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This thread has been linked to the game 'Journey'.
Not since Shadow of the Colossus have I felt this way about a game. Journey, the third game from thatgamecompany, is a PSN title which focuses on art and abstract storytelling without uttering a word while providing the most basic control over your character.
But explaining the game in technical terms doesn't explain what Journey is. That’s because Journey is, as the title might suggest, an intensely personal game which will only provide for the player what they are willing to experience and their own interpretation of the events.
It may, for instance, drive you away if I describe the game as hinging on a range of non-denominational religious themes, but then it’s hard not to believe that this was the intention, given the naming of the trophies earned while playing (another source for potential spoilers if you happen to come across the list before playing). It certainly has overtones of spiritual themes, but at the same time remains un-committal to any one particular source, the lack of words or speech ensuring that players will make their own conclusions from their own journey.
Despite being more aptly described as an experience, broken down in to its component pieces, Journey can still be accurately described as a game. It contains elements of timed stealth, puzzle solving and even levelling up. The latter is achieved via a scarf that grows in length as the player brushes past scrolls or recharged through the same means.
The scarf allows a short spell of flight, with the length being directly proportional to the length of time the flight can be sustained and therefore the height a player can gain if travelling straight upwards. The game never punishes players for not being able to power-up, but instead provides subtle reward for those than do, mostly in the experience of being able to soar over roof-tops and find new areas.
As with the scarf. the scenery grows as you progress, beginning with a near empty desert and only the sight of a mountain emitting a strange ethereal light in the distance. With no waypointer or instructions, it’s left up to the player to decide whether this is the goal, but stray too far in one direction and winds will blow you back ‘on course’.
As you move through the game the buildings become more numerous and a greater sense of the history of this strange world is achieved. It’s obvious that something has populated the land, but has been since lost to the sands of time.
With no real narrative, the reliance on graphics to tell the story is far greater and thatgamecompany’s unique visuals manage to do the job admirably. Mixing an Arabic style for the scenery and clothing with ethereal glows and a misty/almost liquid feel to the atmosphere in some instances ensures that it creates its own sense of identity and almost provides a back story through the detail in ruined buildings or objects placed carefully around the floor as you glide past.
The main character feels basic at first, but seeing them in motion, the wind catching on their clothes or scarf or the way they struggle up a sand dune and glide down the other side, leaving tracks in their wake, there is a realisation that the detail is there in the more subtle elements of the character.
Journey isn’t always a lonely experience either. Aside from events later in the game, which I won’t spoil, an interesting mechanic provides fellow travellers along your journey. Some may have made several journeys already and will have scarves that stretch out behind them, others will be newcomers, yet to take more than a few steps towards their seemingly abstract goal.
The game gives no hint as to your ability to interact with these other players, picked randomly and placed in front of you, sometimes as only a spec in the distance, but it soon becomes apparent that they recharge your scarf as they brush past and can make the trickier parts of the game far easier if you manage to keep them by your side. There is, however, no real form of communication between you and your mystery companion, just a mutual understanding that you both need to move forward. But there will always come a time when you and your guest are separated and the journey continues alone, never knowing when the world will throw you another chance meeting with a stranger before reaching your destination.
It’s these chance meetings which add life to the world around you and, although I’m speaking about my personal journey here, a sense of enchantment. Thatgamecompany have managed to turn what would, in other games, be a simple and basic co-op feature in to something that feeds itself in to the overall emotional experience of the game. This is imperative considering how short the initial journey turns out to be, just an hour and a half if played straight through without stopping. But the game requires further journeys and encourages players back through providing this interaction at random points in addition to knowledge already gained from the first play through.
Journey expects you to bring your own interpretations, emotions and understanding and provides the framework to place these into to its world in order to create your own personal adventure. What you get out of it is literally what you’re willing to put in to the experience and this alone will colour your judgment of the game.
