Ok, I’m going to make this review short and sweet because that’s exactly what this game is all about. Now, I don’t mean this in a bad way, as a matter of fact this game taught me more about having the bare minimum and being completely blown away by it more than any game to date.
Journey, while it can’t be described by any simple means, is an artsy adventure/puzzle(very light on the puzzle) game that makes use of only two buttons and the joystick for the entireity of the game. There is no dialogue or recognizable text in the game, but the story focuses on a cloaked figure the player controls and his/her “Journey” to get to a mountain off in the distance.
Throughout the game walls can be brightened to show some wall paintings that give subtle hints to the history of the land the character is traversing and the people that may or may not have once inhabited the land.
In this Journey the players can meet other travelers online that are dressed in a similar fashion and are questing to reach the same destiny. The rest of the game is simply the progression of the character and the way they go about trekking through the gorgeously rendered landscapes that lay ahead of them.
I can’t stress enough how absolutely gorgeous this game is. The sparkle of the sun reflecting off the sandy desert you start your journey in to the dark depths of the cave like environment you explore later on amazes the eyes with visuals comparable to that of some of the greatest classical landscape paintings ever created. It really is a game that clearly sprouted from the inspired minds of brilliant game designers.
Although the game may not be very long, about two hours in total, the feeling it gives you is one that ranges from pure joy to utter sadness. It almost feels like an interactive piece of art that can never be interpreted the same way twice. This pure emotion is accompanied quite appropriately by not only many vibrant colors ranging from deep blues and purples to hot tans and yellows, but also an amazing orchestrated soundtrack. This music plays on the feelings of the game and heightens the players senses to new levels that I didn’t even imagine possible within a two hour time limit.
But that, in essence, is journey. It is a moving forward or progression that evokes a plethora of feelings and thoughts without the use of any languages or text and with merely two buttons used for control. It is the electronic embodiment of the thought “less is more” and by the end of your journey there is an acute sense of fulfillment I might even go so far as to call gaming nirvana.
Without a doubt in my mind I can already say Journey has many awards coming to it in the future and with such devotion on display the developer “thatgamecompany” will have many eager fans expecting greatness from the company for years to come.
But don’t take my word for it. This is a game that needs to be experienced before being talked about. The modest price of $15 might just open your eyes in a way a game never has before.
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