From the makers of Flower comes Journey

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Hurray! It's being released March 13th in NA and March 14th in EU.

/happy dance

I hope I'm done with ME3 by March 13, or I'll be taking a break to explore the desert.

Dyni wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Hurray! It's being released March 13th in NA and March 14th in EU.

/happy dance

I hope I'm done with ME3 by March 13, or I'll be taking a break to explore the desert.

Heh, I expect for me, it'll be Taking a Break. But I'm really looking forward to that break.

Looking forward to this. Hard.

Awesome news. For a while it seemed like all the PS titles that I was looking forward to were in a constant state of delay. I'm glad to see this one coming out in a timely manner. I read somewhere that the game only lets you play with a stranger so I'm assuming that it has to be someone that isn't on your friends list. That should be pretty interesting.

EvilDead wrote:

I read somewhere that the game only lets you play with a stranger so I'm assuming that it has to be someone that isn't on your friends list.

As far as I understand, it could be someone on your friends list, it's just that you will never know because there is no way to talk to the person you play with (except possibly, maybe, writing messages with your trail in the sand?) and it doesn't reveal the psn id of the person you are playing with.

I'm looking forward to playing this in a couple weeks. I was really excited seeing all the reviews going up today but it's not out for a while is it?

Does anyone know if the reviews are spoilerific? Is there even stuff to spoil in this game?

I was already going to pick it up no matter what. Good to see some positive reviews.

juv3nal wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

I read somewhere that the game only lets you play with a stranger so I'm assuming that it has to be someone that isn't on your friends list.

As far as I understand, it could be someone on your friends list, it's just that you will never know because there is no way to talk to the person you play with (except possibly, maybe, writing messages with your trail in the sand?) and it doesn't reveal the psn id of the person you are playing with.

Yep, I just watched the Gametrailers review and that seems to be the case. They didn't mention anything about writing in the sand but that will be fun to try. They also said you can solo this game completely just randomly crossing paths with the other player. Pretty cool.

shoptroll wrote:

I'm looking forward to playing this in a couple weeks. I was really excited seeing all the reviews going up today but it's not out for a while is it?

Does anyone know if the reviews are spoilerific? Is there even stuff to spoil in this game?

I'm not sure but I don't think I saw anything in the Gametrailers review that would be considered a spoiler.

EvilDead wrote:

They didn't mention anything about writing in the sand but that will be fun to try.

Yeah, I've no idea if that would actually work. Another option, I guess, might be morse code using the "sing" verb, but there's no way I could be bothered to do that.

Yessssssssss! So glad to see these positive reviews. Can't wait to give it a go.

I've had the Journey wallpaper on my PS3 for several months now. I'm eagerly awaiting it.

I think it was was a huge mistake on Sony's part to have the reviews hit so early for Journey - almost two weeks early for non-PS+ subscribers (the game hits the general store in the 13th).

What many older marketing people fail to realize is that two weeks on the internet might as well be an eternity.

The reviews started popping up in force yesterday, and people were scrambling to get this hot new game. But then they found it wasn't available.

By the 13th, many of these people will have forgotten about it. That's how things are these days. Turn around is fast, and companies need to realize this.

They basically blew a couple of days of insane internet hype and amazing word of mouth by having the game not be available. This is especially problematic and baffling since the game is done.

D_Davis wrote:

I think it was was a huge mistake on Sony's part to have the reviews hit so early for Journey - almost two weeks early for non-PS+ subscribers (the game hits the general store in the 13th).

What many older marketing people fail to realize is that two weeks on the internet might as well be an eternity.

The reviews started popping up in force yesterday, and people were scrambling to get this hot new game. But then they found it wasn't available.

By the 13th, many of these people will have forgotten about it. That's how things are these days. Turn around is fast, and companies need to realize this.

They basically blew a couple of days of insane internet hype and amazing word of mouth by having the game not be available. This is especially problematic and baffling since the game is done.

That's a good point. Especially considering the Mass Effect hype will probably drown this out. Releasing reviews a couple days before or day of (since it is downloadable) would have probably been smarter.

D_Davis wrote:

I think it was was a huge mistake on Sony's part to have the reviews hit so early for Journey - almost two weeks early for non-PS+ subscribers (the game hits the general store in the 13th).

Maybe they're trying to piggyback on Journey's hype to encourage people to get PS+? How much earlier do PS+ people get it?

1 week early. I suspect this is the reason, they're trying to get more people to sign up for PS Plus. It has me considering it.

Wait... I have PS+, which means I can get this game the same day as ME3? This sounds like a problem worth solving! Word on the web is Journey is pretty short, so maybe I'll power through it before I start up ME3

Downloading now. With about four billion people downloading 14 gigs of Mass Effect 3, it may take a while.

I did install the dynamic theme you get for preordering. It basically is a sideshow of concept art with the Ken Burns effect. It looks nice, but it's making my head spin; although that could be from repeatedly playing an SSX level where I was careening through dark tunnels with a light on my head.

First impressions after 3 levels / areas / etc. I purposely have not read too much about the game.

The game is beautiful. After 10 seconds into the game, I had to pause it and clean my screen because the small smudges were driving me nuts.

No narration, but a lot of visual information. The only words I've seen so far in game are "Journey" and "Saving."

The coop play was very nice. Hanging out near your friend gives you both more mobility.

You will fly. Oh my, you will fly.

