Journey (from flOw and Flower creators)

[AC!D]

Yes finally!!!! That Game Company's new game

Journey™
FACT SHEET

Platform: PlayStation®3 system
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
Developer: thatgamecompany
Rating: “RP” for “Rating Pending”
Release: 2011

OVERVIEW

The pioneers that brought you the award-winning PlayStation®Network titles flOw & Flower® are back with another title that challenges traditional gaming conventions. With Journey, thatgamecompany (TGC) continues its tradition of delivering simple gameplay and accessible controls in a rich interactive environment that invites players to explore and experience emotional chords that are still uncommon in video games.

An exotic adventure with a more serious tone, Journey presents TGC’s unique vision of an online adventure experience. Awakening in an unknown world, the player walks, glides, and flies through a vast and awe-inspiring landscape, while discovering the history of an ancient, mysterious civilization along the way.

Journey’s innovative approach to online play encourages players to explore this environment with strangers who cross their path from time to time. By traveling together, they can re-shape the experience – creating authentic moments they will remember and discuss with others.

KEY FEATURES
INTUITIVE CONTROLS AND EXPERIENCE –Players with differing skill levels and/or moods can experience the game at their own pace.
LUSH AND EXPANSIVE ENVIRONMENTS – Grand landscapes filled with dynamic sand and cloth. Fully simulated sand dunes ripple and slide as players move across them.
FRESH ONLINE ADVENTURE – Players explore a mysterious world, discovering its hidden history. People are free to travel alone, or adventure with strangers that they meet along the way.

Day one purchase!!!

[masteratt]

Beautiful

[Nova]

I'm really liking the art style.

[TimmyJ]

Sold!

[Diresu]

Love the art.

[TEEDA]

Beautiful.
Day one for me too !
I guess it will be Move compatible for the flight controls.

[frosty]

You can view the page at http://e-mpire.com/content/335-Journ...hatGameCompany

[Luis]

I hadn't seen the thread, it was buried below the awesomeness

[frosty]

Very nice!

[GTAce]

The art style is unbelievable, can't wait to HEAR the game either.

[jaxmkii]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pu...d8eaa548e9.jpg

[Lucent Beam]

Ooh, nice!

[Fats]

Bought.

[solidsnakejej]

@SamRosenthal they released the material two days before we make the official presentation at E3

http://twitter.com/JenovaChen

[cliffbo]

absolutely beautiful. buy this company Sony. where the fuck is this thread? why isn't it on the PS3 forums?

[solidsnakejej]

absolutely beautiful. buy this company Sony. where the fuck is this thread? why isn't it on the PS3 forums?

I think Frosty moved it up to an article.

[frosty]

I left a permanent redirect in the forums though.

[AC!D]

Journey, From The Creators Of flOw and Flower, Explained

Journey is a multiplayer online adventure for the PlayStation 3 that aims to explore the emotional palette that its peers don't, said thatgamecompany game designer Jenova Chen. He says he was inspired by a player's feeling of empowerment, both in real life and in video games. In the real world, human beings are capable of knowing so much and being in constant communication, thanks to technology. In video games, players feel godlike in the way that they wield power, whether by wielding a rocket launcher or the invulnerability of playing as a virtual character.

It was further inspired by the works of Joseph Campbell and a lunch with astronaut Charles F. Bolden, Jr. Bolden, says Chen, relayed stories to the game designer about the spiritual awakenings of some of his Space Shuttle colleagues—previously "hardcore atheists"—after having spent some time on the moon, seeing Earth from such a great distance.

Chen called it "awe towards the unknown."

There are many unknowns in Journey. Chen wouldn't tell us much about the game's story or ultimate goal, but he did tell us about its key mechanics. Journey is a game about exploring a world covered with and flowing with sand. Players, as the spindly character wearing a red robe, can walk, run and jump around the world. They can "surf" down sand dunes, ride waves of rippling sand and even draw sketches in it with their feet.

Journey, Chen says, is as much as a virtual hike as it is a story-drive adventure. It's a story told without language, through symbols and secrets and glyphs. Those symbols can be seen on stone pillars and banners scattered throughout the world, and some will be delivered by other entities.

The PlayStation 3 game's other big gameplay system is cloth. The player's robes flow naturally in the wind, as do banners, flags and floating strips of fabric scattered throughout the world. Some are puzzles, some are clues.

In one sequence, we watched Chen jump up onto a trio of long ribbons flapping in the wind. They acted as platforming devices, turning from white cloth to red, covered in glyphs, when the player stepped on them. After walking across all three, a stream of fabric poured out of a rocky relic, forming a bridge.

In another sequence, Chen guided the player behind a series of sandy waterfalls, finding a huge banner, covered in glyphs. How all these items will inform the player is something of a mystery.

Near the end of the demo, in an area that wasn't so sandy and featured a blue sky, we ran into one of Journey's helpers. It was a white statue that emitted chunky, floating glyphs made of light. Those glyphs then redecorated the player's robe with a new design. Chen didn't clearly explain what this meant, saying it could be related to aging, your score, a status symbol or some type of new ability.

