5 ms·

Journey for PS3: Strange Game (2012)

93 points by kposehn 13y ago

bluetidepro 13y ago
Journey is such an incredible game. I remember how amazed I was when I first started to play it. I couldn't put the controller down. I would highly recommend you also check out Flower, if you liked Journey. It's made by the same company: http://thatgamecompany.com/games/ http://thatgamecompany.com/games/
scott_karana 13y ago
I don't agree that Twitter has the same benefits. If anything, I feel that it enables ever more glib, insensitive comments from trolls. It's hard to argue with a one-liner. However, with respect to Journey, I fully agree. Fantastic piece of work in many ways.
xutopia 13y ago
Journey is without a doubt one of the most remarkable games I've played in the last 2 years. There are others that I really enjoyed in the moment but Journey is the one I'll pick up to replay again and again.
bane 13y ago
For those that don't have a PS3 or the time to play it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_KrjxD8djo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_KrjxD8djo absolute work of art.
- teamonkey 13y ago
  The point is what you experience while playing. Watching a video is missing the point by a wide mark.
  - Zikes 13y ago
    Immersion is definitely an important point of the game.
  - HCIdivision17 13y ago
    You might be surprised by how much you can miss the mark without a PS3. Watching a video is certainly an improvement over such a trivial case. Personally, I would love to play it, but without the hardware, it's pretty difficult. At least via video I can appreciate the art vicariously, if at a lower interactive fidelity. (Obviously games are always better played, but they're also fun to observe!)
  - bane 13y ago
    I don't necessarily disagree, but even just watching the video of a playthrough is like watching the best indie animated movie I've ever seen.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- mynameishere 13y ago
  I'm about 12 minutes into that video and amazed I got that far. It's some guy chasing flying paper. What am I missing?
  - biot 13y ago
    A controller in your hands. Like watching someone else fall in love, you're missing out unless it's you having the experience.
cclogg 13y ago
I hope Journey comes to more platforms because I keep hearing such great things about it but honestly I haven't had or wanted to buy a console since N64 days.
- footpath 13y ago
  Chances for that are pretty slim, given Sony owns all rights to the game. So most likely you'll see a PlayStation Vita port of it, in addition to the PS3 release.
dclowd9901 13y ago
I have played journey, all the way through, exactly once. I knew nothing of the game besides the prior work of its creators and its visuals going into it. I can safely say it was one of the most impactful experiences (not gaming experiences, but generally speaking) I've ever had in my life. The game thematically boils down some of the most complex and dense topics -- relationships, life, humanity -- into a perfect collaboration between story and gameplay. <spoiler stuff>I ended up partnered with an individual (man or woman, I have no idea) who began as a mentor, guiding me through the game, which has no real instruction to it. You grow to feel so thankful for this person. They're infinitely patient as you miss their cues. They don't scold you or make you feel stupid. They can't. As we sailed down the ski section, in all of its visual glory, it was like experiencing a dream in which you have a profound connection with someone who only exists in your mind. You don't want it to ever end. And at the end, you push each other forward. You refuse to give up. You struggle. You endure. Like surviving some ordeal with another, you share a bond no one could possibly understand. The game then reveals itself to you through metaphor. The end is all at once serene, beautiful, thrilling and grows large in your throat. I know it's just a game, but can't I learn something from it? That person was real. They were there. With me. Guiding me, taking care of me, letting me care for them. There's nothing more pure, and the game nails it.</spoiler stuff> After all that, playing the game again seemed like it could only cheapen it. The developers give you additional stuff to play through for, for those people that might complain about its brief length, but for the rest of us who understand, it was something you just can't taint.
- Zikes 13y ago
  You've summed up my feelings toward the game better than I ever could, even the part about only playing it once which I could never really explain before. I don't want to get off topic, but there are only two other games I've played that have had that sort of emotional impact on me, To the Moon[1] and Gone Home[2]. In the case of Gone Home in particular, the impact was such that I actually felt a good deal of sadness at knowing that most of the people I know will never experience the story and message of that game, and I wound up buying it for two of my friends. [1] http://freebirdgames.com/to_the_moon/ http://freebirdgames.com/to_the_moon/ [2] http://thefullbrightcompany.com/gonehome/ http://thefullbrightcompany.com/gonehome/
kposehn 13y ago
I'm glad that people found this concept as neat as I do. Great design is something to be treasured, and this game looks like just that: a treasure.
primigenus 13y ago
If you liked Journey's anonymous, transient multiplayer, try Dark Souls: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Souls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Souls. Although it does it in a more "hardcore" style of game - an RPG, with fighting, and lots of dying - it accomplishes the same gripping, emotional experience that is so fleeting in modern games. It's memorable because of how it limits communication and forces you to use gesturing and the environment to explain your intentions to one another.
- Vaskivo 13y ago
  Saying Dark Souls is "hardcore" is an euphemism :) While quite a different experience, Dark Souls is the "gamiest" game I've played in a long time. While environmentally immersive, the game forces you to remember it's a game. You have plan, optimize and exploit. You don't feel bad by being cheap, because the game is also cheap. All my gaming senses were constantly being tested. Quite the contrast with the recent trend in "immersive" and "cinematic" games. Dark Souls is a game that knows it's a game and expects you to remember that as well.
moondowner 13y ago
Not to forget the excellent music! There is a OST Bonus Bundle that is available as free download: http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/journey-bonus-bundle http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/journey-bonus-bundle And the OST on Bandcamp as well: http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/journey http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/journey Here's a 'behind the scenes' video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNHtReya_p0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNHtReya_p0
derefr 13y ago
From the description of the mechanics, I'm most closely reminded of the local-multiplayer co-op mechanics in the SNES-era game Kirby SuperStar--which indeed produce very positive play experiences in every situation I've seen, such that I recommend it as "the video game to play with your romantic-partner-who-doesn't-play-video-games." Journey even replicates KSS's "mutual recharging through touching" mechanic, which I don't think I've seen in anything else. Amusingly enough, the New Super Mario Bros. series also copied KSS's co-op mechanics--but then added griefing in, just for the sake of it. (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/11/20/ http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/11/20/)

