journey ps4 review

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Summary Enter the world of Journey, the third game from indie developers thatgamecompany (creators of "flOw" and "Flower"). Journey is an interactive parable, an anonymous online adventure to experience a person’s life passage and their intersections with other’s. You wake alone and surrounded by miles of burning, sprawling desert, and soon disc ... Read More

• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation 4
• iOS (iPhone/iPad)
• ThatGameCompany
• 3D Platformer

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Journey - Review

There and back again.

When IGN first reviewed Journey on PlayStation 3 back in 2012 , we gave it score of 9.0, for “Amazing.” Here’s what we said then :

“Journey celebrates the poignancy of nature, it startles you with the unexpected, and empowers you in an exhilarating, unforgettable conclusion. The hours spent completing Journey will create memories that last for years.”

Over three years after its original release, Journey on PlayStation 4 proves to be every bit as remarkable as it was when IGN awarded it Game of the Year for 2012. While the increase to 1080p and 60fps is definitely appreciated, what really shines here is the same concise, emotional, and gorgeous adventure that originally wowed us.

Developer Thatgamecompany took the beauty of Flow and the meditative gameplay of Flower, and added an immense sense of scale in its third and most impressive game. In the length of a standard movie, Journey is able to consistently make me feel emotion in a way that few games ever have.

At just over two hours long, Journey delivers an adventure that runs the gamut of human emotions. The awe that comes from cresting your first hill and spotting the mountain on the horizon is paired expertly with the fear that stems from exploring the ancient caverns beneath your destination. The playful curiosity of stumbling across a fellow traveler – another player having their own experience – and wordlessly cooperating with them to explore this world is only strengthened by the isolation and desperation that awaits near the mountain's frozen summit.

Without spoiling the ending, the visual and emotional catharsis that exists at the top of that mountain makes playing Journey a powerful circle that I want to constantly revisit.

• Moving story
• Gorgeous world
• Incredible score
• Unique mulitplayer
• Powerful ending

The Verdict

Whether you’re playing it for the first time, or revisiting it after three years, Journey remains one of the most powerful games in recent memory. With strong environmental storytelling, powerful music, and an emotional ending, it is absolutely a classic of the modern adventure genre. If you missed it on PS3, do yourself a favor and experience it on PS4. If you did play on PS3, you now own it on PS4, so this minimal graphical update is an excellent excuse to revisit it.

Journey PS4 Review

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Journey - Review

There and back again.

When IGN first reviewed Journey on PlayStation 3 back in 2012 , we gave it score of 9.0, for “Amazing.” Here’s what we said then :

“Journey celebrates the poignancy of nature, it startles you with the unexpected, and empowers you in an exhilarating, unforgettable conclusion. The hours spent completing Journey will create memories that last for years.”

Over three years after its original release, Journey on PlayStation 4 proves to be every bit as remarkable as it was when IGN awarded it Game of the Year for 2012. While the increase to 1080p and 60fps is definitely appreciated, what really shines here is the same concise, emotional, and gorgeous adventure that originally wowed us.

Developer Thatgamecompany took the beauty of Flow and the meditative gameplay of Flower, and added an immense sense of scale in its third and most impressive game. In the length of a standard movie, Journey is able to consistently make me feel emotion in a way that few games ever have.

At just over two hours long, Journey delivers an adventure that runs the gamut of human emotions. The awe that comes from cresting your first hill and spotting the mountain on the horizon is paired expertly with the fear that stems from exploring the ancient caverns beneath your destination. The playful curiosity of stumbling across a fellow traveler – another player having their own experience – and wordlessly cooperating with them to explore this world is only strengthened by the isolation and desperation that awaits near the mountain's frozen summit.

Without spoiling the ending, the visual and emotional catharsis that exists at the top of that mountain makes playing Journey a powerful circle that I want to constantly revisit.

• Moving story
• Gorgeous world
• Incredible score
• Unique mulitplayer
• Powerful ending

The Verdict

Those of you that played Flower might notice that Journey mirrors many of its predecessor's emotional milestones. Journey celebrates the poignancy of nature, it startles you with the unexpected, and empowers you in an exhilarating, unforgettable conclusion. The hours spent completing Journey will create memories that last for years.

Journey PS4 Review

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Hardcore Gamer

Review: journey (ps4).

