Journey (2012)

Journey is an adventure game developed by thatgamecompany exclusively for the PlayStation 3 and which is distributed on the PlayStation Network. The game features the player as a robed figure in a vast desert, journeying toward a mountain in the distance. Along the way the player can meet other players on the same journey; the two players can assist each other, but cannot communicate via speech or text and are not shown each others' names until after completion. The game was released on March 7, 2012 for PlayStation Plus subscribers, and was fully released on March 13. The game was rereleased on PlayStation 4 on July 21, 2015. It has been met with significant critical acclaim. Journey is the last game made under a three game contract between thatgamecompany and Sony, the first two being Flow and Flower.

Getting started
Journey is a simple game where you make your way across a desert toward a distant mountain. Along the way you will discover a strange form of life and may encounter other people playing the game, one person at a time. Connection to the internet is required for co-op play with others, and signing out of PlayStation Network will allow you to journey alone. Others will join you if your instance of the game matches theirs, meaning that as you change things in the environment, only others whose environment is in the same state can join you. To increase the odds of running into another journeyer, wait at the beginning of chapters before doing anything.

The controls are simple, as are the puzzles, and the camera can be controlled by moving the Sixaxis controller instead of using normal thumbstick input. The game is played mainly on sand, so walking across flat sand is relatively slow, going uphill is slower and going downhill is fast, especially if it is steep enough to slide. In the start menu you can go into options to invert the camera.

The game is split into distinct, unnamed chapters and between each will be a cutscene. Your goal in any chapter is to get to the end where you can activate the spirit markers to receive your vision. Along the way you will have to solve puzzles and interact with the ubiquitous red cloths. Once you have completed your journey, you can go to chapter select from the options in the start menu, and you will be transported back to the end of the introduction level, losing all saved progress. Chapters you can go directly to will be found in the buildings around the main platform.

As you journey, you can collect glowing symbols to increase the length of your scarf. You scarf grants you the power to fly, but using it drains its power. You can see the amount of flight you have left by how many symbols are on your scarf. As you fly, the symbols will disappear and you will need to replenish your scarf power by touching red cloths or having your partner shout next to you.

In addition to the glowing symbols, there may be other objects hidden around the area, such as glyphs and easter eggs associated with trophies. Glowing symbols and glyphs are tracked in the chapter select area. In the chapter buildings, the glyphs that you have found will light up, showing you in which chapters you are missing them, except for one in the introductory chapter. The glowing symbols are tracked in total off to the side of the buildings, but you will need to reach the end of a chapter to see how many you've collected out of the total for that chapter by the number of lit up symbols in front of the altar where you receive your vision. Once you have collected all the glowing symbols, you will have access to the white robes in the chapter select area, which allows you to replenish your scarf power while touching the ground.

Introduction
At the beginning of the game, press psx: Start to begin a new journey or psx: Select to continue your last one. If you have previously completed the game, you can use psx: Start again to go to chapter select after starting a new journey.

After a cutscene of a shooting star, you will see your character sitting in the sand and a prompt to move the Sixaxis controller will appear. Once you have moved the camera behind you so you are facing the small hill with the two flags on top, you will stand up and can begin your journey. Climb to the top of the hill to be introduced to your distant target and the game title will appear. You'll see the desert stretched out below you, with numerous stone markers sticking up out of the ground and a shining light in the distance. Head through the markers to the light and climb up the broken side of the structure and approach the glowing symbol with the circling cloth pieces. You'll get your first scarf piece and the cloths will power up your scarf, letting you fly with psx: X. Once your scarf power is depleted, recharge with the cloths and continue on.

Instead of heading toward the mountain, you can find your first glyph by going to the structure off to the right. Go past the sunken piece of wall with the cloth pieces and inside the building you come to will be the glyph wall with two sets of spirit markers on each side. You can activate them by touching them or shouting. When you do, the blank wall will fill up with a picture, showing you've activated it. Head out of the building and down into the nearby valley. Here you will see a short tower in the middle, surrounded by broken buildings. When you have completed the game, you can access chapters in these building around the tower. There is a glowing symbol on a small platform on the side of the tower and one on the side of the tower itself that you can get to by going over the edge from the top or flying.

At the top of the tower, you will see four dusty red cloths that you can activate by touching or shouting. When each cloth is restored, it will be retracted into the platform, and when they're all down a large group of smaller cloths will be released. When you see groups of cloth pieces like this, you can hold psx: C to do your largest shout, and they will lift you up, giving you additional flight time that doesn't take scarf power. Use the cloths to get over to the beam of light on the platform across from you. Here you will see more spirit markers and three symbols below the altar in the center. The symbols will be lit up corresponding to which glowing symbols you have collected, so if you see any that aren't lit up at the end of chapters, you will know you missed some. Activate the spirit markers and enter the glowing circle on the ground to receive your first vision. When you awake, the gates behind the alter will open, letting you move on to the next chapter.

