August 2017 Playthrough - Journey (w/ The Cartridge Club)

[Crabmaster2000]

I finished Journey last night in one sitting.  I enjoyed my time with it and my only regret is not exploring a little more.  Beautiful game and an incredible soundtrack.  There's just something about playing a game this beautiful. I understand the gameplay criticisms, but with a 2 hour game, I could care less.  Beautiful, haunting, life affirming.... shut off what you know about games and just enjoy the ride.

I have a super hard time shutting of "game mode". For example I'm sure for a casual player when you encounter the flying dragon things for the first time they may feel quite tense when trying to hide or outrun them. For me it was painfully obvious that I was n't going to "die" or have much in the realm of consequences so I could just casually stroll along and once and a while get knocked back a bit.

[singlebanana]

At least 37 years of gaming, so I wouldn't call myself a "casual" gamer. Having said that and not knowing what was in store, that moment really shook me. In what seemed to be a peaceful world, an element of danger presents itself. That was pretty startling.

 I think people have different ways of ingesting media. Some always have in their mind that they are playing a game, while others get more drawn into the world presented to them. I'm not saying that one is wrong and one is right, just saying that we're all affected in different ways. Consider the way people view horror films. I have little, to no affect when it comes to being afraid while viewing them, while my wife covers her eyes during most scenes. It's just a difference in emotional states.

[Crabmaster2000]

At least 37 years of gaming, so I wouldn't call myself a "casual" gamer. Having said that and not knowing what was in store, that moment really shook me. In what seemed to be a peaceful world, an element of danger presents itself. That was pretty startling.

 I think people have different ways of ingesting media. Some always have in their mind that they are playing a game, while others get more drawn into the world presented to them. I'm not saying that one is wrong and one is right, just saying that we're all affected in different ways. Consider the way people view horror films. I have little, to no affect when it comes to being afraid while viewing them, while my wife covers her eyes during most scenes. It's just a difference in emotional states.

Horror movies scare the bejesus out of me. I tend to avoid them at all costs. I get really lost in some games, most recently Persona 5. I guess Journey was just so short it didn't have enough time perhaps to draw me into its world.

[GrayGhost81]

I just played through the game on PS4. I had played it for the first time when the special edition came out a few years back on the PS3. After reading the commentary here, I was legitimately curious how well this game "holds up," as I was definitely affected in a positive way on my first playthrough of this game.

I also played Abzu a few weeks ago. Oh no! Journey is going to suck by comparison. 

I honestly couldn't disagree more with the concept that this game is "dated" or hasn't "aged well." It is a standalone, singular experience that stands up independent of anything that has come since. It controls perfectly well and I predict that the art-style, if a little muted, will age quite well due to the use of solid color textures on environmental objects and character models.

The complaints about not knowing what to do are confounding to me. Have you no sense of curiosity? Do you need a tutorial, maybe? We complain about modern games being over hand-holdy so it's kind of weird to complain when one isn't. I actually love the way the devs give you only the most basic of prompts to let you know which buttons are used.

I don't know, I think maybe a difference in tastes and preferences is affecting the difference in my opinion of Journey versus some of you. Call me casual, but I play games 100% for relaxation and entertainment. I've said this before, but real life is stressful enough that I have no desire to test my skills or bang my head against a twitchy, controller chucking frustration generator. So indeed, this game is right in my wheelhouse. I adore this game for its relaxed, meditative tone and a few times I found myself standing still while the game's amazing music washed over me as I took a few nice, deep breaths. I completely understand if that's not what someone wants in a video game. I happen to love it, and I wish there were even more games like this out there. The entire history of the medium is filled with twitchy tests of skill for players to challenge themselves with. Games like this are relatively few and far between in comparison.

I'm feel extremely fulfilled having peacefully drifted through this journey a second time, and I am sure it won't be the last.     

[singlebanana]

So I started a new game and gave the controller to my 6 year old without any instructions. He figured it all out himself and has finished 6 stages so far with no guidance. He loves it!  If you can't figure out the controls in this game, take comfort in knowing that a 6 year old casual gamer can.  Honestly, I think that the lack of instruction and having only three gameplay options (move, float, and interact/speak) are great minimalistic qualities that make this game really special.

[Crabmaster2000]

I honestly couldn't disagree more with the concept that this game is "dated" or hasn't "aged well." It is a standalone, singular experience that stands up independent of anything that has come since. It controls perfectly well and I predict that the art-style, if a little muted, will age quite well due to the use of solid color textures on environmental objects and character models.

The complaints about not knowing what to do are confounding to me. Have you no sense of curiosity? Do you need a tutorial, maybe? We complain about modern games being over hand-holdy so it's kind of weird to complain when one isn't. I actually love the way the devs give you only the most basic of prompts to let you know which buttons are used.

I don't know, I think maybe a difference in tastes and preferences is affecting the difference in my opinion of Journey versus some of you. Call me casual, but I play games 100% for relaxation and entertainment. I've said this before, but real life is stressful enough that I have no desire to test my skills or bang my head against a twitchy, controller chucking frustration generator. So indeed, this game is right in my wheelhouse. I adore this game for its relaxed, meditative tone and a few times I found myself standing still while the game's amazing music washed over me as I took a few nice, deep breaths. I completely understand if that's not what someone wants in a video game. I happen to love it, and I wish there were even more games like this out there. The entire history of the medium is filled with twitchy tests of skill for players to challenge themselves with. Games like this are relatively few and far between in comparison.