You know what's strange? Loving a particular game more than almost every other form of media you've taken in, but feeling like you lack the words to do its description justice. Journey is one of the most special experiences in gaming to myself and countless other gamers, but whenever one tries to explain what makes it great, every word just seems ridiculous. For a while, it was hard to pinpoint exactly why this is the case, but after playing through the newly released PlayStation 4 edition of thatgamecompany's masterpiece, the solution simply appeared.

Journey has the power to inspire thoughts and emotions that, while extremely strong, lack true definition.

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinions, but the idea that thatgamecompany's Journey "isn't a game" feels downright blasphemous. Journey is one of the most important video games of all time, as it kicked the argument that video games are indeed art into the forefront of everyone's minds. On top of that, it's the perfect game to show someone completely new to the medium, seeing that its true challenge comes not from its gameplay, but the way that it makes you feel. Journey is a humbling, breathtaking experience that finds a way to convey a different message every time you make a trek towards the mountain top. Perhaps it's a story of the fragility of a new relationship. Maybe it's a tale of accomplishing your true goal in life. Hell, maybe its narrative details the origins of life on whatever crazy planet it takes place on. Whatever the case may be, Journey is a modern classic and something that anyone who calls themselves a gamer deserves to dive into. Being that this is just a shift up to 1080p and 60 frames-per-second, the remastered version of Journey is definitely as simple as it gets, but those visual tweaks manage to make a stunning title even more sensational.

Anyone who has inhaled the air surrounding a conversation about Journey understands that the easiest way to describe it is beautiful. This is art design at its finest; every piece of the world feels alive and wondrous, begging for your character to explore it. As you make your trek up to the mysterious light-emanating mountain in the distance, it's hard not to marvel at the sights and sounds around you. While some of you might feel like this review is chock full of hyperbole, one only has to walk around in the opening desert area and take in the surroundings for a few seconds before realizing that this is, quite frankly, the best looking game on the PlayStation 4. Every aspect of the environment feels purposeful, from the sand that dynamically reacts to your character's movements to those breathtaking sunsets that manage to outdo AAA lighting effects.

Speaking of those sunsets, the middle section of the game is where the power of the PlayStation 4 makes its mark. For a game to physically drop one's jaw during a repeat playthrough (yes, this totally happened) is something that doesn't happen all that often, but this port absolutely has the power to do that. Because of the increased resolution, every glare on the sand during the iconic sliding sequence looks all the more staggering. Add this to the dynamism that results from gliding around this gorgeous realm at a smooth 60 frames-per-second, and you have the makings of a title packed to the brim with allure.

There have been early rumblings that the increased framerate does a disservice to Journey's cinematic nature, which borders on utter nonsense. The fact that one of the best looking games of all time is going to run better should be celebrated, as the increased framerate makes every movement feel more fluid and smooth. The thing is, if Journey was merely a visually beautiful game, it would be an interesting footnote in the history of the medium at best. Instead, thatgamecompany created one of the most powerful emotional experiences in gaming, and one that affects everyone differently at that.

The thing about penning a review of Journey is that its such a deeply personal two hours that it does readers a grave injustice to simply focus on the mechanics and narrative arc themselves. Let's face it, this is a title with an extremely simple premise: you see a glowing mountain, you walk and float towards it and sometime unnamed players join you at random points along the way. Journey feels like the digital embodiment of the idea that a story is what you make of it. Sure, there are cutscenes here and there that help shape the world's lore, but their ambiguous nature fits in with the overall emotional abstruseness of everything else. During this playthrough, I found myself endeared by the first player I met, only to grow tired of his or her companionship by the forty-five minute mark. After deciding that I'd take on the rest of the trek alone, I completely ignored this person whenever he or she appeared. Eventually I made it to the credits, where my companion's PSN username would be revealed, something shocking happened: there wasn't one person trying to befriend me, there were eight. In attempting to escape one person, I pushed away everyone who wanted to stay by my side. I was the monster.

Without turning this review into a personal diatribe, this playthrough perfectly mirrored past events in my life that I'm not particularly proud of. This is the exact reason why Journey is such a special game: every playthrough is different, and no other title has the potential to tell so many different stories. It's the perfect reset button during a tumultuous time, or the perfect pallet cleanser when you think you're sick of video games. Sitting back, wandering towards the mountain and letting your thoughts run wild is one of the most profound experiences you can find in gaming today, and now an entirely new segment of the population can experience this for the first time.

