Journey Review

[Rodrigo Girao]

I am severely disappointed by the lack of "Don't Stop Believing", "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)", and "Wheel In The Sky" in this game's soundtrack!

 

[purifico]

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?

Yes you should buy the game that you will be done with in two hours. Because I, and a lot of other people think it's fun. Yeah, you could absolutely watch National Geographic for a beautiful shot of a sunset in a desert or a blizzard in the mountains, but it will not be the same, because all National Geographic does is offer you a pretty picture - Journey offers you an experience. (Pro tip: if you want to have an experience with nature it is always best to go outside). And, unless you have ever gone on a pilgimage with a sort of mute stranger and bested deserts and high mountaintops with him in real life, it will be something absolutely unique.

But honestly, judging from your comments it looks like you don't really need anyones advice on whether to buy or not to buy Journey, as you seem to have already made up your mind on the matter.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

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.

I love how this is the general scenario.

Before Journey - 'What's the big deal? Fine, I'll try it, a bit expensive though...'

Spoiler: After Journey

When we're just about to think that video games can't get any better, something like this comes along and blows us away.

 

[Susan Arendt]

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.

I get it, I really do. I was completely skeptical before I played it. I saw the gushing praise from my fellow game journos and scoffed. They were just getting caught up in the hype and ooo, it's indie! and all that. It can't actually be that good, I thought, they're just freaking out because it's not the same old shooter. And then I actually played it. I completely understand why you're inclined to write it off, but this isn't about it being pretty, and I'd urge you not to fixate on the length. Yes, it's short, and it's not very "game"y, but it's really very special. You'll notice I never called it an "art" game, because that isn't what it is, despite its inherent loveliness. If you focus on the activities, the puzzle solving and whatnot, it'll never seem worth it, but you can't really judge Journey's worth by using the typical game metrics.It's just not that kind of thing.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

It sounds worthwhile, like there is a lot to it. I'll try it sometime.

 

[Dastardly]

Journey Review

Quietly masterful.

Read Full Article

There have been two games I've played in which the travel was more fun than the game itself (and not because the game was bad). The first was The Wind Waker's sailing -- the combination of the music, the waves, the weather, the sweeping lines suggesting the wind, it really felt epic. The second was Spiderman 2 -- never in any game before or since have I really felt a game nailed a superhero's travel ability.

When I experience this game, it feels like someone climbed into my head and pulled out the core of those moments, then assembled them into a separate experience. There are some folks behind this game that have a very firm grasp on the artistry of world creation and interaction.

In music (or even sound engineering), there is a great way to create the illusion of a three-dimensional space: you have a very acoustically "wet" (high reverb) background, contrasted with a very "dry" (low reverb) foreground. The effect it creates is simultaneously spacious and intimate... like you're standing next to someone whispering to you in a massive cavern.

I think that's what Journey does to me.

Visually, you're in a massive setting, but it's relatively flat. That allows you to see into the distance, and really feel the space. The choice to keep you so far zoomed out from your avatar keeps you away from the "safety" of the screen's edge, and makes the world seem that much bigger. And the tiny touches, like the "wind" lines sweeping through, do just enough to make that space feel alive.

Mechanically, the travel is exactly right. In the real world, there's a reason we love riding with the top down, or speeding along in a boat, or anything that creates the sense of flying. You're out in the wind, you feel the rushing air, you get a direct, tactile sense of your speed and movement. Flight is the most liberating form of travel. The flight is animated and controlled in such a way that you can almost feel the pushing and pulling of the air around you, rather than just showing you a character propelled through empty space.

And socially, that's where the game really shines. Our "programming" as humans leads us to communicated out of mutual need. In games, we often spend a lot of the time not really needing each other (this includes both real and AI partners), and when we do, it's a simple, "Hey, go press that," and we're done. By removing the conduit of language, we're forced to watch more closely, to really "listen" to the other person in a visual sense. Our interaction is limited in format, but the communication still has weight.

This is a game that understands the emotional states it wants to achieve, and how to get them in a very authentic way. This kind of concept in abstract has real value, but it could also have tremendous impact on "normal" games, too.

This thing... it's like t'ai chi in video game form. (Or maybe it's an interactive haiku...)

 

[o_O]

Heard about Journey. Seemed like something interesting, and I need more reasons to use my PS3. When I saw it was for $15 I was about to give it a pass until a price drop, but then saw who made it. thatgamecompany/Jenova Chen. I loved the everloving crap out of fl0w back when it was a simple Flash game, and I *knew* that it would be worth it right then. Was not disappointed.

I will say with respect to the review that I'm pretty sure your partner carries through levels and the only time ya get a new one is if your current one drops. Probably one of the most disappointing times I've had was a guy I was playing with since the beginning dropping out midway through the underground cavern. I totally thought we'd reach the summit together. As for how I knew it was the same guy? We'd pick up where we left off at the start of each new level. You usually have to get in *some* kind of acclimation with a new guy, even if ya can't say a word to him.

