How Gris Made You Cry With Its Colors

Gris is an experience unlike most games you’ll find in that it gives you an intimate glimpse into the psyche of someone dealing with grief. And it’s through this game’s dynamic use of color that it does so. In this episode of Psych of Play, we will be taking a truly deep dive into the world of Gris and how it uses its colors and in game mechanics to illustrate the complexities of loss and bereavement.

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-Games Shown

Gris (2018) - Nomada Studio
Final Fantasy X (2001) - SquareSoft
Celeste (2018) - Matt Makes Games
Astral Chain (2019) - Platinum Games
Portal 2 (2011) - Valve
Kingdom Hearts 2 (2005) - Square Enix
Pokemon Sword & Shield (2019) - Game Freak
Mortal Kombat 11 (2019) - Nether Realm Studios

-Research Articles Cited

5 stages explained:

Color Overview Article:

Color exposure tests:

VR Arm Study:

Blue Streetlights overview:

Blue Streetlights support:

Night Shift on Iphone:

Skin Conductance and Emotion:

Dev interview & cut art:

Additive and Subtractive Color Mixing:

GRIS and Grief:

-Clips/Movies Shown

Flavors of Youth (2018)
Good Will Hunting (1998)
Inside Out (2015)
Dororo (2019)
Marriage Story (2019)
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (2005)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
The Garden of Words (2013)
La La Land (2016)
Beauty and The Beast (1991)
Southpaw (2015)

-Music Sources:

Inside the Mind - Ryan Taubert
Gris Pt 1. - Berlinist
Memories - David A. Molina
Transformation One - Analog Heart
Starting Over - Roland Lewis
Don't Go - Chris Coleman
Blood in the Water - Luke Atencio
7:42 AM (Lowercase Noises Remix) · Hotel Neon
Unagi - Berlinist
Before you fall asleep - jhove
Kindle - Roary

#PsychofPlay #GRIS

[tj]

Daryl: The colors of Gris represent the 5 stages of grief

Me: Ooohh pretty colors, I like this game

[cuervus_]

I really like how the black inky creatures can't actually hurt you, but they still make you and Gris feel in danger

[Ms.kittyreads]

My boyfriend and I had the opportunity to play this game after his sister committed suicide and took with her his nephew. We didn't knew what was the topic of the game when we started to play, we simply bought it because the art style was beautiful and we were eager to distract our minds from the pain and sorrow.
Playing the game allowed us to have a meaningful conversation about the situation and, on a certain way, experience the feelings with Gris.
It was really meaningful for us to have found this game when we did. And I'm forever grateful to the developers for this masterpiece.

[LambHoot]

I used to do all my tests in college in blue ink after noticing graders were more lenient when I did it accidentally once. No clue if it was really the cause or not, but I like to believe I’ve got the calming effect of the colour blue to thank for at least a few of the partial marks I got back in the day lol

[zion]

I disagree with the interpretation that the underwater turtle represents anger, and the symbolism of red in general as anger in the game. Granted, the color red is distinctly used in the stage of grief called anger, and you talk in the end about how the model of the five stages of grief isn’t always so clean and simple in application, but I also think red has an association with passion, and just heightened emotion in general. The turtle never seems angry at all, all its actions are slow and gentle, and it’s sound design has it making cute and woeful noises. Because of this, my instinct makes it almost feel to me more like a representation of self-love. Or, with the shape it takes, it almost seems like it could be Gris’s heart, with the many light balls she’s getting in the underwater section acting as if she’s slowly piecing her heart back together, and learning how to love herself again, for it to come and burst through the doubt/anxiety/negativity eel in the end. I know a lot of this is just subjective experience, especially with a game that aims to broadly and wordlessly represent grief through mostly simple colors, but it just feels weird hearing the turtle claimed as representing anger when it just never seemed to do anything associated with anger to me. I think the stage called anger is a bad name regardless of this game though, as I think for many people it can be more like sadness, but that’s a beef for another day. I just wanted to give my two cents, but I also want to end by saying Gris is one of my favorite games of all time though, and I love so much of the interpretation and research you do in this video!! I think because I love the game so much it causes me to be passionate about the nitty-gritty details. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else agrees or disagrees with me in other comments as well!

[LateNightPC]

One of the details I really loved in the Depression chapter, was how Gris is only really able to escape safely due to the companion she made. Having a kind and helpful shoulder to lean on when in trouble is always a welcome aid when battling against depression. It might not be easy, but you have friends and family that care about you, even if you may not realize it. They don't want to see you hurting, so let them help out where they can, and you might be able to escape from grief in a better state than without them.