Closing Comments:

With the addition of Journey, the PlayStation 4 library has gotten a heck of a lot more special. If October's Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection manages to avoid being a technical disaster, this will mean that Sony's latest console will have five of the most incredible PlayStation 3 titles available for purchase if you include both this and The Last of Us Remastered. Out of all the shiny coats of paint last generation's titles have received on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, this is the title that demonstrates why visual upgrades can be important. Because Journey is a title whose art design weighs so heavily on the deeply emotional response it elicits from its players, making that art even stronger serves to underline its purpose. Those who haven't taken the two-hour journey to the mountain top yet should stop what they're doing and dive in. Journey really is that good.

Reviewed on PlayStation 4

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Published on July 24th, 2015 | by Dakoda Barker

Journey PS4 Review

Summary: A beautiful, emotional, minimalist journey full of wonder and heartbreak.

Finding the right words to describe Journey is incredibly difficult. Not because it is bland or because there is little to say—this is perhaps the most incorrect analysis one could make about the game—but because the experience is so human, so personal, that sharing is akin to tearing down protective walls and exposing my fragile, vulnerable emotions to strangers.

There is a point, a little over halfway in, where Journey introduces the first actively hostile element: strange floating dragon-like constructs that appear stone or metallic in origin. Their singular eye doubles as a search light; it is immediately clear that being spotted by these creatures would be ill-advised. So I avoid them, weaving away from the search lights as I slide down an enormous sand hill in a strange ruin. My companion races down the hill beside me; while this reminds me of our joyful sliding earlier, leaping over ledges and through stone gates, singing with glee, there is a clear, unspoken difference. This time, there is no joy, for we are in danger.

I have been in a handful of stressful, threatening situations before. The blood seems to warm and rise, I feel a heat in my neck and behind my ears, and my heart rate quickens. My usual mess of thoughts fade away and I am left with startling clarity. Being fairly rational, reasonable, under pressure is a trait that I am most grateful for.

A few tense moments later, we passed through a barrier and the enemies were halted. Relief washed over me. We were safe. For now.

The latter sections are particularly powerful—especially if you are fortunate enough to play alongside a companion—and left me with a strange sense of peacefulness. I cannot explain exactly why these last stages are so effective for risk of spoiling what is an unforgettable, irreplaceable piece of art, but it is important to communicate how satisfyingly the ending is constructed. The experience is wonderfully cathartic but also instils a renewed sense of optimism and hope.

I wish I could say more. I wish I could find the right words to explain how the expertly crafted, minimalist narrative is perfectly fitted to fundamental narrative theory, and how this is mapped to the landscape. I wish I could talk to you for an hour about the menu, about the way the same screen changes dramatically before and after your first play. But some things are too hard to explain, and some things are better experienced first-hand: Journey is one such thing.

We have each other, and that is the most important thing.

Game Details

Title: Journey Developer: Thatgamecompany, Tricky Pixels Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Genre: Adventure Platform(s): PS4 Rating: G Reviewer: Dakoda Barker

About the Author

Dakoda Barker Dakoda is a doctoral student researching the intersection between videogames and chronic health conditions. He plays, critiques, and makes games. Other hobbies include eating too much sushi. His Twitter is @JiroJames.

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Journey (PS4 port) Review

Journey , a small indie game from thatgamecompany, was released on the PS3 in March 2012 and enchanted many gamers with its gorgeous visuals, captivating music and unique multiplayer experience.

Although the game is rather short, around two or three hours, it won multiple awards for best soundtrack, game of the year, best downloadable game and was the first video game ever nominated for a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media in 2013. So clearly this game is quite the amazing little diamond in the rough, and this week it was brought to the PS4.

The question is: does this next-gen port do this critically acclaimed video game experience justice?

As my Traveler moved along the dunes, each step caused a ripple in the endless desert.

Something that is tantamount to making Journey a successful port on the PS4 is that it has to keep the gorgeous visuals and music that made the original so memorable. In the beginning of the game, the player starts off controlling their own “Traveler,” who can only talk via chirps, in the middle of the desert. 

The visual updates definitely smoothed out and enhanced the already gorgeous environments of Journey.

Your “Traveler” chirping and making its way downtwon… to a mountain.

These breathtaking updates to Journey were not solely limited to the desert section of the game, each new environment felt as breathtaking and as vast as it did when I first played the game. The score is just as pretty and adds to the immersion of the voyage of your Traveler.

The sole goal in Journey is to reach the mysterious mountain

I had not played Journey in a very long time, but I still cracked a smile once the title screen flashed up. It was a special kind of experience as your Traveler can meet other players going through the game, however, you can’t really communicate.

