I was born for this

(Si vous parlez français, vous pouvez voir la version originale ici ! ^^)

When, back in 2009, the Flower video game by the indie studio thatgamecompany went out, I was already aching to buy a PS3. Be the wind and revive the nature by blowing on flowers, knowing that each flower would give back a petal we would take flying with us, is quite appealing. I can tell you that finishing a level gives you a wonderful show of flying petals!

Warning: this post is full of (sometimes badly) photoshoped pictures.
I'm fully assuming it! 😝
Also, there is a ton of pictures in this post!

Then, that same studio released another game in 2012, with a character in red cloth wandering in a sand desert: Journey. I did not looked to much into this one, but I was already conquered: I had to play it!
I waited for the PS4 to be released, then bought a used PS3. I first started Journey in April 2014 and it instantly became my all time favorite game! An intense love story started…

The goal is easy: you play a small character which only purpose is to get to the mountain we see (far away beyond the desert) at the very beginning of the game.
This game is not fit for everybody. If you are looking for challenge or lots of enemy to kill and a game to "win", you won't find it here. Instead you will experience a beautiful and emotional 2 hours long journey.

What a beautiful character!

Aaaand, yep, another medium shot! But this time it's on the left!

So handsome in full shot!

Come on! Get on your feet and let's go!

My favorite picture. ♡
(what's yours?)

Yep, I'm also proud of my cardboard and ribbon stones! ^^

Graphics are beautiful: sand is amazingly realistic, lights are magical.
It's a genuine pleasure to fly in the air or to slide on the sand, and the cape and scarf moves are amazingly rendered. So are the scarf-creatures we encounter during our journey!

This one is my first try, it's not that neat!

Target at sight!

Wind: – `Hey! Where d'you think you're going? How can you get it wrong, it's literally straight forward!'

Ok, let's have some rest before we climb that.

Hello, vast pink desert!
(And hello scarf going crazy because I did not block you…)

Also, the music is truly sublime and fully completes the game. Of course it does, since it's been a big part of the game creation, chosen along with colors, character moves… Anyway, I endlessly listen to the OST since the last two years!

Music for the closing credits ♡

I've been profuse with superlatives but you have seen nothing yet! I've not talked about the real magic that happens in this game! That magic comes from the multiplayer aspect.
First of all, you can only play with one and only one other player at the same time. Of course, you can encounter many people throughout the game, but you only once at a time: you need to part from your current partner if you wish to meet another one.
The other trick the game designers played on us is that everyone looks the same: same neutral, armless, genderless, red (or white) character (which everyone can relate to), no means of communication apart from a melodic shout with no real meaning (you can't even use morse code with it). Since you know nothing about the other player (you only get their pseudonym when you exit or finish the game), you have no reason at all to judge them. That makes the relation so simple, so beautiful that you bond instantly with your mate.

« My, my! What do I see there? »

« It's another player! »

« Hey ! I'm here! Wait for me, don't leave me alone here! »

« Oh. Somebody call me? »

« Incomiiiiing! »

« Yay ! Let's travel together, shall we? »

« Weeeeee ! »
(I know, I'm bad at handling lights!)

Have a break, have a desert sit-in.

« Yoohoooooo ! »

Traveling with a peer is so wonderful! Your own avatar seems so small in that endless desert that company is very welcome. Especially when you reach the cold mountain, and you can keep a bit of warmth by sticking together. Also, peering is always encouraged, might it be only for the music that gets more pleasant when two people share the level (yes, the music is not quite the same whether you are alone or accompanied).
The first time I played this game I got extremely lucky: I played through almost all the game with the same player. That made the game ending stronger with a slight pinch to the heart knowing the journey is over, and we will most likely never play with them again… (But you can also play the game with 10 different companions without noticing they've changed. I did, and I still fully enjoyed the game. ^^)
The bond is so strongly with those travel companions that I almost cry each time I reach the end of the game!

« Buddy! Where are you? »

« I'm a bit scared, I feel like someone is watching me… »

« Arghhhh… I've been attacked… »

« Leave me here to die… »

About that, in my "collector Flow + Flower + Journey edition", there also are bonus videos, including a let's play with the game's creators comments. As they fly and slide through the game, they narrate the game creation and the technical and artistic choices they made. It's very interesting. One of the stories they tell is about a player that waited 20 minutes (20 minutes!! Have you any idea how much it's excrutiating to wait that long doing nothing in a game?) in front of the last "door" of the game to let their fellow pilgrim visit the last level and then pass the door together. Give me one game that makes you bond that much!

