Journey
(2012, E For Everyone)
8/4/17
My family and I once went to a public summer barbecue, where I was introduced to a couple who are close friends of my parents. I also met their son, who’s about my age. We were quick to learn our mutual love of video games, and it wasn’t long before were planning game nights at each other’s houses, immersing ourselves in various virtual worlds while feasting on tacos and cookies. He was the one who introduced me to the scientific and hilarious world of the Portal series, and it was such a treat for me to introduce him to the beautifully grim domain that is LIMBO. Great times. One of the best, though, came from a game that neither of us had played up to that point. I was dying to try it, I told him, but I had no PlayStation 3; he had not heard of the game, but he had a Playstation 3. A short time afterward, to my delighted surprise, he informed me that he had purchased the game, played it, and loved it. And getting the chance to play it myself, especially with him, a friend still dear to me to this day, went far beyond my expectations.
In an unknown part of the world, a vast desert stretches for miles; glittering sands, relentless winds, and a blazing sun a testament to its unforgiving beauty. As a light like a shooting star, blinding even in the daylight, sails across the sky, a lone figure kneels in the sand as if in meditation. Covered in a robe of rich, dark copper lined in intricate golden symbols, their identity, ethnicity, and even gender are a mystery, their face shrouded in darkness save for the band of gold that circles their head and their eyes that shine like twin diamonds. Erected atop the sand dune just beyond them are tall stone structures, attached to which are long cloths that wave and snap in the wind like flags. The intrigued figure arises and trudges upward through the sand towards the stones. Upon reaching the top of the dune, an awesome sight greets the figure: just visible in the far, far distance, a titanic mountain stands, its peak rimmed with the sun’s radiant glow as if it were the home of a divine being. Thus begins the pilgrim’s trek toward the mountain to learn what awaits there, but not before they witness many splendors and dangers, as well as the mysterious past of those who came—and lived—in times long ago.
It’s no secret that the creation of video games often has more of a focus on gameplay and mechanics and are made according to budget and industry statistics. This, unfortunately, tends to come at the cost of meaningful storytelling, or at least decent characterization and plot development. thatgamecompany, the indie developer behind Journey, was founded with the intention of changing that. Similarly to games like LIMBO, this game takes the “less is more” approach, doing away with written and spoken dialogue and explicit direction, and relying instead on a meticulous crafting of symbolic minimalism to enrich the gameplay experience.
First off, the scenery is some of the most absolutely gorgeous you will ever see in a video game: from the sands glittering in the sunlight and rippling like silk with the traveler’s movements, to the monumental ruins ever standing with quiet dignity against the elements. The attention given to the environmental and aesthetic detail is phenomenal—literally any screen shot in the game could be named a work of art, to be admired and speculated upon. As a matter of fact, had Journey been released in time, it would have been included in The Art of Video Games exhibition for the Smithsonian American Art Museum. But its visual beauty runs so much more deeply than that: it—along with the camera often being panned out away from, rather than zoomed in on, the player—is a brilliant reminder of our inherent smallness and mortality in this vast world, the beauties, hazards, and enigmas of which most of us can only imagine. Hidden throughout these harsh surroundings are mysterious murals and alter-like structures, through which we are able to see the divine white-robed beings who act as teacher and guide to the protagonist. It is through them that we are offered glimpses into the past via living hieroglyphics of a people very much like our traveler, a glorious civilization that once thrived even in such a barren place.
Likewise, the sounds and the gameplay are designed to transcend beyond the basic moving from one point to another. The soundtrack, filled with gentle flutes and calming strings—especially the cello—isn’t exquisitely poignant only to the ear. Students of media may recognize that many of the songs are named after stages of the Hero’s Journey, a narrative pattern coined by famed mythologist Joseph Campbell in his book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces; in very broad terms, it is the plot template in which a hero embarks on an adventure, faces a crisis of some kind, emerges victorious, and returns home with new wisdom to be used for the benefit of others. Unfortunately, to go over how the stages relate directly to the game would be giving away huge spoilers, but for anyone interested in a brief but still thought-provoking explanation, the Youtube series Extra Credits has done a 2-part episode on the subject, also called “The Hero’s Journey.” Going back to the music: for example, “The Call” is named after the stage “The Call to Adventure”, whereby something new or unusual happens to the hero that requires him to leave his home and embark on his quest; “Threshold” comes from “Crossing the First Threshold”, in which the hero—however reluctantly—finally steps out of his old world into the realm of the unknown, and now there is no going back; “The Road of Trials”, like its title implies, describes how the hero must undertake tests and ordeals in order to complete his task and/or survive his adventure; and “Apotheosis” is the state of transcendence, where the hero surpasses the inner or outer limitations that held him back before and is now a perfected being with the power to achieve so much more than ever before.