During my playthrough, I met a few players and had different experiences with them. One player was clearly new and it felt nice to show him/her some hidden secrets along our journey. In the second half of the game I met another player who was definitely a veteran player. This time, they actually showed me some secrets and collectibles I had never found in my previous playthroughs of Journey .

It was good to be both the student and the teacher. The gameplay in general for Journey is rather simple, so I was not really worried about it in the first place.

Final Thoughts

Taking in the gorgeous scenery and seeing the visions of the history of the world of Journey again was enjoyable nostalgic and fun. If you are a fan of the original Journey or curious about this highly acclaimed indie game should definitely check it out.

Once again, the game is rather short but the game makes up for it with the breathtaking quality of the environments and its simplicity and interesting storytelling. This PS4 port is currently available on the PlayStation Store for $15, which to some might seem really pricey. However, if you have already bought a digital copy of Journey on PS3 this new port will be a free download, thanks to Crossbuy.

Despite a rather high price at the outset, Journey on the PS4 is as magical as ever. There were some moments where some of the visual enhancements of the environments and the “Traveler” character seemed a bit too synthetic, but those moments were rare and unobtrusive. Journey is a short, yet memorable experience.

Journey Reviews

Three years later, Journey remains one of the most powerful games in recent memory.

Read full review

Less is most definitely more in this beautifully understated co-op adventure, that dares you to make sense of its enigmatic voyage.

An artistic tour de force of limited interactive complexity

Journey has only improved with time, earning its status as one of the best games ever created.

At the end of the campaign, you'll most likely be surprised to find that the one person who hung out with you was really three, or four, or more. What's more surprising was that seeing all the people I'd come into contact with hits me emotionally. I don't know them, but I 'know' them.

‎If you are one of those who did not play it on PS3, you have before you a unique adventure of its kind, of those that without words says it all. And if you have it, thanks to the Cross-Buy you can enjoy it on PS4 without costs and with visual improvements. The remasters like that, YES.‎

Review in Spanish | Read full review

Firing up Journey on PS4 is a delight. It's so gorgeous and fluid in 1080p and 60 frames-per-second. Even though that's really the only thing different about it, it's a wonderful experience.

‎A beautiful journey, unparalleled in the history of the video game.‎

Journey is more beautiful than ever thanks to high definition and 60fps: a bewitching and necessary game for anyone who has missed it so far.

Review in Italian | Read full review

An already beautiful experience is made even more gorgeous on the PlayStation 4 -- Journey is a trip worth taking. It's a bite sized adventure that you won't soon forget.

This is interactive art. This is how it's done.

Journey offers us a different vision of the video game that rocks our daily lives. The arrival of the 1080P coupled with the 60FPS works wonders and the support of the Cross-Buy function is a major asset to convince PS3 players. For newcomers to the PlayStation universe, Journey and one of the best games to illustrate the spirit of originality that drives Sony and allows it to give its chance to projects apart.

Review in French | Read full review

Journey is masterful. It's meaningful. You won't remember the details of every journey, but every journey is unforgettable. You'll have no choice but to play it again and again.

Journey remains one of the most cohesive titles to grace PlayStation. A sumptuous art style and a stunning soundtrack fuse to create an experience that's flawless from start to finish. Its story never utters a word, yet it has more to say than most scripts, and its handling of social interaction eschews tradition in favour of eye-opening anonymous bonding. Enhanced visuals and a silky smooth framerate made possible courtesy of the PS4's power make this the definitive edition of the release, and put simply, Journey is still one of the greatest games ever made.

Whether you played and enjoyed Journey before or are curious to see what the fuss is all about, the PS4 version provides a great excuse to experience one of PSN's greatest titles for a first or second time.

It hasn't lost any of its fascination - but only for those who haven't played it yet.

Review in German | Read full review

Journey is a true masterpiece. A sublime poetic experience in which all video game elements combine perfectly to create an unforgettable journey.

‎In a way, we get rid of our mortal bonds. We discovered that the true meaning is on the path, on the path, and that a goalless journey really... there is never an end to it.‎

Its anecdotes function as mawkish indicators of social status, as the Internet crowd often forgets that being online is a privilege for more than a few.

A tremendous title on PS3, Journey is even better on PS4 thanks to a better resolution, improved frame rate, and sharper textures.

journey-thatgamecompany - Review

There and back again.

When IGN first reviewed Journey on PlayStation 3 back in 2012 , we gave it score of 9.0, for “Amazing.” Here’s what we said then :

“Journey celebrates the poignancy of nature, it startles you with the unexpected, and empowers you in an exhilarating, unforgettable conclusion. The hours spent completing Journey will create memories that last for years.”

