Analysis of GRAY, a beautiful ode to color and platforms

After going through different platforms, the Spanish video game GRAY finally arrives on Xbox, a game that stands out above all for its aesthetics and music and that will not leave anyone indifferent.

It was late 2018 when an unknown game called GRAY was released on Nintendo Switch and PC, it was the first video game from the same unknown. Spanish developer Nomada Studio. This game which arrived quietly turned out to be a very popular game both by the press and by the players. Thanks to this, the game published by Digital feedback it has won numerous awards and been released for other platforms. Now, about to end 2022, we finally get this acclaimed adventure for Xbox Series X/S.

little danger, lots of beauty

GRAY is a platform and puzzle gamein which there is no danger and we can’t die, we just have to advance through the world through the different skills we learn. As the name of the game suggests, we will control GRAY, a girl who has lost her voice and therefore her world has also lost its color. The mission of our protagonist will be to recover his voice, while bringing color and life back to your world. It will take us through different places, leaving us with spectacular images in which the game transmits a rather surprising peace and tranquility.

A very curious feature of the game is that the narrative unfolds without any type of dialogue, something similar to games like Limbo or InsideIt is not told through the images and music that appear as we progress through the game. The reality is that the argument is beautiful, but it is not something special either, and it’s only a simple procedure to take us through different places in which the game shines, thanks to the great art design done by Nomada Studio.

jump and nothing else

If we talk about the gameplay of the title, we end up with a pacifist platformer, that is, there are no enemies or dangers, so we will never die in the game. The game in this aspect if it falls a little short, because although we are advancing in the game we have different skills that give more dynamism, such as planning, swimming… this is not enough. And it is that during almost the whole game we have the impression that we are doing as at the beginningsince the abilities we receive practically do not change the gameplay, except for the last one, which we will use very briefly.

Gray needs a little challenge, a danger or an enemy that would end our game would suit the title very well, because it would not give the feeling of repetitiveness and always doing the same thing. It is true that in the game we will face some kind of enemy to call it that and we will have to escape from it, but it is a scripted scene in which it is impossible to die. And it’s a problem that the game seems repetitive, since It only lasts about 3-4 hourswithout collecting the various collectibles lurking around the world, which is an hour or two longer if you’re a perfectionist.

What a beautiful game!

The greatest virtue of GRIS is undoubtedly its artistic conception and its music., which is a delight for the senses. And it is that the game has very nice images, partly thanks to the talented Conrad Roset, illustrator who drew by hand everything that we see during the adventure. And if Conrad’s talent was noticeable, since the title plays with different planes (although sometimes these cause problems, since we lose sight of our protagonist) and colors, convey a peace and beauty rarely seen before in a video game.

The music of the title is also very worked, and it is that the symphonies blend perfectly with the events of the game. We can say that we are facing a title that transmits a lot of peace and tranquility, being a great virtue of the title . For example, the home stretch of the title will leave you speechlessperfectly mixing a series of very beautiful images to the music, leaving you speechless.

conclusions

GRAY is a very beautiful titleboth musically and aesthetically, which would have been remarkable if the gameplay had been worked on more, since it is very simple and basic. The game surprises yes, but in other respects it does not stand out enough to consider it an exceptional title. Great debut from Spanish developer Nomada Studios, which leaves us with high expectations for their next work.