Journey

I'm going to keep this review fairly short, because frankly words simply cannot express my experience with Journey, nor the game itself.  However, I shall try to manage something.

Journey's story is simple, yet carries an enormous amount of depth.  You start with your little cloaked figure knowing nothing except that there's a bright shining mountain in the distance, and maybe you should go that way.  There are various ruins along the way, as well as strange stones that give the distinct impression of grave markers.  You quickly discover a shining emblem that adds a length of scarf to your attire, which allows you to jump.  There's a trick however.  Once you jump, your scarf loses its pattern, and doesn't regain it until you find more fabric strewn about the wastes or you gain more length to your scarf, which allows you to jump longer.  Your only other interaction with the world is a "chirp" button that sends out a sound pulse that serves to activate markers, gather fabric to you, or communicate with anyone you happen to meet.

That is one of the beauties of Journey: wordless co-op.  As you wander among the ruins, you may see another like you who can join you, but the only way you can communicate is via varying chirp lengths.  See something interesting?  Send out a ton of small chirps as you make your way over.  Found the next way to go?  Send out a big chirp so it's easier to find each other.  On top of that, you're encouraged to stay with each other by the fact that when standing next to each other your scarves regenerate, meaning you don't have to wait to find fabric for you to keep jumping.  It's a fascinating system that makes you form this inherent connection with a random stranger.  It nearly broke my heart when about halfway through the person I had been journeying with and I got separated.  I was chirping for him, thinking he was right behind me, but when I looked back both he and the white coloration on the screen that tells you where your partner is were gone.  Soon enough another took his place, and we finished the journey together in a way that will stick with me for a long time, but I was left wondering what had happened to my starting companion, wishing they were the one beside me.

Journey is a game that will definitely be tugging on your heartstrings, despite the fact that it's only 2 hours long and uses no words.  Really the only bad point I have against Journey is its length, because I wanted to keep exploring more of this world, encountering new puzzles and new challenges.  I wouldn't want much more, I'm not even talking like a normal 10 hour game.  Just another hour or two to fully realize the puzzle mechanic and deal with other environments.  Still, I can't really complain about what they did present.  Each location is a surprising variation on a theme, using very simple changes in color or fabric placement to make desert, "underwater" and snow sections.  The amount of depth they got from this amount of simplicity is frankly staggering.  At one point it seriously feels like you're surfing on gold it looks so rich.

I really cannot express how much I enjoyed this game.  It truly is an experience like none I have gone through before in gaming.  Journey stands as a testament to the fact that games can be art.  While the art itself is gorgeous, it's the experience of the thing that is the true work of art.  When the credits rolled and the trophies popped up I kind of had to shake myself and be like "Oh right, trophies.  Cause this is a game."  I cannot recommend it highly enough, and suggest you go out and buy it right now.  If you don't have a PS3, get one, then buy Journey.  Yes, it is worth it.

Journey gets a 10/10 and beyond.