was painting a perfect picture of my pain.
As we made a lot of difficult decisions and a hard international move at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, things only got more complicated. The trauma I was dealing with kept creeping up, and my family was in shambles. My daughter randomly asked me in mid-2020, “Why haven’t you finished GRIS yet?” I just looked at her and said, “I’m not ready,” with tears in my eyes.
As things slowly began to improve, she asked me again about playing, and I finally agreed. There I was, with my son and daughter, weeping as I made it through GRIS, and it was largely thanks to this experience that I was finally able to begin opening up to my partner and my kids.
GRIS alone was obviously not the answer, as therapy is absolutely key, but this wonderful title was a catalyst to spark my journey towards healing and growth.
GRIS is an incredible journey through hardship, and it is one of the best games I have ever played in my life. The fact that it served a roll in my mental and psychological growth is testament to just how special and amazing it is.
Please go and buy this game if you haven’t already. If not for its heartfelt story and message, then definitely for its stunning art style, fluid gameplay, and perfect soundtrack. This is truly a masterpiece of near-perfection and an indie game unlike any other. A diamond in the rough.
There is your Nindie Spotlight on GRIS. Check back again next time for a look into another great Nindie title. What are some of your favorite indie games? Let us know in the comments below! Thank you for visiting Nintendo Link. Happy gaming, everyone.
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