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[Yamibito]

DEVELOPED by POLYTRON CORPORATION
PUBLISHED by TRAPDOOR INC.

RELEASES on XBOX LIVE ARCADE — APRIL 13ᵀᴴ
PRICED at 800 MOON-BUCKS

POWERED by TRIXEL ENGINE — 720p 60fps — 273.45 MB

FEZ is outwardly seen as a 2D platformer set in a 3D world, where the perspective can be freely "rotated" in increments of 90-degrees on a horizontal axis.

Designed around this mechanic, the game fits a coined "mystroidvania" hybrid-genre where there is little to no emphasis on combat, as would be found in a metroidvania. Instead, the emphasis lies on an elaborate set-piece of puzzles, which compliments a huge open nonlinear world of over 150 levels.

The of lack of functional enemies bears the intention to create a relaxing and non-threatening environment, set in a world dense with secrets and mysteries. (It even has it's own alphabet and numerical system, and Twin Peaks references). Introducing a higher level of difficulty, there is also a second set of collectables, described as almost unfairly hard to get.

Unfortunately regarded as a poster child for indie game development hell, FEZ has taken the best part of five years to make. Partially covered in the Indie Game: The Movie documentary, Polytron were unfortunate enough to lose their funding twice, before securing a publishing deal with Trapdoor in 2011.

In 2008, a 3-month old prototype of FEZ won the Excellence in Visual Art at the Independent Games Festival. Later in 2011, a more finalised build of FEZ was permitted entry once more and was nominated for Technical Excellence whilst winning the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.​

IS THERE A DEMO?

Yep. A XBLA trial of just under 10 minutes of gameplay will be available at the same time the full game goes up.
​

WILL FEZ BE COMING TO OTHER PLATFORMS?

Short answer: nobody knows! FEZ has always been intended for XBLA, with Polytron remaining ambiguous about other platforms. Whilst the game has been seen to be running from Windows binaries at various events, it is currently locked into some form of exclusivity with Microsoft. If it happens, it happens.
​

WHAT ABOUT A SOUNDTRACK?

Well, nothing's been announced yet. You'll have to pester Phil Fish or Disasterpeace on that one. In the meanwhile, there was a semi-secret EP that was distributed to backers of the Venus Patrol Kickstarter; so, here's for your enjoyment:
The soundtrack will be coming out on April 20ᵀᴴ for $4.99.
1, 2 & 3.
​

REVIEWS:

Eurogamer: 10/10
Joystiq: 5/5 Stars
IGN: 9.5/10
Official Xbox Magazine: 9.5/10
Game Informer: 9.25/10
Edge: 9/10
Gamesradar: 9/10
Destructoid: 9/10
G4TV: 4/5 Stars
​

FEZ BEGINS http://vimeo.com/17939653
PAX TRAILER http://vimeo.com/20813069
PAX EAST TRAILER http://vimeo.com/21082507
"LONG SCREENSHOT" 1 http://vimeo.com/28525640
"LONG SCREENSHOT" 2 http://vimeo.com/29567274
"LONG SCREENSHOT" 3 http://vimeo.com/32995058
LAUNCH TRAILER http://vimeo.com/37927394
TRIAL GAMEPLAY http://vimeo.com/38466193​

GAMESETWATCH FANTASTIC ARCADE INTERVIEW http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/10/how_polytrons_fez_was_inspired.php
GAMASUTRA GAME CITY INTERVIEW http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6567/the_making_of_fez_the_breaking_of_.php
WHAT IS FEZ? http://polytroncorporation.com/what-is-fez
TECHNICAL POST-MORTEM http://theinstructionlimit.com/cubes-all-the-way-down-igs-gdc​

OST EP TRACK 1 "HOME" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipXRe-G5grI&hd=1
OST EP TRACK 2 "FORGOTTEN" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzOdUmRhBWI&hd=1
OST EP TRACK 3 "ADVENTURE" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QY17J7hzVM&hd=1​

—​

DESIGN & ART by PHIL FISH
CODE by RENAUD BÉDARD

MUSIC by RICHARD "DISASTERPEACE" VREELAND
SOUND by BRANDON McCARTIN
ANIMATION by PAUL ROBERTSON and ADAM "ADAMATOMIC" SALTSMAN​

—​

— THAT'S ALL FOLKS! —

 

[kylej]

So excited for this. Nice OP.

 

[keit4]

Day one.

 

[Ventron]

Disappointed the thread title wasn't "Choke on it" as promised

 

[Phonomezer]

I can't believe we're almost there.

Great OT!

Spoiler

undesirable thread title

 

[toythatkills]

DO WANT.

OP should probably mention that "nobody gives a shit whether you're boycotting it."

 

[Wario64]

Wow

 

[Ken]

Nice OT. I will buy this game.

 

[Shadow Hog]

I'll be honest, I still want to play this, regardless of the controversy over... well, you know.

