Journeyesque
June 18, 2021 5:13 AM Subscribe
A browser-based 'game' with a cool vibe Not so sure about the AI-generated haikus, but the aesthetic and mood are peaceful.
Journey was and is a masterclass in delivering story without exposition, and without being at expense of experience. You're in a that popular kind of gameworld that has clearly Seen Some Shit, but you're not uncovering two dozen inexplicably-placed audio recordings of ancestors banging on about exploiting resources too much or the recycler airworms acting outside of intended parameters, does home lab know about this?! etc. You're just moving through it, evocative murals and the nature of the changing environments themselves showing everything that needs to be without the telling.
I still fire it up now and then to repeat the pilgrimage, and these days the nature of much-less-trafficked game goes right into its own themes. The multiplayer implementation was at the time something even more special, with its seamless random wordless griefing-less encounters. Sometimes the other player would just zoom off in some other direction and your individual journeys would diverge and you wouldn't see them again, and sometimes there were wordlessly glorious experiences of you'd stick to each other like glue, especially in the final frozen-hellblizzard sequences.
The PC version of course had even fewer players than the playstation versions, so encounters were fewer and farther between; most recently I didn't encounter a single other soul even once during the entire path. At some point, someone will be the very last robed pilgrim, they will complete Journey's final walk, and will simply be there, meditating again at the beginning of the cycle, but never rising to their feet to begin again.
Journey's a great, great game!
This is a nice little find! One of those good examples of Journey having left a quiet long tail in games.
posted by Drastic at 7:56 AM on June 18, 2021 [10 favorites]
I still fire it up now and then to repeat the pilgrimage, and these days the nature of much-less-trafficked game goes right into its own themes. The multiplayer implementation was at the time something even more special, with its seamless random wordless griefing-less encounters. Sometimes the other player would just zoom off in some other direction and your individual journeys would diverge and you wouldn't see them again, and sometimes there were wordlessly glorious experiences of you'd stick to each other like glue, especially in the final frozen-hellblizzard sequences.
The PC version of course had even fewer players than the playstation versions, so encounters were fewer and farther between; most recently I didn't encounter a single other soul even once during the entire path. At some point, someone will be the very last robed pilgrim, they will complete Journey's final walk, and will simply be there, meditating again at the beginning of the cycle, but never rising to their feet to begin again.
Journey's a great, great game!
This is a nice little find! One of those good examples of Journey having left a quiet long tail in games.
posted by Drastic at 7:56 AM on June 18, 2021 [10 favorites]
This is really beautiful, thanks! I love the illustration style (those rocks!). Note that the lines of haiku seem to be randomized or procedurally generated, but they're not "AI-generated," which is a different kind of thing.
posted by oulipian at 8:21 AM on June 18, 2021
posted by oulipian at 8:21 AM on June 18, 2021
And just like Journey its over way too soon. Short enough to feel unfinished. Wasted potential.
posted by adept256 at 8:27 AM on June 18, 2021
posted by adept256 at 8:27 AM on June 18, 2021
On the other hand, better too short than too long!
posted by sixswitch at 8:43 AM on June 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by sixswitch at 8:43 AM on June 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
Short enough to feel unfinished. Wasted potential.
It was designed and coded by one guy, it took over a year to bring it all together. All the procedural animation is hand-drawn. It may be short, but it's still a considerable piece of work and a beautiful piece of art.
posted by fight or flight at 9:46 AM on June 18, 2021 [14 favorites]
It was designed and coded by one guy, it took over a year to bring it all together. All the procedural animation is hand-drawn. It may be short, but it's still a considerable piece of work and a beautiful piece of art.
posted by fight or flight at 9:46 AM on June 18, 2021 [14 favorites]
oooh cant wait to play this. journey is one of my all time faves
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 10:13 AM on June 18, 2021
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 10:13 AM on June 18, 2021
Does anyone remember Flash Friday on metafilter? I’d love to revive a Friday online games posting!
posted by glaucon at 11:32 AM on June 18, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by glaucon at 11:32 AM on June 18, 2021 [11 favorites]
This is just lovely. The sound design is gorgeous, and so immersive - I was lost in the game from the moment I heard a loon call. Agreed that the generated haikus don't always quite work, but I had one that I really liked:
wakened by birdsong
the roses shift
after the storm
posted by ZaphodB at 11:42 AM on June 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
wakened by birdsong
the roses shift
after the storm
posted by ZaphodB at 11:42 AM on June 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
Beautiful game, thank you for sharing! I love the "Hmmph?" the sleepy foxes make.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 1:22 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 1:22 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is not the Journey with Anthropomorphic Kool-aid Pitcher from Atari 2600 game I'd expected but it is a lovely find nonetheless thank you!!
posted by riverlife at 1:34 PM on June 18, 2021
posted by riverlife at 1:34 PM on June 18, 2021
according to the about & the "learn more" website, respectively:
the poetic verses are created with a mix of artificial intelligence/machine learning and generative processes, providing thousands of possible combinations
The verse fragments are mined from a mix of GPT-2 AI and data mining software, and then recombined during gameplay according to the player’s unique journey.
given that they came out pretty good actually! (although I got one about a shooting star on the breeze in a wide sunlit field, which seems improbable)
posted by taquito sunrise at 5:46 PM on June 18, 2021
the poetic verses are created with a mix of artificial intelligence/machine learning and generative processes, providing thousands of possible combinations
The verse fragments are mined from a mix of GPT-2 AI and data mining software, and then recombined during gameplay according to the player’s unique journey.
given that they came out pretty good actually! (although I got one about a shooting star on the breeze in a wide sunlit field, which seems improbable)
posted by taquito sunrise at 5:46 PM on June 18, 2021
The dots don't always correspond to words. I'm guessing to accommodate French?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:43 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:43 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
(although I got one about a shooting star on the breeze in a wide sunlit field, which seems improbable)
We have to restore the balance of nature... by killing off the dinosaurs!
posted by belarius at 8:42 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
We have to restore the balance of nature... by killing off the dinosaurs!
posted by belarius at 8:42 PM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
A very soothing game indeed.
It gives me a glimpse of post-industrial regeneration.
posted by doctornemo at 1:09 PM on June 19, 2021
It gives me a glimpse of post-industrial regeneration.
posted by doctornemo at 1:09 PM on June 19, 2021
Thank you for this. I've gone off to investigate Journey now too. Just what I need.
posted by ninazer0 at 5:01 PM on June 19, 2021
posted by ninazer0 at 5:01 PM on June 19, 2021
This was delightful. Reminds me of the Orisinal Games on FerryHalim (RIP). Thank you for posting it!
posted by basalganglia at 6:02 PM on June 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by basalganglia at 6:02 PM on June 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
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This will hold me over until Sky comes out on switch later this month. Thank you!
posted by glaucon at 5:48 AM on June 18, 2021 [1 favorite]