The Journey Down PC Quick Look

Hey guys, The Gaming Wiz here. Today we’re taking a quick look at an indie old school point and click adventure game dubbed The Journey Down. The game is broken up into three chapters, with two of them out in the market. Immediately upon looking the game, you notice the game’s fantastic art style based upon African culture and masks. For example, the main character Bwana’s face is modeled after African tribal masks. And names of a lot of characters are based on Swahili swords from Tanzania, Kenya. This works out really well for the game, giving it a unique sense of place. A bit like Grim Fandango if you’ve played it.

Now don’t go expecting recent point and click adventure game comforts such as highlighted items ala Tell Tale’s The Walking Dead. The emphasis of this game is old school, so you have to hunt the entire screen for items which you can pick up. You then have to combine these elements to solve puzzles in order to progress the story. Some of this involves in a bit of back tracking as you are moving around scenes, picking up and finding the right combinations and then going back to hand the item to a character who requires it. Now, traditional point and clickers will be right at home but some “recent” converts like me may have a bit of trouble finding all the required items without some help from online guides. For the most part, the puzzles are straight forward but some can fall to “adventure game” logic, e.g. it was a while before I figured out you could substitute oil for a different kind. Also, a few of the items are hidden in places you wouldn’t necessarily think so, e.g. one recipe ingredient was hidden in a bookshelf.

The writing is clever and often times funny. It plays to the main character’s happy go lucky attitude. Bwana may be at a time of misfortune, but that doesn’t stop him from having a carefree attitude and coming up with ideas stupid enough to work. The game’s beginning story revolves around you having to cobble together common items in order to mend a plane that hasn’t flown in ages. We are also given a glimpse into Bwana’s past, if you are diligent and uncover every piece of dialogue from hidden items. The music also establishes the take it easy mood especially with the jazz undertones. However, the game’s striking art style also leads to its downfall. Journey Down starts with a beautifully animated cut scene but once the actual game begins do you notice that the movement seems off. You notice that the character’s facial animations are a bit stiff and unnatural. Even though the face masks lends to the games unique appeal but it is hard to animate facial expressions properly and it shows. Also, the voice acting is inconsistent but thankfully the main character’s does a solid job.

The first chapter clocks in around 2-3 hours and the second one is a bit longer at over 5 hours.

The Hype

Striking art direction
Good music with jazz tones sets the take-it-easy mood
Funny writing
Game is quite charming

Hype Buster

Facial expressions not as smooth
Voice acting is inconsistent
Still has adventure game “logic”
To make it more accessible, could have highlighted special items, points of interest like Telltale’s The Walking Dead

The Bottom Line

A must play for traditional point and clickers but doesn’t have enough accessibility for a broader audience.