Journey Review

[Rabid Toilet]

Did you read the review? Pretty sure I explained that.

Gameplay-wise, the review mentioned simple puzzles, collecting, and co-op. That's fine, it's pretty common.
It doesn't seem fun enough to deserve so much praise, or worth $15 for so little game time.

It's less of a "game" and more of a work of art. The game mechanics are there as a way to enhance and deliver the experience, rather than be the focus.

It gets so much praise not for the gameplay, but for the amazing experience that it is. The music, story, and gameplay all work together to craft an unforgettable gem of a game. That's why everyone loves it.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Did you read the review? Pretty sure I explained that.

Gameplay-wise, the review mentioned simple puzzles, collecting, and co-op. That's fine, it's pretty common.
It doesn't seem fun enough to deserve so much praise, or worth $15 for so little game time.

It's less of a "game" and more of a work of art. The game mechanics are there as a way to enhance and deliver the experience, rather than be the focus.

It gets so much praise not for the gameplay, but for the amazing experience that it is. The music, story, and gameplay all work together to craft an unforgettable gem of a game. That's why everyone loves it.

The toilet is right.

And he knows shit when he sees it.

[sub]I'll get my coat...[/sub]

 

[luckycharms8282]

I would play it...if I had a PS3. Of course the one system this game is on I dont have said system.

 

[scorptatious]

Journey really was a fantastic game. I'll admit, at first I felt it to be a little too short for a game that has a $15 price tag. But when I read the trophy requirements, I realized I have missed out on a bunch of stuff. Even then, I still wanted to play through it again.

The game's multiplayer is also really well done. Despite the anonymity of the players behind the people I traveled with, I felt a connection between us. I found myself making sure they were with me and stayed close to them. At the end of the game:

Spoiler

As I was heading up towards the mountain, I looked back as I went up the golden sparkles and wondered where my friend had gone. I assumed he got disconnected as I went up. To my surprise, I found him/her at the mountain waiting for me. It was a very happy moment for me. When I got down, he/she and I walked towards the light together.

As a result, on my second playthrough, I waited for the person that was with me at around the same spot before heading towards the light. Not very many games inspire this sense of camaraderie within me. I'm really glad I decided to play this game.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Frustrating. I've been waiting for a review of this, and all it tells me is that "I should play it".

Alright, fine. I will. I was hoping for a more substantial review, something that tells me what it is, but I guess it's just one of those things. So. Downloading now, and I curse the slow connection here that it will take an hour to download. We'll see what this is all about.

 

[Metalrocks]

i would love to play it but unfortunately its not available for the PC
it really looks interesting and different. pretty much like "the experiment"- aka "experience 112". or even the void in that matter.
i hope a pc version is planed for the future.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

What a load of artsy bollocks. So it is a desert trekking, problem solving game with its own distinct art style and a good soundtrack and the reviewer is just smitten in adoration? Walking, jumping and problem solving, where is the originality? It is done in a few hours, where is the longevity? It is a journey, but apart from ticking all the artistic boxes, is it fun?

Because it looks as pretty as a picture, but it doesn't look fun.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Frustrating. I've been waiting for a review of this, and all it tells me is that "I should play it".

Alright, fine. I will. I was hoping for a more substantial review, something that tells me what it is, but I guess it's just one of those things. So. Downloading now, and I curse the slow connection here that it will take an hour to download. We'll see what this is all about.

All this, right here? Ignore all this. This isn't relevant anymore.

Having just played it, my mind is BLOWN. I had no idea this is what I was missing when people suggested play it. Best $15 I've spent in a long time. Fantastic experience. I poured myself a beer right before starting, and hadn't touched it after the first few minutes. I haven't done that before, mind. I'd love to be able to say something to the people playing, but I don't know if I would dare ruin what they've established. Absolutely wonderful.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

What a load of artsy bollocks. So it is a desert trekking, problem solving game with its own distinct art style and a good soundtrack and the reviewer is just smitten in adoration? Walking, jumping and problem solving, where is the originality? It is done in a few hours, where is the longevity? It is a journey, but apart from ticking all the artistic boxes, is it fun?

Because it looks as pretty as a picture, but it doesn't look fun.

It absolutely is fun. But it's not fun in the same way a shooter is fun, or the way Saint's Row is fun. It's fun in the way of self exploration, revelation, and fulfillment are fun. It's got all the art pieces, yes, but this isn't a museum tour. This is the gaming equivalent of seeing the natural beauty in the world, or that wonderful breath after emerging from underwater, having held your breath for awhile. Try it.

 

[blackrave]

too bad it is not on Steam

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

What a load of artsy bollocks. So it is a desert trekking, problem solving game with its own distinct art style and a good soundtrack and the reviewer is just smitten in adoration? Walking, jumping and problem solving, where is the originality? It is done in a few hours, where is the longevity? It is a journey, but apart from ticking all the artistic boxes, is it fun?

