If there ever was a game that was the definition of perfection, it was Journey. And if you don’t agree with me or have done yourself the disservice of never playing it… gasp… egad… crikey… (insert your choice of exclamations of shock and dismay here).
The gameplay of Journey is the best 2 hours your will ever spend in a game. In those 2 hours, you will experience a range of emotions from joy and elation to fear and dismay.
Thatgamecompany crafted an experience that remains as impactful today as it was a decade ago. As a gamer, each moment is sublime, even when you are challenged. As a designer, the game is a masterclass on how to use mechanics, level design, art, and music to create connection and emotion.
Entering the desert
Journey takes place in a desert. You start the game as a robed figure, sitting amidst glimmering sand. The desert is vast and haunting, the horizon shrouded in haze. As a kid who grew up in the Middle East, the romance of the sand called to me. Which is hilarious because I am such a city kid. However, my brain ignored all of that logic and just got homesick.
In the distance, you see small markers that tell you where to go. Through images, you are told you can sing a single note to engage pieces of flying cloth to charge your scarf. Which then turns the simple jump into a soaring glide for as long as your scarf has power. That’s where the magic of the game exists.
You use these jumps to solve simple puzzles, looking for runes and cloth to affect your scarf. As the sun sets turning everything dusky and golden, you soar through the desert. The music soars with you, as you find ruins and uncover the story of what happened to this once-great city. Then with the coming of the night, you plunge into darkness and have to find your way out. You have to push your way through some sinister levels to find your path to redemption. When you do, you get to go through a sequence that is incredibly triumphant.
The game was rewarding and as it ended, I was left feeling shaken, wondering where time had flown off to. But evidently, I had played it wrong.
Someone to lean on
At the behest of a friend, I picked up the game again a few years later. This time with my internet connection active. Soon after I began, another player found me. This mystery person just happened to be playing at the same time and they joined me on my journey. Suddenly, the experience was different. They sang to me, guiding me to hidden paths and secrets. They watched out for me in the shadows. They soared with me through light and shadow.
They became my champion and I hope I was theirs, not just the noob tagging along. As we approached the end goal, the mountain we were fighting towards, the challenge hit differently. As I watched their character struggle and stumble, I was distraught. It made no sense. I knew how the game ended, where we would be triumphant. But I still couldn’t shake it.
I tried to push harder, to get them moving. I tried to make something different happen. I walked away from the game shaken again. I had known since day one that this was a beautiful game. However, it was the second time I played this game that I truly came to appreciate the design of this game.
Shaping the player journey
The sheer genius of this game lies in its simplicity for the gamer.
We only need to figure out how to use the singing action within the world, since movement uses standard inputs. Since we do this by exploring, it comes naturally. That leaves us the space and time to feel the impact of the world.
The camera is placed far enough from the character that you can always see the size of the world. First a vast desert, then ruins that slowly grow in size, towering over you, leaving shadows and scars. Even as you soar through the game, you are aware of how small you are. The art is beautiful. Even in the dark the sand glitters, and your robe is a vibrant red. These small details serve to highlight that the world you are roaming through has been swallowed up by the desert. That you are the only one there.
The wind and sand swirl around you, providing a constant backdrop to your journey. With it is a hint of music- haunting and plaintive. And haunting. Until you succeed at a task and suddenly drums rise up to applaud and encourage you before everything fades back to the sound of the rushing wind. Even when you are gliding through large corridors, cutting through sunbeams and listening to triumphant music, it all serves to create and highlight your loneliness. All without a single written or spoken word.
When I was playing alone, the elements got me to move along. But when I found company, they made me feel like I was hanging out with my best friend. This stranger became my comfort in a world I was lost in. Thatgamecompay has been able to create a unique multiplayer experience that feels intimate even while you are anonymous. If you do invite a friend to play with you, it’s an incredible bonding experience.
This game is designed to keep you elated and wrapped up in the details and beauty so that you almost don’t notice that the environment is corralling you. That clever design choices were making you feel intimidated and trapped until you fall into the ‘dungeon’ and have to look for a way out. Every small element, from the level design to the lighting, is meant to add to your journey within this game. To add weight to every step and decision as you move towards the ever-beckoning goal of the mountain and its promise of freedom and redemption.
It is a shocking amount of depth for such a short and simple game. Journey has a lot of heart and deserves to be replayed. Just so you have a chance to embrace the silence and maybe become someone’s champion.
