The Journey Down is a work of love. Originally released as a free pixelart point-and-click adventure in 2010, The Journey Down got a fanbase the developers couldn’t leave behind. SkyGoblin decided to remake their game as a commercial release and present it in three separate chapters. Originally the games were released for PC, Linux, Mac and iOS. Now with the completion of the trilogy, the studio took the genre to the consoles. We got our hands on the Nintendo Switch version which has the added benefit of touchscreen ability while playing in handheld modus.
High on adventure
When I was young, point-and-click adventure games were all the rage. You can’t believe the epic adventures I experienced with the click of a mouse button during my childhood. My addiction for more adventures got fuelled by LucasArts and Sierra to name a few of the great studios from those days. Tim Shafer, currently of Double Fine fame was (and still is) my game developing hero. I was so “high” on adventures I thought my adventure days would never end. And then, out of nowhere, came the first-person shooters to end the reign of the point-and-click adventures once and for all. Too much of anything is never good but the fall of the genre I lived and breathed in those days left me baffled as I was yearning for more.
I had to search the digital back alleys of the internet to still feed my addiction. Some people still had love for the genre and started developing underground classics as a hobby project. The Journey Down began as such a freeware project by a studio called SkyGoblin. Well received by fans of the genre in 2010 they decided to take the plunge and try out if a commercial HD version would work. Slowly their project grew in fan base which made it possible to make a trilogy to round out the story. It’s these kinds of leap of faith I adore in the indie scene. Just making a game out of the shear love and passion for a certain genre and hoping people share your love enough to make it worth your while.
Caribbean Film Noir
The Journey Down tells the story of Bwana and Kito. Two street hoodlums who got adopted by a man called Kaonandodo. Once your foster parent disappears you are left running a small gas and charter operation in the city of St. Armando. One day, a woman called Lina, asks for Bwana’s help to retrieve a book called “The Journey Down”. You find out the book is a kind of guide to find the Underland, a mysterious and forbidden place filled with ancient treasures and artefacts that hold great power. Lina then asks your help to not only find the Underland but also escape the mobsters who’ve been chasing her all along her time researching the Underland.
This sets up a tale filled with great characters and epic backdrops. Along the way, you’ll learn about a greedy power company, corrupted politicians and shady police commissioner. The Journey Down is a story about people stuck in the oppression of the powers that be but It also tells about a small group of people forming a resistance group against everything wrong in their city. While all this sounds dark and heavy, the story is brought with such sense of humor you’ll laugh your way through each chapter.
Great voice acting
Part of the humor comes from the way each character is a well exaggerated stereotype. The actors who lend their voices to the characters really did a great job. About every accent you could think of is in the game. For example, Bwana and Kito are voiced as your typical Jamaican laid-back-don’t-worry-be-happy kind of guys. This gives you the sense they don’t even bother to realize the troubles they got themselves in.
Fun puzzles
An adventure is only as good as its story but the puzzles you have to complete can really make or break a game like this. Luckily, The Journey Down offer very logical puzzles. Nothing seems farfetched but still you’ll need to work your brain cells to progress in the story. Nowhere in the game, I felt the need to just go full on trial and error mode. The backtracking, often dreaded in these kind of games, was minimised through the use of clever “barriers” during your quest. Certain areas would not be accessible until a certain quest was finished.
Conclusion
The Journey Down offers a great story while solving logical environmental puzzles. The environments and the characters are all well designed. Every new area is designed in such a great way you get excited to go explore. The solutions are never too obvious but instead offer a nice challenge without going overboard. I spent a great time completing the three chapters and had my itch for more point-and-click madness be gone… at least for a little while.