I also never was able to be rubbed the wrong way by other players. Dunno how they could ever manage to irritate you since its literally impossible for them to effect you in any negative way, unless you think ping spamming is annoying (and even when they do that, I just write it off as them trying to say something to me).


On this thread and the game in general:

I think a friend said it best when the game was more akin to a spiritual/religious experience than anything. You really mesh into the world and with the other player; I'd go so far as to say that there should be *no* singleplayer mode at all.

Truly this is a game you cannot explain with mere words. You must play it to understand, for it is a wholly individual experience. Kinda like Minecraft in that sense I suppose, though for vastly different reasons.

As for the whitecloaks, I never seem to be able to play with any of them for longer than 5 minutes before they leave or something, despite I myself being whitecloak too (managed to collect everything in my first playthrough by scouring EVERYTHING; strangely it was an unintentional solo run too since no one joined for more than a few minutes). All my substantial runs with others have been with reds, which I find dead useful actually. Can actually tell who's who when we're close together.

 

[Sougo]

"...and it won't be made into a movie." Susan Arendt

I'd like to believe that, but these days as soon as anything gets popular enough, Hollywood grabs it and mutilates it to make a movie.

So yeah ... 2014 - Journey, the movie. Directed by Micheal Bay.
Seal up your heart and prepare to lose your money.

 

[Susan Arendt]

"...and it won't be made into a movie." Susan Arendt

I'd like to believe that, but these days as soon as anything gets popular enough, Hollywood grabs it and mutilates it to make a movie.

So yeah ... 2014 - Journey, the movie. Directed by Micheal Bay.
Seal up your heart and prepare to lose your money.

Yeah, I thought of that and decided that I would choose to believe it won't happen.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

After reading Susan's review (despite getting slight warning vibes out of the gushing, if wanky video portion), I rushed out to buy Journey.

What a waste of money.

A 90-minute, first year college wank-fest of pretentious art house crap.

It felt like something that would have passed as a technology demo just some five years ago, but never anything more than a free game, let alone a "full priced" arcade game. 12 Euros for what amounts to a

Spoiler

inept, wildly self-important metaphor of life and death, only to swing back and repeat itself

Ugh.

It's called "journey" but there's barely anything there to qualify even as a prologue. Never once does it feel like you're taking a long trip anywhere. Sure, scenery changes, but it happens at such a fast rate that it feels like the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "Summer went to autumn, autumn to winter, winter skipped summer and went straight back into autumn again."

Yes. It looks pretty. One of the prettiest games around. But no, it does not create some kind of "bond" between players, because the level design doesn't reward co-op experiences besides the obvious "you're stronger as one!" imagery.

What it results to is a wannabe short film, a very pretty cut scene that allows the player to every once in a while walk to the next pretty cut scene, with little investment in anything and nothing to gain.

Sure, it'll be a hit with the art-gang, the hipsters and the critics that love the sound of their own voice. But as for having that "thing" that makes gaming, well, gaming? Hah. It would need to be a game first.

"a wannabe short film"

It does look like that.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

Journey is this year's Portal.

I usually hate comparisons like that, but it's just that similar to Valve's short and sweet perfection.

Except there's no way it can spawn a meme that got boring 2 weeks after the game's release.

[sub]I hope...[/sub]

Challange accepted.......................................


............................... I got nothing.

Oh come on! It's staring you right in the face. Hell they could even get cheesy and use it for the marketing.

I'll give you one hint, and if you still can't see it I'll tell it to you, friend.

Hint to the possible meme; the games name.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

After reading Susan's review (despite getting slight warning vibes out of the gushing, if wanky video portion), I rushed out to buy Journey.

What a waste of money.

A 90-minute, first year college wank-fest of pretentious art house crap.

It felt like something that would have passed as a technology demo just some five years ago, but never anything more than a free game, let alone a "full priced" arcade game. 12 Euros for what amounts to a

Spoiler

inept, wildly self-important metaphor of life and death, only to swing back and repeat itself

Ugh.

It's called "journey" but there's barely anything there to qualify even as a prologue. Never once does it feel like you're taking a long trip anywhere. Sure, scenery changes, but it happens at such a fast rate that it feels like the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "Summer went to autumn, autumn to winter, winter skipped summer and went straight back into autumn again."

Yes. It looks pretty. One of the prettiest games around. But no, it does not create some kind of "bond" between players, because the level design doesn't reward co-op experiences besides the obvious "you're stronger as one!" imagery.

What it results to is a wannabe short film, a very pretty cut scene that allows the player to every once in a while walk to the next pretty cut scene, with little investment in anything and nothing to gain.

Sure, it'll be a hit with the art-gang, the hipsters and the critics that love the sound of their own voice. But as for having that "thing" that makes gaming, well, gaming? Hah. It would need to be a game first.

"a wannabe short film"

It does look like that.

Judge the game for yourself.

I disagree with everything Spider Jerusalem has said, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.

The only person who can form your opinion, is you.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

What a load of artsy bollocks. 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.