Also a joy to witness are player’s abilities. The traveler is endowed with a beautiful scarf that enables flight. It starts off short, but grows longer as more magic is collected via glowing sigils. The longer and more magically charged the scarf, the farther and longer you are able to fly, allowing for more exploration and viewing of the mesmerizing landscape. The traveler’s other power is the ability to emit a sort of musical “chime”. This allows more than just interaction for the sake of progression. More to the point of the game, it’s the player’s primary form of communication. Among the first beings you encounter are strange sentient strips of cloth the same design as the traveler’s scarf. As friendly as they are stunning, there are many types of these cloth creatures to be found throughout the ruins of this world. Animalistic in their sounds and behavior, the smallest and most basic in shape may fly together in flocks or simply glide where they please, warbling and trilling like birds, while other more elaborately shaped ones may float and ripple like jelly fish, or soar with the gentle majesty of whales. These creatures not only assist the traveler by recharging the magic scarf, but they help to alleviate the solitude and loneliness of the player’s passage.
And speaking of making new friends . . . Online, a player may meet another player—another traveler—in real time. They are completely free to choose whether to continue the trek together, or to leave each other to do as they see fit. But the online gameplay of Journey offers something particularly special. In virtually any multiplayer game one can name, players are able and even required to speak with one another, whether verbally or in writing, and players’ avatars are distinguished by their names, appearances, attacks, abilities, and personalities, all of which on display for everyone to see. There is none of that to be found here. Staying true to the universality the character design is meant to represent, players have no indication as to who the people behind the avatars are: no user names, no chatting, no screen text, interacting only with their “chime”—and it works. Because of this lack of obvious outward differences, there is little to no foundation for creating potential biases toward other players. True story: I met a fellow traveler during my very first playthrough of Journey and we ended up finishing the rest of the game together; I still know nothing about this other player in real life and I still felt like we truly bonded. During my second playthrough, however, I wasn’t online, and I was surprised to find that the absence of other travelers actually made me feel lonely.
According to designer Matthew Nava, in his preface of The Art of Journey:
“Something that I really like about Journey is that it never says anything to the player explicitly. There are no words explaining this history we created, or even dialogue revealing the character’s thoughts throughout the narrative. This was a way for us to make the game accessible to a wider audience, letting it cross cultural barriers created by language. [. . .] I think it is that sense of personal connection that makes Journey powerful. In a market dominated by multiplayer games that revolve around killing one another, Journey’s mechanics are designed from the ground up to bring out the player’s good side, and encourages players—even strangers—to be friends.” (Pg. 9)
While this is certainly not the first video game to be considered a work of art, if one considers previously released games like Silent Hill 2, Ōkami, Shadow of the Colossus, and Bioshock, the visuals alone aren’t what make Journey a masterpiece to behold and to experience. The beauty of Journey is that it is intended to elicit emotional responses from players and touch them on a deeper and more spiritual level. Though not without an in-game end goal to strive for, it emphasizes personal connections and a sense of wonder rather than competition, giving resplendently new meaning to the term “interactive”.
