Northern Journey

I've followed the developer on twitter for some time and was immediately roped into the game based off its art direction. Northern Journey is an unbelievably gorgeous game...most of the time. It stumbles visually in terms of character models and levels set in caverns which look rather boring. The game consists mostly of exploration and combat. Dialogue is initiated by simply walking up to characters, then walking away. Enemies are mostly fragile and lack exceptional intelligence but make up for that by having tricky movement, ambush mechanics, and attacking in large numbers occasionally. The most powerful threat in this strange Nordic world, I'm certain, isn't the witches, but the simple dragonfly. Despite the streamlined nature of the game play, Northern Journey still feels disorganised and impulsive. At random instances, you encounter barriers that require you to kill a number of enemies, then you can suddenly run past all of them without killing; new enemies appear and are ...

A truly bizarre game. The soundtrack is so amazingly atmospheric, really elevating the experience. Definitely a great oddball gem that I would recommend to someone with eclectic tastes.

Northern Journey… Oh, where do I begin? The distinct, weird, ugly (but somehow beautiful) synthetic 3D art style? Or the jarring grinding-at-your-eardrum, yet strangely captivating soundtrack? Everything in this game feels wrong in exactly the right way. The visuals have that early 2000s PC fever dream that look like they were ripped straight out of a forgotten shareware CD, landscapes that bend between the majestic and the unsettling. It’s a world that doesn’t just feel handmade, but hand carved out of the developer’s imagination, splinters and all. The soundtrack? Half of it sounds like it’s trying to scare you, the other half like it’s trying to dare you to keep going. And you will keep going, because no matter how off putting it gets, it pulls you deeper in. It’s the kind of music that latches onto your brain and keeps on playing even though you don’t even like it but can’t stop thinking about. The gameplay itself is a relentless journey forward (Linear progre...

genuinely the worst game possible for people afraid of bugs short of maybe something like EDF? -- before getting into things, i'd like to begin by saying this was one of the most interesting games i've played in recent memory. even with the (many) rough patches and parts where i even flat out hated it i still consider having played this a net positive. Northern Journey is a first person adventure game with a quite literal grab bag of mechanics (combat and platforming as mainstays but there's a lot of one and done things that show up throughout too) to dip into. for the most part said mechanics are varying shades of rough but there is an incredible sense of scale to these varied environments and the sense of adventure is just something else completely. it wasn't rare for me to go from being 2 seconds away from dropping and uninstalling the game to being knocked over by a stunning view with no warning. in the earliest moments i thought the combat was irredeemable garbage but ...

Fantastic atmosphere and music. The combat is also very good, although sometimes a bit clunky (especially with some bosses) PS : A LOT of spiders, so beware

Checklist for your nightmare hike through beautiful Norway - 6 different crossbows - haunted axe and sword - no food, will just attract more bugs - 1800s scuba gear - running shoes to maximize circle strafing - the "5" key from your keyboard for efficient quicksaving and please do not feed the petworms

pure exposure doesnt work good game

Unique.

This game is simply incredible. If you have any Nordic genes buy it right now it will unlock and activate blood memories.

There are moments in the game when the level design, the design of the monsters, the sound and feel of the weapons, and the music suddenly align, giving you a short glimpse at real genius. All the attention to detail comes together and creates an experience that is very unique to Northern Journey. This is then followed by the game whacking you over the head with a poorly implemented game mechanic or section, or the game crashes, or the music cuts out, or you fall and get stuck in the map, or the NPCs look weird in a funny and creepy way, or the game does something so surreal and bizarre that you don't even know how to interpret it, except to surrender to its madness. Despite its flaws, I would still recommend this game for the unique experience and its overall vision.