Because it looks as pretty as a picture, but it doesn't look fun.

It absolutely is fun. But it's not fun in the same way a shooter is fun, or the way Saint's Row is fun. It's fun in the way of self exploration, revelation, and fulfillment are fun. It's got all the art pieces, yes, but this isn't a museum tour. This is the gaming equivalent of seeing the natural beauty in the world, or that wonderful breath after emerging from underwater, having held your breath for awhile. Try it.

Ahh, you think I'm shooter guy, perhaps a 15 year old hyper-kid? Got to have the blood and the death and the endless cover based shooting? Truly I'm not interested in that. I don't play Saint's Row either. Self exploration, revelation, fulfillment, I don't buy this game can give it. There is no real revelation, knowing and fulfillment in a pretty two hour game.

Now I love tea, relaxation, nature, tuning out. The review? I don't see natural beauty in the review. It has its colours, its style, it tries to look big, but it seems to be just a linear journey. Some problem solving, some possible coop.

I get that some people want to lap it up. Talk it up. Talk about how deep it is, even though it is only a few hours of traversing paintings and puzzles. For a lot of reviewers, for some players, this is big. It looks pretty ugly to me though--not ugly in the sense of a grey shooter, no, a mostly empty world, with little to do, but walk, problem-solve, hop. You talk about natural beauty? It has nothing on a great sunset. It is an art cloak, thrown over our eyes to try and make us love it. It tires to say, take games seriously they are art, I just want to know what I can do and what worlds are there to explore? What if I don't want to go through a damn desert? Oh, sorry, there is nothing beyond our constructed sands, vistas and the interiors of the short journey.

I'm not paying for a linear journey of two hours, without excitement, no matter how pretty it is. If I want pretty, there is the actual outdoors, hiking, or gazing at a picture and really knowing it. Shogun 2 does pretty too, but also adds strategy, the complexity of war and battle with replay value. Some are smitten by the journey, I just wonder, what is there to do? What can you do and for how long? Because the deserts will get old, and the puzzles can be solved. Then what? The artistic game is done. It can relax us later but no one is going to ascend into a higher being by watching a cloaked person run through the desert and solve some puzzles.

Thank you for the reply though, we are having a discussion here on worth and games.

 

[Vrach]

Why is this PS3 exclusive? Why, Why, Why? T_T

Cause Sony bought them off

Will Journey be available on other platforms?

"Journey" is our third project in a 3-game deal with PlayStation, so unfortunately you won't be seeing it on any other platforms in the foreseeable future. When we were poor kids out of college, Sony offered to fund three games from us, which was a dream come true. There's no way we could have made "flOw" or "Flower" or "Journey". The catch is - they are all exclusive to the PS3.

 

[blackrave]

Ahh, you think I'm shooter guy, perhaps a 15 year old hyper-kid? Got to have the blood and the death and the endless cover based shooting? Truly I'm not interested in that. I don't play Saint's Row either. Self exploration, revelation, fulfillment, I don't buy this game can give it. There is no real revelation, knowing and fulfillment in a pretty two hour game.

Now I love tea, relaxation, nature, tuning out. The review? I don't see natural beauty in the review. It has its colours, its style, it tries to look big, but it seems to be just a linear journey. Some problem solving, some possible coop.

I get that some people want to lap it up. Talk it up. Talk about how deep it is, even though it is only a few hours of traversing paintings and puzzles. For a lot of reviewers, for some players, this is big. It looks pretty ugly to me though--not ugly in the sense of a grey shooter, no, a mostly empty world, with little to do, but walk, problem-solve, hop. You talk about natural beauty? It has nothing on a great sunset. It is an art cloak, thrown over our eyes to try and make us love it. It tires to say, take games seriously they are art, I just want to know what I can do and what worlds are there to explore? What if I don't want to go through a damn desert? Oh, sorry, there is nothing beyond our constructed sands, vistas and the interiors of the short journey.

I'm not paying for a linear journey of two hours, without excitement, no matter how pretty it is. If I want pretty, there is the actual outdoors, hiking, or gazing at a picture and really knowing it. Shogun 2 does pretty too, but also adds strategy, the complexity of war and battle with replay value. Some are smitten by the journey, I just wonder, what is there to do? What can you do and for how long? Because the deserts will get old, and the puzzles can be solved. Then what? The artistic game is done. It can relax us later but no one is going to ascend into a higher being by watching a cloaked person run through the desert and solve some puzzles.

Thank you for the reply though, we are having a discussion here on worth and games.

Well have you tried it?
There are a lot of things in the world that looks bad from the outside, but are actually good (like Minecraft for example)
I know I had similar feelings about The Longest Journey (not related) and it's sequel Dreamfall
Looks like another Quest/Adventure, I thought, and 2 games later I realized I was wrong
There are games that aren't worth anyone's time, but if people you trust (and after Bastion I trust Susan) claims that game is good, you should give it at least a try.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

So are you saying I should buy a game, that I'll be done with in about two hours? How much is it? If I want to have an experience with nature, wouldn't it be better to watch national geographic or David Attenborough?

