Strange Journey Review - 1/1

Maturity is a strange beast. I often struggle with the concept of maturity when I'm writing reviews for video games, editing a podcast about video games, buying video games, and even playing video games. It strikes me as a little juvenile to have so much of my life revolve around a hobby that amounts to jostling plastic to manipulate electronic personae. But at the same time, it's a hobby that's important to me and hey, everyone needs a hobby, and also it's better than most of the shit that's on TV these days. Still, I'm offered a bit of comfort by the extensive community my hobby shares, as well as the video games I like to think of as “mature”, a list of which includes the likes of the Silent Hill series, Kane & Lynch, Gears of War, them Ico games, etc.
The unifying element of those titles, I've begun to notice, is a pervading sense of loss. I felt like, growing up, these games embodied something I thought was going to become more and more a part of my life. But something about Strange Journey, a video game on the Nintendo DS, lead me to conclude that maturity and being mature aren't what I thought they were.
Strange Journey is another one of those games I was so ready to like. I forget where I first heard about it, but I remember seeing the Japanese cover and hearing that the English title would be Strange Journey.

That robot just gave me a boner.

The setting intrigued me from the start. How often do you get to play as gun-toting science robot (okay it's a suit) exploring a spreading demon dimension in the North Pole? Never! The contemporary setting is the first clue to the game's unbelievable intelligence. Indeed, intelligent is Strange Journey in one word. The game wasn't designed so much as it was constructed. The semantic difference being that the former is based on vision, elements picked from other sources into something the designer hopes will be fun, the latter being a collection of logically harmonious elements that make the game less about a vision and more about a realization.

Okay so enough with the wordplay.

Strange Journey is one of the smartest games ever made. It makes so much sense it borders on the obscene. From the big things like the story and it's sensible propulsion to the little things, like the fact that you're on a modern exploration crew so of course you have a gun. Levelling is explained away with the suit, along with the demon recruiting, in a unique blend of modernity and folktale. You recruit demons through various means and have them fight alongside you, fusing them and negotiating with them to find a better way to traverse the environment. Forge new demons, collect materials to make new weapons and armor, the entire game lies at the behest of the player. It begs you to poke and prod it, to travel down the rabbit hole and have fun while you tumble.

Doppelganger will get you out of so many sticky situations.

What's more is nothing is ever left by the wayside, your Log and Compendium keep a detailed record of your current goals and all the demons you've seen and recruited. So say you've left the game alone for a few weeks. You come back and... oh right, I was hunting down this creature. All the random encounters keep their weaknesses logged, and all the moves have descriptions and go with the creatures who have them. The game is just infinitely playable. There's no reason a person can't play this and have fun with it. There's even a demon password system. So you can share awesome demons with your friends, or if you're having trouble with a section you can ask a friend or look up a guide on the internet for useful demons (offset of course by the fact you can't summon demons beyond your level and it takes tons of money to bankroll such a group). And it's immensely entertaining to just experiment with fusions, walk around for a bit, or pick up a few items and save and not play for days.
The Odd Adventure even has traces of some WRPG influences. The story is direct and slim, succinct but thoughtful when it needs to be. There is even an alignment system, one that matters. Real choices affect your standing from various degrees of Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. But it one ups the games it's cribbed from by making this standing important in gameplay from moment to moment. Weapons require a certain alignment, it's easier to recruit certain demons depending on alignment, and in battle you can trigger co-op moves with demons on your team of the same alignment. There's not a single trace of unnecessary elements. It all just clicks and meshes for one of the best RPGs you can have. It even subverts the common JRPG trope of practically requiring a guide (something that murdered Persona 4), by giving so much leeway with experimentation (demons join easily, can be bought back at any time, multiple apps that affect fusions, etc.), but still keeping a few secret things that blow your mind when you finally do just give up and check the internet.

Unorthodox Romp

Of course it isn't perfect. Segments after tough bosses are agonizingly long. I just had one of the most harrowing RPG fights of my life, let me save and then continue the story. While we're talking about bosses, I feel the need to mention that late game bosses are fucking horrifyingly hard. A few of them I had to get by with a bit of luck, but efficient strategy and a well planned demon team will get you through nearly any encounter (except the last boss who is an absolute bag of dicks). Finally, uh... I guess the music isn't so good. Still, given the Shin Megami Tensei series's pedigree, this comes as somewhat of a disappointment (however the music is, if nothing, distinct).

All of which can be forgiven for this.

However, the game is less part of a series, or part of a genre, so much as it is the culmination of something. It contains everything I ever loved about the first few Pokemon games, about Final Fantasy, about Mass Effect. It's like meeting an old best friend, someone you used to play with in 6th grade or something. Then, your 20's roll around, you become a much wiser, educated individual, and you meet them again through chance. You meet for a cigar, or a drink, and find that they've been finding interest in the same things you have, that they're just as much the friend they were all those years ago, that though you both hold the capacity for childishness you've also matured in your own ways.
It's like warranted nostalgia. It's like gambling on the luckiest day of your life. It's like unconditional love. It's like all the naivete you've had your entire life finally paying off with the realization that growing up doesn't have to be sad. It doesn't have to be the loss of your childhood. Just the gain of something more.
Strange Journey has taught me so much more about life than I care to attribute to jostling plastic around to get to the next level, or meet the next strange new creature. But better than that, it's just a great video game. What more could you ask for?
Strange Journey gets this website's highest honor: 1 out of 1.