« Oh, you are still here. Or are you someone else? »

« Shh, say hello to Gary and Larry. They are two small scarfs that grow out of the ground! »

« Gary is a common guy, trying to make a living. He found a place, sometimes people come to visit him, so he likes it! »

Truth be told, Gary is a leftover from scarf prototypes that developers forgot to remove. So they left it here for fun and even added a friend: Larry!
I always make a detour to say hi! ^^

Also, that game reminds me of the french novel La Horde du Contrevent by Alain Damasio (a book I love) on some aspects: the fact that the characters travel to reach a point, the wind that keeps you on tracks and limits the universe, fighting against the wind on the mountain… even the red clothes remind me of my book's cover. If you read french, this novel should be on your to-read list!

« It's a bit cold around here! Now that I'm alone… »

« Fwew ! Even by my own, I managed to reach my goal! »

Yes, this game is short, but I never get bored. I already played that game dozens of times and I still love it.
You can also play it… differently. There are glitches that allow you to go out of the real game and visit the levels in another way. And you can discover some pretty awesome stuff! It's a truly new world, so vast, so fascinating! And then the game gets an infinite life.
Glitches are something I dig, but I'm having a hard time triggering them (I tried, but I'm not good enough 😞). Also, I'm bit scared that I will get lost in it. In another life, I would be less shy and talk to specialists to visit the hidden world of Journey!

Of course not, there is no TARDIS behind the glitches…

If you have a PS3/PS4, go play to Journey, it's worth it! It's not known enough and that's a shame.
If you do not have one of those… go buy one! 😝 Or install PS Now, on your Windows (only…). That allows you to play PlayStation games on your PC, and Journey is available on that platform! So now, you have no excuse not to play!
Do it, experience the trip by yourself.

Coooome and plaaaaay!

There is sooooo much to say about this game! But I will cut to the chase: after all, you are here for the crochet part, aren't you? ^^
I'm a fan of the character design. So obviously I decided to crochet one for me! I went on the internet to find existing patterns. They were all ugly (to my taste).
First I was disappointed. Then I went on and created my own, which I changed many many times (I started it almost a year ago) before getting to a satisfying version! For example: my first hood is quite ugly around the shoulders and the scarf is twisted…

   

Creation process.

Photo shoot in Pornic. I had to face my nemesis: sand! 😤

Protip : don't go to the beach at the end of august, there is still a lot of people that look at you in a weird way when you take pictures.

My small white wanderer was following my first pattern: it still has the weird looking shoulders.

That model has way prettier shoulders!

Unrealistic picture: there is no vegetation in the game!

That's more like it! 😅

Also, all the existing patterns are all charged, and mine is way prettier (no shame), I'm selling my own pattern!
For that, I needed a beautiful PDF! Writing and adding photographs for tutorials was pretty easy, doing a proper page layout to get a professional look was the real challenge here. Since I'm not a designer, I mostly use LaTeX…
Still, I managed to craft a PDF I'm proud of!
To end with the shameless self flattering: I'm really proud of myself for the amigurumi and for the pattern document! 😊

You can find the pattern in french and english (thank my HaaS for your help and thank my mom for making me change the pattern once I finished it! 😄) on Etsy and Ravelry or straight here: buy now!
It's a three pieces model (body, cape and hood+scarf) with i-cords, single crochet stitches in spirals and back-and-forth rows, and color switching all the way!

Direct link to buy the pattern

Yarn:
 Deco8 by Distrifil, colours 01, 45, 60, 135 for the small one.
 Eldorado by Puppets, colours 04212 and 04321 for the small one.
 Safran by Drops, colours 19, 20, 11 and 23 for the tall one.
 Lamé yarns by Morelfil, gold to add shiny strings in the tall one's yellow yarn.
Used hooks: 1,75mm for the small one, 3mm for the tall one.
Final size: 15cm high for the small one and 22.5cm high for the tall one.

Useful links:

Journey on thatgamecompany's website
Journey OST on Austin Wintory's bandcamp
Journey amigurumi crochet pattern by yours truly on Etsy (french and english)
Journe amigurumi crochet pattern by yours truly on Ravelry (french and english)
Journey amigurumi on Etsy