David Jaffe Calling Kotaku Out

Don’t Stop Believing

My eyes open for the first time and I immediately think to shade them from the blinding sun that’s beating down on the land around me. I can see sand in every direction I tilt. Ahead of me, in the distance, three stone pillars protrude out of the ground; artifacts from a lost civilization begging to reveal their secrets to me. With nothing else around, these pillars act as a beacon.

As I take my first steps, I can almost feel the crunch of the coarse sand beneath my feet. I realize I lack arms, so protecting myself from the blistering sun is out of the question; only my robe and ever growing magical scarf can protect me now. When I approach the pillars, my perspective shifts and my true purpose reveals itself. Off in the distance is the summit; my goal, my greatest achievement, my trophy, but ultimately the end of my journey.

To say anything else about what to expect in Journey would be a disservice to gamers everywhere because Journey is a game that’s hard to define; and may mean something different to everyone who plays it. There are no true objectives to accomplish, no real levels to complete and certainly no bosses to beat. As anyone that’s finished the game can tell you, Journey isn’t beaten – it’s experienced. Mechanically, it’s a testament to innovation out of minimalism. I’m given the ability to chirp and jump, the two abilities go hand and hand as my chirp can at times charge my jump. Sometimes chirping allows me to fly majestically through the air; at other times, chirping is used to communicate with other “players” in the area.

In Journey, other players come and go as they please; sometimes interrupting me as I am trying to pull off a particularly tricky platforming sequence, causing me to chirp at them in displeasure. At other times I chirped for attention as I found myself enthralled by a beautiful sight I just needed to share. Having that partner from time to time also added gravity to my adventure. There were moments of genuine tension as my partner and I struggled to survive in a way I’ve never experience in gaming before. There were also times I felt entirely betrayed as my partner sat down before me and hauntingly faded away into oblivion. With no verbal way to express ourselves besides chirping, we had to pay extra attention to each other’s body language, forcing us to become closer, both physically and emotionally. An emotional connection sparked by the lack of communication tools available to us.

The beauty of Journey is in what it doesn’t tell me. Because so much was left to my imagination, I was left to infer further about my surroundings and motivation. It thus became an adventure that’s unusually subjective for the medium and hits incredibly close to home because of it. But what truly makes Journey a special game is the human aspect. Whether it’s the trek through the sands that acts as an analogy of one’s journey through life or the interaction with perfect strangers to reach a common goal, Journey, like life, is what you make of it.

In an age of technological achievements, where developers are trying to out Michael Bay each other, thatgamecompany has created a silent film. A piece of fiction so engrossing; uttering anything but a chirp would be negligent. It’s a work of art so brilliant it questions the very fabric of our industry – what defines a video game? With my first steps in Journey, I believe I now have the answer.

Go right, good sir. A beautiful montage of video gaming’s best side.

What the Fez is This?

After years of hype, and delays and I’m sure a death threat or two, Phil Fish’s magnum opus, Fez is finally upon us. Having never seen the game in motion, I really didn’t know what to make of Fez before I started it.

If you follow the video game industry, you’ve heard Fez described many times before. Fez (conceptually and literally) takes a previously two dimensional Gomez into the 3rd dimension to collect Hexahedron pieces, or else the universe and everything in it will collapse into itself. And of course, no one wants that, especially Gomez. Your part in this is to use the right and left triggers (bumpers work also) to shift perspectives so Gomez can reach previously unattainable cube pieces that are spread across the land. I could sit here and tell you that the less said of Fez the better, but who am I kidding? I barely have a grasp on what I’m experiencing as I’m playing it. What I can say, some two hours into it, is that Fez is the type of game you never tell non-gamers about. It’s the type of game that revels in video game obscurity to the point of celebration. It’s admiration for the medium is evident in every pixel on display. It’s just not the type of game you speak of in the presence of people you potentially might have sex with one day.

What makes Fez so interesting is its unassuming nature. The game hides layers of complicated riddles and gameplay mechanics under a heavy gloss of charm. With cute characters, colorful worlds, and a beautiful soundtrack; Fez wants you to smile, but all that acts as a facade to hide that this game was made by a serious gamer. And to truly beat Fez, you’ll need to take Fez serious. So I’m going in with itchy trigger fingers, and I’m not leaving until every last Hexahedron is collected.

I’ll make sure to update the blog as I delve further into the very beautiful mad world that is Fez.

We finally get a long look at Dishonored, a new game from Arkane Studios SA. While it’s just a CG trailer, with no actual gameplay to be seen, we can at least get a peek at the aesthetics used for the game.

Bioshock Infinite is going to bring with it, The Heavy Patriot enemy. The concept itself is fantastic, and I’m looking forward to seeing how crazy these designs can get as the game progresses. This new tier of enemy can add a lot of tension to an already dangerous situation. I’m excited.

The trailer for Medal of Honor Warfighter leaked. I wonder if this has what it takes to compete with the next Call of Duty, which will probably be Black Ops 2.