Over three years after its original release, Journey on PlayStation 4 proves to be every bit as remarkable as it was when IGN awarded it Game of the Year for 2012. While the increase to 1080p and 60fps is definitely appreciated, what really shines here is the same concise, emotional, and gorgeous adventure that originally wowed us.

Developer Thatgamecompany took the beauty of Flow and the meditative gameplay of Flower, and added an immense sense of scale in its third and most impressive game. In the length of a standard movie, Journey is able to consistently make me feel emotion in a way that few games ever have.

At just over two hours long, Journey delivers an adventure that runs the gamut of human emotions. The awe that comes from cresting your first hill and spotting the mountain on the horizon is paired expertly with the fear that stems from exploring the ancient caverns beneath your destination. The playful curiosity of stumbling across a fellow traveler – another player having their own experience – and wordlessly cooperating with them to explore this world is only strengthened by the isolation and desperation that awaits near the mountain's frozen summit.

Without spoiling the ending, the visual and emotional catharsis that exists at the top of that mountain makes playing Journey a powerful circle that I want to constantly revisit.

• Moving story
• Gorgeous world
• Incredible score
• Unique mulitplayer
• Powerful ending

The Verdict

Whether you’re playing it for the first time, or revisiting it after three years, Journey remains one of the most powerful games in recent memory. With strong environmental storytelling, powerful music, and an emotional ending, it is absolutely a classic of the modern adventure genre. If you missed it on PS3, do yourself a favor and experience it on PS4. If you did play on PS3, you now own it on PS4, so this minimal graphical update is an excellent excuse to revisit it.

journey-thatgamecompany

Journey PS4 Review

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• PS Plus required for online play
• Supports up to 2 online players with PS Plus
• Online play optional
• Remote Play supported
• PS4 Version DUALSHOCK 4 vibration

The critically-acclaimed title makes its debut on the PS4™ system. Explore the ancient, mysterious world of Journey as you soar above ruins and glide across sands to discover its secrets. Play alone or in the company of a fellow traveler and explore its vast world together. Featuring stunning visuals and a Grammy-nominated musical score, Journey delivers a breathtaking experience like no other.

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Robinson: The Journey Review – PS4 (PSVR)

John-Paul Jones / November 11, 2016

When twelve year old me sat down and watched Jurassic Park in my local cinema back in 1993, I was utterly entranced; watching towering dinosaurs come to life right in front of my eyes made me want to experience the exact same events that palaeontologist Alan Grant did (minus all that terrifying business with the T-Rex and the jeep of course). It felt like I had been thrust back into a time that I had no right to be in – and that excited me.

As I grew into an adult, I hoped that someone, at some point would have the brass clangers to create an experience to replicate my childhood fantasy, so trust Crytek then to be the John Hammond of this scenario; leveraging their extensive experience in constructing finely detailed worlds and environments to fashion something approximate to those thrills I experienced nearly twenty-three years ago. It’s just a little disappointing that the actual game which underpins that raucous, breath-taking experience is one that cannot quite match its stirring and meticulously rendered setting.

A living, breathing world with the best visuals on PSVR

Robinson’s story begins when the Esmeralda, a massive colonial class spacecraft, crash-lands on Tyson III; a planet steeped in lush forests, tropical jungles, deep caverns and inhabited by a whole heap of dinosaur-looking locals. Left stranded on this world in the safe confines of his escape capsule, players take control of a young boy named Robin who, with the help of HIGS, a massively condescending AI unit and Laika, his pet youngling T-Rex(!), must scour the planet in search of Esmeralda’s missing crew members in order to ascertain just what caused the host ship to crash in the first place.

Arguably, one of the biggest feathers in Robinson’s cap is that the world in which the player inhabits is so evocatively crafted; the practiced hands of Crytek being put to work in fashioning a realm that is magnificently awash in spectacle and rife with the sort of incidental detail that would prove invisible to most other developers. The calibre of Crytek’s world building is immediately felt, as Robin’s escape pod; a lovingly detailed, yet ultimately untidy living space at the beginning of the game, gives way to lush jungles, temperate forest zones and scorching hot tar pits to name just a few of the locations you’ll see.