93 points by kposehn 13y ago

Journey is such an incredible game. I remember how amazed I was when I first started to play it. I couldn't put the controller down. I would highly recommend you also check out Flower, if you liked Journey. It's made by the same company: http://thatgamecompany.com/games/ http://thatgamecompany.com/games/

scott_karana 13y ago

I don't agree that Twitter has the same benefits. If anything, I feel that it enables ever more glib, insensitive comments from trolls. It's hard to argue with a one-liner. However, with respect to Journey, I fully agree. Fantastic piece of work in many ways.

xutopia 13y ago

Journey is without a doubt one of the most remarkable games I've played in the last 2 years. There are others that I really enjoyed in the moment but Journey is the one I'll pick up to replay again and again.

bane 13y ago

For those that don't have a PS3 or the time to play it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_KrjxD8djo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_KrjxD8djo absolute work of art.

teamonkey 13y ago
The point is what you experience while playing. Watching a video is missing the point by a wide mark.
- Zikes 13y ago
  Immersion is definitely an important point of the game.
- HCIdivision17 13y ago
  You might be surprised by how much you can miss the mark without a PS3. Watching a video is certainly an improvement over such a trivial case. Personally, I would love to play it, but without the hardware, it's pretty difficult. At least via video I can appreciate the art vicariously, if at a lower interactive fidelity. (Obviously games are always better played, but they're also fun to observe!)
- bane 13y ago
  I don't necessarily disagree, but even just watching the video of a playthrough is like watching the best indie animated movie I've ever seen.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
mynameishere 13y ago
I'm about 12 minutes into that video and amazed I got that far. It's some guy chasing flying paper. What am I missing?
- biot 13y ago
  A controller in your hands. Like watching someone else fall in love, you're missing out unless it's you having the experience.

cclogg 13y ago

I hope Journey comes to more platforms because I keep hearing such great things about it but honestly I haven't had or wanted to buy a console since N64 days.