Aristophan wrote:

First impressions after 3 levels / areas / etc. I purposely have not read too much about the game.

The game is beautiful. After 10 seconds into the game, I had to pause it and clean my screen because the small smudges were driving me nuts.

No narration, but a lot of visual information. The only words I've seen so far in game are "Journey" and "Saving."

The coop play was very nice. Hanging out near your friend gives you both more mobility.

You will fly. Oh my, you will fly.

Awesome! I can't wait to play next week.

Ok, I really don't want to comment much on the actual content of the game until more people have played it, so I'll keep it very general.

-This is one of the most beautiful games I've ever seen, both technically and especially artistically. Once you get to a certain area about midway through the game, you'll see some truly incredible sights.

-The music is brilliant.

-This is possibly the most rewarding cooperative experience I've ever had in a game. At first the coop is whimsical and seems like a bit of a novelty, but as the game progresses, coop becomes more... impactful. I don't want to say important because you can certainly finish the game alone, but man do they do some cool stuff.

-The game took me just over 2 hours to complete. I know some people will likely think the $15 price tag is too high for a game of this length, but those 2 hours were better than just about every 8-10 hour experience I had last year. There is no filler here.

I can say without hesitation that Journey was well worth the wait. Flower was a game that I loved, but I only felt comfortable recommending it to a certain kind of gamer. Journey is a title that I would feel comfortable recommending to anyone. It is an experience that must be had. There isn't anything else like it. I'm kind of bummed that it's PS3 exclusive because I think it deserves a much larger audience. I'm very eager to hear what everyone else thinks of it, but I know that I'm one of the lone PS+ people 'round these parts, so I'll try my best to wait patiently until next week

My PSN ID is tuffalobuffalo if you PS+ guys want to friend me up. I'll definitely be buying it next week.

Friend request sent!

I played the entire thing in one sitting. If you own a ps3, you have got to get this game! It is a beautiful, unique, and mystifying experience!

I only wish you could choose to partner up with a psn friend. Instead, it is always random who you are with. Then again, that part kind of adds to the effect and feel of the game.

I just completed my journey. Great experience.

One surprise for me was

Spoiler:

At the end, you see the names of all the people you journeyed with. It was about 6 names for me - though I played it over several sessions.

Jamull99 wrote:

I played the entire thing in one sitting. If you own a ps3, you have got to get this game! It is a beautiful, unique, and mystifying experience!

While it helped that it was only 2-3 hours long, Journey has become the first single-sitting game I've experienced in... years, probably. And I only expected to stay for a 'stage' or two.

Truth be told, I may well have still gotten through it all without break were it twice as long. There were points here where I realised that my mouth was hanging open, which I find interesting in itself - I'm sure that I'm as guilty as the next guy for using descriptors such as 'jaw-dropping sights' as nothing more than lexical padding; par for the course, really. As such, to note that, actually, my jaw did, in fact, drop (on more than one occasion) while playing this means that I probably need to employ some hyperbole such as 'beyond jaw-dropping' in order to get the point across.

Which makes it sound a bit like the jaw dropped and then dislocated. This seems pretty painful.

I thought this game was stunning in all respects. The sand and lighting were amazing. I found myself awed many times. The sound is exceptional. While it's not giving you an orchestral score or beat, you hear yourself moving with the sand, the wind, or flying through the air. The story was presented well, but I'm not sure I understand the ending. The most surprising thing about this game, besides the turning point which is also great (surprise!), were the controls. Some of the most fun traversal and platforming I've ever experienced. My play-through was around an hour and a half, so I definitely expect to replay it multiple times. Hope to see you none Plus members invading my journeys this week!

Pretendbeard wrote:

There were points here where I realised that my mouth was hanging open, which I find interesting in itself - I'm sure that I'm as guilty as the next guy for using descriptors such as 'jaw-dropping sights' as nothing more than lexical padding; par for the course, really. As such, to note that, actually, my jaw did, in fact, drop (on more than one occasion) while playing this means that I probably need to employ some hyperbole such as 'beyond jaw-dropping' in order to get the point across.

Same here. I don't want to spoil anything, but there's a shot that involves the sun and I will say no more.

Aristophan wrote:

Same here. I don't want to spoil anything, but there's a shot that involves the sun and I will say no more.

Very cool aesthetically, but

Spoiler:

I wish they asked the player to at least do something in that area. Changing up the game makes for a better experience, but I was asking myself when they were going to let me play again.

Played through the game on Sunday I think and yeah, the game is really stunning. It's amazing how little real gameplay there is yet you are completely engaged from start to finish. The environments are gorgeous, the minimalist story is very interesting and they manage to create some truly powerful moments.

Also found the co-op play to be pretty fascinating. At first I thought it was just a neat experience, but there actually are reasons to try and "work with" your co-op partners... assuming you care about achievements. There's something very interesting about having this shared experience with almost no way of communicating.

Spoiler:

Does anyone know if you can make it up the mountain successfully with a co-op partner, or do you always end up falling unconscious in the snow? Seems like it'd be a cool touch if you can make it through together and not succumb to the cold. I lost my partner back trying to dodge the flying monster thing, so I went up the mountain alone.

Yeah it's short but it was 2 or so of the most incredible hours I've put into a game. I love really well-designed short gaming experiences like Journey. Anyone who enjoyed Flower will love Journey as well.