As reassuringly varied and Share button worthy the myriad of environments are, they are ably paralleled and bolstered by the creatures that inhabit them too. Gazing up at the massive, white-marked and scaly arching neck of a towering Brontosaurus as it majestically stomps past you is just one of many sights that etches itself on memory. Elsewhere, more contemplative spectacles prove themselves to be equally memorable too, such as an agitated swarm of fireflies illuminating a dank cave or a mole popping out of the ground to sniff the air momentarily before retreating back to its underground maze of tunnels. Without a doubt, the world in Robinson: The Journey feels alive and it felt like I was part of a world that I never wanted to leave, rather than just a detached spectator just passing through.

Speaking of passing through, as it turns out, navigating the environment is a mostly simple and pleasurable affair. Despite Robin’s all-in-one tool looking very much like a PlayStation Move controller, the game is instead controlled with a mixture of Dualshock 4 controller input and head tracking from the PSVR headset ; the former able to facilitate turning smoothly (don’t do this method if you want to keep your lunch where it belongs) or in degreed increments, while the latter accurately directs both your view and movement path.

Far more interesting is how the game goes about facilitating movement which isn’t entirely pedestrian, since lest we forget, the organic design of Robinson’s forests, jungles and other natural environments rarely permit consistently flat-footed movement. One such example of this is how climbing is handled; simply put, you just walk up to a vine, or handhold and press one of the bumper triggers to reach a hand up to grasp it. Once you have a single handhold secured with the shoulder trigger held down, you can then reach up with the other hand and so on and so forth, pressing the ‘X’ button to heave yourself up once you’ve reached your destination. Cribbed from Crytek’s earlier VR rock climbing experiment on PC, it’s employed wonderfully here because it actually gives you the feeling of properly scaling the environment; something that very few PSVR developers at this early stage of its life have had the ambition to shoot for.

Simple and uninspiring puzzles

Beyond the sweep of its Spielberg-esque spectacle, Robinson’s primary objective has players searching for additional HIGS units and video diaries in order to ascertain just what has happened to the crew of the seemingly doomed Esmeralda spacecraft. Searching out these units requires more than just trotting about the place, since the developers have intertwined a series of puzzles into the game in order to keep players on their toes, though alas, there is no combat; so folks looking to get their dinosaur-blasting rocks off, might be better served looking elsewhere (next month’s Ark: Survival Evolved could be more your bag). What does grate however, is that beyond a cursory instruction, you’re never reminded about what you need to do the next, as the UI is utterly absent of any kind of objective marker and instead relies on you remembering what needs to be done.

The puzzle mechanics in Robinson: The Journey only straddle two different kinds of conundrums; relatively dull ones where you must use HIGS to reroute power around the environment to power up devices that in turn allow you access to other areas, or, slightly more interesting physics based challenges where you have to use your all-in-one tool to move objects so that you might create makeshift bridges to get to previous inaccessible areas. To say that it isn’t exactly scintillating stuff would be quite the understatement indeed.

Cataloguing wildlife is fun – honest!

Away from such trite challenges and when you’re not searching for clues as to the fate of your fellow comrades, you have the option of cataloguing the local wildlife as a side activity and it’s something that compliments the tremendous sense of place that Robinson boasts extremely well. From flittering mosquitos and lumbering turtles, through to soaring pterodactyls and packs of rampaging velociraptors, just about everything can be scanned (again, using your handy all-in-one tool) and catalogued.

Where the hook comes in though, is that each species has a set number which must be scanned in order for it to be considered ‘complete’, and by encouraging the player to delve into the nooks and crannies of Robinson’s lushly detailed prehistoric-style vistas, it reinforces that connection with the game world at large and provides a reason for exploring its expansive and richly detailed spaces. In a way, the cataloguing feels akin to Pokemon too; the impulse to “catch em’ all” proving to be a pleasingly difficult one to overcome that provides the game with a hefty dose of longevity even after the end credits have finished rolling. The PS4 Pro difference

For those of you who have been fortunate enough to score one of those shiny new PS4 Pro things , Robinson: The Journey emphatically cements its position as a visual masterwork. Increased texture detail, higher resolution and increased draw distance all noticeably enhance what is already a grandly handsome endeavour, elevating Robinson far beyond anything seen on PSVR so far. Regardless of what PS4 you play it on though, Robinson: The Journey is a gorgeous effort and standard PS4 owners will still get a tremendous visual tour-de-force all the same.

Clearly, Robinson: The Journey is a crucial title for PSVR’s prospects going forward. With many detractors of Sony’s VR headset lambasting its massively diminished visual capability in relation to the likes of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive , Robinson stands as a resounding rebuke of such criticism, with its lushly realised worlds and painstakingly detailed prehistoric denizens simply being in a visual class all its own regardless of the VR platform in question.

