Video games are art. There is no doubt in my mind about that. You can point to visually stunning games like Journey, or truly emotional masterpieces like Telltale’s The Walking Dead to justify the claim. Since art is subjective, one’s interpretation of what makes a game art might not be what another would consider art. Unfortunately this is where I find myself with the indie PS4 game Iris Fall.
First and foremost, Iris Fall is a PS4 and Switch and I think PC puzzle game that reminded me A LOT of something like Lost in Shadow on the Wii. The game has you interacting with the foreground and background in order to create pathways and advance to the next stage. This is primarily done by jumping into the shadows of a zone and using the newly-created platforms to reach switches and levers you otherwise couldn’t, and then reverting back and progressing. It’s simple, the puzzles offer a decent challenge, and the whole things is over quite quickly: I think I platinumed the game after only 4 hours, and if you don’t suck like I do you could probably be done even sooner.
Where the game confuses me isn’t in the puzzle mechanics. Or in the controls (which are in much need of improvement) or camera angles. It’s in the story.
From what I can say seeing it through to completion (and not wanting to give any spoilers) the game is largely focusing on grief and loss. What starts as something whimsical and surreal eventually becomes dark and morbid. The broad strokes are not lost on me. Where I think I find confusion is not quite knowing what all the motifs are supposed to represent.
For example, there are lots of eyes in the game. Are these to represent being watched constantly? Or they perhaps a reference to the old man or woman that bookend the games, maybe oppressing our main character? And what about the dolls and masks? I’m assuming it’s something like putting on a nice face getting through things, but I think without any signs of dialogue the “ah ha” moment was lost to me. And then there’s the cat that leads you from zone to zone. Is that cat supposed to be the main characters parents guiding them through the struggle? Is it some divine intervention helping us get through things? I’m just not sure.
As I sat on this article for some time, I found myself thinking more and more about Iris Fall. Maybe the dolls and mechanical toys toward the end are supposed to be everyone else conforming and doing what society asks of them, and me having to literally run in the shadows to get around them is commentary on the subjugation of a working class and poor society. Does the title of the game itself, Iris Fall, hint at the overarching theme; does my eye (the “Iris”) have to look away (“Fall”) in order to not see what is going on around me and just accept things as they are? Even if I do not want too? Is the game presented in all black & white because of artistic choice, or is it to illicit even more responses about darkness and shadows and harm.
And then it became clear; or at least as clear as I think I can make it. Iris Fall is art. It’s an interactive piece of art. While I am sure my interpretation is not entirely what the developers, NeXt Studios, had in mind, I think the grand strokes are not lost on me. And the game had me thinking well after I put the controller down. And just like any piece of art, isn’t that what is supposed to happen? Extrapolating and inferring what is meant to be the case given the context of my own subjective reality? Iris Fall invited me to explore a world created out of someone’s experiences, their thoughts, their fears. And upon completion draw my own conclusion based on my beliefs and my life.
Or I could be way off. Maybe it’s just a game about jumping into shadows and doing rudimentary puzzles. What do you think?
Laters,
Jsick
(PS: The game wasn’t all that good, and I honestly do not recommend it as there are other, better games that do what this game does mechanically. It suffers from poor controls and some frustrating camera angles.)
