I just recently played Journey with a friend and felt extremely compelled to write about my experience. I would not call this a review- it’s more a retrospective on my time with the game. A review usually covers why or why not you should play a game- if you want an answer to that question, it’s a resounding yes. This dives more into my personal experience and the conclusions I’ve drawn, and is best read after you have played the game yourself- though I tried my best to make this concise and readable for everyone. I’ve marked one section as a massive spoiler, so please skip over that if you’re planning on playing Journey yourself. Thank you, and welcome to my first post!
Nothing is Everything | JOURNEY
I truly don’t know if I can say anything about this game that hasn’t been said before, or could live up to the experience this game provides. That I was over a decade late to experiencing this masterpiece is already a crime. After I had experienced Journey through my own eyes, I was left speechless. For so long, I had experienced Journey through the words of others- for Journey to not only live up to those words, but to surpass them, is a feat that only this game could perform.
So it may surprise you to learn that Journey, really, is a game about nothing. A game about hardly anything at all compelled so many people to praise, think about, share it with people they love. It must be a truly beautiful nothing, to inspire that response. I can tell you with confidence that it is. Though, that isn’t the full story.
I had of course been hearing of Journey since my entry into the gaming world in 2015, and though I had always planned to play it, the one who truly brought it to my attention was my best friend. I’m certain it was one of our first conversations about video games after we met; “Have you played Journey? You haven’t? Oh my gosh, you have to play Journey!” Even then I said of course I would, but three years passed without honoring that, despite the game sitting in my Steam library. I just never found the right moment. Surely, it was coming.
Just a few days into 2024, the first new year after moving across the country alone to chase something I dream of, my best friend and I were staying at my childhood home on the water. It was one of the few annual times we are able to see each other in person, and we had much to do. But in the middle of the night, we found ourselves hooking up my Steam Deck to the TV’s HDMI. With the faint sound of the crashing waves outside the window, we sat on the title screen of a game called Journey. It was a New Years’ game, my friend said.
— MAJOR JOURNEY SPOILERS —
Though ten years is far too long, I’m glad I waited. I could never imagine playing this game for the first time without my best friend at my side. The message Journey wants to convey with its partner system was mirrored in our dynamic- as I was falling into the world of Journey, he, who had seen this world so many times before, was there alongside me. He guided me, every so often pointing something out about the locale or the music, yet never cutting into my sense of exploration and wonder. A shooting star passed overhead at the beginnings of my journey. My friend stayed silent. I excitedly pointed it out to him, and fell quiet myself as I watched it stray across the desert sky. I stood still and watched until I couldn’t see it anymore.
When my first fellow traveler joined me, my friend beside me was the one to point out the chime as a way to communicate. I would become enthralled with it. The warmth of Journey embraced me as did the travelers I met along the way. Some would show me a piece of scarf I almost passed by with a chime, or guide me to the right place to jump. Sometimes, I was the guide to my partner, doing the same. And for brief moments, sometimes, we would be in complete harmony, gliding among pillars from a civilization passed, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. And even in foreboding blues and kelp forests we took cover together, always reassuring each other with a chime. I was so fascinated by the way we communicated wordlessly, the only identifying factor being the symbol accompanying our signal. I found it so beautiful. The chime became second nature to me.
At the end of the tower, I let my previous companion go on ahead. My friend told me that we were coming up on the ending, and I knew I wanted to finish this game alone. But I wasn’t really alone. All throughout, my friend was with me alongside the other players, sometimes in conversation, and sometimes in silence. That was all I needed. Though my traveler was alone in-game, I had my companion with me always, and I wanted to finish it with just us.
