Update Three Hundred and Fifty-Nine: 8 December 2019
the Endless Journey
6.1 hours playtime, 50 of 50 achievements
8/10
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
An uneven but ultimately very good experience, the Endless Journey is by the same team that made PRICE, a short, free VN+ that I adore. They switched it up this time by making a point and click that mixes their themes of magic and making life where there was none with fairy tales - namely, their take on the Musicians of Bremen.
You play as Mr. Valjean and, more often, his artificial daughter Cosette and her unpleasant rabbit plush Eponine. You’re on your way to Bremen to seek work (it’s hard out here for a storyteller/alchemist/necromancer/dollmaker like Valjean) and get sidetracked in a small village on the way. Eventually they meet up with four animals who end up accompanying them on their journey… and are instrumental in stopping the secret they find in the town.
When I say uneven, I mean - the sprite art is so good, I love the music, and the overall story concept is really fresh and interesting…. but also the gameplay is really slow and clunky, and the middle section in the village is SO long and SO convoluted and SO meandering and SO poorly defined that it, unfortunately, drags the rest of the experience down. Getting to know the Musicians of Bremen is really fun and cool and interesting (surprise surprise my favorite is the intensely loyal one-eyed dog) but that really only happens in the second half of the game.
Regardless, I still ended up playing through the game twice nearly back to back (because I fucked up at first and got locked into the Bad Ending). Both endings are more than worth getting, and I ended up getting really into this sweet game.
Next up: The only Spyro game I ever played was Enter the Dragonfly, so this technically isn’t part of my 2020 initiative - but I figured why not get an early-ish head start?
See you soon!
tsuper: has very little time to dedicate to gaming
also tsuper: picks up a 3-in-1 long-ass game
See you in 2025 :P
This comment was deleted almost 5 years ago.
I’m also playing the Spyro games this month. If I remember correctly (from playing on the ps1), the first game is pretty boring but if you get to the second game it’s a lot more fun. I’m interested to see how much my nostalgia holds up :P
Yeah I haven’t played ‘em yet but my best friend is on the third one rn and said the second one improved a lot, that the first was super easy.
I’m a huge fan of 3D platformers but having never played Spyro before am so hopeful it’s gonna be good!! Fingers crossed it will be even without nostalgia. :)
yeah would have to say the 1st one was the most boring. from number 2 they start having little stories and missions to do
Wait, does Endless Journey have something to do with Les Misérables, or just the character names? It’s on my wishlist, so apparently I’ve seen it before but forgot.
I loved Spyro when I was a kid. My next-door neighbor used to get annoyed because when we were at her house I just wanted to play Spyro (before I had my own copy). I got it from the Humble Monthly bundle but I was in the middle of Yooka-Laylee and feel like I should finish that first.
Oh spyro love the game. Cant wait to play it myself