For this critical play, I chose Journey, which was a fascinating walking simulator. Developed by thatgamecompany for the PS3, and subsequently ported to desktop and iPhone. Beyond the graphics and soundtrack, which hold up very well considering that it is more than a decade old (better than some AAA games today), I was impressed on all aspects of the game’s design, from mechanics that make the game function, the dynamics that arise from the open-world nature of the game, and the aesthetics that it provided the player. However, in the context of this week’s focus, I will write a brief summary of my comments on the MDA, and instead focus on the emergent narrative that Journey brings to its players. To sum it up, I think that Journey is so successful because of its harmonious and meticulous blend of evoked, enacted, embedded, and emergent narratives.
First, what I want to quickly point out is the ingenuity of how the game introduces its mechanics. For example, the flying dragon creature that eats your character’s cloth is introduced by it snatching a flying cloth from the ground, destroying the environment. There is never a cutscene when introducing these mechanics; instead, mechanics are introduced through the gameplay, and players learn through active gameplay rather than passive instruction-reading. This creates a dynamic of encouraging exploration, not just of interaction with the environment in hopes of discovering new mechanics, but also traversing the extent of the boundaries. This, of course, creates a variety of aesthetics, including sensory, fantasy, narrative (which I will talk about below), fellowship (due to the possible multiplayer aspect), discovery, and submission (I would not say this is the most difficult game ever).
Journey pretty literally autological: the game is literally about your journey to the light at the top of the mountain. However, following the classic narrative structure introduced in class, it was never going to be a straight shot to the top. If that were the case, the narrative arc would be more of a narrative y=mx+b. To this end, I believe that at its core, it is a enacted narrative, but it presents itself as an emergent narrative with elements of evoked narrative.
- Enacted Narrative: The actions are well-defined, the “levels” are marked by the prayers that the character does, bookended by walking into the light and the start menu. Despite it looking open-world, winds push the character back in unexplorable areas, and there is a clear progression to the story that starts at the sand dunes and ends at the top of the mountain.
- Embedded Narrative: Specifically, the visions present a cohesive yet slightly ambiguous narrative: there is a clear progression of events in the story, but no words, which leaves a lot up to the player. Since progression is locked by the visions, it offers a great transition between “levels.” However, I think the ambiguity of the narrative presented by the vision give rise to the emergent narrative of this game.
- Emergent Narrative: While this is not a sandbox game like the Sims or Minecraft, I think the murkiness of the lore almost gives it that quality, at least serving as a sandbox for the player’s interpretation of the story. While the player’s interpretation of the vision may not have any impact on the gameplay, the mindset that the player has greatly affects the experience of the game. For example, a strictly literal interpretation might suggest that the story is about a person that wants to climb a mountain perhaps as a pilgrimage, and the visions simply happen because of the sanctity of the location they are traveling to. Another explanation (from a YouTube video I watched because I was quite unsatisfied with what I came up with) could be that the character is a Messiah-like character, and the visions tell of the history that led to the necessity of such a role. Given the wealth of possible explanations, I would classify the game as having an emergent narrative that is bounded in the general structure, but not in meaning. Combined with the multiplayer aspect, which I did not experience but watched videos of, there could be an additional layer that reflects on the serendipitous nature of ephemeral meeting and unadulterated bidirectional help in light of a shared goal of completing the game.
- Evoked Narrative: The game expertly uses players’ preconceived notions from their IRL experiences to further push the narrative. First, the clothing and setting evoke an ancient quality, something that people today would (implicitly or explicitly) associate with mysticism, exoticness, and of otherworldly nature. Moreover, the hieroglyphic drawings, prayers, visions, ruins, and the like only further push this atmosphere. This, combined with the elements above, would suggest some sort of spiritual pilgrimage, whether more selfish in nature as a catharsis, a more magnanimous feeling of sacrifice to save the world, or for enlightenment. This is further reinforced by the cyclic nature of the game, as as soon as the player completes the game, they become a ball of light and are dropped off right where they started, perhaps playing on player’s knowledge of reincarnation.
Overall, I think Journey is a pioneering game that expertly uses various techniques of narration to present a compelling story that prompts the player to reflect not on just the game, but also themselves.