I confidently set foot in stark white snow, and stood face to face with the mountain that had been watching over my traveler throughout. I struggled through the climb. Through the trials I chimed to myself, though there was no one there, on impulse. Almost as if I was comforting myself. The chime became quieter, and smaller. I quietly noticed, and pushed forward. Though my scarf had been torn to tatters, and my chime so faint it could barely be heard, I pushed forward. I pushed forward so strongly I felt my traveler couldn’t keep up. I pushed forward until my hands shook on the controller, as she took step after agonizing step, each one shorter and more painful than the last, until… she stopped. She fell to the snowy earth. My grip on the controller loosened. We sat in silence. I looked over at my friend in a shocked but knowing devastation. He looked back. And then, I heard Apotheosis begin to play.
For the next minutes I can only describe the emotion I felt as tearful awe. Something truly unlike anything I’ve experienced before. Once I began crying during the ascent, I didn’t stop until after the credits had ended. The music, the driving force this whole game stands on, moved me so deeply it is nearly impossible to describe what I felt. It moved me to tears, and brought me closure, all in the length of one song. I lingered only as long as necessary to hear the music swell. I stepped into the light. The two of us wept silently as I Was Born For This scored the finale of the journey. It was one of the most beautiful endings to a story I have ever experienced.
— MAJOR JOURNEY SPOILERS END —
So when I tell you that Journey is a story about nothing, you can see that isn’t quite true. If Journey was about nothing, how could I, or anyone, have the experience I did? That’s because Journey’s nothingness allows it to be a story about everything. Journey is about you.
Journey is a vessel that reflects its player, who they are, what they’ve experienced, and their determination. I saw myself reflected in the golden sands and cruel snow of Journey’s world. I saw myself, both past and future, in the traveler and their journey. That is the true beauty that lies in this story. Because everyone who has played this game, and shared it with someone they love, has seen themselves too. It’s something so simple, told in such a striking way with use of visuals and music so timeless and moving that it will stay a masterpiece for decades to come.
There is something I have been neglecting to mention throughout; Journey’s status as a video game. This story can be so special in so many ways, but why a video game? What is it doing in greatest game of all time lists? Why is holding a controller so integral to this experience?
Journey’s story is not one that can be told in any other medium. In 2012, ThatGameCompany figured out what the industry has been grappling with before and since; how to tell a story only a video game can tell.
Journey is a game accessible to nearly everyone, playable for those who have been gaming since their childhoods to those holding a controller for the first time. It’s not difficult, it’s not overwhelming, it doesn’t even speak a single word. Your fellow travelers could be anyone, from anywhere, and everyone will share the same experience. The only thing Journey asks of the player, and of the medium of gaming, is connection- the physical and emotional connection between the player and the traveler. Simple as that is, it is integral to Journey’s identity and impact. And video games are the only medium that can provide the connection needed. Journey triumphs in its simplicity, and approaches the medium of gaming with that same outlook. And it’s rewarded for it, time and time again.
It is impossible to look upon Journey without looking at yourself and your time with it. That’s why I hesitate to call this a review of any kind. I don’t know if it’s possible, for myself at least, to look at Journey through a completely objective lens. And even if you could, I think that’s missing the point. Your personal connection with this game is what makes it so beautiful. My personal philosophy on games is that they are forever painted with the colors of the time and circumstances in which we played them. Embracing the non-objectivity of our experiences, and ourselves, is the most thoughtful way we can engage with games. And Journey is that philosophy condensed into a flawless, emotional, and beautiful 90 minute experience.
Journey trusts that, through our eyes, a game about nothing can become a game about everything. This is where the beauty of the nothingness in Journey lies.
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I really have only scratched the surface of what Journey is and its impact on the player. I wanted to write simply about my first experience with this game, but I feel as though I’m leaving so much out. Luckily, I believe that Journey is a game meant to be replayed, re-experienced. And just as my friend said, this is absolutely a New Years’ game. I will be revisiting Journey every new year, and with any luck, will continue to write and expand my thoughts on it as well.
Thank you so much for reading through my perspective on this incredible game. And just in case you’ve made it this far without- play Journey. Please. It is an incredible experience and you won’t regret it!
