Gris – A Game About Grief
What do you do when you are all alone? No one to lean on, no one to support you. Not a single soul wants to help you. What do you do when you are in misery and agony, and the grief is uncontrollable? What do you do when the way forward is almost opaque, and the world feels like a gloomy hell? What do you do when you are at the end of the world?
You raise hope. You survive on hope. You build a new future with hope.
This is what Gris does. Bent under the pain and agony of a painful memory, Gris, a young and hopeful girl, strives to stay strong. She strives to survive by overcoming every fear she is faced with.
An indie platform adventure game, Gris was developed by the Spanish game developer studios, Nomada Studio. The stunning design and underlying sorrowful plotline has made waves throughout the gaming world and made Gris an adventure game of one of its kind. So much so, Gris recently won multiple awards too – 46th Annie Awards, National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, Game Developers Choice Awards, 2019 Webby Awards, and more.
The fear we live with
Gris is not about fighting multiple vicious enemies, bloodbaths, death, and destruction. Gris is a delicate narrative game bringing forth the deepest fears we live with. The game opens with a girl, Gris, lying in the palm of the crumbling statue of a woman. Gris attempts to get out of the palm by singing. However, the moment she starts doing so, she begins to choke, loses her ability to sing, and the palm, and then the statue of the woman begins to crumble. Gris falls into the colorless Earth below.
Thus begins her journey through tall towers, desserts scattered with windmills, luscious jungles, and underwater caves. Structures around her are mysteriously powered by lights. These lights that almost look like stars bestow upon her the ability to do wondrous things, including making pathways out of stars. As she continues to face her fears and carry forward with the journey, she comes across several living creatures too – both friends and foes.
The entire gameplay is littered with puzzles, platforming sequences, and skill-based challenges. Piece by piece, Gris becomes stronger emotionally and figures out new paths to build with her stars. The last piece of the puzzle is to find her long-lost ability to sing.
Gris is like playing a painting
The entire sequence of the gameplay is artistically and beautifully illustrated with the choice of colors, tones, and accents. The movements are elegant and dramatic. It begins to start looking like a ‘slowly being painted’ picture book once tiny shreds of colors start to infuse themselves into the otherwise colorless start of the game. Tiny streaks of red are followed by blue, green, and yellow. Slowly and steadily, the game starts to catch colors. Beautiful pastel shades set an ‘offset feel’ to the gameplay, making it a visual treat.
The slow infusion of color back into the game is a clever trick of throwing hints to the players on how your life can get better slowly and steadily. What once seems colorless and dull becomes painted with beautiful hues over time. The point is not to simply finish off the game and be crowned the ‘winner.’ There are no villains and enemies to defeat. There are no fights to be fought. There is only one thing to be focussed on – you. The ultimate point is to observe the world around us and notice every beautiful little speck of its magic.
The visual marvel of the game is heavily complemented by the soundtrack too. Melodious compositions are played throughout the length of the game, changing pitch and tempo as the situation and scenario around Gris changes. Whether she is in the deep jungle or never-ending desert, Gris is always accompanied by music- music she is so desperately trying to bring back in her life.
Find the voice to defeat your grief
Gris is a heartbreaking, cry-worthy, beautiful game that teaches you how to overcome the fears you live with and ultimately find the power (in this game, the voice) to defeat it. The elegant soundtrack, delicate imageries, and the final moments of the game will make you wonder at the marvel that it is. Remember, it is only when you are at rock bottom that you can propel yourself and shoot for the stars. You only see the stars when it is burning low.
