Assigment 1 - Visual Style & Gameplay Review: Game 1 - Journey - Art Game

Game 1 - Journey - Art Game
The game Journey is a special and unique experience, developed and produced by Thatgamecompany and released on the 13th of March, 2012 for the PS3 and PS4. Its an exclusive brought about by a deal with Sony to fully fund 3 projects as long as they stay PlayStation exclusives. This game goes away with modern gaming conventions like goals, statistics and points, there is only one goal- approach the light.

 This game features it's own original, stunning visual style, warm yellows and scorched reds litter the canvas-like screen, they contrast and wave together like the very sand they attempt to imitate. One second the world is glowing with warmth and the other it's cooled to the core, the once saturated sands of the landscape dulled and hushed into a dawn-like magenta as you approach, getting closer and closer to the light. Its an amazing experience, the masterful display of colours and lighting mixing with the drive to continue further and experience more is a bliss. The player is pulled into the game from the get-go, as they lay their eyes on the beautiful landscapes and picture-perfect horizon.

Though, like anything in life, receive too much "greatness" and you make it the standard, Journey's weakest trait is its inability to hold its horses. It drowned players with beautiful set pieces one after another until they began to lose their spark, the childlike excitement players receive at the start of the game begins to falter and ends up completely disappearing by the end of the game, this allows for the blatant gameplay issues to shine through.

Journey is just that, a journey- the main point of this game is to push forward, now that's not always a bad thing, many games have you going on an adventure to your goal, however as the hours roll by and the player grows bored of the scenery it becomes blatantly obvious how little this game has in terms of "Gameplay". As you venture through the worlds of Journey you'll realise how simple it is, all puzzles and challenges are there to keep your mind and hands barely busy, like a pacifier for a baby.

Just because a game is simple, doesn't make it a bad game however. Not every player wants a complicated grind towards their goal, some just want to sit back, busy themselves for an hour or two and just let off some steam. The way this game lulls you in, calming you down after a long day or stress is brilliant, it works amazing with its calming art style and music, offering you a small break from life.

Sources:
Journey-
https://www.giantbomb.com/forums/journey-5792/soi-dont-like-journey-1777371/
http://thatgamecompany.com/
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/03/01/journey-review
https://www.gamespot.com/journey/reviews/
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/journey