footpath 13y ago
Chances for that are pretty slim, given Sony owns all rights to the game. So most likely you'll see a PlayStation Vita port of it, in addition to the PS3 release.

dclowd9901 13y ago

I have played journey, all the way through, exactly once. I knew nothing of the game besides the prior work of its creators and its visuals going into it. I can safely say it was one of the most impactful experiences (not gaming experiences, but generally speaking) I've ever had in my life. The game thematically boils down some of the most complex and dense topics -- relationships, life, humanity -- into a perfect collaboration between story and gameplay. <spoiler stuff>I ended up partnered with an individual (man or woman, I have no idea) who began as a mentor, guiding me through the game, which has no real instruction to it. You grow to feel so thankful for this person. They're infinitely patient as you miss their cues. They don't scold you or make you feel stupid. They can't. As we sailed down the ski section, in all of its visual glory, it was like experiencing a dream in which you have a profound connection with someone who only exists in your mind. You don't want it to ever end. And at the end, you push each other forward. You refuse to give up. You struggle. You endure. Like surviving some ordeal with another, you share a bond no one could possibly understand. The game then reveals itself to you through metaphor. The end is all at once serene, beautiful, thrilling and grows large in your throat. I know it's just a game, but can't I learn something from it? That person was real. They were there. With me. Guiding me, taking care of me, letting me care for them. There's nothing more pure, and the game nails it.</spoiler stuff> After all that, playing the game again seemed like it could only cheapen it. The developers give you additional stuff to play through for, for those people that might complain about its brief length, but for the rest of us who understand, it was something you just can't taint.

Zikes 13y ago
You've summed up my feelings toward the game better than I ever could, even the part about only playing it once which I could never really explain before. I don't want to get off topic, but there are only two other games I've played that have had that sort of emotional impact on me, To the Moon[1] and Gone Home[2]. In the case of Gone Home in particular, the impact was such that I actually felt a good deal of sadness at knowing that most of the people I know will never experience the story and message of that game, and I wound up buying it for two of my friends. [1] http://freebirdgames.com/to_the_moon/ http://freebirdgames.com/to_the_moon/ [2] http://thefullbrightcompany.com/gonehome/ http://thefullbrightcompany.com/gonehome/

kposehn 13y ago

I'm glad that people found this concept as neat as I do. Great design is something to be treasured, and this game looks like just that: a treasure.

primigenus 13y ago

If you liked Journey's anonymous, transient multiplayer, try Dark Souls: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Souls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Souls. Although it does it in a more "hardcore" style of game - an RPG, with fighting, and lots of dying - it accomplishes the same gripping, emotional experience that is so fleeting in modern games. It's memorable because of how it limits communication and forces you to use gesturing and the environment to explain your intentions to one another.

Vaskivo 13y ago
Saying Dark Souls is "hardcore" is an euphemism :) While quite a different experience, Dark Souls is the "gamiest" game I've played in a long time. While environmentally immersive, the game forces you to remember it's a game. You have plan, optimize and exploit. You don't feel bad by being cheap, because the game is also cheap. All my gaming senses were constantly being tested. Quite the contrast with the recent trend in "immersive" and "cinematic" games. Dark Souls is a game that knows it's a game and expects you to remember that as well.

moondowner 13y ago

Not to forget the excellent music! There is a OST Bonus Bundle that is available as free download: http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/journey-bonus-bundle http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/journey-bonus-bundle And the OST on Bandcamp as well: http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/journey http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/journey Here's a 'behind the scenes' video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNHtReya_p0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNHtReya_p0

derefr 13y ago

From the description of the mechanics, I'm most closely reminded of the local-multiplayer co-op mechanics in the SNES-era game Kirby SuperStar--which indeed produce very positive play experiences in every situation I've seen, such that I recommend it as "the video game to play with your romantic-partner-who-doesn't-play-video-games." Journey even replicates KSS's "mutual recharging through touching" mechanic, which I don't think I've seen in anything else. Amusingly enough, the New Super Mario Bros. series also copied KSS's co-op mechanics--but then added griefing in, just for the sake of it. (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/11/20/ http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/11/20/)