Real Talk By: Mo Chocolate

This is a game I’ve had my eye on for some time now. The simplicity of the plot intrigued me. Never was over hyped about it like it was Uncharted or God of war, but still. To be completely honest I rarely ever look for downloadable games, for some reason it Just never struck a chord with me. Lets just say that  Journey made me change.

Journey is the third game in which was included in the 3 game Contract the studio had with Sony. The others being flow & Flower. Each game shared its own success. The Story of journey is very simple. It’s one of the strong aspects of this Game. You play a “wonderer” in a desert and your soul purpose in life is head to this mountain you see right in front of you as far as the eye can see. That is it. No boss battles or anything. You are just going to a mountain. There is no reason ether, the character never speaks; hell no one in this game says one word. The main focus is going to this freaking mountain! The main focus is the journey & that is what makes this game shine.

Game play is simple. All you can do is go forward and hold the O button to make a small music note. You can’t jump unless holding forward when going up steps or jumping over a gap. One of my favorite parts about the game is the ability to fly for a short amount of time. Throughout the game there’s small personal rectangular cloths that will attract to the character when pressing the O button. This in turn will give you the ability to soar for a short time depending on how long your cloth is. Speaking of, this cloth is the wonderers main “weapon” if you will. Throughout the game there’s personal glowing orbs in random places when approached, it will make your cloth longer. The longer the cloth is the longer you can fly. I am not sure how long the cloth can grow because every time I think mine is to long I come across another person on a journey with an even longer one (laugh if you chose) That is another one of the fantastic things about this game.

There is multiplayer in this game however with a unique twist. Along the way you will come across other wonderer’s, each one will have a different symbol on so you can distinguish them. The big thing is that you cannot talk to them at all. You can choose to follow the person or have them follow you. Or just leave them and continue on your own. I love that you can’t talk to them. It really blends in with this title.

This game is visually the best PSN game I have ever witnessed. The detail of the sand, sun and dust is really incredible. There were moments in the game that really made me drop my jaw and say “Oh my *#!^ing goodness” I did not expect that level of detail in everything. My favorite parts are when you’re sliding down this sand hill and the way the camera moves along with you, showing off the beauty of the game. Another is when you finally are going to the mountain. I cannot stop playing that level.  However this game is not perfect.

There is very little I do not like about this game and even though it is little, it definitely stops it from getting a full five-star rating. The first thing I do not like is the pricing. This game is $15 now. Assuming why they gave it that price was because of the genius visuals and because this game took three years to make. That is a lot of hard work and it shows. However this would not be a big issue for me had the game’s length been less than one hour of Game play. Sony is known for over pricing things but this is no excuse. If the game was 5hrs+ of game play that would be more accepting, but the only way you can get some what close to that time of game play is by not doing the main story line, and finding the hidden treasures or collecting trophies. This game should not exceed $10 simply because of the short amount of game play time. By the time I learned the controls and was fully immersed in the game, It’s done.

Overall this game is very much worth the money. It is simple and easy. This is one of the top downloadable game’s this year and I highly doubt there will be another game with this level of visual quality. On top of that It made me reconsider my views on downloadable games.

Journey Gets 

4 Out of five

What’s Legit?

+Incredible art direction

+The exploration is trendsetting

What’s Perpetrating?

-Game length and price tag