What is “Old Man’s Journey”?
I you visit its webpage, you would find that it is “A story game about life’s precious moments, broken dreams, and changed plans.”.
So …
“Old Man’s Journey”
It’s a game. Developed by Broken Rules and released in 2017 for PC, Mac, Android, and iOS. It has later been ported to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
“Old Man’s Journey”
It’s a game that puts its narrative foot first. You play as an old man who receives a letter and sets of on the game’s titular journey. It’s a narrative told without words. It’s a narrative shown to you. To spoil what is shown, would be a disservice. I won’t do that to you.
To talk about a story without spoiling it would be … vague. It’s not a story I personally can relate to without many layers of translation. But it’s presentation made me connect with its themes anyway.
“Old Man’s Journey”
It lives and dies on its presentation. If you can’t find the beauty in its art-style, then this game isn’t for you. If you don’t enjoy it’s music, then this game isn’t for you. If you do, then these are legs, tall enough to stand on, on their own.
I’m listening to the game’s soundtrack while writing this. I know it won’t be the last time I put it on. More than any other of my reviews, I apologize for the resolution I am forced to record gameplay in.
“Old Man’s Journey”
The game exists somewhere between the genres of “walking simulator” and “puzzle game”.
You click on the ground, and the old man walks there, while you enjoy the scenery and take in the soundtrack. As you progress, the story is shown to you in bits — set in stone, unchangeable.
For the old man to progress, you need to align his path. You drag the terrain into place. You guide sheep and throw away debris. You won’t get stuck on these puzzles, but at times you will have to stop and think. At least I had to.
“Old Man’s Journey”
It’s a game you’ll finish in about one and a half hour. Probably somewhat less, perhaps slightly more. It’s a fitting length for the game. It gives the narrative time to breath without dragging. It means the puzzles get to introduce new elements for most of its runtime and prevent them from being stale.
“Old Man’s Journey”
It’s imperfect. On a technical level, it at times had weird and distracting “flickers” in its images. (Your milage may vary). On a gameplay level, what to do may be unnecessarily unclear at times, taking you out of the narrative. This is especially a problem when the old man sits down, and you have to interact with an (at times seemingly) object to progress.
“Old Man’s Journey”
It’s a game I recommend experiencing. It wears what it is on its sleeve, and you know your millage with this type of game. But it does what it does very good.
Thank you for reading.
