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Journey Reviews Thread

K

kassatsu

Banned
journeyreview.jpg


The game is still more than a week out we can't do an OT just yet.

I will update the OP with everything posted in the thread and what I can find on the net.

Avoid video reviews, they are ruining some of the best parts of the game.

Metacritic / Gamerankings

Review score list put together by tgc

--

Beefjack 8.3/10
Journey is far too short, and not very challenging or complex, but the stunning production values and subtly brilliant design decisions make it much more than the sum of its parts.
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CVG 9/10
Isolation and comradery, wonder and intrigue, pure admiration - you'll feel it all on your Journey.
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EDGE 8/10
It’s a resolutely linear game in which your range of interactions is minimal. For some, that will make it a pretty but hollow novelty; boring, perhaps. But for those who play games to explore strange lands, see beautiful sights and to immerse themselves – for however brief a time – in a new world, Journey is perfect. And what’s more, they’ll find someone like them to share it with.
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Eurogamer 9/10
It sounds like rudimentary co-op, but it feels like nothing else. You're together, but separated. You meet, but you're always kept at arm's length, and you have no say in who you'll encounter.
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GameTrailers 9/10

IGN 9/10
Regardless of gaming tastes, Journey's astounding visuals (made more impressive by the small size of the development team) warrant your time.
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inc gamers 9/10
Journey is ultimately one of those games that challenge our ideas about what a videogame actually is, and what a videogame can be. Thatgamecompany have created a high-level and emotionally engaging experience that, thanks to the hand-picking of a select few familiar mechanics, will entice rather than alienate the majority of the intended audience.
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Joystiq 5/5
It sounds like it would get boring, but again, the game's length keeps that from being an issue. These are just more examples of Journey's minimalistic design philosophy; movement is the game, any other mechanics would get in the way and dilute the experience.
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Mediakick A+
At times, the scenes my eyes witnessed were unmatched; raw, powerful, intoxicating beauty shimmering in the stupendous light. Before long, the heat dissipates and we’re cast into a mountainous range of snow and biting frost, yet the beauty never subsides. All the while, a moving score provides welcome comfort, ensuring the desired emotions are brought to the surface at the required time.
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Official PlayStation Magazine UK 10/10
It’s one of the few games you’ll genuinely reflect on after completion, and an object lesson in how less can be more when it comes to crafting narrative and eliciting investment. This is a game about which I would change nothing, and I can’t remember having said that too many times before.
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PSNStores 5/5

If you've ever wanted to explore the unknown, find solace in a complete stranger's presence, all the while experiencing something utterly unique, then you need to play Journey. I can think of nothing better in a game than exploring the desert, and seeing what secrets the sands have to offer.
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PushSquare 10/10
Experiences like Journey don’t come around very often in any form of media. thatgamecompany’s crafted an interactive tour de force that’s triumphant in its ability to cycle through human emotions.
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ShopToNews 6/6
Journey is the Fantasia of the gaming world, it is bright, it is fun and overall it is an experience not to be missed
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TheSixthAxis 10/10
What shines the most though, and becomes something that makes infinitely more sense once you’ve completed the game, is the way that other players, also lost in the world, appear within your game. Interactions involve little but a simple ‘call’ noise on the surface and a co-operative recharge of your ability to jump and fly, but there’s a delicious sense of togetherness and a certain amount of joyful abandon when you encounter another human amongst the sand, anonymous and unknown as they appear and remain.
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Vandal Online: 10/10 (Spanish review)

Videogamer 9/10
What shines the most though, and becomes something that makes infinitely more sense once you’ve completed the game, is the way that other players, also lost in the world, appear within your game. Interactions involve little but a simple ‘call’ noise on the surface and a co-operative recharge of your ability to jump and fly, but there’s a delicious sense of togetherness and a certain amount of joyful abandon when you encounter another human amongst the sand, anonymous and unknown as they appear and remain.
Click to expand...