[lincolnbeckett]

I played this game back when I had really bad depression, and it was as for every colour I regained in game, I got the ability to feel that emotion again in real life. This game was the most emotionally freeing game I've ever played in my life.

[Not_Aaron_]

It's amazing how color can have such an impact on your feelings! Well made Daryl!

[FlutterSwag]

Depression often leads to Apathy and if I've learned anything from self work its that anger is the 1st emotion to spring up when you start accepting you're not ok.


Angry for being depressed, angry for wasting time, angry for not being good enough and you can't run from the anger you have to let it out.


The anger will be your 1st true emotion in a long time and it'll allow you to start feeling so you can learn to express more and more if you let it.


But to often we are told anger is bad in all forms so repress and continue in our dark cavern

[creepstr]

I played this with my mom and she started crying at the end becuase she related to it so much.
She's also a therapist and is recommending this game to some of her clients that might need it

[Bentothethird]

You can actually attempt to sing the entire game, fun fact.

[TheAlmightyJello]

I honestly love how they point out how the 5 stages aren't separate, but bleed into each other. Sometimes it does just feel like you're in 3 stages at once. I know after my dad passed away really suddenly when I was 11, it felt like I was in anger, depression and bargaining all at once.

[Arty_Nah]

I feel like another reason bargaining is shown as green is because we associate it to money.

[anna]

To add to a connection between blue and depression - severe depression often "calms" and "relaxes" you. Not in the healthy way for sure, but it kinda feels like it sometimes. Sure not in all cases, but you stop feeling (or start feeling less and less) emotions, and it can be kinda interpreted as calming, especially considering that fact that your emotions in this case are more and mostly (or all) negative. You go from constant anger, hysteria, self-blaming, nervousness, anxiety and other "amazing" things depression gives you to basically nothing - hopelessness stays, but in the "I'll never be okay again and I don't care about it anymore". People often even convince themselves that they should stop caring about things (ALL things) and just go with the flow to the wanted death, that it's "just how life is, can't do anything so should stop caring". And as you said, the more you stop caring and start avoiding and accepting, the harder it is to find the way out. But it kinda has an impact on both your mind and your body. You "relax" after constant stress and constant feelings, you just stop caring.
And yes, it also portrays kinda the loss of energy and passion (from red to blue, you see).

[warriorcatskid]

Gris actually made me cry when the little tree buddy left to go join his friends

[prisimgrunt]

Honestly, the timing of the Eel jumpscare(? I wish I could find another way to describe it) is perfect. The scary music subsides, but you're still on your toes for most of that section. By the time the Eel reappears, you've grown accustomed to the low, spaced-apart lights and it's been just long enough for you to let your guard down. Which, in real life, is exactly what brings the dark thoughts back: letting your guard down.

[EtraGames]

Fantastic, as always. The psychological relation to color was fascinating to hear about, however I think this video leaned much more towards being a general analysis of GRIS as well, Which is fantastic because after playing the game I did not find any videos to help me fully understand what the developers were going for. The emotional themes also made this feel a bit like your gaming from the heart episode. What I’m trying to get at Is the psychology, analysis, and emotion all in this video I feel is a great representation of what this channel is about, and a great vid overall.

[layZteeeen]

Another insteresting thing i noticed is that, throughout the game, once you complete a stage, the stars of light that you have collected rise into the sky and bit by bit form a seemingly random constellation. It is only at the very end of the game, once acceptance has been reached, that you realise it is this constellation that makes up the final pathway for Gris to climb and escape her grief.

For me, these stars symbolise the lessons you pick up along the way, even (or maybe especially) during your lowest points of anger, depression and self-destruction. In the moment, you may not even realise that lessons are being learned, and it is only at the end that they come together and you realise the purpose of everything you went through and how every lesson you learned was necessary to find peace at last.

[GabrielAjovedi]

I don't know why, but I had an incredibly strong reaction to this video. Im a grown man and I dont really cry...ever. But this video...made me cry...and I dont quite understand why. Last time I cried was watching Steins Gate something like 8 years ago, and it was very obvious to me why I cryed then - it felt very different this time. I look forward to playing this game and trying to understand it better (both the game and myself). So many emotions in just 20 minutes, it feels kind of unreal. Well done.

[Chris-Moore]

No matter what creative project you're pursuing (illustration, for me), video games as a medium can provide so many insights and inspirations. Great content as always!