CREDITS:
All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
In an unknown part of the world, a vast desert stretches for miles; glittering sands, relentless winds, and a blazing sun a testament to its unforgiving beauty. As a light like a shooting star, blinding even in the daylight, sails across the sky, a lone figure kneels in the sand as if in meditation. Covered in a robe of rich, dark copper lined in intricate golden symbols, their identity, ethnicity, and even gender are a mystery, their face shrouded in darkness save for the band of gold that circles their head and their eyes that shine like twin diamonds. Erected atop the sand dune just beyond them are tall stone structures, attached to which are long cloths that wave and snap in the wind like flags. The intrigued figure arises and trudges upward through the sand towards the stones. Upon reaching the top of the dune, an awesome sight greets the figure: just visible in the far, far distance, a titanic mountain stands, its peak rimmed with the sun’s radiant glow as if it were the home of a divine being. Thus begins the pilgrim’s trek toward the mountain to learn what awaits there, but not before they witness many splendors and dangers, as well as the mysterious past of those who came—and lived—in times long ago.
It’s no secret that the creation of video games often has more of a focus on gameplay and mechanics and are made according to budget and industry statistics. This, unfortunately, tends to come at the cost of meaningful storytelling, or at least decent characterization and plot development. thatgamecompany, the indie developer behind Journey, was founded with the intention of changing that. Similarly to games like LIMBO, this game takes the “less is more” approach, doing away with written and spoken dialogue and explicit direction, and relying instead on a meticulous crafting of symbolic minimalism to enrich the gameplay experience.
First off, the scenery is some of the most absolutely gorgeous you will ever see in a video game: from the sands glittering in the sunlight and rippling like silk with the traveler’s movements, to the monumental ruins ever standing with quiet dignity against the elements. The attention given to the environmental and aesthetic detail is phenomenal—literally any screen shot in the game could be named a work of art, to be admired and speculated upon. As a matter of fact, had Journey been released in time, it would have been included in The Art of Video Games exhibition for the Smithsonian American Art Museum. But its visual beauty runs so much more deeply than that: it—along with the camera often being panned out away from, rather than zoomed in on, the player—is a brilliant reminder of our inherent smallness and mortality in this vast world, the beauties, hazards, and enigmas of which most of us can only imagine. Hidden throughout these harsh surroundings are mysterious murals and alter-like structures, through which we are able to see the divine white-robed beings who act as teacher and guide to the protagonist. It is through them that we are offered glimpses into the past via living hieroglyphics of a people very much like our traveler, a glorious civilization that once thrived even in such a barren place.
Likewise, the sounds and the gameplay are designed to transcend beyond the basic moving from one point to another. The soundtrack, filled with gentle flutes and calming strings—especially the cello—isn’t exquisitely poignant only to the ear. Students of media may recognize that many of the songs are named after stages of the Hero’s Journey, a narrative pattern coined by famed mythologist Joseph Campbell in his book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces; in very broad terms, it is the plot template in which a hero embarks on an adventure, faces a crisis of some kind, emerges victorious, and returns home with new wisdom to be used for the benefit of others. Unfortunately, to go over how the stages relate directly to the game would be giving away huge spoilers, but for anyone interested in a brief but still thought-provoking explanation, the Youtube series Extra Credits has done a 2-part episode on the subject, also called “The Hero’s Journey.” Going back to the music: for example, “The Call” is named after the stage “The Call to Adventure”, whereby something new or unusual happens to the hero that requires him to leave his home and embark on his quest; “Threshold” comes from “Crossing the First Threshold”, in which the hero—however reluctantly—finally steps out of his old world into the realm of the unknown, and now there is no going back; “The Road of Trials”, like its title implies, describes how the hero must undertake tests and ordeals in order to complete his task and/or survive his adventure; and “Apotheosis” is the state of transcendence, where the hero surpasses the inner or outer limitations that held him back before and is now a perfected being with the power to achieve so much more than ever before.
Also a joy to witness are player’s abilities. The traveler is endowed with a beautiful scarf that enables flight. It starts off short, but grows longer as more magic is collected via glowing sigils. The longer and more magically charged the scarf, the farther and longer you are able to fly, allowing for more exploration and viewing of the mesmerizing landscape. The traveler’s other power is the ability to emit a sort of musical “chime”. This allows more than just interaction for the sake of progression. More to the point of the game, it’s the player’s primary form of communication. Among the first beings you encounter are strange sentient strips of cloth the same design as the traveler’s scarf. As friendly as they are stunning, there are many types of these cloth creatures to be found throughout the ruins of this world. Animalistic in their sounds and behavior, the smallest and most basic in shape may fly together in flocks or simply glide where they please, warbling and trilling like birds, while other more elaborately shaped ones may float and ripple like jelly fish, or soar with the gentle majesty of whales. These creatures not only assist the traveler by recharging the magic scarf, but they help to alleviate the solitude and loneliness of the player’s passage.