My score may not be relevant to your own experience, but if you are at all intrigued by what you have read then I urge you to take the journey yourself.
9/10
{based on my original review from TheJoypads.co.uk}
But explaining the game in technical terms doesn't explain what Journey is. That’s because Journey is, as the title might suggest, an intensely personal game which will only provide for the player what they are willing to experience and their own interpretation of the events.
It may, for instance, drive you away if I describe the game as hinging on a range of non-denominational religious themes, but then it’s hard not to believe that this was the intention, given the naming of the trophies earned while playing (another source for potential spoilers if you happen to come across the list before playing). It certainly has overtones of spiritual themes, but at the same time remains un-committal to any one particular source, the lack of words or speech ensuring that players will make their own conclusions from their own journey.
Despite being more aptly described as an experience, broken down in to its component pieces, Journey can still be accurately described as a game. It contains elements of timed stealth, puzzle solving and even levelling up. The latter is achieved via a scarf that grows in length as the player brushes past scrolls or recharged through the same means.
The scarf allows a short spell of flight, with the length being directly proportional to the length of time the flight can be sustained and therefore the height a player can gain if travelling straight upwards. The game never punishes players for not being able to power-up, but instead provides subtle reward for those than do, mostly in the experience of being able to soar over roof-tops and find new areas.
As with the scarf. the scenery grows as you progress, beginning with a near empty desert and only the sight of a mountain emitting a strange ethereal light in the distance. With no waypointer or instructions, it’s left up to the player to decide whether this is the goal, but stray too far in one direction and winds will blow you back ‘on course’.
As you move through the game the buildings become more numerous and a greater sense of the history of this strange world is achieved. It’s obvious that something has populated the land, but has been since lost to the sands of time.
With no real narrative, the reliance on graphics to tell the story is far greater and thatgamecompany’s unique visuals manage to do the job admirably. Mixing an Arabic style for the scenery and clothing with ethereal glows and a misty/almost liquid feel to the atmosphere in some instances ensures that it creates its own sense of identity and almost provides a back story through the detail in ruined buildings or objects placed carefully around the floor as you glide past.
The main character feels basic at first, but seeing them in motion, the wind catching on their clothes or scarf or the way they struggle up a sand dune and glide down the other side, leaving tracks in their wake, there is a realisation that the detail is there in the more subtle elements of the character.
Journey isn’t always a lonely experience either. Aside from events later in the game, which I won’t spoil, an interesting mechanic provides fellow travellers along your journey. Some may have made several journeys already and will have scarves that stretch out behind them, others will be newcomers, yet to take more than a few steps towards their seemingly abstract goal.
The game gives no hint as to your ability to interact with these other players, picked randomly and placed in front of you, sometimes as only a spec in the distance, but it soon becomes apparent that they recharge your scarf as they brush past and can make the trickier parts of the game far easier if you manage to keep them by your side. There is, however, no real form of communication between you and your mystery companion, just a mutual understanding that you both need to move forward. But there will always come a time when you and your guest are separated and the journey continues alone, never knowing when the world will throw you another chance meeting with a stranger before reaching your destination.
It’s these chance meetings which add life to the world around you and, although I’m speaking about my personal journey here, a sense of enchantment. Thatgamecompany have managed to turn what would, in other games, be a simple and basic co-op feature in to something that feeds itself in to the overall emotional experience of the game. This is imperative considering how short the initial journey turns out to be, just an hour and a half if played straight through without stopping. But the game requires further journeys and encourages players back through providing this interaction at random points in addition to knowledge already gained from the first play through.
Journey expects you to bring your own interpretations, emotions and understanding and provides the framework to place these into to its world in order to create your own personal adventure. What you get out of it is literally what you’re willing to put in to the experience and this alone will colour your judgment of the game.
My score may not be relevant to your own experience, but if you are at all intrigued by what you have read then I urge you to take the journey yourself.