The broken bridge
This is the first chapter where you can meet another player. The goal here is to activate large cloth pieces to reform the bridge, allowing you to get up to the next altar. As you enter the area, the first large cloth is directly in front and below you, the cloths for the middle section are on a hill on the right and the cloths for the last two sections are on a hill on the left. Simply move over to them and either run up them or shout to restore them, and they will be sucked into the machines they are on top of and split into smaller cloths that will span the missing bridge sections. When you've rebuilt the bridge, you can cross it and activate the spirit markers to get your next vision.

For the Threshold trophy, you'll need to get across the bridge without restoring all sections. By yourself you can do that by completing the last and middle sections of the bridge, then flying to the top of the first large cloth without activating it, which will let you reach the first bridge piece. With a partner, you can use infinite flying where you fly and shout at the same time, symbiotically replenishing each other's scarves while flying. If you have collected all glowing symbols and have the white robes that let you regain scarf power while on the ground, you don't have to rebuild any part of the bridge, you can just fly from the tops of the bridge arches to the next pieces.

There are three glowing symbols and a hidden glyph in this chapter. From the entrance, you can see the first one glowing off to the left. The other two are on the far end of the area. You can barely see them both from where you start, one behind some falling sand on the left side, approachable from the ground, and one above some falling sand on the right, which can be accessed by flight from a nearby cloth machine. The glyph is hidden behind the falling sand below the third glowing symbol.

The pink desert
In this chapter you just have to cross the desert heading toward the mountain until you reach the dark blowing sand with the towers. There are numerous cloth creatures to find in the desert, as well as a reference to the developer's second PlayStation game, Flower. Finding all the creatures and the flower will give you both the trophies for this chapter. From where you start, slide down and climb the next dune to see the first cloth machine. When you activate it, a cloth creature will come out and try to lead you on to the towers. Head directly to the right instead, parallel to the mountain, until you come to some broken pillars with a glowing symbol on top.

After freeing the cloth creature and getting the symbol, go along this right edge of the desert in the direction of the mountain. At the top of a large dune you should see some ruins off to your left. Instead of heading directly there, look down to your left into the little valley between dunes to spot the elusive desert flower. Give it a full shout to get the trophy, then head on towards to the ruins you saw. On the back side of the ruins is a hidden glyph you can activate before continuing on toward the mountain. A couple dunes later will show you the last ruins on the right side of the desert, where a shooting star from the mountain will come down and turn into a glowing symbol at the top. Use a full shout in the middle of the cloth pieces below to get up to it.

At the top of the high dune behind these ruins, you'll get your first look at the towers and stormy area, but there are still ruins on the left side of the desert. Traverse to the other side along the top of the dune until you come to a large, standalone tower on your left. Here you can free the cloth creature on the side, then use the cloth pieces on the broken ramp to get to the top of the broken stairs on the tower. On the backside of the tower is another group of cloth pieces that will take you to the top of the tower where a glowing symbol awaits. From the top of the tower, fly back away from the mountain and after the big dune you'll find the last trapped cloth creature and the last hidden glyph. You are now ready to head toward the mountain and take on the towers at the end.

Down in the stormy area, you can use the broken stairs at the bottom of one of the towers to start your ascent. A cloth creature will help you up past the broken steps, and at the top, shout at the trapped cloth creature to free it and get a ride to the top of the lower tower. Take the bridge across to the other tower and either go around it counterclockwise, or just fly to the end of the walkway from the bridge, where another helpful cloth creature will take you to the top. Instead of heading directly up the stairs, go around the left side to pick up the last glowing symbol. Activate the spirit markers at the top to receive your vision, then head back down the stairs and ride a cloth creature to the next chapter.

The sunken city
This quick chapter involves surfing down an incredibly long mountain of sand through the ruins of a large city. As you slide down, watch for the arches littered around the slope; sliding through 15 of these gates gets you the trophy, combining the gates you go through in the first and second slide. When you first start sliding you'll see a big tower in the middle of the slope that you have to go around. Behind it is a length of walkway you can slide down to get the first glowing symbol. At the bottom of the hill, you'll go through a tunnel and come bursting out through a sheet of falling sand. If you start pressing to the right before you go through, you can float/fly over to the second glowing symbol, which is atop a protruding metal pipe. It's hard to get up to it from below without a maxed scarf, but you can try using the cloth pieces after activating the machines below to get back up there if you miss it. Down in the courtyard are four cloth machines you can activate, which will free some cloth creatures to use the machinery in the center.

