SkyGoblin‘s classic point-and-click adventure The Journey Down finds its conclusion with the release of the third chapter.
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It seems like ages since I reviewed Chapter 1 of the Journey Down trilogy and I still remember it to be a great love letter to classic LucasArts-inspired adventure gaming. This was four years ago and the story is now concluded, so it might be the perfect time to get back into the Afro-Caribbean world where Bwana and his friend Kito continue their search for their lost father and a conspiracy surrounding his disappearance.
As is the case with episodic games, there’s always the chance that they will never be finished, especially in the case of smaller companies. So it’s great to see this very promising project finished with all persons (developers, press, fans, and backers) very happy if you go by the thank-you video. Even if it might lack the smooth animations of more modern adventure games, the attention to detail is quite amazing. Fusing Grim Fandango: Remastered aesthetics with a refreshing setting, likeable characters, mind-bending puzzles, and an amazing jazz-reggae mix, this can only be a winner, especially with a story that is more epic than your typical comic adventure game, judging from the well-done cutscenes.
The game’s episodes can be bought separately, but if you don’t have any of them, then the best bet would be to purchase the whole trilogy, including GOG as another digital distributor. There’s also a 20% launch discount that will last until September 28, 1PM UTC.
Buy the digital trilogy version for PC on
GOG
Steam
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Using the GOG link and buying the product also helps ;).
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Well fancy seeing you here. 😉
I played the first episode of The Journey Down a while back but didn’t have any particular feelings towards it: I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. Have you managed to play all the instalments? Just wondering if it’s worth trying again from the beginning!
Unfortunately I haven’t played the other instalments, but I hope I’ll find the time to review them, so I guess I can’t help you there ;).
I really liked the first one, as for me it felt like a very good throwback to LucasArts with a unique style. I was also quite fed up with overhyped point-and-clickers during that time, so I remember this fondly, especially the music. But then again… different tastes, even in the same genre :-).
I really liked the art-style and the LucasArts’ feel but I just wasn’t sucked into the game as much as I’d have liked. Once I realised that I was simply solving puzzles in order to fix the plane and wouldn’t be seeing much more in the first episode, I started to lose interest… but that’s probably a good reason to play The Journey Down from the beginning again and in its entirety!
I see what you mean. I’ve had this kind of experience with many adventure games and got a bit tired of the genre after a while. Didn’t have this with “The Journey Down”, but I think this might really have something to do with the episodic format. That’s why I usually try to review the whole season or whatever, except for some titles. It’s a dilemma, right? On the one hand you want to support the developers, get the word out that there’s a good game, but on the other one gets frustrated as one never knows if the story finds a conclusion or when the next episode will release. Telltale Games might not be to everyone’s liking with their less puzzle-focused approach today, but at least you know it will have an ending in an appropriate time frame :).
Yeah, episodic games are a weird one for me… on one hand I understand that developers want to get their content out there as quickly as possible, to generate publicity as well as funding for the rest of the title. But on the other hand I’m not a fan of the format: I’d rather wait until all episodes are released and then play the game in its entirety.
The only ‘first episodes’ I’ve played as standalones in recent memory are Kentucky Route Zero and The Journey Down…
Couldn’t agree more and those games you mentioned were also some of the few I had to play, although I’d include “The Dream Machine” as well. Come to think of it… still have to play the last two episodes ;).
Oh actually, I played the first episode of The Dream Machine too. It was so cheap during the last Steam sale that it seemed rude not to buy it!
I reviewed the first three episodes, so take a look if you want to. I hope it doesn’t contain any spoilers… which is again a problem if you review episodes individually… Still looking forward to play the other two. Even if I didn’t really like the puzzles, it was quite a unique experience… Maybe even something to review in a chat:)?
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