to begin with I thought it was very cool, but I didn't get the sort of reactions everyone was having - the turning point was when that first rock dragon woke up, from that point on it was lifechanging
Similar to my experience, at first I was like this is pretty cool.... just cruising around. At some point it just all kinda takes over though.
Just played through it again as a "transcendent" being . . . and fairly baked. was a surprisingly different but beautiful experience. I went out into the first area with the broken bridge. got up on the second section without having to rebuild any of it, perched on top of a broken column and waited, hit select and just meditated. Saw another being drop from the sands but he didnt really see me up there. he went on his way singing and reviving while I stood up and floated right down next to him as if out of thin air. I could read so much just from the way they reacted with their character. little jumps and chirps. I could tell it was their first time playing because of the design on their cloak. So in drops this other being, in all white. I proceeded to accompany this person on the entire journey, acting as companion, and occasional guide/guardian angel. we formed a strong bond. at times I would start singing by just laying down a steady pulse and then he would come in with his own pattern. there were times when they were about to fall/lose progress but I would fly by and rejuvenate some of their scarf energy. Even got us to both meditate for like half a min at the glyph portraying the beings at the point that they had developed and used war machines. During this playthrough I picked up a couple more little details about the history/mythos and the player's place/on-going purpose in it. best part was that he (ended up being a dude, big surprise) sent me a friend request with a note a couple hours later saying that his friend told him he had to play through this game, and that he should do so on some form of psilocybin. He went on for a few paragraphs about how effected he was by what transpired. there was so much love in his words. this game just makes you reflect on the self and the overall human condition. it boils down the nature of our relationships and interactions with eachother to such a beautiful level, and it does so using stunning imagery ranging from serene/beautiful to chilling/terrifying. this game spreads love, genuinely. i feel funny calling it a game
Played it. This is something else. I did not know the other beings I was meeting were other actual humans playing the game, until I reached the end of the credits. It all flowed so well I thought their actions were scripted. That makes the climb up the increasingly treacherous snowy slopes pretty fucking heavy. I didn't know I was teaming up with another player. At the end of that climb, we got separated and I saw them collapse ahead of me before I did as well. At the very end during the final walk, a being was waiting near the end and walked through with me. I thought that was all pretty great, but yeah when I found out those were other players...man that is fucking cool. There were so many moments that made me shit my pants. This game is my new litmus test for seeing whether someone is worth giving a damn about or not. If you don't like this you have no soul.
fuck yea. I mean the little stretch where you catch the sunset against the ruined city as you surf across the sand through the column lined tunnel, catching little bits of air and getting silhouette'd against it, with the soundtrack and ambient noise matching it perfectly literally took my breath away
the desire to wait in the first area like a stoic, wise, and experienced being for newbies tonight is very strong, but I also understand why many might want their first journey to be with a fellow virgin . . . wat do
gonna set the game aside for at least a week. Just had a fucking fantastic journey. went almost the entire way with a virgin, but also someone who quickly caught on that the glowing symbols at the end of each section meant something, and that if any were missing, they missed something, which also meant there were areas of this meticulously crafted world that he/she didnt see. They could also see that I was a bit different than they were, and I would loosely aim them in the right direction, but not outright open the door for them. We sang and danced about in the tower area once it was all raised, and we had some beautiful and efficient tandem flight in the final area, literally in contact with eachother through long stretches of gliding to keep the energy at a constant level. We were in lock step. I'm hoping it was a chick, I feel like it was and the psn name makes it a maybe. Anyway we were together until ressurection and beyond. they were just gone . . . i called out to no response and at a certain point I accepted it and proceeded to just frolic around the very last bits as a being of pure energy. I actually came back down off the final cliff once the soundtrack had run it's course, and I got to enjoy the ambient noises of the landscape and the cloth lifeforms. There's some really beautiful audio used for every tiny little feature in this game. the attention to detail is inspiring. also in that very last ascension area were you are pure energy and climbing, singing creates a beautiful echo and you can make even cooler little melodies just floating in that area. eventually I went to the top and walked on top of one of the rocks, hit select to meditate, and went to go brush my teeth. I walk back in 3 min later and a player is slowly pacing in front of me, chirping. It was a new person who also must have been separated from their companion. At this point im betting that he's thinking that at this final cliffside, just before taking that last walk, a white being that looks different than anyone else they had seen was just chilling there as a stoic set piece npc. that's when I stand up and they are taken a back. then they chirped the same pattern twice in a row, im guessing to see if I was an actual player. I chirped back the same rhythm and they let out a fully charged shout. from there we took that final walk together such a beautiful game. I'll see if I get any friend requests tomorrow. im not going to start friending every one of my journey mates
I'm always late to the party, so I guess I'll have to download this ASAP. How long does it take for a playthrough? Does the game have savepoints? I don't have a lot of time to invest, at least not all in one sitting, but I still want to give this a go.
I'd say it shouldn't take you any longer than 2 hours, might take you less depending upon how you go through it and who you might be going through it with. there are save points but you'll most likely be leaving someone behind when you quit out. It's easily completable in one sitting, which is the entire point
But seriously, just finished my first Journey... This is something else. Holy fuck, I am floored. Played the first section baked, then completed it the next day. Gonna have some beers on saturday and play through it again. It's different the second time through?
only in that you will or wont meet a different person, explore off and see new things or just have a different feeling about it overall.
Fuck I really want to play this but I don't think I should start it now. I'll probably wait for the weekend.
at first I was like, this is neat and pretty and then at one point I just kind of stared at my monitor with my mouth agape until the game ended. the whole snow part was fucking incredible. That last final walk felt like either of us would collapse at any moment, as we just got gradually slower. from that point on to the ending was just transcendant.
The fact that you play alongside real people is magical. It really makes you feel human, what it's like to be human, to feel compassion and togetherness and it makes you think about the people most important to you.
http://d.pr/xBL9 <- link, it's already in the proper folders, so just put that on a USB stick, plug it into your ps3, go over to settings > theme settings and click install.