This will release a group of cloth pieces that will allow you to get up to the next ledge and continue your journey. Before you go, there is also a group of cloth pieces in a corner of the courtyard that will take you up to the hidden glyph in this level. When you're done, use the cloth pieces to fly up to the ledge and continue your sand surfing to the very bottom. If you stay to the left around the first part, you can cut across to the right and use a rock ramp to jump up to a crevice running through the cliffs for the last glowing symbol. You should get six gates in the first slide and the rest in the second, although you might need to do a gate-only slide for the trophy later if you tried to combine the symbols and gates and didn't go through enough of them. At the bottom you'll land in a dark area below the city. Head over to the left to activate the second hidden glyph, then make your way to the end altar and receive your vision before heading through the gate beyond.

The underground passage
This dark, mysterious area consists of a series of long rooms full of new creatures. The first area is quiet and simple, just follow the broken pipes down until you get to the end where there are two parallel pipes next to each other. In the left one that breaks up out of the sand you'll find the first glowing symbol. In the area beyond you'll find some cloth plants growing around more pipes. When you're touching cloth, you will float in place, so use this to your advantage to climb up to the tops of them, refilling your scarf power and letting you fly to the next plant. In a pipe on the right side is another glowing symbol you can collect on your way out of this room. The next area is also full of plants you can use to get to the top of the other side. At the highest jellyfish-looking plant you'll find the next glowing symbol. Keep going through the opening at the top of the other end and drop down through the broken floor to the next area.

In the following rooms you'll hear ancient machinery and see mysterious snake-like stone statues around. As you make your way down through the first of these rooms, one of the stone guardians will awaken and burst up through the sand to fly off. Continue through the hallway at the end and in the next room, you'll see the guardian again, this time patrolling. It shines a white light on the ground, and when it encounters any living thing, the light will turn red and the guardian will attack, ripping the cloth to shreds. As you continue, avoid the white spotlights by sticking to the sides of the main path. If you can get through to the end without being attacked, you'll earn the Trials trophy. After watching the guardian attack the group of cloth pieces, head back to where you entered the room, and on the wall on one side is a hidden glyph. Get through the next opening and quickly get off to the side when the guardian comes through. In this room a second guardian will be activated and you'll have two to avoid in the next area. Stay to the left and you'll be rewarded with the last glowing symbol behind a pillared wall. Through the next opening is the last area, where you'll see both guardians patrolling the slope. Don't worry about being spotted, just keep sliding down to the end where you'll be protected by a flash of light down where the altar is. Once they're gone, activate the spirit markers and receive your vision to open the doors to the next chapter.

The tower
The tower is a large structure in the center of the area that you'll need to ascend by activating glyphs. Each time you do, it will release glowing water that you can swim in indefinitely and recharge your scarf power. The first glyph is at the back end of the area when you first come in, at ground level. After activating it, swim up to the first platform on the left and you should see the first glowing symbol on a ledge on the tower. Continue taking the platforms up in a circle around the tower to the next glyph and activate it. The next level of water adds some jellyfish plants you can use to get into the center of the tower and cross to the other side. From there you should see the next glyph straight ahead above you, but before you go to it, look to your right to find the next glowing symbol behind a screen down near the water. Depending on your scarf power, you may need to head back into the water and climb back up through the tower again to get to the next glyph.

As another level of water fills the area, if you watch off to the right, you'll see a large cloth whale come out of an opening on the side of the room. Swim over to the opening and through it you'll find a hidden glyph. All around the room with the hidden glyph are alcoves covered by cloths; you'll find another glowing symbol behind the cloths near the entrance. Back out in the main area, the last glowing symbol is inside the tower, then you can ride the cloth whale up to the next glyph you need to activate. Above you will be a series of hanging platforms connected by cloth bridges. Take the bridges around the tower to the last glyph and you'll be able to get to the top of the tower. Before you go up and activate the table, you can swim all the way to the bottom of the tower and inside it you'll find a creature from flOw that you can give a full shout to for the trophy. When you activate the altar at the top of the tower you'll get another vision and can move on to the next chapter.

The snow fields
In the snow you will lose scarf power if you're not touching cloth, unless you've obtained the white robes, and you can't stay aloft for long anyway. Due to this limitation, you'll spend most of your time on the ground rather than flying. Although there are no more glowing symbols from here on out, the last two hidden glyphs are in this chapter. Start out by heading straight ahead until you get to some large metal poles sticking out of the ground. Here the wind will blow you back, so make your way from pole to pole, hiding behind them to block the wind. Eventually you'll reach the mouth of the canyon, which you can proceed through into the next area. Follow the markers up the slope to a path that leads up the cliff to your left. If you go over the edge, you'll end up down below where you started and you'll have to climb back up. Head up the cliffside path to a small room built into the cliff face to find the first hidden glyph. Light up the spirit markers inside and the lantern will glow and cloth pieces will descend. Use the cloths to fly up above where you'll find the hidden glyph in a alcove.