I should have expected that being a Crytek effort, that Robinson: The Journey would look as good as it does. What I didn’t count on was how deeply it would resonate with me. As a non-VR title, Robinson might have floundered, but the sheer sensation of intimately being part of what is, for all intents and purposes, your own Jurassic Park narrative, overcomes the gameplay flaws which would otherwise prove to be its undoing.

The Final Word

If you want to show off PSVR to your friends, Robinson: The Journey is the game that you use to do it. Equally, if you want to lose yourself in your very own Jurassic Park-style fantasy, Robinson: The Journey is undoubtedly a triumph in this respect; just don’t expect to find an overly challenging core lurking underneath its resplendent veneer.

Harold Halibut Review - Lost In Its Own Deep Sea

• First Released Apr 16, 2024 released

Harold Halibut is a triumph in its characters and visuals but struggles to stay afloat under its own scope and ambitions.

By Kurt Indovina on April 17, 2024 at 12:38PM PDT

Harold Halibut puts you in the shoes of a lowly maintenance worker aboard a spaceship submerged underwater. To the residents aboard the ship, Harold is a rather charming, lovable, even dopey fellow who is endearing for his simplicity and his complacency in doing his job. Harold is tasked with removing graffiti, cleaning, and fixing machines, and when the work is done, his day ends, he goes to sleep, he wakes up--rinse, repeat. That's the surface of Harold, but tucked out of sight from people's view, is a character who is deceivingly introspective, often documenting his life through scribbled images in a notepad, or expressing himself through playful theatrics when he's alone, like singing and performing operatically while mopping up a filter system. This is a side of the character only we, the player, get to see. As a character, Harold is complex, even if he doesn't entirely understand how. He attempts to question and explore his curiosity and his own existence within the confines of a spaceship he was born and raised on, but he's not always capable of understanding exactly what he's looking for.

Harold Halibut, the game, is much like its titular character: It's charming and lovable on the surface for its unique handmade aesthetic and charmingly simple gameplay. But just beneath that uncomplicated layer is a story that attempts to ask questions about introspection and self-worth, even if the game doesn't always feel equipped to answer them or understand its strongest suits.

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Harold Halibut does an incredible job in exploring its many themes and concepts by putting a magnifying glass on its setting. The FEDORA is a spaceship that was designed to leave Earth during the Cold War and set forth on a 200-year journey to seek a new planet to live on, but the new world it found was devoid of any landmass. With nowhere to go, the FEDORA crashes onto the planet, plunging its occupants into the watery depths, which they've learned to colonize. Meanwhile, Harold's mentor and resident scientist, Mareaux, attempts to find a power source to launch the ship back into space to find a more suitable planet to live on.

In the meantime, as Harold, you interweave through the lives of the FEDORA's inhabitants, the ship's politics, and its inner workings. It's a monotonous process that involves checking off Harold's tasks on his PDA-like device, as you move through his day-to-day life in the quirky retro-future spaceship. But Harold's life takes an abrupt turn after discovering a humanoid fish-like being has boarded the ship, creating a whole new perspective on the planet they've, in fact, been sharing all these years. It's in this moment that Harold's seemingly monotonous life is turned on its head, inspiring curiosity in what lies beyond the only world he's ever known.

Harold Halibut is striking in its visuals because it's entirely handmade. Characters, articles of clothing, pieces of furniture, teapots, mugs, floorboards, and everything else was handmade in our real world and digitally scanned into the 3D game. Its visuals instantly distinguish Harold Halibut as one of the most visually interesting games of the year. But while it's easy to get swept up in the awe of its look, the strongest characteristic of the game is the world itself and the characters within it.

Harold Halibut is entirely focused on exploration, conversational choices, and the occasional challenge-free minigame. At its core, Harold Halibut is focused on the world and the characters that inhabit it, which, story aside, is where the game is at its best. While you may play as Harold, it's the characters you interact with who give the game a sense of intimacy and, over time, a feeling of density that shows there's actually a lot going on--these are the game's biggest achievement.

Across my 18 hours, I met nearly two dozen characters, each with their own story to unpack, and I loved all of them. More than the discovery of an alien species, or the urgency to find a power source for the ship, my biggest motivation was to get to know each and every person aboard the FEDORA. Whether it was the comical musings of the sports store owner Slippie, or the by-the-book Major who enforces the ship's laws, each character is multifaceted, with deep personalities to learn, explore, and oftentimes see challenged.

