- All right, we're playing "Journey."
- Can I tell you how "Journey" came into my life?
- Yes!
- Please tell us.
- I had the incredible privilege of hosting a brief series
for Sony called "Conversations With Creators,"
about the games that they had made
and what their philosophies were.
And I, as part of my research,
Felicia Day said, "Oh, you're interviewing
"the studio that made 'Journey,'
"and 'Journey' is one of the most beautiful
"games you'll ever play in your life."
She said, "Listen, don't find out anything about it.
"Just start playing it,
"you'll figure it out very quickly.
"And you're gonna love this game,
"you can play the whole game in about 90 minutes."
And I was like, "Okay, great."
And, I mean, this game's been out for so long.
I feel like probably everybody who's going to play it, has.
But just on the small chance
that there's someone watching this,
who's going to get the gift of seeing this game
for the very first time, and who has the opportunity
to maybe play this game for the very first time,
there is this beautiful, completely unexpected twist
that you don't find out until the game is completely over
that recontextualizes the entire experience,
and it brought me so much joy
when I stumbled into it.
It made me weep, the first time I played it.
- Hmm.
- So, I just freaking love this game.
I think it's just beautiful.
It's yet another stellar example of games as art
in a non-traditional narrative structure.
- Yeah, I mean it's had such a profound impact,
I think also on games that came after it,
in, like, so many different metrics.
- You don't really die in this game,
you just kind of, like, get bumped around.
And the more times that happens,
the shorter that long kind of--
"Cape" is the wrong word for it.
There is a word that's exactly what that is
that I can't remember what-- - Train?
- A shawl?
- I think it's kind of a train.
- A train. - Yeah.
- I think "train" is really good.
And the longer the train is,
that tends to indicate the more you have
played in this game, and then your little person
can change from this color to pure white,
which is also a really cool thing
that takes multiple play-throughs to achieve.
But it's just so satisfying.
- I didn't know that, that's cool.
- Yeah, I find in both "Journey"
and in real life, the length of your train
really defines how powerful you are.
(laughs)
And that's why I like brides.
Everybody's do deferential to brides,
it's just that they're so powerful.
- Giant trains.
- They can, like, triple jump. - It's the long train.
Yeah, they can triple jump,
they can do a bounce off a wall.
Yeah, "Journey" is such a uniquely soothing game.
I feel like I'm glad it was so popular,
cause so many games that have come after it
I think have really captured this sort of game as--
game-as-meditation, almost? - Agreed.
- Or, like, game-as-emotional-release.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
And I think that's just so delightful.
On the other hand, I know also you've been playing,
or have played a lot of "Red Dead," (chuckles)
which is maybe the counter-opposite.
- So, I played--
My first play-through of "Red Dead Redemption 2"
was about 100 hours.
Then I went immediately into the original
"Red Dead Redemption."
- Oh!
- It was like picking up another book, right?
- Yeah.
- And I loved it.
And then went back and replayed "Red Dead Redemption 2"
so that I would have the contextualization
of "Red Dead Redemption 1" in a way I didn't have
the first time I played "Red Dead Redemption 2."
So, I have spent roughly 300 hours
in those two games in the last five months
or something like that.
Six months.
Who even knows what time is?
- I just want to call attention
to how beautiful "Journey" is.
(laughs softly) - Yeah.
- Just in the background, that whole sequence
of when you're riding down that giant hill.
- [Patrick] I have a friend.
- Across, like, the sunset.
Yes! - And you've made a friend.
- Yes, I'm so glad.
I was worried nobody else was playing this game.
- The absolute best part of "Journey" is making friends.
So I guess if you haven't played "Journey" before,
and you intend to because I've been telling you
how great it is and you've been watching it,
do yourself a favor,
and as long as I'm holding my hand up,
mute your speakers, okay?
So, here we go.
Mute your speakers.
When I found out that I was playing
with other human beings,
when I found out at the end of this
that this wasn't A.I., that these were other people
who were communicating with me,
who were helping me,
who were making the time--
part of their enjoyment of the game
was to help me rather than hinder me,
I was just like, "why, every game needs to be like this!"
- (chuckles) Yeah!
Yeah, I really appreciate--
I feel like more and more games are
giving players tools to communicate
without having to use voice chat, which--
I just mute voice chat in every game I play,
if it's possible, just because it's such a--
It's risky. - A garbage fire?
I think garbage fire-- - Garbage fire!
- Is probably another word you're looking for.
- An accurate, yeah.
So, like, I just really appreciate--
like, I know "Apex Legends" came out
with, like, this ping system
where you can just, like, drop a ping
to be, like, "here's an item!"
And you don't have to use voice chat,
it just pops up on their interface.
And I think more and more games
are incorporating that, which, like, whew!
- Yeah, well it's great, right?
Like, people who--
designers who grew up on the first
and second generation of games
who are maybe a little bit younger than I am
are taking the experiences that we all had
when we were so excited for multiplayer online gaming,
and then we were like, "Wow, this is just
"a bunch of misogynist jerks!" - Yeah!
Like, there's nothing fun about this.
And finding ways to work in tools, and with design.
I know a bunch of really great, real clever designers,
and they call it "dick-proofing,"
where you go and you proof something--
You make something so it's dick-proof,
so that somebody can't come in
and be a dick and wreck it.
(laughs)
(percussive synth music)