For this critical play, I played Journey on IOS. In this game, you play a mystical figure who is traveling through a desert with mysterious ruins around you. It is a very aesthetic game, with your robes and the sand’s movement in the wind creating a calming feel.
Walking tells this story by forcing you to explore. There is not a lot going on in this game right in front of you, so you have to locate an object in the distance and head towards it. Because walking is a slower form of travel, it forces you to pick a direction, and odds are you are going to find other interesting things on your journey to it.
The physics of walking in this game are on their own fun: you have to battle wind and deep sand to get to higher or lower points. On top of this, when you go down a hill, your character slides in a skateboarding-like way. This keeps the mundane task of walking towards objects pleasing in a sensory way.
In terms of the formal elements of this game, there are three that make this game special: Resources, Feedback and Rules. In terms of resources, as you explore the map, interacting with certain objects gives your character more movements. When you interact with these floating flag type objects, your character then can fly for a short amount of time. Given this functionality, the resources affect the rules. Before you come upon these flags, you can only walk straight and jump a small amount. These rules change when you get more resources, and it gives your character more lee-way. Lastly, there is great sensory feedback in this game. On one hand, the physics of how your character moves through the sand indicates what type of environment you are in. If you are going slower, it indicates deeper sand or a steeper slope. Along with this sensory feedback, your characters outfit slightly changes as you gain more capabilities. This indicates that you have done something good, for your character seems to transform as you make progress through the world.
Thanks for reading 🙂
