Almost a year ago (technically nine months), I played one of the biggest indie successes on the PlayStation 3–a little game called Journey. It didn’t have the huge big budget single player, didn’t have an expansive online multiplayer, and it sure didn’t have 20-40 hours of gameplay; but what it did have was heart.
Journey was a game (for a lack of a better term) that took you on a journey, one where words weren’t needed to express the ups and downs and that millions of customization options could have made any better. One would think that the magic that was Journey could only be experienced once, but I’d have to argue it can happen whenever.
Friday started like any other day, with the only real difference being I had the day off. With no plans, I decided that I wanted to get those final few trophies to add to my collection in Journey. After re-downloading and installing, I was set to seek out the final few glyphs and symbols in an orderly fashion and be on my way to another game… but then someone joined my game.
As we began, I only wanted to use my new companion to show me where some of the hidden symbols were, but soon it changed to not even caring about collecting, and really just having an amazing time playing Journey as if it were brand new. We went sand sliding through the ruins, snuck around the underground passage, released the magic in the old tower, and finally trekked our way up the massive snowy mountain to reach the end of our journey (yep, every time using the word journey, it’s almost always funny).
Experiencing Journey all over again was like playing it for the first time. Let’s hope in another year I miss work and decide to play Journey for a third first time. So check out my original review above, and sound off in the comments what game has made playing it after a long time almost as great as your first play through.
