More recently I've been into the types of game that are about the journey. Abzu, Skye. Alpha planet, The Artful Escape to name a few as a more purist take on the type. This genre of game is hard to define, is as wide as it is deep in meaning and interpretation. From action adventure, platformer, exploration to a petal on the wind. weapons or no, abilities or none.
Journey is a game that I'd heard about from it's launch hype as being different and special for it's take on gaming. A walking simulator and environmental narrative, the start of something that helped define the genre in those terms for the recent past. It's in the Meta. A genre easy and hard to describe at the same time for sure. Different things to different gamers.
Some of these types of games 'do it' for me, others not so much. While Limbo is a good game it's not a game for me but Alpha Planet is.
Firewatch is all me but after watching a full (and entertaining) walkthrough the game had noting for me if I were to buy it and do it for myself...... I think with 10% doubt.....
The genre is a hard one to nail down, is a like or dislike, in a know what I like when I see it kind of way.
Various lists of the best of the genre are mainly listing games I'd not play. Dear Esther, The Unfinished Swan, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch, The Stanley Parable.
Others are an in-between like Ori, as much as I want to like both Ori games I can't get into them for one reason or another.
Twelve minutes is it's own thing that I never got into but then again so is A Plague Tale Innocence and I was all over that.....
On the other hand Power Wash is a game I know I want but I know it'd be too much for me, too addictive and I'd go overboard with it. Hours and hours of gameplay I know I can use elsewhere to better effect(too many games too little time).
Whereas Unpacking is a game that I thought was interesting but once played was very much more into(thank you Gamepass Ultimate).
The lines blur vastly when game mechanics start down the more simulation route, Mini metro, mini motorways and Islanders. Like I said the genre really does cover a lot of ground.
This gaming hobby is a complicated lark to explain in general never mind specifics like this.
So Journey has been in my peripheral vision for a long time. I knew it was a Playstaion exclusive game but after seeing it on Steam during the winter sale I knew I wanted to try it. -50% off at €6.25, a bargain. I guess I went into an ignore mode thinking I'd never get to play it. While I've only played just over an hour I can already say that it's worth it. The journey has just begun. If your into it your into it.
No comments:
Post a Comment