A Journey through Journey

Journey by Thatgamecompany presents a narrative that is curious in the sense that the player is not simply presented with the story, but it is instead implied through the gameplay world. The world instead molds the narrative for the player through environmental story-telling and aesthetics without need for words. Through this usage of storytelling, Thatgamecompany encourages the gameplay to discover the meaning behind the game world the player is presented with

You begin as a lone robed traveler on sand dunes, facing a large mountain that appears to be your goal. The game does not tell you this, however the cutscenes which direct the player towards this mountain heavily implies it as it is “the only interesting point along the horizon at the start of the game” (Pynenburg 2012. Games Worth a Thousand Words, 32). The path the player then follows is almost entirely linear and encourages the player to continue forward. The linearity is also very explicit in the sense that if the player tries to go back from their progress wind will only blow them forward.

Journey encourages exploration through the need to have more scarf pieces to jump and float around certain areas or to create bridges. The scarf pieces are covered in runes which are used up as the player uses them to fly for limited amounts of time and travel around the areas provided. While the player is given rather large areas to move around in, there is always a linear path forward for when the player decides to leave the area to continue their journey towards the mountain. The controls are very simple, which encourages less complicated gameplay and allows the player to be motivated to move forward.

It is easy to progress without much effort through puzzle solving, which allows Journey to use its simplistic gameplay to allow for more focus from the player on the aesthetics of the game world. While the game world is both gorgeous and intricate, it lacks any small intractable objects. This lack of interactivity means that movement forward or enjoying the aesthetic are the only options. The only intractable objects in the game are the scarf pieces and other players that may join you on your journey. These other players are there to provide a different type of bond than expected from other games (Pynenburg, 29). However, they are not needed to complete any areas of the game. Instead, they may aid each other through puzzles or to find other scarf pieces. Due to the desert landscape the player may believe there is a much larger world outside of their small, linear path, however they will never be able to explore it. The only exploration the player may get is through continuing in their quest.

While the game offers no words towards a story line, there are short cutscenes in which the robed traveler is told the history of its people by a larger, white robed figure. Through these cutscenes the player is allowed some insight into the world of these people, however it is not entirely explicit. Therefore, while the story is displayed for the player, the player will then need to give a level of interpretation to understand what the game is trying to tell them.