Journey - I Actually Shed a TearJourney - I Actually Shed a Tear
Author's Note to Audience: My goal as a reviewer... sure, I'm looking to become the best reviewer, but I'm not trying to be the most well-written writer, or what not. I want to be the best person as a reviewer in a way. I want to make an impact on those who take the time to read my reviews, maybe influence them to become reviewers, or even they may have their own thoughts as to what may influence them from my review. In my reviews, I write with justice, honesty, and the fire of my heart. Though, that's no excuse for mistakes or boring content. However... I assure that some of you will understand or feel my emotions through my reviews, and perhaps even be entertained by what I do to keep my readers reading whether or not they are interested in the game being reviewed. So please, enjoy, and have fun reading.
Journey:One day, I was particularly bored and unsure of what to do with my time after a stressful day. I wasn't entirely sure what to do with my Playstation 20$ card either, until I saw there was a sale day on the Playstation store. I browsed around to find that a game called "Journey" was on sale for $7.34 for Playstation plus members. So I bought the game and played from beginning to end in about 2 hours or more, mostly spending time to enjoy the games beauty...and then near the end, I shed a tear.
Depth: 3
Poetry, art, and music express thoughts and emotions. Putting all three together pretty much makes this game what it is. A short game of beauty, awe, and simplicity. Never in a long time have I played such a powerful game, and never has a game ever made me shed a tear out of amazement. If I shed a tear, that was out of sadness when Zack Fair died in Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core. I thought people were exaggerating too much and overrating the game before I tried it, but turns out they were right.
Journey is a short game and really doesn't have so much to do besides Journey towards a mountain where light shines at the top, and enjoying the incredible environment that surrounds you. This is actually the best key element of Journey, the fact that it is so simple for a concept but yet the game possesses such finesse. You simple control a nameless and speechless wanderer in a cloak and scarf who's only abilities at first are to jump and sing. However, eventually you gain the ability to glide and then that'll be the only thing you ever want to do...in sync with singing. The gameplay itself literally just pulls you in with such simple but perfected functions.
Through ought the first portion of the game, you'll be adventuring through a large desert full of old fallen ruins, discovering what exactly your journey is through communicating to what may be deity of your wanderer, learning about the history of the peoples who may have lived in the ruins. In a way, you may be finding the reason why all these people like your wanderer aren't around anymore. Eventually, you'll find a ruins that most likely belonged to the wanderer's civilization and then enter into the Snowy mountains as you near the goal location. Each area which I won't go into full detail with are simply astounding and imaginative and definitely plays a big part in the game than just ignoring everything and moving forward with the game.
One bigger focus of the gameplay seems to be on the character's scarf that extends as you collect glowing little objects you'll find on your quest. Your wanderer is not the only character in this game. You will find cloth like-creatures trapped or stuck in various areas, and by singing to nearby little cloth mechanisms, they will be released and aid you on your journey. By singing to the creatures or cloth sticking out of the ground, they will cause your scarf to glow, which in turn allows you to fly. As you fly, the glow on your scarf starts to drain from the outer end gradually until it is depleted. As your scarf become longer, you can fly for much longer durations and if you combine singing with the creatures or nearby cloth, you'll continue to fly. This feature really had me trying to see just how long I could continue flying where ever I wanted and because the flying feels so great, it's pretty hard to stop using it.
Funny enough, I never realized it at first, but? you encounter other wanders who are other people playing the game online, and the player always switches every big checkpoint of the game. At first, I thought it was a computer controlled partner since the player was mimicking every exact thing I did a second after...but I just never realized that the game randomly partners you with other people playing the game. You and your partner actually do play a big part to help each other also. Not only does is really make the story of the game feel more powerful, but both you and the other player can assist each other by singing to recover each other's scarves to continue flying. This actually comes in handy later with a little something but I won't mention what, as I don't want to spoil too much about the game.
Story: 8
The story behind Journey is told through symbolism, the wanderer's adventure, and the important scenes of the game. In a way, two stories are actually told, or maybe even more, but the two that stand out are the main idea of Journey, and the teaching of a religious Journey.
The main story of Journey is that a lone wanderer travels through a desert finding history of a civilization he belonged to that is no longer present, and getting to the peak of a tall mountain that shines. While finding his way, he comes across altars where he can contact a spirit to learn about the past through the art the spirit reveals to him of the world that used to be, now a desert ruins. Along the way, he discovers what might have destroyed the cities and its people, however, he also learns that he must endure tasking ordeals to reach the peak of the mountain where his destiny lies. The story really plays its part once you understand the character's sole purpose and it will hit you hard at the end, in which I shed one? tear to.
The religious story behind the game is that the wanderer is on a pilgrimage towards the mountain where reincarnation awaits him. However, he must go through a long and dangerous journey that tests his soul as a person worthy of being reincarnated anew, having to do good in the world and suffer through certain trials he encounters. Through meditation, he communicates with his deity to be given wisdom and learn about the people before him who endured such tasks also. At least, that's how what I got from it with the studies I did back in high school. But this game really does emulate many religious symbols and in a spectacular way too.
