How Gris Has Helped Me Cope With Family Illness

I was browsing the Steam winter sale one evening when I came across a French-developed indie game called Gris (French for "grey," pronounced like "grease"). The first thing I noticed was that it shared a similar visual aesthetic to a game called Child of Light, one of my favorite video games from 2014. That is to say: it struck me as an incredibly beautiful video game that looked like a watercolor painting in motion. I smashed that "add to cart" button faster than you can say "uh, you don't have 15$ for that right now."

Gris is absolutely one of the most visually stunning creations I've ever played. It's one of those games you should show to that loud mouth stranger standing across from you at your local Gamestop, saying to his pimple faced friend how absurd it is that games could be considered "art." Seriously, at any given moment, you can pause the game, take a screenshot, and have a fitting desktop background that'll have anyone convinced you're a damn art major. I could write an entire blog post analyzing the visuals of Gris, but alas, I'm not actually an art major, and also that's not really what I want to talk about. Minutes into Gris, I realized I was playing something truly special.

The narrative unfolds without the use of any dialogue whatsoever. Instead, it relies heavily on the use of color, environmental story-telling, and an equally phenomenal score that perfectly accentuates everything you do. Your protagonist is a silent, unnamed girl with bright blue hair, which happens to be the only color present in the world of Gris when you first begin your play-through (remember, Gris = Grey). As you make your way through the beautiful, surreal world of Gris, you'll encounter several puzzles and challenges. While all of them are fun to figure out, none of them are particularly challenging. I think the intention behind that is to avoid making the player feel like they want to give up, and I'm grateful for that (for a reason I hope is soon clear). I could also talk about the abilities you'll acquire along the way, and how unique each of them are in providing interesting solutions to the challenges you'll face. However, much of the delight from Gris comes from these discoveries, and since the game is only about 5 hours in length, I'll refrain from spoiling what those abilities are and what they do.

Early on, you'll likely get the impression (like I did) that the girl is mourning the loss of someone, and that she has also perhaps lost her voice, either metaphorically or literally. Part of what makes this game so special is that although we're all playing the same game, many players have come away with all kinds of different interpretations. On a basic level, I think it's safe to say the game is about a girl on a quest to find inner peace, but the details about what exactly that could mean are left up to you, the player.

My personal interpretation, is that Gris is about a girl dealing with the grief of losing her mother, and journeying to restore color in a world that death has rendered colorless. This is a world where the only enemy is depression, or maybe anxiety, or maybe hopelessness. A world where your only weapon isn't a sword or a rifle, but the action of moving forward at all costs.

If you know me personally, you may know that my mom has been battling cancer for the last several years. While I don't want to turn this into a sob story for her or for me, I'll just say that she's still in the thick of it. Dealing with this reality is not exactly a specialty of mine. In fact, I'm personally more of a "ignore serious stuff until external circumstances force you to deal with it" kind of guy. A flaw for sure, but I'm just being real. I'm incredibly grateful for entertainment like this, because it allows me to work through all of the "what if's" and process what I'm feeling internally- which is presently fear, and sadness, and the feeling of powerlessness to prevent the inevitable. If you've ever dealt with a family illness or the loss of someone you care about, you'll know that these feelings are common. Unfortunately, death is more apart of life than it isn't, and the chances are high that we'll all experience it at some point in our lives. Oh, you and I are going to die some day too, but that's also one of those "suppress until you absolutely have to deal with it" kind of things I was talking about. Point is, games like Gris are so important to dealing with life, and it's many challenges. Gris was therapeutic to working through my feelings (therapy for only 15$! What a steal!), and the ending had me crying actual tears of joy, sadness, and relief.

More than anything, I believe that Gris wants you to know that whatever you're going through, it will be okay. In the face of despair, the best weapon you have is the action of progress. Get out of bed, put on some nice clothes, go hang out with some friends (even if you don't really feel up to it), or start a new video game. Whatever you do, don't give up, don't let grief overcome you. But most importantly: keep moving forward. Thanks for reading, Jake