Journey....

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.....

A Casual Carebear Gamer

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.

Planet Alpha....

Planet Alpha was(still is this week) free on Xbox Games with Gold. Of this month's games(July'21) it looked the most interesting to me; So I tried it out and haven't looked back. 

Planet Alpha in my view, is a cross between Abzu's art and storytelling style of journey; While also being a puzzle platformer. One I can 'get into' and be happy about(unlike me and the Ori games). I don't/haven't felt frustration in progressing through the game on normal. For the most part it's balanced. The type of game you can start to speed run once you've played it once. Playing it first the gameplay advances through player failure. This reveals context and clues; Which in turn brings answers and progression. Subtle at times but there are plenty of light-bulb moments which are satisfying for solving problems as you go.

Long story short, it's worth the effort(imho).

The time shifting mechanic is interesting. Some plants come out/bloom depending on if it's day or night; Which can then provide cover or be used as platforms or weapons etc. 

The background art(art overall) and animations are really good; really immersive and storytelling. Camera angles and perspectives shift unobtrusively. Telling as much of the story as your gameplay. Which can all be see or missed in the moment of a puzzle or the distraction of avoiding a laser. 

I've found myself at the start of some area's 'just' looking at the world.

It does have flaws. Like the Ori games (for me) the jumping/platforming can be imprecise; But Alpha planet masks that in lavish physics. If your close to grabbing/landing/jumping it 'can' be forgiving. Sometimes not but that all adds to the I can try and do again motivation. It doesn't feel oppressively punitive. I've not felt that in a 'pure' platformer in some time. Then again I don't play platform/puzzle games so I'm pretty clueless about the genre. I do know what I like and seeing the games trailer intrigued me; It being free made all the difference. I had to try it and see for myself. Glad I did.

The other downside to the game, a glitch. Sometimes on reloading a checkpoint some of the destructible terrain may not reset and some of the lighting may not light. Exiting the game and reloading fixed this for me. I maybe had to do that 3 or 4 times but it was annoying when it did happen. Yet for me not a reason to dislike the game. 

It's a journey of a game, a game about a journey. I can forgive it a lot as what it does well really clicks with me. 

I really like the 1960's-esque alien and his spacesuit..... Kind of reminds me of Earthworm Jim, especially the way he jumps.

It's a game worth the experience of the journey. While I may not replay the game again anytime soon it does have replayability, just not immediate replayability for me. The game expects you to do it. It's how the story goes. There are also choices made and avoided in my playthrough(like not getting all artifacts); But as much of a completionist as I am I'm not compelled to do so in this game. Not yet anyway. 

The more I think of the game, the journey and the ending the more I think of two things.

Sisyphus's story...

&

The Beginning is the End is the Beginning from The Smashing Pumpkins(but also the other side of that song The End Is The Beginning Is The End).