Difficulty: 1
Journey is in no way difficult to play. The only controls you'll use on your Playstation controller are: X, Square, the Left-Control Stick, and the Right-Control Stick, or alternatively use motion controls. The only functions there are in Journey is jump and glide, performed by using X, singing performed by using Square, moving with the Left-Control Stick, and camera controls can be manipulated with motion controls or the Right-Control Stick. The game teaches at the very beginning what to controls you'll be using and what they'll be used for and then leaves you to figure out how you can incorporate it to get from A to B yourself.? By doing this, the gamer can actually do what they please with such controls and see on their own what heights they can get to and leads a player to even explore what is off the main direction of the game.
There are just very few parts where the game play actually does change and you may need be encountered with a little bit of a challenge, but otherwise, it's still very simple to overcome and nothing that requires too much thought process...unless you feel like experimenting. These certain challenges, I can't describe or then it'll spoil the game, but one challenge I can mention is based on collecting power ups in the game that aren't in plain sight. There are actually some areas in the game one could skip and miss out on extending their scarf as far as possible. These power up locations can sometimes require you to fly as far as possible or as high up as you can, and sometimes, they may just require a bit of searching rather than moving forward all the time. By doing that, you actually get to see more beautiful views of the areas in the game.
Addictiveness: 4
I wouldn't necessarily say Journey is really addicting as I have only played it twice but it still left such an impression on me that I don't think I'll forget it for a long time. One thing that did bring me back to the game aside from showing friends what it was all about, was to look for power ups I missed along the way as well as checking out just a few alternate routes, or different areas I haven't checked.? However, these different routes aren't anything too special, and really don't stray off too far from anything in the game. Some other replay value factors could easily stem from the beautiful scenery and fun certain parts of the game that are very enjoyable.
Graphics: 10
The graphics of Journey are absolutely stunning. Considering it is such a short game, of course the developers would have time to perfect this field and outshine many of the games on the market. Naturally, you'd think after playing so many video games that include desert stages, you'd assume that since half of Journey takes place in a desert, the game would eventually become bland and boring to look at, however it is quite the opposite.
Never have I seen sand look more beautiful than an ocean in a game. In fact, at certain points, the sands will actually mimic the ocean and have such beautiful wave-like movements that you'll be captured and want to experiment with how the sand moves. The game features different times of day also and as expected, has its effects on the sand giving it different colors ranging from the usual sand yellow, to a romantic orange, and of even a midnight cave blue. It is astounding just how interesting sand can actually look in comparison with other settings seen in video games. The ruins even add more detail, not to mention, the last part of the game which I shall not spoil. All in all, such detail in buildings, sand, and even the characters are just simply unbelievable and nearly as breath taking as seeing a sun set by the ocean for the first time in your life.
?The cloth creatures of the game have a good bit of imagination to them, not just in how they were arranged to look, but the way they act in the game which all stems from the graphics field. The interesting part about the creatures is the fact that they mimic sea creatures such a fish, dolphins, and etc. They aren't actually flying but swimming through the air, and that alone brings out even more beauty of the game. The sand in other words mimics the bottom of the sea or even acts as the surface. The way the creatures swim around is literally believable to them being sea creatures of some sort and just really captures the essence of that beauty we may lose out on in the future with the way things are turning out for earth.
The character for Journey is a mysterious figure, being under his cloak-like robe and having white glowing eyes and being shaded where he can be seen under his cloak. Though it's a very effective design as it is cute in some way and with his clothes, a character ready for a Journey. The spirit in the white robe you meet is the same too, the white most likely symbolizing a god of sorts, however, in Hinduism considering the religious symbols the game has, white represents purity, peace, knowledge, and is worn when mourning someone's death. The wanderer wears red, which for Asia represent someone who is a brave leader who can destroy evil.
There is one other creature which as I mentioned I will not spoil, but this creature does have a very effective design and animation as it represents downfall from an unstoppable force of sorts.
Sound: 9
The music in Journey speaks to the player as they adventure through the world to different locations, no track is repeated. Through beautiful symphony music, many involving the cello, the game will reveal what you gaze upon through the wonderful scores composed by Austin Wintory. As I played through Journey, every new setting came to life with the music, painting the scene as I turned my camera to look over each and every detail. Journey's music is just beautiful, some capturing the feel of a desert while others capturing the feel of an ocean. There is a bit of an ethical style to some of the ambient songs, but all have a mythical approach as the game has to in some way mix both the visual and auditory elements to make such a wonderful and convincing scene. Overall, I was impressed with the music in the game.
The sound effects and singing were certainly something to enjoy also. One interesting thing I noticed about the singing of the wanderer is that the hum stays in tune with the music in the background, so in a way, it's possible to hum rhythmically and make a song of your own while venturing through the vast world of Journey. The sound effects of the game all sound very convincing in terms of the wanderer sliding upon sand or whipping his cloak just a bit as he flies. There are little tidbits of sound effects to pay attention to that go unnoticed meaning they do a good job emulating what their meant to do.
Overall: 9
For such a short game, this was definitely worth the sale price, not to mention, very moving. Though, because it is short lived, it really does depend on you as a gamer if you will continuously play it throughout your life or not. However, keep in mind, this game is easily playable for everyone as compared to some hardcore longer-lasting titles. Though none of those titles can have as much impact as Journey, which has beautiful graphics, music, easy game play, and a powerful story with religious symbolism. Overall, this definitely is one of the top games on the PSN and is a must play, but it might be best to wait for a sale price as this game is so memorable, you won't play the game a repeated amount of times.
Graphics
10 Sound
9 Addictive
8 Depth
3 Story
4 Difficulty
1
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