thatgamecompany is a developer looking to set themselves apart from all the other developers out there by creating unique gameplay experiences for players to enjoy. So far they’re doing a good job too, with two successful PlayStation Network titles, flOw and flower, already under their belts.

Now they’re hard at work on their third PlayStation Network title, Journey, the third project in a three game deal with Sony. El33tonline caught up with Jenova Chen, co-founder and Creative Director of thatgamecompany, and the game’s Producer Robin Hunicke at the PlayStation Experience event held in London last week to get a glimpse into Journey.

To start with Chen explained how the goal of thatgamecompany is to try and help the industry to the point where videogames become a new form of entertainment, one that covers a wide variety of emotions. Chen argues that the industry as it stands now is all about creating excitement in a player, with console games being predominantly about first person shooters with team death match and capture the flag modes. Their first title flOw tried to create a zen-like experience for the player, while flower focussed on creating harmony. And now Journey aims to focus on creating another unique feeling in an online game.

Most videogames try to evoke a sense of power in a player but Journey attempts to do just the opposite. It tries to make the player feel small and have a sense of awe for the massive environment. As soon as you step into the world of Journey you will feel this isolation and become drawn into the mysterious world around you. To start with we don’t know much about the main character other than he or she is a humanoid made of cloth who wakes up in a desert. The goal of the game is simple, to reach the mountain in the distance, but we all know that there’s always more to it than that and so begins the curiosity driven Journey to discover the truth behind what happened in this land.

The control scheme has been deliberately designed to be very easy to use. This is in keeping with the developer’s desire to make core games that appeal to existing hardcore and casual gamers as well as dormant gamers and non-gamers. Aside from controlling direction with the analogue stick, there are basically only two buttons in Journey, one to fly and one to use your voice and harmonise, so it will be easy to enjoy Journey even if you’ve never played games before.

Even with such a simple goal in play, being able to interact with everything in the environment means you will never be bored. Just as you interacted with the grass in flower, so too will you interact with the sands in Journey. You’ll be able to surf in the sand, leaving trails behind in the desert as you discover interesting things along the way. The only problem is that you don’t know exactly what things there are too discover because the narrative is the reward of playing the game.

Your little humanoid will soon be bestowed with a scarf. Basically this is an energy meter and you’ll need to collect resources to be able to fly. As these resources are spent they will be released and return to the land. As you progress in the game you’ll discover pieces of hanging cloth that you can harmonise with because you’re also made of cloth. You’ll also happen upon non-playable characters who will give you clues about what might have happened in this place. They will be visual clues, not based on dialogue, memories from the past that will help to create your own storyline of what may have happened.

You can play Journey entirely on your own or you may choose to navigate the world with a second player. According to the developer this doesn’t take anything away from the sense of loneliness they’re trying to evoke, but rather allows you to share this experience with another person, much like you would if you were travelling on a road-trip with someone else. The concept of a lobby has been taken away to help keep the game coherent and to make sure your experience is not interrupted. Instead the connection and lobby is operating in the background. There will also be no PSN Id’s displayed to help keep the game true to itself.

Players will be able to find another player by singing. You’ll be able to touch to harmonise and even use the resources that the other player has used and discarded to draw strength and fly. You can, however, also choose to play as a single player in the multiplayer. Or you could leave the second player in search of another player who may better suit your play style in a scenario that Chen describes as being reminiscent of speed dating. The gameplay is very co-operative with conventional elements of players being able to discover hidden secrets. These may be paintings that give hints about the story or white pieces of cloth that players can collect to extend the maximum length of their scarf so they can fly further.

Journey is about exploring a vast world where you will rarely run into another character. You will feel small and powerless against the scope of the environment, much like man must have felt when he landed on the moon and saw how tiny and far away the Earth was. This is in fact part of the inspiration behind Journey. However, Journey also allows you to draw a sense of reassurance from the fact that you may be small but you’re not alone. You’ll be able to share the experience, even though it will only ever be with one other person at any time.

The sense of loneliness and emotion is made even more prominent by the eerie music that plays throughout the game. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the similar emotive experience that I enjoyed in both Shadow of the Colossus and Ico, a high accolade in my opinion given that these two titles remain two of my favourite gaming experiences to date.

From what we saw of the short gameplay demonstration (the developer didn’t want to give too much away!), Journey is shaping up to be an interesting title that will provide a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the videogame industry to sit back and enjoy a thought-provoking and emotional interactive experience.

Journey will be available for download on the PlayStation Network this year. You can browse through our previous coverage for more information and screenshots, or cast your gaze below to watch the debut trailer.

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