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Journey |OT| Perfect Strangers

Played through this game twice tonight. Hopefully my last partner got some trophies from me. (^∇^)

Putting this down for a week and then I'll play again with anyone.

Oh and my partner, PETTHETOAST, you were awesome. And sorry that you got some of your scarf eaten - I did warn you though.
 

forrest

formerly nacire
Just finished! Absolutely loved it. I'm not sure at what point people in the industry started referring to experiences instead of games, but I'm pretty sure they meant this right here. Amazing experience. I played with two people about half the game with each. At the end
as we were climbing the last leg of the snow covered mountain my companion sat down and wouldn't move. I chirped and huddled in to warm him/her as long as I could. At that point I just assumed the sad parting of your companion who couldn't make it was part of the experience. Pretty awesome reading here you can actually finish together!

Bravo thatgamecompany!

clapyoj8z.gif
 
I just finished Journey... What a beautiful meditation on life. Seriously. This is an experience I will forever cherish.

The core "game" (I like to call it an experience) is about 1.5-2 hours, but I know there's a lot more to explore and do for the trophies that could make the experience longer on later play throughs. And yes, there will be later play throughs.
 
I am so glad I went into this game knowing nothing about it. Made it to the end and met like 5 different people. I seriously didn't know it was another player at first.

This was basically my thought process:

"Man, this game has amazing AI"
"Is it a person? It's stopping when I stop...gotta be AI"
"We light up two pylons each to reveal the pictures....wait a second..."
"Come on man! We can make it up this mountain!"
"HOLY FUCK THIS GAME IS AMAZING"
 
Did a second run through.

There was a second player with me for the snowy mountain climb.
He got wrecked by the flying snake thing three times.
The last time he just stood still and sat down.
I ran over to him and started jamming on O like, "COME ON BRO, WE CAN DO THIS!"
Got back up and dodged the spotlight with two close calls and made it.

Good shit ThatGameCompany.
Good shit.
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Some questions about the ending: (obviously spoilers)

Climbing up the hill in the snow, with the lightning and the wind was terrifyingly surreal. It really felt like you were giving it your all. As I started to slow, and realized my companion was, too, I began to think ... wait, are we really going to die? The chirps got quieter, until they no longer worked at all. And then, slowly, we both collapsed. And the game faded.

Now, I'm not sure what leaves a more lasting impression on me. On one hand, I love that afterward, you ascend to what I can only assume to be heaven. And in the "journey of life", I think that's an exceptionally important segment. But I can't shake the feeling that having the game ending with death might have been more potent, and left me "thinking" about the game quite a bit more.

What's everyone else's take?
 

Nekobo

Member
I think my History trophy is glitched. :( I found all the glyphs, but it didn't unlock. I even deleted my save data and replayed it from scratch...and still no dice. If I deleted the game and installed it again would it work?

I really don't mind playing this game again just to get that last trophy. I think I've beaten it like 5 times already since last week lol.
 

Leeness

Member
Some questions about the ending: (obviously spoilers)

Climbing up the hill in the snow, with the lightning and the wind was terrifyingly surreal. It really felt like you were giving it your all. As I started to slow, and realized my companion was, too, I began to think ... wait, are we really going to die? The chirps got quieter, until they no longer worked at all. And then, slowly, we both collapsed. And the game faded.

Now, I'm not sure what leaves a more lasting impression on me. On one hand, I love that afterward, you ascend to what I can only assume to be heaven. And in the "journey of life", I think that's an exceptionally important segment. But I can't shake the feeling that having the game ending with death might have been more potent, and left me "thinking" about the game quite a bit more.

What's everyone else's take?

It might have been more poignant if it had ended at death, but the heaven part is my favourite, so I wouldn't leave it behind for anything. I think you need that moment after you die, especially if you were with a partner, to just ~frolic~ and be happy.

As well, if it wasn't there, you wouldn't meet your partner again. The first time I went through and thought that it did end with us dying, I was like, "But no! What about my friend!" and when we saw each other again, we pretty much danced and sang together.

And the walking into the light, especially with someone else, is just so incredibly moving. Into death together, back into life together. :)

I wouldn't give that part up for the world.
 
This game is truly a great experience. I don't think I've ever cared so much about my multiplayer teammate in a game and not even knowing who it is. It was probably that annoying 14 year old that drives me away from multiplayer, but removing chat and recognition (gamertag or name) made me actually care for the other person.
Probably bad to say, but I don't know if I want to go through it again. I went through such a wave of emotions that won't be duplicated by a second play through, it may lead me to just stop playing it. Congrats ThatGameCompany, you made a quality game.
 

Siaynoqq

Member
Was immersed and mesmerized the entire time. I can definitely see what people mean when they say it's an experience. I was in a kind of awe throughout the entire game that was completely different than the sort of satisfaction I get with other games.
 

Adam J.

Member
Just finished...Wow, I was seriously on the brink of weeping--the ending is so unbelievably beautiful and moving I almost lost it (lol).

Kudos to Jenova Chen and his crew for making another masterpiece. They truly are giants in their field.
 

Shinjiru

Member
I've lost count of how many times I have finished this. Such a great game and experience. And the music, especially in the last level, is so good!
 
I swear, Dizzy-4U is a gaffer. Just played with a
White robed player
Glad I didn't run into one of those my first play through, it would have released any tension or what to look for.
 

Dizzy-4U

Member
I swear, Dizzy-4U is a gaffer. Just played with a
White robed player
Glad I didn't run into one of those my first play through, it would have released any tension or what to look for.

:')

I got like 8 companions by the end. I wonder which one was you.
I got eaten by that flying thing at end :p
 

Feep

Banned
Sublime.