 

[blackrave]

So are you saying I should buy a game, that I'll be done with in about two hours? How much is it? If I want to have an experience with nature, wouldn't it be better to watch national geographic or David Attenborough?

2h? Susan claimed that Bastion is 6h game, but it took me almost 3 times longer than that (and I'm not bad gamer) to finish it. I think those are 2 reviewer hours, and those are like dog hours. So I guess it actually could be closer to 5-6h. Anyway it depends on price, if it's 60$ game, then no. But if it's 10-15$ game then why not? If it's digital only it could be even cheaper.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

I was referring to the journey. As for bastion, not that interested either.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Ahh, you think I'm shooter guy, perhaps a 15 year old hyper-kid? Got to have the blood and the death and the endless cover based shooting? Truly I'm not interested in that. I don't play Saint's Row either. Self exploration, revelation, fulfillment, I don't buy this game can give it. There is no real revelation, knowing and fulfillment in a pretty two hour game.

Now I love tea, relaxation, nature, tuning out. The review? I don't see natural beauty in the review. It has its colours, its style, it tries to look big, but it seems to be just a linear journey. Some problem solving, some possible coop.

I get that some people want to lap it up. Talk it up. Talk about how deep it is, even though it is only a few hours of traversing paintings and puzzles. For a lot of reviewers, for some players, this is big. It looks pretty ugly to me though--not ugly in the sense of a grey shooter, no, a mostly empty world, with little to do, but walk, problem-solve, hop. You talk about natural beauty? It has nothing on a great sunset. It is an art cloak, thrown over our eyes to try and make us love it. It tires to say, take games seriously they are art, I just want to know what I can do and what worlds are there to explore? What if I don't want to go through a damn desert? Oh, sorry, there is nothing beyond our constructed sands, vistas and the interiors of the short journey.

I'm not paying for a linear journey of two hours, without excitement, no matter how pretty it is. If I want pretty, there is the actual outdoors, hiking, or gazing at a picture and really knowing it. Shogun 2 does pretty too, but also adds strategy, the complexity of war and battle with replay value. Some are smitten by the journey, I just wonder, what is there to do? What can you do and for how long? Because the deserts will get old, and the puzzles can be solved. Then what? The artistic game is done. It can relax us later but no one is going to ascend into a higher being by watching a cloaked person run through the desert and solve some puzzles.

Thank you for the reply though, we are having a discussion here on worth and games.

Well, so as not to make you disgruntled, I apologize for using only shooters as a reference. Fun in games comes in many lights, and this brief affair is a distinct kind of fun not found in pretty much any other game. You seem to be unfortunately caught up on a pretense that this is all about the art, and it's not. It's about an experience. It's the video game equivalent of seeing a sunrise from atop a mountain, of finding something absolutely serene and letting that serenity reflect into your life.

The review honestly does it no justice, with all apologies to Susan, though I understand why she kept so much of what the game is out of the review. The world feels enormous, and as you traverse it and it's many landscapes, you find a sort of solace in your self. It's not exactly linear, with several different ways to go from one point to another, but the purposefully limited mechanics make for a kind of solidarity with the people you end up playing alongside (and I thoroughly recommend trying to find someone to play the whole experience with, if you can).

You make the statement of "without excitement", but the music, atmosphere, environment, and gameplay all blend seamlessly to build excitement in ways that no other medium can. Staring at a picture may entice your eyes, but as you control the character, a variety of your senses are receiving stimuli, and it all blends together perfectly.

Because this is a discussion of worth, I'd like to tell you that Journey is absolutely worth it, if you're willing to give it a chance. For what this is worth, it's not something like Braid, where the art and the pretense around it cause people to forget that the underlying game isn't exactly well worked out. Before playing it, I'd had expectations of it being an overly praised game without enough gameplay to back up the acclaim, but after playing it, I'm on the other side. Between the way you learn to communicate with a partner to way the events play out, it's all almost insidiously heartwarming.

If you're worried about replay value, then know that it's medium to high, and that there's probably always something to marvel at in each playthrough. It is a short game, only a couple of hours from tip to tail, but it is a thoroughly complete experience. I've played it twice as of writing, and both times I played in near-reverent awe. If you find yourself willing to give it a try, I wholeheartedly suggest doing so. Even if you have doubts, or want to believe it's all just hype, then try it out. Because, in a discussion of worth, this is a title that's absolutely worth it.

 

[Ralen-Sharr]

couldn't you buy a PS3, play Journey and then return the PS3? It did say the game was kinda short.
I know everyone wants to play it on their native platform. I know I do.