Video games - RPGs especially (role playing games) - often originate from small beginnings. Players will then spend a vast number of regimented hours training characters in order to upgrade abilities and allow progression to become a much more comfortable process.
Life: the RPG
For me, as a child in the late 90's, Pallet Town from Pokémon Red & Blue became synonymous with the outset of adventure. It was here that you were introduced to the basics of Pokémon which then enabled you to continue down a path quickly opening up to a much larger world. Here, many missions and objectives become available as 'side quests' that you may complete whilst focusing on the 'end goal' of the game as a whole. In Pokémon, the end goal was to defeat the Pokémon League and claim the (rightful) title of Pokémon Master, but what purpose lay beyond that? As you stood in your moment of climatic victory, the credits rolled and you found your avatar literally placed back in Pallet town where they had began. Now equipped with a small team capable of dispatching most rivals and having defeated your adversaries, you're essentially redundant in terms of the single player storyline.
Where I'm At
This predicament is somewhat similar to one I currently face. Having spent almost a year out of university, my time has mainly consisted of working to save money and eventually move away from my home town. Many attitudes and opinions that have been expressed towards me during this process have commonly been summarised through the simple but implicative statement, "...and now you're here".
But just as the player returns to Pallet Town after becoming the Pokémon Master, I too have returned from University (I'm not a master - I don't have a Masters - but yes, I've got a Degree). My end goal to graduate has been completed... so what next? Where should I be heading now that I'm 'here'? People expect you to impress them with your 'story so far' and I'll admit that pressure got to me for a while after returning home. Narratively within games, you find that characters are often down on their luck for the most part, but always enduring in the face of hardships, eventually forming significant relationships with others and being of vast consequential importance within the world they reside.
In real life, this isn't necessarily so.
But just as the player returns to Pallet Town after becoming the Pokémon Master, I too have returned from University (I'm not a master - I don't have a Masters - but yes, I've got a Degree). My end goal to graduate has been completed... so what next? Where should I be heading now that I'm 'here'? People expect you to impress them with your 'story so far' and I'll admit that pressure got to me for a while after returning home. Narratively within games, you find that characters are often down on their luck for the most part, but always enduring in the face of hardships, eventually forming significant relationships with others and being of vast consequential importance within the world they reside.
In real life, this isn't necessarily so.
The Journey
This is where Journey stands apart somewhat from other video games, whereby a certain degree of ego imparts itself during the process of narrative progression. Yes, you still venture through environments of beauty and artistic depth within this game, but what is of importance here is not the character you control, but the journey undertaken.
To get a sense of what I am about to talk about, take a look at this brief trailer:
Co-operation
You start small within Journey. Your character is in a desert surrounded by sand dunes. Atop one dune sits a stone marker that directs you towards your path. At this point you are only able to walk and you stumble up the dune to discover the world beyond. The most significant thing in sight is a mountain, where a bright light emanates from it's peak. Reaching this becomes your goal.
Whilst you travel, you may come across another player from the online gaming community. Their entrance into your world is not intrusive, but a white blur at the edge of the screen helps you locate each other. An option players have to use chirps which interact with the surroundings now have a new function, used to communicate with other players (online communications are not present). Players are instead encouraged to interact through the game using non verbal methods. By using your speech to chirp in fast succession, or slowed chirps, you can quickly establish patterns of communication. A quick succession of chirps may be used by one player to express happiness or to beckon the companion over to an item they may not know about.
I have completed the journey to the Mountain three times. Each time was different.
Journey 1
I have completed the journey to the Mountain three times. Each time was different.
Journey 1
-Player stayed close by.
-Used chirps to encourage each person's avatar to press onward during a level of extreme cold.
-Finally reaching the top of the mountain, we each chirped one last time as we entered the light.
-As the credits rolled, the player broke the communication barrier sending a message through the PS3 saying "Thank you".
-Used chirps to encourage each person's avatar to press onward during a level of extreme cold.
-Finally reaching the top of the mountain, we each chirped one last time as we entered the light.
-As the credits rolled, the player broke the communication barrier sending a message through the PS3 saying "Thank you".
Journey 2
-The companion was more independent
-Attempted tried to get them to sit with me (20 seconds sat together awards both with an achievement), they wouldn't.
-Later on as we continued to play, they sat down during a safe section within a level in which enemies had been present.
-This player taught me a safe route later on that is full of enemies.
-As we reached the mountain top, we sat down together before entering the light.
-Attempted tried to get them to sit with me (20 seconds sat together awards both with an achievement), they wouldn't.
-Later on as we continued to play, they sat down during a safe section within a level in which enemies had been present.
-This player taught me a safe route later on that is full of enemies.
-As we reached the mountain top, we sat down together before entering the light.
Journey 3
- Having previous knowledge, I used this to guide newer players.
-Considered the cycle of knowledge being passed on, like a generation passing down information to the next.
-Considered the cycle of knowledge being passed on, like a generation passing down information to the next.
"Destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things"
Just as beating the Pokémon League brings players back to Pallet Town, Journey returns the player to the sandy desert in which they initially sat upon completion of the game. The significance of the mountain now holds the value of journeys been and gone. Initially, there had was no certainty towards what lay ahead. You may begin the journey again at this point of origin and whilst your path stays fairly similar, you are not necessarily the same person you had been before. Each play-through shapes you through varying discoveries you might make and the people you meet. Each time you return to the desert you have grown as a player: now wise with a knowledge you previously lacked, which you are able to impart on others who may seek assistance.
The 'John Hughes conclusion'
After university I struggled for a while, considering my current position. Whilst I had gained experience relevant to my future career path, I had still not yet reached my goals. Perhaps what I had lost sight of was that everything happening after university was still part of a process which continues to shape me. For those coming out of your final year at university this summer, I wish to impart a single perceived truth that should have been obvious to me, that place people expect you to be is a myth. No one knows where they're going, let alone where you should be. Like Journey it's all trial and error - stumbling around in the sand, seeing what options become available to you as and when they do. There are factors at play which guide you in a certain direction, but your path is determined by decisions you act upon as well as those you don't.
I am not going to sit on my ass as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life.
- Cameron Frye (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
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