I wish I hadn't lost my first partner, though. He and I were on the same fucking PAGE, man. The five subsequent visitors were not as cool.

Also, even though I
collapsed in the snow with a
partner, he apparently bitched out and I had to go through the
heaven-y
area alone. Wish I had someone there for that joyous fifteen minutes...it reminded me somehow of
Falling Waters from Ecco: Defenders of the Future
.
 

Zeliard

Member
How do you lose partners? They just wander off, or their Internet connection is severed? I'm getting ready to jump into this, should be awesome. :D
 

KAOz

Short bus special
Just finished it.

Wow.

Met a companion called BenBearz. And, yeah, we went through it all together. It was utterly amazing. Lost him right at the end though, and was standing chirping for him for ages. But he never showed up. Made me sad.

But what an experience.
 
I just completed a whole play-through with only one other companion and we pretty much went through the entirety of journey together. Wow, feels so satisfying at the end. We both knew we wanted to finish it together and we would wait for each other if either of us got left behind. :)
I forgot his user name though, it was kenny_o1 or something like that, well I guess it is till we meet again next time on another journey! ;p
 

Epcott

Member
Just two more glowing glyphs left. My body is ready for my third playthrough.

Can't I just go to the individual levels and grab the missing glyphs I missed, and finish the levels... or do I need to finish the game after getting them?

And is there a guide out there in the wild that shows the glyph head stones in the hub-world and which glyphs correspond with each one (so I know which two locations I missed)?
 

Sword Familiar

178% of NeoGAF posters don't understand statistics
Just finished the game and what a short, but incredibly amazing, journey it was. Breathtakingly beautiful at times, I had goosebumps more times than I can remember, and the interaction with other people sometimes gave me a smile on my face as we ventured through the levels together, interacting with whatever few means we had.

Speaking of encounters, I had some people come and go, but two or so stayed several levels and I was able to
experience the final parts with someone where we walked the final distance into the light together
.

Pretty epic stuff.
 
Just two more glowing glyphs left. My body is ready for my third playthrough.

Can't I just go to the individual levels and grab the missing glyphs I missed, and finish the levels... or do I need to finish the game after getting them?

And is there a guide out there in the wild that shows the glyph head stones in the hub-world and which glyphs correspond with each one (so I know which two locations I missed)?

Yes, you can go to the stage select area, select the stage with glyphs you're missing, collect them, and complete the stage. Once you get the "saving" screen you can exit back to the stage select area (or quit the game).

phosphor112 put together a nice guide here. If you need additional help, plenty of us would be willing to help.
 

Grassy

Member
Wow, I knew nothing about this game going in...it's fucking amazing.

I had a few partners, maybe some people from GAF:

Titus_54
Da_Painta
Kotleton

All I can say is ..

DATGAMECOMPANY
 

jiggle

Member
amazing game!
really not much more to be said, that hasn't already
kinda hate myself for playing the beta

great experience with multiplayer
even though i only really got to play with 2 of the 8(or more?) that i met



How do you lose partners? They just wander off, or their Internet connection is severed? I'm getting ready to jump into this, should be awesome. :D

you can get separated from each other (ex. a missed jump)
and some(most?) will just move on without you
 

Phatcorns

Member
I should have screencapped my companions.

Anyway, does anyone know when this game was announced? I feel like it was in development for a looong time.

And what is with all the love for Flower? Was the ending really spectacular or something? I think I might need to finish it, not sure if I ever did. Flower was really cool, but it didn't affect me the way this game did.
 

jiggle

Member
And what is with all the love for Flower? Was the ending really spectacular or something? I think I might need to finish it, not sure if I ever did. Flower was really cool, but it didn't affect me the way this game did.


flower's ending feels kinda like the
waterfall
part of journey
 

Empty

Member
played and hour or so before lunch. incredible, the beautiful world to move through is enchanting and it's a joy to fly down dunes at top speed but it's the co-op that's the real magic here. reminded me of team ico's games in how it explores the power of non-verbal communication but even more effective not being an a.i.; when i first saw a companion pop up and we explored the area together, jumping in unison, waiting for eachother. it was so perfect.
 
so uhh where are the contrarians? where is cynic-GAF? where are the haters?!

or is this the most universally loved game on GAF since.. all time? i've only been here a couple years but i have never seen such an abundance of "wow" reactions.
 

OnPoint

Member
Sublime.

I wish I hadn't lost my first partner, though. He and I were on the same fucking PAGE, man. The five subsequent visitors were not as cool.

Also, even though I
collapsed in the snow with a
partner, he apparently bitched out and I had to go through the
heaven-y
area alone. Wish I had someone there for that joyous fifteen minutes...it reminded me somehow of
Falling Waters from Ecco: Defenders of the Future
.

A reference to
Ecco
? Not one you see around here often. I applaud your good taste sir.
 
end spoilers

did anybody notice that on the ascent to the mountain that there were shooting stars and then once you beat the game you become a shooting star, so they were other people who completed their journey as well
 

Ra1den

Member
Completed last night. This is the greatest gaming experience I have had in many years, and perhaps the most beautiful piece of entertainment/art I have ever experienced.

I lost my favorite partner early on, I accidentally slid down this ledge and there was no going back, and apparently he didn't see me, so we became separated.
It was the later part of the sand levels, where you have to hold down the O button to fly high up, right before that second major sand sledding part. Once the part was over, I waited in that little static spot with the view of the sunset colors, and waited, and waited...I told myself I'd sit there until he arrives. After like 10 minutes somebody comes by, not sure if it was him as the person had different mannerisms. Was very cool though.

On the other hand, getting to meet a variety of different players was also cool.

My highlight of the game was actually early on,
right after fixing the bridge.
The traversal with my partner there just left me gaping in awe. The most incredible feeling.
 
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