While most of the time spent with these characters is completely optional, the game's most important and consequential moments, both hilarious and heart-wrenching, start and end with the citizens of FEDORA. The conversations can feel inconsequential in the grand scheme of the game's plot, but are invaluable to making this handmade world feel alive and lived in.

With the abundance of characters also comes a desperate need to keep track of them. Early in my time with the game, before I had become well acquainted with the cast of characters, I was often confused with who was who and where they were located. The game's lack of waypoints was to its benefit, however, as this kept me engaged in using the ship's signs to navigate its many sectors, but also better learn and remember these characters, as I would with people in real life. However, those early stages also created unnecessary friction by causing me to bumble around and waste time. This could have been alleviated with the addition of an in-game glossary to remind me who is who that could have existed in Harold's PDA.

Each character is as distinct in their looks as they are their views on life--even with the shared perspective of living in the confines of a small colony underwater. It's their stories that gives the FEDORA believability and lends the game a prevailing heart and soul that overshadows all of the game's other plotlines. But its achievement of creating a rich cast of characters also gives rise to struggles in properly exploring them under the weight of its other story ambitions.

Aside from the thoughts and feelings of its very broad cast of characters is an abundance of ideas and narratives driving the main plot. These range from unpacking a corporation's ulterior motives, to a secret society lurking in the shadows, to the urgency to locate a power source for the FEDORA. And while they are no doubt necessary to tell an overarching story, they feel like ideas that are too big for the dollhouse-sized nature of Harold Halibut.

As Harold's world aboard a spaceship begins to collide with the alien world he's been living on, he makes friends with the planet's inhabitants, which are known as the Flumuylum. The fish-like humanoids' philosophies are a complete contrast to that of humans, though also pretty much what you'd imagine what it would be like if fish were humans: a species that simply floats along through life, existing and observing, giving little to no meaning to anything. This mentality crashes head-on with Harold's everyday existence: a life that boils down to routinely taking orders and doing what other people expect of him, often in service of the ship's corporation-based ethos and in adherence to arbitrary rules like having a curfew or paying for its water tube transportation system. The duality between Harold's and the Flumuylum's lives are juxtaposed for several hours in the game, until Harold is forced into a crash course in existentialism towards the latter half of the game, causing him to question whether or not he was ever in control of his own life. The scene was a tonal whiplash as the game made a hard turn to answer questions that it had only just begun to ask, and in doing so, felt more clunky than enlightening.

Harold's abrupt journey of introspection is sandwiched on top of and between the stories and ideologies of other characters, as well as the game's overarching plots and conspiracies. No one idea or theme felt like it had the breathing room it needed or deserved, which means they can feel more like fleeting concerns instead of food for thought. For example, one scene hints at themes of the industrialization, pollution, and consumption of animal products by the human race, only to never refer to it again, or even set up a satisfying throughline for its purpose in the first place.

In trying to weave its characters, story, and themes together, I found its focus to become muddled. With such an emphasis on all its characters, and by making them an integral part of the game's core experience, Harold ends up being the only character that has a substantial narrative arc--he sees his world through the lens of a mere errand boy but has his world turned upside down, creating a perspective that gives his life more meaning by the end. But in spending the time to do this, the game, in turn, leaves many threads for the other characters I had grown attached to feeling unfulfilled. By the time the climatic end unfolds, I was less interested in the conspiracies behind the events that transpired and more focused on the growth of the characters.

Harold Halibut is at its strongest when intimately exploring its characters, their inner workings, and their relationships with one another. But in attempting to build towards a dramatic conclusion, many of the hours spent fostering relationships with the characters took a backseat to plotlines that were less interesting.

To quote one of the game's own characters, Buddy the mailman, "each person aboard this ship is a world their own." In a story about a man trapped on a ship, who is trying to understand himself better, their lives and perspectives should be the most important stories to tell for Harold's journey. Harold Halibut's world and the people that inhabit it were literally crafted by people that cared about him and his story. And while that story struggles under the weight of its ambitions, the human touches on every part of it are evident. Those are the heart and soul of the game, and they imprinted on me too.

• Leave Blank
• A well-realized world
• Memorable characters, each with their own views and complexity
• Its distinct handmade aesthetic allows it to stand in a league of its own
• An overabundance of narrative ideas and too broad of scope that results in a tug-of-war between its character, themes, and story
• Lack of in-game character glossary created unnecessary friction in remembering and locating the game's numerous characters

About the Author

Kurt Indovina

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