I completely missed Fez when it as hot and people were figuring out all the crazy shit that was going on (Of which I have not a single clue about). Now that no one is talking about it besides for GOTY considerations, is it still worth playing? And is it worth playing if I will probably end up using a guide to figure out whatever the crazy madness is?

Why not just YouTube the 'crazy madness' and save yourself the trouble. Otherwise, if you want to play it, play it. How can it make any difference if no one else is playing it right now? That's like saying 'oh I can't watch Star Wars because no one's watching that anymore....'

Silly question. Of course it's still worth playing.

What he means is that in the thick of it all, people were all over forums together conspiring over the true meanings of the secrets and trying to crack the code together. That's something that'd be hard to come by now that everyone's played it and it's all out there.  
I've been actually thinking the same thing myself, OP, dunno if I want to play it with everything out there. 

I don't think so. I just bought it a couple weeks ago and with the density I've sensed in it from the couple hours I've played of it, I don't see myself being able to give it its due with all the other stuff I'm catching up on. Really depends on your backlog though.

Play as much as you can on your own, exploring and clearing rooms on your map. But bear in mind that there's more than just the basic rotation platforming concept, that anything you see (such as writing on a wall) might have a purpose.

Also, certain areas cannot be solved until you beat the game once. Best not to consult the Internet until you know you're totally stuck on something on your second playthrough. Then look up that specific room and prepare to have your mind blown.

Nah. Fez is way overrated. Plus, the in-game map is horribly useless.

@Jrinswand said:

Nah. Fez is way overrated. Plus, the in-game map is horribly useless.

I agree completely. I love "indie" games, downloadable, smaller niche titles, but I don't think Fez is great. I think it's cool for a couple hours, and then it gets suuuuuuuper boring.

@Zereta: Don't expect the same grand revelations and jaw dropping twist the Bomb crew suggest. It's a neat platformer and there are some cool puzzles but a lot of it requires quite a leap of logic. Overall fun game and interesting puzzles so yah go for it.

It's worth playing. I found all the post-completion super-deep puzzles to be too much of a time commitment, but the main game is worth playing even if you don't ever solve all the crazier stuff.

Fez is fantastic.Definitely play it, and when you get stuck just come back here and read the old forum posts.

Still a fun game, just won't have the mystery of wtf going around the internet when it came out when everyone was trying to figure it out. Get it, see how far you can get & believe by now the GB site has enough data on the pages/forums to get you through the rest of this little gem of a game.

Definitely.

Thanks for the advice guys! Yea, part of the appeal of the game, as far as I can tell, was being part of that blitz of internet detective style madness that was part of the experience when the game first launched. Fez might be a great game regardless but part of the reason why its being mentioned in GOTY lists is because of those crazy times :)

Seeing as I already missed the sale, if nothing else I like goes on sale (I only have a 1000 points), I'll buy Fez! Thanks again guys!

@Fistoh: @Zereta: I mean, you can still get the feel of the crazy blitz of internet detectives by looking up those forums (I'd consider Giant Bomb's thread a good example of what the staff was talking about). It's not like Fez needs to be tied to that hoop-lah. I didn't buy it when it was out and fresh, so I wasn't a part of that. Still, it's one of THE best moments I've had in a game, just because of the things you're able to solve AND HOW THE FUCK YOU WERE ABLE TO DO IT HOLY SHIT FEZ. When it gets impossible, don't feel spoiled by looking at a walkthrough. Your mind will get blown regardless.

It seems like Fez is worth equating to an ARG, so I will do so.

I don't think Fez is a very good game. I think there are parts of Fez that were definitely incredible, but only when there was a mystery to solve.

Fez brought people together for a common goal but that's over now and all we're left with is an answer, and the answer is never as satisfying as the journey to it.

Anyone who plays Fez now will never really understand what made people go so crazy for it like they did, and as such it's going to be remembered as that one indie puzzle platformer that did something different and not something gamechanging.

Yes

You may have missed the code-cracking zeitgeist, but the game is still a great experience. The GB crew suggested that, when you go to play it, don't even look at the internet for clues until you've seen the first ending, because you can easily beat the game the first time by simply exploring and picking up the yellow cube and cube-bits. A handful of the anti-cube puzzles are relatively simple as well, so that makes reaching the magical 32 much easier the first time around.