Journey (2012)

Journey was a breath of fresh air for the video game industry. After decades of games getting bigger and bigger in both scope and budget year by year, it was the first time in a very long time that the best game of the year was an indie that could be completed in one sitting. It's a game with a spare yet gorgeous visual style, a stirringly emotional soundtrack and a novel multiplayer component. It's one of the few games I would recommend to absolutely anyone with even a minor curiosity in the art form that is video games. It encapsulates the experience that every person who enjoys games finds when they play something that challenges and rewards them: The joy, excitement and wonder of overcoming a series of escalating obstacles in pursuit to some final great reward. And in this case, the reward is the journey itself.

This game came, showed off its beauty, and went before it ever felt stale. It goes without saying that the art style is absolutely gorgeous, and each movement accompanies this, gently floating along with every step. The music is, of course, absolutely stunning, and fits the world perfectly, and the lack of spoken word makes the game so much more subtly alive. I played halfway through with a fellow player I met on the way, which made the first half feel incredibly connected. I was then left alone for the second half of my Journey, feeling not lonely but invigorated. A wonderful game for wonder in one sitting.

Journey es una experiencia, no hay otra forma de decirlo. Mientras que muchos juegos quieren vender entretenimiento, aquí el objetivo es darte una experiencia, hacerte vivir un viaje y todo lo que conlleva uno. Soledad, amistad, desesperación y sobre todo, un constante sentimiento de maravilla y descubrimiento. Journey tiene unas mecánicas muy sencillas, el diseño de sus niveles es tan magnifico que no necesita ni una sola palabra para explicarte que está sucediendo, es intuitivo y siempre descubrirás como pasar las secciones. Gráficamente el juego es un deleite gracias a su estilo artístico que explora tanto la estética de desierto como el de montaña nevadas, la arena y la nieve nos acompañan toda la aventura y hacen gala de unas físicas que se adaptan muy bien al estilo del juego, no es la mayor maravilla gráfica pero no necesita serlo, es hermoso. Uno de los aspectos más maravillosos de Journey es su faceta multijugador, durante la aventura podrás encontrar a otros jugadores, así por casualidad, nada de matchmaking y esas cosas, este sistema tiene especial significado en una zona jugable donde dependes casi completamente del otro jugador, aderezando el mensaje de amistad que busca crear el juego. La duración se antojará corta para algunos, máximo se pasa en tres o cuatro horas, siendo una experiencia con alto valor de rejugabilidad.
Journey se abre paso como una de las grandes obras indie de la historia, sus aspectos positivos son tan sólidos que encontrarle defectos me fue casi imposible, algunos momentos con la cámara pueden causar fallos gráficos, pero nada del otro mundo o que arruine la experiencia.

I always had a mild curiosity towards this game. I never knew what type of game it was? Reviewers called "the best game ever" or "a memorable experience.", but not what genre it was. Well, if you're curious, it's a walking simulator with some puzzle elements, That's not to say it's not a great game, just what genre it fits in. The story is simple and concise, the visuals are rather beautiful and artsy, and the music is thematic and worthy of that Grammy nomination.
That said, the best part of the game is the co-op experience. When I met my first player I wasn't sure if they were a real human or a CPU player the game added, but by my 2nd encounter ensured it was a real human on the other end. Then it was an interesting game of "follow the leader", a quick, unspoken bond formed to not leave a friend behind. Luckily the 'puzzles' aren't too hard, so you don't need vocalization to cooperate with your partner.

I was finally able to give this a go during my PlayStation Now free trial. It was fantastic. The first 30 minutes was at 4 in the morning, so I didn't have any companions. My second play was at a more reasonable 9 PM and I finished the rest of the game during that second sitting. I was surprised when my first companion showed up. He or She was very helpful. I love that you can't directly communicate with each other. During my play-though I had 4 different companions. It is such an interesting feature and I would like to see it added to more games. The game is truly beautiful and moving. I'm glad I finally got to give it a go.

Unfortunately I do not own this game, and only was able to play it in a relatively limited amount of time at a friend's house. I beat it but wasn't able to set about finding the extras. Even from my brief experience with it, it was an undeniably beautiful and heart touching game. It had no dialogue and each story snippet had to be largely inferred based on pictures and facial expression. It has one of the most beautiful soundtracks I have ever heard from a game, spectacular minimalistic style, and gameplay that is simple but ties in perfectly to its thematic elements. The sandskiing segment stands out as one of the most breathtaking visual segments in gaming, and during the game's final hike I felt it was ME that clung to life. This is one of the most dynamic and immersive games I've ever played. I really hope to own this someday, and will definitely look more into Thatgamecompany's productions.