Haven't touched XBLA since Guardian Heroes, IIRC, so this'll be nice.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Cannot wait for this on any level. Need it now.

Marvelous OP.

 

[panama chief]

special enough for a release date outside the norm. thats cool.

 

[Grisby]

Yep. I'm there. Regardless of how many things I have to choke on.

 

[dosh]

Lovely OP.

 

[Yamibito]

DO WANT.

OP should probably mention that "nobody gives a shit whether you're boycotting it."

No, drawing more attention to that debacle is dumb.

Also thank Milesdm for the OP not me, I merely posted it.

 

[ReaperXL7]

this looks awesome to me, I hope this thread does not turn into another east vs. west crapfest though.

 

[Gareth Bale]

Yes! Literally been waiting for years for this this game.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Will give the demo a try.

 

[Clott]

All is forgiven if its a good game, who gives a shit about his opinion towards things not related to his own work. Let's see if he has anything to stand on.

 

[Santiako]

I'l buy it without even trying the demo. Looks fantastic.

 

[Cranzor]

Great OP! I'll be buying Fez on day one.

 

[Visualante2]

Been waiting for this for too long. Second XBLA game since Rez HD. Won't be double dipping on this one though, due to some better left unmentioned comments.

Great OP! I'll be buying Fez on day one.

Agreed, just enough information. I hate mega OPs.

6955's placeholder music for Fez, can only assume Disasterpiece took their place: http://polytroncorporation.com/fez-music

 

[Grecco]

Been excited since i saw it on The 1Up show Cant wait

 

[GarthVaderUK]

Day 1. Love the music!

 

[RukusProvider]

Day 1. This is followed by Trials: Evolution. OMG OMG OMG!

XBLA > Gaming

 

[Seraphinianus]

day one

 

[Akia]

LOST Intro OP!

 

[Tattooth]

Great OT! I love that banner image.
Cannot wait for this game.

 

[LiK]

No, drawing more attention to that debacle is dumb.

Also thank Milesdm for the OP not me, I merely posted it.

you should post a credits thingy at the bottom of OP.

 

[Rad-]

Cool OP. Day one for this motherfucker.

 

[EteRnal PAL]

FEZ-tastic OP. Bring the game on!

 

[zweifuss]

Nice and to-the-point OT. Can't wait for this game!

 

[Yamibito]

you should post a credits thingy at the bottom of OP.

I said about that but he didn't want me to put one there for whatever reason even though I insisted multiple times.

 

[injurai]

Looks tasty... you know the colors and all... rhymes with PEZ...

 

[milesdm]

you should post a credits thingy at the bottom of OP.

Nah, it's fine.

 

[Gowans]

Great Op, can't wait to finally have this on my Xbox.

 

[LiK]

I said about that but he didn't want me to put one there for whatever reason even though I insisted multiple times.

Nah, it's fine.

oh ok

 

[Zia]

Great OP, you two.

There are two games I've been absolutely obsessed with since they were first announced: Journey and Fez. I am so, so excited for the release, and that's having already played through what I think is the majority of the game.

No idea what I'll have to look forward to after next Friday. Suppose I'll aimlessly wander the forests...

 

[Shadow Hog]

Looks tasty... you know the colors and all... rhymes with PEZ...

I suppose you could argue XBLA is a Fez dispenser.

 

[Seraphinianus]

I suppose you could argue XBLA is a Fez dispenser.

<3

 

[PopfulMail]

Hot!! Took a 1/2 day at work next Friday for this.

 

[Doffen]

Sexy. XBLA is truly amazing.

 

[Tiktaalik]

I've been waiting for this game for a long time and I'm really excited to finally play it. Will be buying day one.

Some friends and I were discussing the title last night over drinks and some of them were on the fence. One thing we all agreed on was that all the videos we've seen showed a very beautiful, but very slow paced gameplay, and some of my friends were questioning whether the game would really go anywhere beyond that. I'm very curious myself.

 

[Keikoku]

I'm hyped, but I'm afraid that it's going to be one very short game. Hope I'm wrong though.

 

[SparkTR]

I'm buying it just because of this awesome OT. I'm interest if the gameplay holds up as well.

 

[Tunavi]

whoa.

 

[feel]

Finally!

I hope the gameplay is engaging.

 

[LQX]

Can't wait.

No, drawing more attention to that debacle is dumb.

Also thank Milesdm for the OP not me, I merely posted it.

And of course a title like this won't do that at all.

 

[neoism]

i've wanted this for awhile.... IS there any word on the possible length of the game ?

 

[Skilotonn]

Very nicely-made OP - not a fan of the title, but then again, I just like my titles with the name of the game and just |OT|, leaving the game to speak for itself.

Been waiting for ages for this, and I'll be picking it up as soon as it's out.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Nintendo-Era = we're living in it
Oh snap, that means that the inspiration came from.. (!) :O