9/10
{based on my original review from TheJoypads.co.uk}
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Not since Shadow of the Colossus have I felt this way about a game. Journey, the third game from thatgamecompany, is a PSN title which focuses on art and abstract storytelling without uttering a word while providing the most basic control over your character.
But explaining the game in technical terms doesn't explain what Journey is. That’s because Journey is, as the title might suggest, an intensely personal game which will only provide for the player what they are willing to experience and their own interpretation of the events.
It may, for instance, drive you away if I describe the game as hinging on a range of non-denominational religious themes, but then it’s hard not to believe that this was the intention, given the naming of the trophies earned while playing (another source for potential spoilers if you happen to come across the list before playing). It certainly has overtones of spiritual themes, but at the same time remains un-committal to any one particular source, the lack of words or speech ensuring that players will make their own conclusions from their own journey.
Despite being more aptly described as an experience, broken down in to its component pieces, Journey can still be accurately described as a game. It contains elements of timed stealth, puzzle solving and even levelling up. The latter is achieved via a scarf that grows in length as the player brushes past scrolls or recharged through the same means.
The scarf allows a short spell of flight, with the length being directly proportional to the length of time the flight can be sustained and therefore the height a player can gain if travelling straight upwards. The game never punishes players for not being able to power-up, but instead provides subtle reward for those than do, mostly in the experience of being able to soar over roof-tops and find new areas.
As with the scarf. the scenery grows as you progress, beginning with a near empty desert and only the sight of a mountain emitting a strange ethereal light in the distance. With no waypointer or instructions, it’s left up to the player to decide whether this is the goal, but stray too far in one direction and winds will blow you back ‘on course’.
As you move through the game the buildings become more numerous and a greater sense of the history of this strange world is achieved. It’s obvious that something has populated the land, but has been since lost to the sands of time.
With no real narrative, the reliance on graphics to tell the story is far greater and thatgamecompany’s unique visuals manage to do the job admirably. Mixing an Arabic style for the scenery and clothing with ethereal glows and a misty/almost liquid feel to the atmosphere in some instances ensures that it creates its own sense of identity and almost provides a back story through the detail in ruined buildings or objects placed carefully around the floor as you glide past.
The main character feels basic at first, but seeing them in motion, the wind catching on their clothes or scarf or the way they struggle up a sand dune and glide down the other side, leaving tracks in their wake, there is a realisation that the detail is there in the more subtle elements of the character.
Journey isn’t always a lonely experience either. Aside from events later in the game, which I won’t spoil, an interesting mechanic provides fellow travellers along your journey. Some may have made several journeys already and will have scarves that stretch out behind them, others will be newcomers, yet to take more than a few steps towards their seemingly abstract goal.
The game gives no hint as to your ability to interact with these other players, picked randomly and placed in front of you, sometimes as only a spec in the distance, but it soon becomes apparent that they recharge your scarf as they brush past and can make the trickier parts of the game far easier if you manage to keep them by your side. There is, however, no real form of communication between you and your mystery companion, just a mutual understanding that you both need to move forward. But there will always come a time when you and your guest are separated and the journey continues alone, never knowing when the world will throw you another chance meeting with a stranger before reaching your destination.
It’s these chance meetings which add life to the world around you and, although I’m speaking about my personal journey here, a sense of enchantment. Thatgamecompany have managed to turn what would, in other games, be a simple and basic co-op feature in to something that feeds itself in to the overall emotional experience of the game. This is imperative considering how short the initial journey turns out to be, just an hour and a half if played straight through without stopping. But the game requires further journeys and encourages players back through providing this interaction at random points in addition to knowledge already gained from the first play through.
Journey expects you to bring your own interpretations, emotions and understanding and provides the framework to place these into to its world in order to create your own personal adventure. What you get out of it is literally what you’re willing to put in to the experience and this alone will colour your judgment of the game.
My score may not be relevant to your own experience, but if you are at all intrigued by what you have read then I urge you to take the journey yourself.
