Last year a free-to-play flash game was uploaded to the internet and created by seemingly one person named Neutronized. This game goes by the name of Sky Island, and has exactly the same concept of mixing 2D with 3D perspectives as in FEZ. The difference is that while FEZ is an artsy game, this game is a puzzle platformer with enemies, obstacles and the ability to lose. Basically the difference is that there’s challenge involved. The game has a strikingly similar art style to FEZ, and the concept of “collecting enough number of X to advance” is in this game as well, only there are stars instead of cubes. Furthermore, the game is actually pretty fun and has decent music. For a game that’s free, it sure seems pretty awesome.
But it’s so similar to FEZ, this just doesn’t rub me the right way. Something fishy is going on here. Somebody is ripping off somebody else and I’m not sure who it is, but this game was released about a year ago so maybe FEZ is somehow secretly based on it? Either that or Sky Island is a stolen idea… It’s also interesting to note that the beginning of FEZ does in fact take place on a sky island… Heck, the game is filled with sky islands. I really don’t know what’s going on here, but there is no way that the similarity between these two games is a coincidence. There has to be some connection, I’m just unsure of what exactly. I smell a mystery to unravel… Anyway, you can check out the game in the source link below and decide for yourself. It might be prudent to spread the word about this situation, it’s got suspicious written all over it.
Source: Neutronized
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9 comments on this post.
Woah. Yeah, that’s pretty significant. I mean, they could have taken the idea from Fez, since I think it was being developed at least before 2010. Then again, Super Paper Mario did the idea too, even though in this case the art syle is also the same.
Oh, look at that. Wikipedia confirmed my thoughts.
“Fez features 2D/3D perspective shifts in a manner similar to Super Paper Mario and Crush. The use of Escher-like optical illusions also predominates gameplay in a manner similar to Echochrome. Gameplay is similar to that of Neutronized’s Sky Island, a Flash game released in 2011 which was itself inspired by the unreleased Fez.”
Pretty interesting stuff, thanks for that.
Fez has been in development for around 5 years. And the final product is so far beyond a platformer, I wouldn’t compare it to any other game.
I thought that the developer claimed to have been working on the game for 17 years. I’m not really sure though, 5 years makes a lot more sense.
I understand your point but not comparing it to other games would imply that it is more sacred than other games and shouldn’t be compared, I don’t really agree.
No, in saying that, I mean that it evolves over the course of the game into something extremely unique. Something that is definitely not a platformer. There really is no direct peer for this game, that I can think of. Have you played through it?
Hamster doesn’t own a 360 so he hasn’t played it, but I have and I agree. After playing for around 5 hours, I can tell that Fez is more than just the sum of its parts. Yeah platforming is a big part of it, but the best way I can describe it is that its an exploration game that really challenges the player to think. The world is cryptic and full of secrets which I also love.
Dude, those games are so freaking similar. Now I’m really intrigued. In the Indie Game Movie that Phish guy was having trouble with his old partner. Maybe it has something to do with that. But I’d love to know the truth behind this.
Yeah the similarities are big, but coincidences do happen. Either way, I’ve played both and though they’re similar, they’re both unique and fun in different ways.