"random co-op partner"? Can you choose who you want to play with or is it always a random stranger?

--- Replying to Parflagush -----

Always random. There's no talking between the players either. I think that's pretty cool, but not all games can work like that.

I'm hoping someone will find a way to control who you are playing with (maybe if both players start playing at the exact same time). I read that if you want to drop your random co-op partner that you can just go the other direction and continue on your own.

PS Plus users can get this game a week early and get a free Journey theme and I believe non PS plus users can "pre-order" it this week on PSN and get the same theme for free.

@Parflagush

Mrxknown_JG is right. There's no lobby system, no invites, and no voice chat. When you enter a level another player may already be there, or you may begin alone and a random player may appear. If you complete a level with a player you will begin the next stage with that same player.

Came for a Journey reference (Don't Stop Believing would have been perfect). Leaving disappointed.

@justabaldguy

Did you click on the "I want to share it with other people" link? Ask, and you shall receive!

http://www.co-optimus.com/article/7820/ ... ldren.html

Clicking on links? It's all too much, I ain't got time for that! I'm here for some lovin', touchin', squeezin' co-op. My wheel in the sky keeps on turning and I have to read what I can while I can.

That said, this is an interesting article and I will PM you with a few questions about the game.

This downloadable PS3 title was so breathtaking I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight. It's stuck in my chest. Anyone and everyone should try it. A stunning testament to the resonance that only video games can have. This is what you have a PS3 for. This is what you have emotions for. Wow.

I'm usually not a fan of random co-op, but here it truly bolsters the experience. Please don't let it shy you away. You are as tethered to your partner as your whims and it's all very gentle and smooth. You may encounter several partners along the way and their subtle personality differences fascinated me. Consider my mind opened. There are other games to play with friends.

--- Replying to TenFresh -----

Seconded. Wholeheartedly seconded. It's a beautiful, mesmerizing game with a fascinating, unusual and surprisingly effective take on co-op that probably wouldn't work just about anywhere else but is perfect here. The fact that you don't know who you're playing with and can't verbally communicate is key to the experience.

It definitely sounds like a wonderful game, but $15 for a game that last two hours is just asking waaaaaaaay too much for me. Heck, I consider $7.50 "too much" also based on the length of play, but I'll pick it up when it goes on sale. The pressure is enough for a $7.50 purchase but not enough to shell out 15 smackers.

--- Replying to BigBadBob113 -----

I'm not finished yet, so I don't know how long it'll take me or how well it'll hold up for replaying, but I do agree that $15 feels unreasonable for a game of this size. $10 would've been an instant purchase for me. $15 was a no-go until a moment of weakness.

That said, while it's true that you can zip through it pretty quickly (at least once you've figured the different areas out, and some of them are less obvious than others) there are lots of things to find that take a good deal of searching and messing around, and sometimes I've noticed some of them too late, meaning I'll have to get them on a second playthrough. In one area, I spent a good hour just searching for one thing, and I still didn't find it.

So...no couch co-op. No LAN. No voice chat. No matchmaking. No private games. I'm baffled as to how this got a "near perfect" co-op rating. I like the review - I'm compelled to try the game out - but what's up with the score? The review explains why it is a "5" in general, but not why it's a co-op "5".

--- Replying to txshurricane -----

Maybe the co-op reviews are becoming more about how the game promotes or utilizes co-op than a list of features?

This is an interesting case. If I had a PS3 I would be thinking about playing this game.

--- Replying to txshurricane -----

I actually think it deserves a co-op 5 (or something very close to it) despite not meeting what we ordinarily consider the requirements of good co-op, like voice chat, lobbies, and so on.

And that illustrates a problem with my earlier proposal for revising the scoring system used for Co-Optimus reviews, but one that could be fixed easily — use several sub-scores which all contribute to the final score as I suggested, but allow for flexible weighting in order to accommodate unusual and unique games like Journey. In Journey, voice chat and lobbies and whatnot would actually wreck the experience, so while the game couldn't very well score high on the axis of supported co-op features, that sub-score would get little to no weight in the game's final, overall score. It would be important, though, IMO, for each review to note the weighting used in its final score.

--- Replying to Macrocephalus -----

I agree, it sounds like Journey is an incredile take on co-op that flies in the face of the usually co-op features.

--- Replying to BigBadBob113 -----

I hear your point, and it may just not be your thing, but in this case I'd suggest that the value of the play experience transcends a simple playtime measurement. The game will certainly stick with me a lot longer than those two hours; besides which I know I'll spend a lot more time exploring all it's nooks and crannies. And hell, I could have blown the same amount of dough to see a 3D movie that went in one ear and out the the other. It seems a shame to let this on pass on account of the cost; you pay a little more for the good stuff!

In general I'd love to see video games measures less by the old (play time) x (addictiveness) formulae in favor of a more nuanced equation. I for one was actually happy that I could do my first play through in the one evening I have a free this week instead of having to wait for the weekend or break up the journey. There are other games for when I have a whole saturday to kill.

--- Replying to txshurricane -----

I hear your point, and would agree in most cases (I certainly took issues with the co-op implementation in Dark Souls), but yeah, in this case I do think it's just something different and worth more than the sum of its features list.

Oddly I think the game draws impact from a similar situation to a non-co-op game; in ICO, that the two lead characters could not understand each other made your feeling of their non-verbal bond deeper. Here as well, I find it intriguing what a small kindness from a stranger can mean to me. I'm some one who usually would *never* choose to play co-op with strangers, but here it's something different. I won't say that being able to play the game with a friend might have been a nice touch, but even then only as an option after your first play through.

My original review was simply twelve screenshots and the 5/5 score. No other text. I thought it was appropriate for a game like this, but it didn't go over very well.

--- Replying to TenFresh -----

Price is always important for me, and I want to be able to get my moneys worth. I want a game that is going to get a decent amount of playtime. I dropped $10 for Shoot More Robots because I knew it was going to deliver plenty of replay value with the leveling and the looting and the making lame jokes with friends and whatnot. Will I drop $15 for an artsy game? No, I won't. There, I said it. Not that I don't appreciate it (I'm sure I will when I eventually snag it after it goes on sale), but it just doesn't deliver the value that I personally look for in a game. Let's just say that when someone has over 100 downloadable games (between PSN and XBLA) they realize how dangerous making those impulse digital download purchases can be, especially when there is only a handful that get played more than a couple of times.

Appropriate maybe, Andrew, but that wouldn't jibe with the theme of consistency.

--- Replying to BigBadBob113 -----

As a man whose drive is nearly full of downloadable games he barely played, I certainly can't talk. I guess that's why, for me, *any* game that I pay for and actually complete is a great value, ha!

Well, if it hasn't gone on sale by the time your birthday comes around, I'm going to gift it to you.

My brother and I want to play this together, any tips on how to make that happen. We only have one copy, so if we can find a way to make it work maybe we'll get a get a second. I also am disappointed in the "random partner" aspect of the game I would never have thought a 5/5 score would be random...