25th Diamond: Journey

Hello :)

How's everyone doin'? I believe all is well. 

No I have yet to finish Beautiful Creatures, NOT because I don't like it, but because I was distracted by something else that's MORE interesting. Yes, I GOT DISTRACTED BY GAMES. Guess what game it is? *drum-roll* It's JOURNEY!!!

This game was released on 2012 so I'm guessing most people already played it. But hey, it's a great game!
And you know what they say about great games, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU PLAYED IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN, IT'S STILL GOOD. 

Now this game is made for Playstation 3, which means that you can't buy a pirated version of it, and yes, it makes you think twice before buying it...not to mention this game is only like 3 hours long. It feels long though...I don't know why. BUT IT'S GOOD. DAMN GOOD. Another thing about the game is that throughout the whole journey, you'll be playing with another random player who happens to be playing the same game. So you guys are going to do the journey together and finish it together. That is if you played it non-stop. If you stop, then when you continue the journey, you won't be continuing it with the same person. 

Pretty interesting I must say. But then again, if you're too lazy to play the game and is just curious on how to play or what it's like, just go to youtube and browse some "Let's Play" videos. Some of them are actually nice :D I find pewdiepie's version entertaining. But then again, nothing beats playing the REAL GAME. 

c: forbes.com

The graphic is just plain BEAUTIFULThere's A LOT TO SEE. Despite the fact that you're going to wander around in a dessert, *and later a mountain with lots of snow* which we all know 99% consists of sand . YES, SAND. But nooooooo, everything is just beautiful. The way the sand particles just fly and your growing scarf *yes, your character has some kind of scarf that grows longer as you progress throughout the game* just flows accordingly even if your other player friend goes near it, the scarf follows the movement. OHMYGAWD. Truly what I expected from a Playstation 3 game. 

Another thing is the whole concept of the game. The game is like a metaphor of life. You go through a lot of places, see a lot of beautiful views, experience fear and drop to the ground at times *that's when you meet the monsters in the game and you have to hide from them while at the same time your heart pumps like crazy*, meet random people whom later we'll somehow grew close to, and finish it all in the end. It's really something. There are a lot of games out there that has different meanings and concept, but I think this one's deep. DEEP I TELL YOU. 

Another thing I find interesting is the fact that this game is created by an INDIE GAME COMPANY. Nope you did not read that wrong. INDIE. The company is called "thatgamecompany." So the creators of this game is thatgamecompany *no spacings* 

THATGAMECOMPANY also made some other interesting games such as FLOW and FLOWER.

c: thatgamecompany official website

In flow, we play as an organism that grows following the rules of evolution. We start as a small organism, plankton-like maybe, then continues eating and eating and going deeper into the level to become....big. And that's basically the game. That's all it's about. THAT SIMPLE. Well you know what the slogan is.

".....life could be simple..."

c: thatgamecompany official website

The other game, FLOWER, is beautiful and sad at the same time. Not that it has a sad storyline no. There's actually no storyline I think. Basically all we players do throughout the game is fly around, reviving all the dead spots of grass that has flowers and collect more petals. Each level has a really big and wide playground, in this case a meadow. Although some levels played on a city-like place. 

c: macacaosapao.wordpress

What's sad it that in the beginning of the game, they showed a scene of our ever busy and polluted world with no flowers or plants in them. That makes me sad...

In the game, the player becomes a wind I guess. You fly around, revive more patches, and collect more flower petals. But other than that, while flying around, you can fly and twist and turn and do what ever you want. Which makes the game beautiful. Other than the graphics of course.

c: awmusic.ca

c: indiegames.com

c: nightmaremode.net

Feel like you're flying yet?

Oh and before the game starts, there'll be a warning. 

If you have a history of epilepsy or seizures, consult a doctor before use....

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

"Look at that! How could that small flower gives you seizures?!"

The music is also, soooothing. It's soo soothing I don't know how to explain it. Same as Journey that has a really good soundtrack by Austin Wintory. The games has different themes so they have different music. Both soothing but different. Journey has a heroic epic journey-ish back ground music with orchestra and strings. While Flower has a windy harp strings and those type of instruments back ground music. You'll know what I meant.

One thing I know is that thatgamecompany *it kind of sounds funny no?* really know what they're doing. High-class graphics, amazing soundtracks, awesome gameplay, WHAT MORE CAN U ASK OF A GAME?!

c: neoseeker

Funny thing I just realized...In Journey, as you progress, your scarf gets longer. In flow, you get more wing/leg like features. In flower you get more flower petals. THE SIMILARITIES ARE UNCANNY 

I would like to say thank you to thatgamecompany for making such great games. The world need more games like this lol. Please continue doing your best!

c: gamespot

To my readers, thank you for reading this post! I know there's a lot of pictures and all, but I really don't think it's possible to explain the game without showing it. If I can, I would love to make a Let's Play video. Who knows, one day ;)

Sincerely yours,

Alicia V