Journey

[György Dudas]

it is going to be out on March 15. Don't read the Eurogamer review. I think there are too many "spoilers" in it. I just took some glances, to know that I should not read it.

Let's discuss it later, then.

[ghostwheel]

I don't have a PS3 so I'm going to read it.

[Michaël Samyn]

I'm looking forward to this. Hope it doesn't have a cheesy "message" like Flower. But given that it was inspired by Campbell's The Hero's Journey, I fear the worst! I've also seen Robin Hunicke demo it at Game City and, maybe because of the way in which she played it, there seemed to be too much focus on puzzles and story progression for my taste.

But I think it's beautiful and the music is gorgeous (as opposed to, again, in Flower, to my taste). I really want to like Journey. I'm on the edge of my seat to play it. I'll get it as soon as it comes out.

Though, again, I'm worried about all these glowing reviews. My experience has taught me that things that everybody likes tend to be things that I don't. 

[Jonathan Hise Kaldma]

I adore the art direction. And based on the trailer, it looks like a great experience. But I'm not gonna get a PS3 just to play it.

Flight of the Fireflies was actually structured after The Hero's Journey too. It's not the source material that matters – it's what you do with it.

[Thomas]

Played it last night and it was great. It is really inline with the notgames movement. I think Jenova and Kelly should join these forums;) (I recall there being some reason for them not doing so, but cannot really recall)

An interesting bit is that it is a 2 hour game sold for 10 Euros and people find it okay! This is very encouraging indeed, because Journey would have been awful stretched to 6-8 hours and lowering price makes it harder to recoup costs. Since the same is true for Dear Esther, I find it great that we have  a large amount of customers who value quality over quantity.

There are a ton of good stuff in Journey so I urge all to play it. Will perhaps post again with some further thoughts.

[ghostwheel]

I'm not sure why €10 would seem unreasonable. People spend that for a 90 minute movie.

[ghostwheel]

I recall there being some reason for them not doing so, but cannot really recall

They are rock stars now?

[Michaël Samyn]

We played it for an hour yesterday. And then discussed it for another hour.

I'm actually rather critical of it. But I will probably never dare to ever express this in public. I'll talk to Jenova about at some point. Maybe.

Of course the things that they borrowed from The Endless Forest are great!
(Seriously: I mean that. I'm very happy that somebody else is building on these types of ideas. And making them more popular.)

[Thomas]

I'm actually rather critical of it. But I will probably never dare to ever express this in public. I'll talk to Jenova about at some point. Maybe

Oh, you tease Now you got me intrigued!

[Michaël Samyn]

I'm actually rather critical of it. But I will probably never dare to ever express this in public. I'll talk to Jenova about at some point. Maybe

Oh, you tease Now you got me intrigued!

NEVER! 

[shredingskin]

I really liked this game, the music, and the atmosphere was amazing, also for moments the game looks like a moving painting.

But I think the "gameplay" became old and a little repetitive (go to the strange place, hold the button, fly), you can't get tired of it because the game is so short (I think that's a BIG plus, everyday I get more frustrated with stupidly long games), and the cinematics between the chapters are fine, but at the end it's nothing really special.

Anyway, I really liked the game.

[Michaël Samyn]

The combination of these two articles helped me a bit in my ambiguous response to Journey:
Is Journey a game or a piece of interactive art? by Keith Stuart
A reminder of what it is to be human by randomcrusader
Both illustrate how "Journey" is art for people who don't really like art, people who apparently have lives in which the question to its "meaning" is never asked. And then Journey happens to them and suddenly they "see the face of God".
I do wonder what happens to these people after playing the game.

[Jeroen D. Stout]

I think I have extrapolated your opinion, Michael it may explain why I have not yet ran off to friends with PS3's and demanded to play it.

The problem, I suppose, is that the term "Art" carries so many connotations, many of them negative. Art can mean pretention, hubris, exclusivity. The brilliance of Journey is the way in which it has got people to think about and engage with the experience as they would a work of art, without necessarilyhaving to be conscious that they're doing so. Journey is art without all the baggage; it is art without a gallery, art without a critical elite telling you what it means or where it fits in to their esoteric pantheon.

What a Philistine. Very painful to read that paragraph on many grounds.

[Michaël Samyn]

Yeah, but I have decided that in the end this is a good thing. Not the Philistine aspect. But the fact that Journey offers an artistic experience to people who otherwise don't get any (for whatever reason). I think this experience makes us better humans. And that is very important.

I'm writing a text that explains this a bit more. But I'm not sure if I should publish it (yet).

[ghostwheel]

I think I have extrapolated your opinion, Michael it may explain why I have not yet ran off to friends with PS3's and demanded to play it.

The problem, I suppose, is that the term "Art" carries so many connotations, many of them negative. Art can mean pretention, hubris, exclusivity. The brilliance of Journey is the way in which it has got people to think about and engage with the experience as they would a work of art, without necessarilyhaving to be conscious that they're doing so. Journey is art without all the baggage; it is art without a gallery, art without a critical elite telling you what it means or where it fits in to their esoteric pantheon.

What a Philistine. Very painful to read that paragraph on many grounds.

I love that paragraph. Anyone surprised?