9/10
{based on my original review from TheJoypads.co.uk}
But explaining the game in technical terms doesn't explain what Journey is. That’s because Journey is, as the title might suggest, an intensely personal game which will only provide for the player what they are willing to experience and their own interpretation of the events.
It may, for instance, drive you away if I describe the game as hinging on a range of non-denominational religious themes, but then it’s hard not to believe that this was the intention, given the naming of the trophies earned while playing (another source for potential spoilers if you happen to come across the list before playing). It certainly has overtones of spiritual themes, but at the same time remains un-committal to any one particular source, the lack of words or speech ensuring that players will make their own conclusions from their own journey.
Despite being more aptly described as an experience, broken down in to its component pieces, Journey can still be accurately described as a game. It contains elements of timed stealth, puzzle solving and even levelling up. The latter is achieved via a scarf that grows in length as the player brushes past scrolls or recharged through the same means.
The scarf allows a short spell of flight, with the length being directly proportional to the length of time the flight can be sustained and therefore the height a player can gain if travelling straight upwards. The game never punishes players for not being able to power-up, but instead provides subtle reward for those than do, mostly in the experience of being able to soar over roof-tops and find new areas.
As with the scarf. the scenery grows as you progress, beginning with a near empty desert and only the sight of a mountain emitting a strange ethereal light in the distance. With no waypointer or instructions, it’s left up to the player to decide whether this is the goal, but stray too far in one direction and winds will blow you back ‘on course’.
As you move through the game the buildings become more numerous and a greater sense of the history of this strange world is achieved. It’s obvious that something has populated the land, but has been since lost to the sands of time.
With no real narrative, the reliance on graphics to tell the story is far greater and thatgamecompany’s unique visuals manage to do the job admirably. Mixing an Arabic style for the scenery and clothing with ethereal glows and a misty/almost liquid feel to the atmosphere in some instances ensures that it creates its own sense of identity and almost provides a back story through the detail in ruined buildings or objects placed carefully around the floor as you glide past.
The main character feels basic at first, but seeing them in motion, the wind catching on their clothes or scarf or the way they struggle up a sand dune and glide down the other side, leaving tracks in their wake, there is a realisation that the detail is there in the more subtle elements of the character.
Journey isn’t always a lonely experience either. Aside from events later in the game, which I won’t spoil, an interesting mechanic provides fellow travellers along your journey. Some may have made several journeys already and will have scarves that stretch out behind them, others will be newcomers, yet to take more than a few steps towards their seemingly abstract goal.
The game gives no hint as to your ability to interact with these other players, picked randomly and placed in front of you, sometimes as only a spec in the distance, but it soon becomes apparent that they recharge your scarf as they brush past and can make the trickier parts of the game far easier if you manage to keep them by your side. There is, however, no real form of communication between you and your mystery companion, just a mutual understanding that you both need to move forward. But there will always come a time when you and your guest are separated and the journey continues alone, never knowing when the world will throw you another chance meeting with a stranger before reaching your destination.
It’s these chance meetings which add life to the world around you and, although I’m speaking about my personal journey here, a sense of enchantment. Thatgamecompany have managed to turn what would, in other games, be a simple and basic co-op feature in to something that feeds itself in to the overall emotional experience of the game. This is imperative considering how short the initial journey turns out to be, just an hour and a half if played straight through without stopping. But the game requires further journeys and encourages players back through providing this interaction at random points in addition to knowledge already gained from the first play through.
Journey expects you to bring your own interpretations, emotions and understanding and provides the framework to place these into to its world in order to create your own personal adventure. What you get out of it is literally what you’re willing to put in to the experience and this alone will colour your judgment of the game.
My score may not be relevant to your own experience, but if you are at all intrigued by what you have read then I urge you to take the journey yourself.
9/10
{based on my original review from TheJoypads.co.uk}