It’s not meant to be played once and then abandoned. And while yes, the mechanics of it are quite simple, there is no reason you should even be thinking about those sorts of things while playing.

Thanks for telling me what I should be thinking, Alex.

Can I saw a dude in half??!

NO!?

fuck this game.

GIVE US BACK REAL ALEX.

Also, great review.

Great review Alex i totally agree with all that you said in it, journey is an awesome experience that's what your paying for and it's an experience unlike any other i have had in my 30+ years of gaming, it's so simple and feels so right even more so when another person joins you, as cliched as it may sound it really is a journey of sorts.

This is an excellent review for an unbelievably great game. I cannot recommend this game more; it simply isn't an experience that deserves to be missed.

Played through it... breathtaking and beautiful.

Sounds like Dear Esther, but less pretentious. Me likey. And I LOVED Flower BTW.

Just finished it a few min ago... Holy shit. Might take Persona 3's slot as favorite game of all time. The multiplayer is freaking awesome

The review makes me think of The Path. Is there any justified comparisons between these two games?

@Tidel said:

My first playthrough was remarkable, but my fifth playthrough was transcendent.

I can appreciate people looking at this game as a '2 hour' experience, but the online -- and all the hidden things -- keeps me coming back again and again. Last night I met another traveler and we had this instant play-chemistry -- we spent the entire game together, and we barely ever touched the ground. We just... flew. It was really beautiful.

Great review, Alex, and great, great game.

Your reason for why you want to play it over and over again is the same reason why I will never play it again. My first playthrough was, as corny as this sounds, kinda magical and I never want to try and get that experience again.

@damswedon: I almost didn't, for the same reason, but I just loved the world and the vibe and the mechanics so much. I loved the feel of surfing on sand dunes, and I wanted more. And when I was drawn back in by those things, each time (seven, now) has had something different to say to me -- I've gone from novice to guide, which is cool. I never went in looking for the same experience, which I think is key. I just felt like there was more for me there.

I'm gonna have to check this out when I get back home for easter.

I never thought I'd see the day when a video game would make me tear up,but this one did. EASILY in my all time Top 5.

Easily my favorite review of yours, Alex, great job.

And the game is outstanding. I keep forcing myself to not marathon it all in a single sitting.

@Grognard66 said:

Looks good, but I'll wait until it drops to $7.50 as part of a future PS+ promotion. $15 for less than 2 hours of gameplay is not a good value proposition.

Funny how so many people went ballistic when XBLA games gradually increased from $5-10 to $10-15 for 5-10 hour games and are now perfectly fine with $15 for less than 2 hours. I guess we've all been conditioned to accept paying more to get less.

Chicken is cheap, but sometimes you gotta treat yourself and buy a nice steak. Journey is a Michelin 3-star Wagyu :O)

Hoooly shite. What an amazing game this was/is. I've played some great looking games on PS3, but on the visual-side, this one beats them *easily*. A magical experience, if one might use such a cliched expression. I'm also with Jeff 'bout what he said in the latest podcast. I ventured with the same person (or so I assumed at least, after finishing the game, I seemed to have met five people in total, but I'd like to think it was the same guy!) for a good while and then I lost him at a certain part. First time a "disconnect" of another person has felt that bad!

Think I might start my second playthrough tomorrow night.

There's really not much you can say about the game, without ruining the experience for others..

But wow, what an incredible game.

It was amazing.

Wow, I just finished my first play through and it was amazing, I had a great partner and we stuck together the entire time. My GOTY so far.

This game is an experience unto itself. Played through the whole thing with a total stranger, and it truly was one of the greatest moments in my gaming life. I cared so much about my fellow traveler, and I never said a word to him, or knew his name until the end.

Truly something special.

I just played it, it was pretty frikkin' magical. I spent every moment, except the very beginning, with a companion.

I'm somewhat surprised by so many people saying the played through almost the entire thing with a single companion. I thought I met three or four different dudes on my first journey and got presented with eight different PSN names at the end, so I figured it changed companions at every area transition or something. Because I never really got seperated from a companion with maybe one exception.

I wish that Jenova Chen made every game.

Just got finished my second play-through

entirely with the same partner helping him find everything. It was better than my first play-through.

I had an amazing time with this game. Loved it.

very good interesting game but not 5 star worthy while it plays with your emotions it seems like so many other "evocative" games to be chasing the emotions Panzer Dragoon 1 and 2 created on the Saturn without breaking new ground and the co-op is meaningless 15 dollars is too much for what it offers perhaps seven dollars tops wait for the sale

Excellently written review and for those that are finding this incredible experience with the game, I'm glad it's really being enjoyed by them.

Sadly, it's not a game for me and wish I had the time back again. It all felt a bit emperor's new clothes and I'm sure I will be told that I don't "get it", and those people will be right.

Good review as usual from Alex, but he made an error in there....

" No, they don’t just drop in out of thin air. It’s more like you’ll turn a corner, and suddenly they’ll be standing there. Or you’ll jump off a ledge, and they’ll be waiting for you at the bottom. It’s a completely seamless transition."

That is just completely untrue. I'm thinking there's a tree falling in the woods thing going on here, because if you are there to see it, they in fact LITERALLY "drop in out of thin air"; I just saw it last night myself.

I was walking over a dune, and a dude quite literally popped into existance standing next to me. I'm not suggesting it was chaotic or wierd or anything, but this idea that they are just "there" is not true, it's a perception.

Regardless though, outstdnaing game; one of the best I've ever played frankly.

I finished it about an hour ago and I totally agree with the review.  
 
The way the sand looks in some of the levels... it's hard to believe a game can look so beautiful on a console. I would kill a racc... let's say "chicken" with my bear hands in order to get a 1080p version.

Just finished it 20 minutes ago. Man......... no words. Simply extraordinary, I never thought such a simple game could convey so much emotion through so little. Its something movies can't even achieve because your a part of the experience, everything you go through, YOU do. Not a character in a screen play.

Brilliant

One of the best written and accurate reviews I've ever read. Alex is a seriously good writer!