One ability that we haven't addressed is the singing. It will help the player collect strips of fabric that are nearby and will "harmonize with other cloth players in the world," Chen says.

Journey's journey is one toward a mountain. It's a brightly lit goal far in the distance that you'll reach by observing and figuring out surfaces. You'll ride sand and fly in getting to the mountain, Chen says, with the game's enemies consisting of "obstacles that are proposed by nature."

Along the way, you'll see side attractions, run into fellow hikers in the world of Journey and solve puzzles together. You won't verbally communicate with them. The game can be both competitive and cooperative, Chen says, if players choose to play it that way. There's an end goal to Journey, it's persistent and the hidden mysteries of the world encourage multiple playthroughs.

Chen described Journey as many things, including a "very good gallery or museum" and a way to form a "genuine connection" with other players.

[masteratt]

Do you sometimes find yourself not bothering to read any info on a game because you are 100% sure it'll kick-ass and reading it might spoil some of the magic?
This is one of those games. I know 100% I will buy it and I want it to be 100% new when I do

[TEEDA]

gamespot impressions

Before he showed us Journey in action, Chen outlined his inspirations. He talked about how all of us wield power via modern technology. We use mobile phones, computers, and other technology to exert our will on what is around us. In turn, games focus on giving us further power to wield in their worlds--through guns, superpowers, magic, and more. But Chen felt there was something missing. In a discussion with a NASA astronaut, Chen heard the pilot's stories of how colleagues that walked on the moon returned as changed individuals--more religious, more spiritual. Chen thinks that change is a result of seeing the earth from the moon, which instills a sense of wonder, or as he called it, "a sense of small."


With that, Chen showed us Journey in action. The game begins with a gorgeous cello melody, and we see that we are in desert. The sand stretches in front of us, and we see a close-up of our own character, an abstract form in a hooded cloak. Chen then briefed us on the controls: you use the Sixaxis tilt-sensing to move the camera, move your character with the left stick, press one button to jump, and another to sing. (More on singing to come.) What is most striking at this point is the sense of loneliness and wonder. Chen echoed this idea by telling us that players will be asking themselves: "Who am I ? Where am I ? " [#ff0e00]The game is about discovering the answers to these and other metaphysical questions[/#ff0e00].


The camera zooms in on a mountain the distance surrounded my clouds. It's immediately clear that reaching this mountain is your goal. And with that goal in mind, Chen lithely runs forward through the sand. He mentioned how important it was for players to feel as if they were actually moving through sand. You will slide through the sand from the tops of mesas, and can even surf on the sand in certain places, where the waves ripple through the sand as if it is an ocean. Soon, Chen encounters a series of stones that lit up as he touched them. The glow they produce are beautiful, but Chen remained mum on their purpose.

Soon, Chen finds that the bridge he is traversing has crumbled away, and he must search for a way across. He jumps down, floating as if carried on wings, the cloth of his cloak rippling. We see bits of cloth floating above mesas dotting the sandscape, and Chen heads to one such place. Here he collects the swirling pieces, and tells us that these strands are a form of currency that allow players to fly. To show us, he then flew effortlessly through the air before landing once again in the sand. He continued the journey, pointing out a waterfall of sand (a sandfall ?) before discovering a stone adorned with hieroglyphs. These and other discoveries will fill in the player on the world's history, as well as fill us in on the ongoing narrative, such as it is. Journey features no voice acting or language, so all the storytelling is done with visual cues. However, storytelling might not be the best word used to describe the narrative: Chen refers to it as "story digging."

Chen then discovers a large banner attached to a stone. He is able to leap on it, and it becomes a sort of floating platform from which he can jump and float. He then approaches a spaceship-type structure that opens and releases more bits of cloth, which then float away to create an undulating cloth platform to bridge the gap we had first encountered. We see the character glide across a series of these cloth banners, marveling at the fluidity of the movement and relishing the mysterious music and ambient sound. On the other side, Chen discovers a statue that glows, emitting a flurry of runes, and giving us a clue as to the next step of the journey.

Journey is a desolate experience, but you won't be completely alone. You might run into another player--just one at a time--that may join you on your journey. Chen likens this mechanic to hiking: you may come across another, and it is up to you to join each other if you want to. You can't talk with each other by normal means, but you can use the "sing" button to communicate. Chen wants players to develop a relationship with their companion. Perhaps you will ignore this player, or maybe you will join him on his journey. Or perhaps you will see him as an adversary. In any case, while you can finish the game on your own, finding another soul wandering in this forlorn desert is part of Journey's emotional impact.

Journey makes quite an impression. The visuals and sound combined to create a beautiful tapestry of music and color, and it seems clear even at this stage that the game will have its own unique voice in an industry crowded with games that seek to offer players immediate power. Jenova Chen is approaching Journey from a different angle, and if what we saw is any indication, this will be one expedition worth embarking on. This PlayStation Network title won't be available until at least next year, but if you appreciate games that can move and inspire you, this is one you should keep a close eye on.

http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6266636...ey-impressions