Journey

This is downloadable game from PSN, the online PS3 store.

Genre:

Puzzle adventure

Setting:

Sand dunes, snow fields, ruins, mountain.

Story:

You start in the middle of nowhere and must make your way towards a mysterious objective...for a mysterious reason.

Graphics:

Character models are simple and cartoon like. The sand modelling is quite sophisticated, and at times looks quite sumptuous...I have in mind the times the sand glistens in the sun...due to moistness...or something. Basically a mixture of impressive visuals and some simple character design.

Sound:

There is a nice, meditative aspect to the soundtrack...very...Zen...if that's the right word. Peaceful, in other words. The playable character only emits a sort of "beep" noise. Sand storm noises sound convincing too.

Gameplay:

Navigating the world of the game involves walking, sand-skiing at times, floating and, at times, teleporting. It's good when you can sand-ski, or float about, but this is only momentary...would have been nice to have prolonged periods of sand-skiiing, for example.

There are some puzzle solving aspects to this game too...as in how to get from point A to point B, or how to reach something desirable.

Good about the game:

* The relaxed, peaceful nature of the game.

* The soothing score.

* The way the tone/atmosphere of the game transitions towards the middle of it.

* Learning about the game...playing online, I unintentionally revived a real player's character...in the world of the game it was a nice moment. Not a word of thanks from the other player though! (or should I say not a "Beep!" of thanks?).

Misjudgements of the game:

* Some moves can be frustrating...e.g. trying to land on an object from a great height is made grindy by the camera not being your friend...a process of trial and error. In other words, it's not matter of skill and practice to reach your target, but more of dumb luck.

* Towards the end of the game the camera angles become a real impediment towards achieving your objective, which is really annoying and frustrating...e.g. there's a part where you have to cross a bridge...if you don't make it to the other side, you have to trudge a while to get back to the same position. Just annoying.

Niggles:

* This game has the ability to be played online. I started one game online and when I returned to it a week later, I found out that the game didn't 'remember' that I was playing online...so, only when I was at the last stage of the game did I realise that I wasn't online...it did seem pretty quiet up to that point!

* I got a trophy for returning to the game a week after I logged off...a pretty fracking pointless trophy!

General observations:

This is a game that I think you have to be in the mood to play, or in a certain mindset to find pleasurable. I was enjoying the game but when I returned to it on my first (solo) playthrough, I did get annoyed with the game and quit. Maybe I had indigestion or something? Having some frustrating elements to the game certainly played a part in that decision to quit the game for a while in any case.

It might be best to get this game as soon as you can, in case you want to play online...not sure how quickly the popularity of the online game will decline. You may find playing online useful, as far as learning things from more experienced players.