Journey: The Quest Begins

Journey: The Quest Begins is a video game in the adventure genre developed by Infocom, Inc. and published by Infocom, Inc. originally released in 1989. It is currently playable on DOS, Amiga, Apple II, Mac.

Journey is an epic fantasy game that is a radical departure for Infocom: the whole game is played similarly to an adventure book in which you choose actions from a menu of options. Surprisingly, the lack of parser does not lead to a lack of interaction, as there are always many options to choose from and many possible solutions to the same puzzle, including optional ones.

In Journey, you become part of a well-written epic, controlling a band of hardened adventurers who set out to find the cause and remedy for their small town's crop failures. Despite the game's claim that many puzzles are optional, you will soon discover that the game is not as non-linear as it seems: you may get to the later stages of the game, only to find that you cannot continue because you did not solve some puzzles in the past in an 'optimal' way.

This is further aggravated by the game's magic system: casting spells requires 'essences' (e. g. air and earth), which are extremely difficult to find (you will have used most or all of them by the end of the game). Since the game never hints at how many essences you will find, you are free to waste many of them on solving various optional puzzles, only to find out later that you need more than you have. This 'realism' makes Journey a frustrating 'save and retrieve' type game, and this can be intimidating to IF newbies.

However, this complaint aside, Journey is a very well-written game, with a storyline that will keep you intrigued until the end. Its non-linear feel, however illusory, is a refreshing change from typical interactive fiction. The ability to control multiple characters and see the world from their different points of view also adds a lot to the atmosphere.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.