Back outside you can continue along the path and shout at the cloth at the broken bridge to lower it so you can cross. Up the steps and through the opening in the wall takes you to the next area where stone guardians are flying above. Head up the slope and get inside the first cover you come to, which is an empty metal box. Once the guardian's searchlight has passed, you can proceed through the next boxes and up the hill. Instead of continuing on toward the boxes ahead, go uphill to the large pole on the left. Beyond it you'll come to a cave with the last hidden glyph inside. Keep going through the cave and out the other side you'll come to another large pole in the snow. Head to the boxes to the left of it and quickly get inside the first one before the guardian comes. Whenever the searchlight passes over the box you're in, run out to the next one. Continue this tactic all the way to the other side where you'll pass through an opening in the wall.

Head through the tight canyon and into a courtyard with frozen cloth plants. Use the plants on the far side to get up through the opening above and follow the path there to the next area. Here you'll need to make your way up the side of the cliff in between gusts of wind. When you make some progress, move to the side where a wall or fence can block you from being blown backwards and wait for the next gust of wind to pass. Keep going until you come to a piece of cloth you can cross to the last section. If you do get blown off the path, you'll end up below where you can use the cloth plants to get up to the last section. Head through the opening in the wall and begin your final ascent of the snow mountain. The wind will push you around as you go, but just keep your eye on the peak and continue trying to climb until you receive another vision. Afterwards, press psx: X to fly up to the last chapter.

The flight to the peaks
In this simple chapter, all you have to do is fly up to the top of the mountain you've been journeying toward the whole game. If you run out of scarf power, you'll fall back down into the mist or water below where it will recharge, so don't be afraid to explore. There are cloth creatures along the way and large red gates to guide you along. At the last red gate you'll enter a shaft of light that will take you up to the top of the mountain where you can walk between the dual peaks.

Trophies
There are 14 trophies for the PlayStation 3.


 * Journey trophy Threshold.png || Threshold || Cross the broken bridge without completely rebuilding it. ||
 * Journey trophy Mirage.png || Mirage || Find the hidden desert flower. ||
 * Journey trophy Explore.png || Explore || Discover all cloth creatures in the desert. ||
 * Journey trophy Adventure.png || Adventure || Pass through 15 gates while surfing through the sunken city. ||
 * Journey trophy Trials.png || Trials || Sneak through the underground passage without tearing your scarf. ||
 * Journey trophy Ancestors.png || Ancestors || Find a mysterious creature hidden in the temple. ||
 * Journey trophy History.png || History || Uncover all 10 ancient glyphs. ||
 * Journey trophy Crossing.png || Crossing || Reach the summit with a companion and return to the beginning. ||
 * Journey trophy Rebirth.png || Rebirth || Finish the game and return to the beginning. ||
 * Journey trophy Companion.png || Companion || Finish the game with the same partner for the majority of the journey and return to the beginning. ||
 * Journey trophy Reflection.png || Reflection || Sit and meditate with another player for more than 20 seconds. ||
 * Journey trophy Wonder.png || Wonder || Meet 10 or more unique travelers. ||
 * Journey trophy Return.png || Return || Start the journey again after a week long break. ||
 * Journey trophy Transcendence.png || Transcendence || Collect all unique glowing symbols across one or more journeys. ||
 * }
 * Journey trophy Rebirth.png || Rebirth || Finish the game and return to the beginning. ||
 * Journey trophy Companion.png || Companion || Finish the game with the same partner for the majority of the journey and return to the beginning. ||
 * Journey trophy Reflection.png || Reflection || Sit and meditate with another player for more than 20 seconds. ||
 * Journey trophy Wonder.png || Wonder || Meet 10 or more unique travelers. ||
 * Journey trophy Return.png || Return || Start the journey again after a week long break. ||
 * Journey trophy Transcendence.png || Transcendence || Collect all unique glowing symbols across one or more journeys. ||
 * }
 * Journey trophy Wonder.png || Wonder || Meet 10 or more unique travelers. ||
 * Journey trophy Return.png || Return || Start the journey again after a week long break. ||
 * Journey trophy Transcendence.png || Transcendence || Collect all unique glowing symbols across one or more journeys. ||
 * }
 * Journey trophy Transcendence.png || Transcendence || Collect all unique glowing symbols across one or more journeys. ||
 * }