I'm feel extremely fulfilled having peacefully drifted through this journey a second time, and I am sure it won't be the last.     

I'm not sure if this was directed at a comment I made or not, but I'm gonna respond anyway. It wasn't a problem on not know what to do in terms of how to play/control/where to go for me. It was a problem on not know why me character is motivated to do anything. That never got answered for me even at the end. I'm definitely a fan of just dropping a player in and having them figure out controls and keeping tutorials to a minimum or not have one at all (both are great options depending on the game).

I don't think the visuals look dated. Journey has a cool and identifiable art style for sure. I think the rest of the game feels "old" already though. Controls feel sloppy even for the time it was released and just seemed directionless to me. Also I really don't have much in the sense of curiosity. It's one of the big reasons I really dislike open world style games. I don't wanna see "what's over there" or "what happens if I try this". I really enjoy having a few simple parameters to play within.

The soundtrack I don't think I mentioned either. I honestly didn't remember a single tune from the game or a moment when it stood out to me. Just youtubed some tunes to refresh myself and it just doesn't do much for me.

So I started a new game and gave the controller to my 6 year old without any instructions. He figured it all out himself and has finished 6 stages so far with no guidance. He loves it!  If you can't figure out the controls in this game, take comfort in knowing that a 6 year old casual gamer can.  Honestly, I think that the lack of instruction and having only three gameplay options (move, float, and interact/speak) are great minimalistic qualities that make this game really special.

Get that kid checked out. Sounds like a Savant!!!

[GrayGhost81]

Crabman, we'll have to agree to disagree here.

As far as needing some kind of motivation for the character, I think you'll find our discussion on the Cartridge Club interesting when it comes out. Some of the panelists were more in your camp than mine and it's really fascinating to me to hear the specific things other players noticed were missing (like character motivation), that I felt were unnecessary and further, would have hindered the experience.

[Crabmaster2000]

Crabman, we'll have to agree to disagree here.

As far as needing some kind of motivation for the character, I think you'll find our discussion on the Cartridge Club interesting when it comes out. Some of the panelists were more in your camp than mine and it's really fascinating to me to hear the specific things other players noticed were missing (like character motivation), that I felt were unnecessary and further, would have hindered the experience.

I'm quite excited to hear the episode for this. It's always cool to hear different and opposing views on things like this. Pretty incredible that so many different experiences can come out of such a short game, which seems to be part of the point of it's existence.

[zophar53]

Been on vacation and am just catching up on the discussion with this. I have to say I'm with GrayGhost and singlebanana on this game. I'm surprised at how few in this group were effected. Yes, the game is short and ambiguous, but I loved that. I have no trouble turning off my game brain and just going with an atmosphere if it's well-presented. I enjoyed that the story was more implied than explicitly stated, and the emotional moments were easy to let wash over me between the beautiful visuals and uplifting music.

I'm also surprised at how little discussion there was of the multiplayer in Journey. By its very randomness, it's literally and figuratively hit-and-miss as far as what your experience with another player will be like, but that's the beauty of it. With so many vile and vitriolic online multiplayer experiences out there these days, the anonymity and limited interaction was so refreshing. I've had fleeting interactions of only a few seconds, but I've also had people follow or lead me through a third of the game, only to feel an unexpected sense of loss when we lost each other in the sand surfing section. In my opinion it's a fantastic implementation of multiplayer interaction that transcends the usual hate and rage that has been 90% of my online gaming with randos.

[singlebanana]

I think you're going to love our podcast Travis.

[techwizard]

Sorry i missed this playthrough, i adore this game! i've played through it at least 4 or 5 times, so i remember enough to comment on it. i have to agree with Rich and Shawn, and i really don't understand how anyone could dislike this game. i will say that i have yet to play any of the other games that people have mentioned like Rime or Abzu, but i can't imagine those changing my appreciation for Journey.

Journey is one of those games that's more experience than game, and if you're willing to accept something very linear and with minimal challenge, then there's not much else to complain about. There's definitely a story there, but it's more interpretive than straightforward. I think it's a little too bad for those who didn't know, that were told about the multiplayer aspect before playing through. one of my big moments of awe with the game was when it listed the player names at the end, when the whole time i thought the other character was an AI that came and went. i think you can have multiple different players join you in the same section, because i've watched one disappear in front of me, then another appear not long after. you can definitely play through most of the game with the same player, i believe there's an achievement for it.

that quote about the game being a metaphor for life is how i see it too. At the end in the snow you do die, after slowing down and trudging uphill in a blizzard much like old age wears us all down. you ascend to a sort of heaven, where you finally achieve your goal that you couldn't reach in life. I think i read somewhere the idea that when you die at the end, you join the white clothed figures that are your ancestors who had made this journey before and who guide the next person on their journey through life.

did anyone find all of the scarf upgrades? if you do you can play through the game with a white outfit like the larger cloth people in the cutscenes (it lets you fly almost  infinitely with a full length scarf from the level select area).