Journey is an indie adventure game developed in 2012 by Thatgamecompany. The game is available on Playstation, Windows, and iOS as a single player game that’s suitable for all ages. Because the game has a simplistic art style and a calming soundtrack, it would appeal to those who enjoy a soothing, aesthetically pleasing gaming experience. The controls are also simple to master, making it accessible to new gamers as well as those who struggle with complex gameplay mechanisms.
I decided to play on PC, which contributed to a more immersive experience than I would’ve gained from playing on my phone/iPad because of the larger screen size. I would also argue that being able to control my character mostly using one hand with the keyboard made it easier to go “autopilot” and experience abnegation compared to the mobile version where players’ hand have to remain on and move around the screen that they’re also looking at. I do wish that the game controls for looking at my surroundings were more smooth and accurate as there were times where the camera would suddenly pan out when I wanted to slowly take in my immediate surroundings. Since the game was originally designed for Playstation, experiencing abnegation may feel even easier with a controller depending on how natural the moving mechanisms are.
In Journey, player’s exploration and progression in the narrative is almost entirely facilitated by walking. If you were dropped into a vast, seemingly-neverending desert as a brand new player of a game in a different genre, it may feel overwhelming to figure out exactly what your objectives and goals are. As a result, many games start with a tutorial, include lists of tasks, maps, and other robust features throughout the game to facilitate progression and help players reach endpoints and outcomes. However, as walking is the first and one of the few mechanics present in Journey, the objective (exploration) and goal (move through the story) becomes immediately obvious to players without relying on other formal elements and mechanisms, which allows players to start playing without any intense onboarding and immediately begin experiencing discovery and fantasy as a mysterious character in this mythical world. Walking in Journey occurs at a fixed pace where every step leaves a visible mark in the sand, accompanied by a consistent sound effect; it is a multisensory experience that evokes intense sensation and can’t be skipped if players want to make progress in the narrative and the game. This walking mechanism prohibits players from rushing towards completion, which differs from games from other genres such as Super Mario 64 that are more prone to speedrunning. Although Minecraft isn’t technically a walking sim, walking is also an essential mechanism. However, its role quickly shifts from a primary mechanic to a means to an end as players come up with their own goals and need to walk in order to gather resources/build/etc. In addition, boundaries are enforced by the limitations of walking. If players try to walk towards some place that they’re not supposed to, intense wind blows and prevents them from progressing. There are no shortcuts in the game! In another walking sim “The Exit 8”, boundaries are enforced by limitaitons of the built environment instead where you cannot walk into walls. A few minutes into the game, I tried to walk right towards this shining light and failed miserably.
Often times, I only realized what I was supposed to do in Journey when I’ve exhausted my options and walked and explored all of my explorable surroundings. This faciliated a more linear progression in the story where tasks are unlocked one by one. During my gameplay, there was this structure with a white symbol at the top that I was able to interact with. Once that interaction was done, I immediately looked around to find another white symbol unsuccessfully. Then I walked back to the structure and walked around it and finally noticed there was another white symbol that I had overlooked because I didn’t explore the other side of this structure.
(The mentioned structure is the taller one in the left side of the picture)
Because Journey’s narrative is in the style of “enacting stories”, walking’s role was able to be more instrumental to the gameplay. If the game’s narrative were to be in the style of “emergent narratives” like The Sims, responses to the environment could easily overtake walking as the primary mechanism driving players through the narrative. Overall, Journey’s emphasis on walking as a game mechanic did not feel limited, rather it encouraged players to take things slow, explore, and pace their progress within the narrative.
Though Minecraft may not be commonly thought of as a violent game, violence is very much an essential mechanic that helps players gather resources which help them accomplish greater objectives and goals. During my gameplay, violence was not present at all as I seem to be the only one in this desert and interacting with inanimate objects. I really appreciated that and hope that violence does not come up later on in the game. Because of the game’s aesthetics (calming music!), outcome, and built environment, I feel that violence would not be a suitable mechanic at all. Although the world here feels just as vast as it does in Minecraft, I’m solely concerned with walking, exploring, and fulfilling my tasks until I reach the end. However, as we discussed in section, walking combined with violence can be viewed as a means to conquer parts of the world in Minecraft, where objectives are much more vast and player-dependent. I really appreciate the fact resources is not an emphasized formal element in Journey (maybe besides how often I can use my powers), because I feel like resources inherently generates a fear of scarcity which encourages players to prioritize mechanisms that aid in collecting resources. Excluding violence in Journey allowed greater emphasis on the world and its explorability, which enables players to experience greater levels of fantasy, sensation, and abnegation as we quite literally walk through the story step by step.
