Fez

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Remember the excitement we all felt when we first saw Super Paper Mario? Remember the disappointment when the beef of the game turned out to be a gimmick that quickly wore thin? What were we left with? A watered down version of Paper Mario, filled to the brim with sub-par characters who churned out excessive and charmless dialogue.

Sorry to bring back painful memories, but it’s time to wipe the tears from your eyes my darlings- a little gem that popped up over GDC 08 looks like it might well be ready to psyche itself up to carry the torch with more success (well, unless the developers decide to do something drastic like invade Tibet.)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVwoTR5kWCQ

Think Cave Story but with little red hats, and no guns. Or monsters, probably. Also, throw a touch of Jenga into the mix – although I can’t for the life of me come up with a terribly coherent reason for this comparison… To top it off it even feels reminiscent of Nifflas’ incredible Knytt; slowly scaling these blocky fortresses as you climb through the sky looks like it might give Fez the same delightful sense of progress through exploration. If you’ve not played these classics then you’ve no excuse – they’re free, and bloody excellent. Apart from Jenga which you’ll probably have to buy in a shop, unless of course you’re closely related to Ray Mears.

It’s looking to be an exciting year for innovation in games though, isn’t it? Hidden amongst the hype for the constant torrent of next-gen games which strive to break graphical boundaries but struggle to ever really offer anything new, it’s thrilling to see that two of the most innovative titles being currently produced are effectively 2D.

Braid, which allows you to play with time and space in a manner which can only described as breathtaking (read our excellent preview if you’ve not already), and now this.

Fez then eh? Exciting! Does it remind anyone else of Jenga? Or am I just mental?