You kind of hit the nail on the head, as well as possible, when it comes to explaining how the game feels, or at least for one of the parts I liked in particular anyway. Specifically when you go from one area in the game to the next. It really does give you the feeling of going from under water to the surface, and back down again. I think that may be helped by how the player and the other creatures move in the world.

It is a little odd how a game mostly in the desert can make you feel like a fish swimming through water.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

What a load of artsy bollocks. 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.

You kind of hit the nail on the head, as well as possible, when it comes to explaining how the game feels, or at least for one of the parts I liked in particular anyway. Specifically when you go from one area in the game to the next. It really does give you the feeling of going from under water to the surface, and back down again. I think that may be helped by how the player and the other creatures move in the world.

It is a little odd how a game mostly in the desert can make you feel like a fish swimming through water.

I hadn't noticed that, but yeah, the movement is very indicative of a fish moving through water. The ever shifting environment flows about you, and your graceful movement is extremely fluid. Less fish and more jellyfish, now that I really think about it.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

"...and it won't be made into a movie." Susan Arendt

I'd like to believe that, but these days as soon as anything gets popular enough, Hollywood grabs it and mutilates it to make a movie.

So yeah ... 2014 - Journey, the movie. Directed by Micheal Bay.
Seal up your heart and prepare to lose your money.

Yeah, I thought of that and decided that I would choose to believe it won't happen.

I really doubt we really have to worry about Journey being made into a movie. I think you said it best yourself. What makes the game so great is how it uses itself to make the players feel connected, and it is very difficult to explain how it does that in words. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to translate into a film. At least a film that will do well. Don't get me wrong, I don't think its impossible, but why would anyone try to do it?

Can one give an audience the same feelings from a movie that you can get from Journey? Probably not, but maybe something similar. However, its like you said. Journey shows how a game can really be used to give people a great experience, so why try to make a film do that when you already have the game? Then again.....they are planning to make a Battle Ship movie....so maybe making no sense means nothing.

But if all this hopeful/nasty speculation does nothing for your imagination, how about a question?

Do you think Thatgamecompany would ever let someone make a movie about Journey, even if say Sony or a very respected director wanted to?

Also, this probably goes without saying, but thanks again for recommending Journey. It is definitely something special.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

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.

You kind of hit the nail on the head, as well as possible, when it comes to explaining how the game feels, or at least for one of the parts I liked in particular anyway. Specifically when you go from one area in the game to the next. It really does give you the feeling of going from under water to the surface, and back down again. I think that may be helped by how the player and the other creatures move in the world.

It is a little odd how a game mostly in the desert can make you feel like a fish swimming through water.

I hadn't noticed that, but yeah, the movement is very indicative of a fish moving through water. The ever shifting environment flows about you, and your graceful movement is extremely fluid. Less fish and more jellyfish, now that I really think about it.

Hmmm. Yeah, your right. Especially that one Cloth creature that pretty much is a jellyfish. You know the one that sounds like it laughs when you jump on it? Though the "enemy" creature (and the one really big cloth creature to a lesser extent) moves a bit more like a snake, eel, or shark. Depending on how ya look at it. But still most move more like jellyfish, or a kite.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

You kind of hit the nail on the head, as well as possible, when it comes to explaining how the game feels, or at least for one of the parts I liked in particular anyway. Specifically when you go from one area in the game to the next. It really does give you the feeling of going from under water to the surface, and back down again. I think that may be helped by how the player and the other creatures move in the world.

It is a little odd how a game mostly in the desert can make you feel like a fish swimming through water.

I hadn't noticed that, but yeah, the movement is very indicative of a fish moving through water. The ever shifting environment flows about you, and your graceful movement is extremely fluid. Less fish and more jellyfish, now that I really think about it.

Hmmm. Yeah, your right. Especially that one Cloth creature that pretty much is a jellyfish. You know the one that sounds like it laughs when you jump on it? Though the "enemy" creature (and the one really big cloth creature to a lesser extent) moves a bit more like a snake, eel, or shark. Depending on how ya look at it. But still most move more like jellyfish, or a kite.

Oh man, that thing. I nearly messed my pants when that thing arrived. So there's sharks, the giant serpentine fellows, and jellyfish. Oh, the trapped guys in the desert kind of look like stingrays, too. The small clusters of cloth that hop you along do behave kind of like a school of fish, now that I'm really thinking about it.

Maybe that's part of the majesty. It's like being in an ocean or aquarium, but rather than being an observer intruding, you fit perfectly into that world. Whoa...this game is even deeper than I'd realized.

 

[Nurb]

NOTE TO DEVELOPERS: See this? This is 3D with something called "ART STYLIZATION", it's not about realism or gritty brown/grey filters for your gritty shit that you've pumped out of the video game genero-tron these past 6 years that all look the same.

It's how games used to differentiate themselves in the 8 and 16 bit era.

(I know none are reading this but I can dream)

 

[tvpirate]

You know something, for all the other games I've seen for PS3, this is the first title that I would drop an easy couple hundo dollars just to play this game. I know it's only like 2 hours long but.... it just looks so beautiful.