Vox Games 10/10
Without words, it promises to touch anyone that experiences it. Even watching someone else play leaves you gripped by the events on screen.
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S

SolidSnakex

Member
That these problems are so irksome is something of an achievement in itself. Journey's disappointments sting all the more, because here is an immaculately constructed, expertly choreographed experience that tells a story in a unique, intelligent way, exploring themes of faith and fate, death and rebirth with a rare delicacy of touch. That it comes at a time where risk is routinely avoided, sent out into a landscape clouded by doubt and dominated by the safe, the tried and tested? Maybe that's the real wonder.
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http://www.videogamer.com/ps3/journey/review.html

9/10

Granted, thatgamecompany's done most of the work for you. The studio has poured the deserts, trashed the temples and filled the world with the floating presence of a nameless almighty. The truly brilliant move, though, was to leave a space at the very centre of the design that only a stranger can fill.

The master stroke, as in all great myths, lies not with God, but with the human element.
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http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-01-journey-review

9/10
 
V

V_Ben

Banned
Because of a different embargo time set by SCEA, my review can't go live for a bit. I will, however, say that I absolutely loved the game and that it is an experience unlike anything I've ever had. Some people may say that it is too short, but I've played through it multiple times, and every time I find something new to enjoy.
 
F

Floex

Member
V_Ben said:
Because of a different embargo time set by SCEA, my review can't go live for a bit. I will, however, say that I absolutely loved the game and that it is an experience unlike anything I've ever had. Some people may say that it is too short, but I've played through it multiple times, and every time I find something new to enjoy.
Click to expand...

How short are we talking here?
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
Considering half of GAF seems to have already finished it, and the reviews are up so early, is the OT still going live in a week?
 
A

AngryMoth

Member
My most anticipated game since I saw the first screenshots.

StuBurns said:
Why are reviews coming out so long before the game? I hate when Sony does this.
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At least its only 2 weeks, they've had review embargoes lift over a month before a game comes out in the past.
 
G

glaurung

Member
It’s a resolutely linear game in which your range of interactions is minimal. For some, that will make it a pretty but hollow novelty; boring, perhaps. But for those who play games to explore strange lands, see beautiful sights and to immerse themselves – for however brief a time – in a new world, Journey is perfect. And what’s more, they’ll find someone like them to share it with.
Click to expand...
EDGE - 8/10
 
D

Danielsan

Member
The Eurogamer review reconfirms my experience with the beta. The game is a fantastic jaw dropping single player experience, but once you meet that stranger in the desert and decide to make the Journey together you truly get to see what a work of art it really is.
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
AngryMoth said:
At least its only 2 weeks, they've had review embargoes lift over a month before a game comes out in the past.
Click to expand...
Sony do it all the time. GoW2 and KZ2 were both ages before release, I don't believe it adds to hype. Maybe it helps them for late pushes to retail or something, but that doesn't apply to Journey of course.
 
K

kassatsu

Banned
Floex said:
How short are we talking here?
Click to expand...

It can probably be done in under an hour if you know what you are doing. My first playthrough was about 2.5hours (this was with no partners). My first playthough with a person was about 2hrs long.
 
Z

zroid

Banned
Looks like we might have a contender for highest reviewed game of the year so far. At least, assuming it's not just the artsy fartsy Europeans who are going to end up digging it ;)

StuBurns said:
I don't get the 'bars', he gave graphics, sound, 'Jugabilidad', and diversity all 1/10?
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Probably just an oversight.
 
C

Confidence Man

Member
Whether it's a pilgrimage worth making more than once or twice is debatable, the experience undeniably suffering a little under the scrutiny of a third or fourth play. Shorn of that initial wow factor, its spectacle remains remarkable but the mystery is lost. Those distant targets that expertly guide you on your first play become devious tricks to distract you from the aggressive linearity of the experience. Trek through the dunes alone, and your first journey will not be noticeably different from your last; winds blow you back on course should you stray too far from the intended path. This surprisingly rigid structure makes sense in light of the narrative, though it's impossible to say why without venturing into spoiler territory. Further play brings its languid pace and simplistic mechanics into sharper focus: this is a game to embrace the heart and mind alike, but not the thumbs.
Click to expand...

These problems were painfully obvious just playing the demo once. Like flower, the first images conjured an experience wholly absent from the actual game; instead of a vast landscape dotted with ancient and natural wonders to uncover we get an experience very simplistic, restrictive, gamey, and linear.
 
D

Danielsan

Member
I fear that a lot of people are going to give this game shit for its length. While there has been progress over the last few years, gamers still somehow seem to prefer quantity over quality.
 
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