And speaking of making new friends . . . Online, a player may meet another player—another traveler—in real time. They are completely free to choose whether to continue the trek together, or to leave each other to do as they see fit. But the online gameplay of Journey offers something particularly special. In virtually any multiplayer game one can name, players are able and even required to speak with one another, whether verbally or in writing, and players’ avatars are distinguished by their names, appearances, attacks, abilities, and personalities, all of which on display for everyone to see. There is none of that to be found here. Staying true to the universality the character design is meant to represent, players have no indication as to who the people behind the avatars are: no user names, no chatting, no screen text, interacting only with their “chime”—and it works. Because of this lack of obvious outward differences, there is little to no foundation for creating potential biases toward other players. True story: I met a fellow traveler during my very first playthrough of Journey and we ended up finishing the rest of the game together; I still know nothing about this other player in real life and I still felt like we truly bonded. During my second playthrough, however, I wasn’t online, and I was surprised to find that the absence of other travelers actually made me feel lonely.
According to designer Matthew Nava, in his preface of The Art of Journey:
“Something that I really like about Journey is that it never says anything to the player explicitly. There are no words explaining this history we created, or even dialogue revealing the character’s thoughts throughout the narrative. This was a way for us to make the game accessible to a wider audience, letting it cross cultural barriers created by language. [. . .] I think it is that sense of personal connection that makes Journey powerful. In a market dominated by multiplayer games that revolve around killing one another, Journey’s mechanics are designed from the ground up to bring out the player’s good side, and encourages players—even strangers—to be friends.” (Pg. 9)
While this is certainly not the first video game to be considered a work of art, if one considers previously released games like Silent Hill 2, Ōkami, Shadow of the Colossus, and Bioshock, the visuals alone aren’t what make Journey a masterpiece to behold and to experience. The beauty of Journey is that it is intended to elicit emotional responses from players and touch them on a deeper and more spiritual level. Though not without an in-game end goal to strive for, it emphasizes personal connections and a sense of wonder rather than competition, giving resplendently new meaning to the term “interactive”.
CREDITS:
All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
EPISODE SONG:
“Quietude in G” - The Curellis
“Quietude in G” - The Curellis
All other music and sound clips are sampled from Journey (directed by Jenova Chen; developed by Thatgamecompany and Santa Monica Studio; published by Sony Computer Entertainment and Annapurna Interactive).
OST SONGS:
“The Call”
“Threshold”
“The Road of Trials”
“Apotheosis”
Download the full 15-minute episode here!
Journey on Wikipedia
Thatgamecompany on Wikipedia
Journey on Thatgamecompany's Official Website
Journey on Fandom
Journey's Grammy Nomination!
Buy Journey on Playstation Network
Buy Journey: Collector's Edition at Gamestop
Buy the Journey Digital Code at Gamestop
Buy Journey: Collector's Edition on Amazon
Buy the Journey Digital Code on Amazon
Buy Journey on EBay
Buy The Art of Journey on Amazon
Buy the Journey Original Soundtrack on Amazon
^^ Back to Video Games, Simulations, and Other Interactive Experiences
OST SONGS:
“The Call”
“Threshold”
“The Road of Trials”
“Apotheosis”
Download the full 15-minute episode here!
Journey on Wikipedia
Thatgamecompany on Wikipedia
Journey on Thatgamecompany's Official Website
Journey on Fandom
Journey's Grammy Nomination!
Buy Journey on Playstation Network
Buy Journey: Collector's Edition at Gamestop
Buy the Journey Digital Code at Gamestop
Buy Journey: Collector's Edition on Amazon
Buy the Journey Digital Code on Amazon
Buy Journey on EBay
Buy The Art of Journey on Amazon
Buy the Journey Original Soundtrack on Amazon
^^ Back to Video Games, Simulations, and Other Interactive Experiences