"Don't do what people have done." This is the guiding concept voiced by Jenova Chen – Creative Director at ThatGameCompany . He's a rare breed of designer who seems comfortable with rejecting bigger scale projects and the major retail-driven profits that these create.

He also has a Zen-like appreciation for game design and the artistry this medium is capable of. His two previous games, flOw and Flower - both offbeat PSN titles – developed tremendous followings for their artful presentation and equally deft and streamlined gameplay.Both also share gameplay commonality: you collect things, grow a little bit and travel from one point to the next. Journey should come as no surprise, then; it's a title born of these basic gameplay elements –but is as technically progressive and conceptually more ambitious as Flower was from flOw.It's also a game that strives to evoke emotions: loneliness, isolation, wonder and that feeling of being overwhelmed by the scale of the world. This is, according to Chen, a tribute to romanticism.Romanticism is a rarity in game design; creating a game that evokes that grand feeling is elusive –but Chen believes Journey accomplishes this. "It's the equivalent if a romantic, documentary game." He pauses for reflection, before explaining that it's his hope that Journey evokes, like FlOw and Flower before it, a feeling of calm. "Ultimately, it's a hopeful game."

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There is a game here – beyond just concept. How does it play? That's the key question, really. Nobody has really laid hands on it outside of the development staff – but that hasn't prevented a thorough dissection of what's been shown.There is a mountain with a mystical glow at its peak, towering above your character, far off in the horizon. Reaching that peak is your only true objective – and the journey in between makes up the game. Structurally, the areas flow together, but each has a defined colour scheme and unique naturalistic environment. If flOw was a simulated Petri dish of life viewed layer by layer, and Flower simulated wind, grass and flower petals in string of gorgeous landscapes, Journey is a meditation on sand, cliffs, caves and pressing forwards.That end, controls have been simplified –even automated to some ends. You simply move forward, and your character automatically jumps and climbs. However, players do have total control over a limited flight ability – and this involves another curious step forward for ThatGameCompany: co-operative play and pooled resources.A promised 2 to 3 hour experience for most players, Chen promises Journey will be concise in its storytelling and smooth in pace. It'll be the kind of experience that rewards thorough exploration, though – and the landscape will be dotted with secrets, as he demonstrated to us. In the one shown to us, there was a cape-extending upgrade that allowed you to store more flight-fabric.Anonymity has been a problem for action-based multiplayer games in the past. But with its unique co-operative play mode, Journey is embracing your character's lack of identity and isolation to create even more feelings of loneliness.You have no name – and neither do any other players. There is no good or bad – and no need to play with another player unless you want to, as Chen explains."We want the player to feel weak; we don't want him to be Superman, because the sense of being small is very important. This was inspired by the idea that, when the player feels empowered, they want to use those powers against another player. If they have a gun, they want to shoot the other player. If you have a sword, you'd try and smack them. We don't want you to have that kind of experience. We want to do something new."The player can 'call' to other players with the circle button – either a short, sharp tone or a lingering yell if you hold the button a little longer. This is your only true form of verbal interaction with the other player."We want them to feel small and somewhat lonely, so that when they see another player in the future, they're more likely to go over and say 'hi'. It's like if you're hiking in the mountains and you see another hiker."Trying to evoke an emotional response from players can be a risky proposition. If a developer is too overt, the game risks becoming hackneyed and trite. But if the game succeeds – be it through clever level design, camera placement or very deliberate colour and sound, it can be a powerful moment for the player. With both flOw and Flower arguably nailing this task, we hold high hopes for Journey too.