[REVIEW] Journey

Mat Paget
(PlayStation 3 [REVIEWED])

I didn’t know what to expect when starting on my Journey. Even after playing the beta, I was still unsure. Regardless of actually knowing what I was getting myself into, I was still allured by thatgamecompany’s enchanting development. I wasn’t hypnotized by their past projects, flOw and Flower, but something about Journey stuck with me after seeing it for the first time. Perhaps it’s the beautiful visuals? The meeting real players online and becoming companions? Or possibly, it is the journey that lies ahead. Whatever it is, after pressing start and finishing the game less than two hours later, I found it. And it’s going to stick with me for a long time.

Starting out on my journey, I felt alone. I started traversing the desert, not sure what I was supposed to do. I looked in the distance, and saw another player, like me. I decided I’d follow him, and hopefully figure out what I was supposed to be doing. I watched him sing to these scrolls. I’m still not really sure if it was singing, or not, but I liked it. The scrolls formed a bridge, which showed me that if I was going to get anywhere, I had to do what this player was doing. Anyway, we weren’t together for very long; I had gone off to find more of these scrolls. After finishing up the bridge, I saw a player attempting to cross it. I didn’t know if it was the player from before, but from there on out, I was about to embark on a journey with someone who I’d develop a pretty incredible friendship with.

This player and I played through the entire game together from that point forward. We worked together flawlessly, without even saying a word to each other. When I fell behind, he would wait for me. When he fell behind, I would wait for him. There were a few times when I thought I had lost him. I was surprised by the emotions that were conjured; I was actually worried about this other player. We had never said a word to each other, and I never even knew his name, but we had developed an astonishingly strong bond. By the end of our journey, it felt like we were best friends; we had been through a lot together.

Traveling through every area together, the landscapes and visuals had me in awe. This is definitely one of the most beautiful games; from the sand, to the sun, everything looks absolutely stunning. And each new area brings something new to the table. You’ll travel through deserts, a temple (or at least I think it was a temple), and even a mountain. To tell the truth, I couldn’t tell you why you set out on this journey, or any of the story details, but actually being on the journey and working together with a companion is a really great feeling. It feels like a Disney movie; you meet someone you know nothing about, work together, and eventually become best friends.

Now, the actual gameplay is very simple. You press ‘X’ to jump, ‘O’ to sing, and the left-analog stick to walk. One can only jump when near a scroll, or if another player sings to you. The singing is actually really interesting. I would chime to my companion, and he would chime back like we were having a conversation; it’s almost like it was some foreign language we both understood. Back to the gameplay, there are a lot of parts in this game that are really fun to go through; sliding through a desert, flying through a temple, and making sure you don’t get caught are all examples of sections in the game that are exhilarating to play.

At the end, we walked off into the distance together. I still had no idea what was going on story-wise, but my companion and I had made it to our destination. Along the way, we crossed gravestones of adventurers before us. We even got separated at one point right near the end, and I was seriously bummed out that I might have to finish my journey alone. Thankfully, we met up at the end, and finished it together. This may sound weird if you have never played the game before, but play it, and you’ll understand the feeling I’m talking about.

Journey may not have a lot going on, but its minimalism and experience-filled gameplay make it something everyone should play. This isn’t just the greatest game to grace the PlayStation Network, it’s one of the greatest games to step foot on the PlayStation 3. The only downside to this game is it may be easy to lose track of your character when moving closely with another player. Despite that, this is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life, let alone in a video game. thatgamecompany seeks to create “meaningful, enriching experiences that touch and inspire [people].” They have done that, and much more. But it doesn’t matter what I write in this review; this game needs to be experienced.