Journey Plot Analysis (Topic)

Journey was released back in 2013 as a PS Vita exclusive. The console itself did not live up to expectations, but the game was called by many a masterpiece of that year. Some even called it the best game in principle.

Not long ago, Journey was released on PC in EGS. But what is so attractive about her? Yes, we can say that the main advantage of the game is its beautiful design, thanks to which every screenshot taken in it will look like a work of art. However, the very general concept of the game is amazing and forces various theories to be built around its plot. In honor of the game's launch on PC, we decided to analyze Journey's storyline.

Unknown edges

All Journey's gameplay is reflected in the title. This is a game about a long journey of an unnamed protagonist through the empty and ruins of an old civilization. We do not know for whom we are playing, for what purpose we arrived in this desert at all. We only know our goal - to get to a huge mountain, from the top of which a mysterious ray of light beats.

Along the way, we come across fabric canvases that help us move forward towards our goal. We breathe life into them, and for this they happily accompany us all our dangerous journey. Why dangerous? Under the ground and on the slope of the Mountain, strange, similar to ancient fossils live, ready to destroy us only when they see us. But we break through them, bringing life to this sand-strewn terrain. And so we get to the Mountain and become an incredibly strong creature, and in the end we turn into a star that we saw initially on the first level. So what was it all about?

Theory of Religious Pilgrimage

Some people interpret what is happening as a religious pilgrimage. Indeed, we have come a rather spiritual path and achieved something incomprehensible to the mind. We came to this deserted world, were able to see its beautiful and terrible sides, fell more than once and rose more than once, passing another test that he threw at us. As a result, when we ascend the Mountain, we die, and then we are reborn and comprehend the same divine conduct.

If you correlate this with religious practices, for example, with Buddhism, then this may be quite likely. So, in order to achieve enlightenment, Buddha sat under a tree for several days, while his consciousness [let's call him so] made a journey to Nirvana and fought with the demon Mara. In Journey, the demons are flying monsters who are trying in every possible way to prevent us.

Theory of birth

Some people think [or rather dig too deeply] that everything shown in the game is a metaphor for birth. So, our main character is the personification of the sperm, which goes a long way to the egg, depicted as a Mountain. And if you remember that the game also has multiplayer, where there are a lot of players, and they, like you, go this way, the theory makes sense. And when you play it again, the game feels completely different.

Theory of self-development

According to people, we, as in life, find ourselves in an unknown world, where nothing is clear. Over time, we find new subjects that help us become stronger, we study the world, its rules, we try to make the world work the way we want. We overcome difficulties and become stronger. After we have climbed the Mountain, we rise above the world and above ourselves, as if showing that success can be achieved only by overcoming ourselves. Consider this theory about human evolution as a person.

The theory of a destroyed civilization

And finally, let's move on to the most likely theory, which the creator of the game himself hinted at, the theory of a destroyed civilization. She best explains everything that happens in the game.

Once upon a time, energy spilled out of the Mountain, which created life all over the world, including the first intelligent beings called the Ancestors [those very white creatures]. Initially, they lived in harmony with nature, but then they began to develop and understand that energy can be collected, stored and used. In this world, the bearers of pure vital energy were red tissue.

The ancestors began to use it everywhere and over time created huge cities with the help of fabric, which were completely fed by it. However, in this way they upset the balance of nature. The ancestors built power plants powered by cloth, tore it up and imprisoned it in tanks. They also built giant machines that harvest cloth.

They raised their civilization higher and higher until their resource exhausted itself and the energy ran out. The mountain stopped glowing, froze, the fabric died and no longer fed the city. Perhaps the Ancestors even fought among themselves for the last resources, which also contributed to their extinction. Civilization has disappeared and all that remains of it is sand. The ancestors realized their mistake only when they were on the verge of extinction and left the memory of themselves in ritual stones, in the hope that this would one day help restore the balance of nature.

Our main character, breathing energy into the fabric, is the personification of nature, who came to revive life. You collect as much energy as you can to get to the Mountain and repeat the process of birth. Breathe life again.

It is not known what happened after you fulfilled your mission, the main thing is that after this nature sends other red children to make a pilgrimage to the mountain, so that they also speed up the process of rebirth. This explains why there are many players in the game.

These are the theories on Journey. However, it is not a fact that any of them are true, because everyone can see what they want in this game. There is only one conclusion - go play.

The Topic of Article: Journey Plot Analysis.
Author: Jake Pinkman