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The source files and a precompiled ZMachine storyfile of this adventure were recovered from a salvaged "Infocom hard drive", and made publicly available on GitHub in an effort to preserve them.

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Journey

by Marc Blank

Fantasy
1989

About the Story

Have you mettle enough to make siege on the Dread Lord himself? ...We shall see.

If you've ever been spellbound by a fantasy story, captivated by a role playing game, or enthralled by interactive fiction, Journey will rouse your imagination to new heights.

Join us in our Journey. Travel beyond the known boundaries of interactive software into a new world of computer storytelling. Marc Blank - the pioneering co-author of the enormously popular Zork and Enchanter trilogies - weaves a fabulous tale of great adventure, drawing from the highest art of storytelling and the excitement of role playing games to create a fascinating new kind of computer entertainment.

In Journey, you become part of a mesmerizing epic created in the tradition of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. For five long years, failed crops, tainted water, and sickness have blighted a peaceful land. Brave villagers have set forth to find relief for their suffering region, but none have returned. Now, yet another small band is preparing the begin the odyssey. You'll share the adventures of Tag, Praxix, Bergon, Esher, and Minar as they solve puzzles, overcome obstacles, explore unknown lands.

Pass into the world of Journey with ease. The game is simple to learn: your challenge lies in choosing the right path, casting the best spell, and knowing whether to lie or tell the truth. Your imagination will be taxed more and more with each passing day as the difficulties become increasingly complex.

As the tale unfolds, you become acquainted with the characters and their personalities. Each character acts on his own, sometimes advancing the quest, sometimes hindering it. You help them decide where to explore and what actions to take, taking part in their strategies and problem-solving.

The intrigue of a masterfully told story. The thrill of being a part of a great adventure. The challenge of leading the tale to its climactic conclusion. This is what makes Journey a uniquely compelling entertainment.


Game Details

Off-Site Reviews

SPAG
Though the parser is extremely easy to use, it makes for very linear game play. In most cases it is impossible to return to a room that you have just left. At times the game seems more like one of those Adventure Game Decision Books than it does a computer game, though it still presents you with many more choices to be made than the average book does. Still, the game allows less interaction than most text games do, and the graphics only partially compensate for it. Some sort of sound and music capability should have been included.

Journey's plot is a variation on that made famous by Tolkien and imitated many times since then. A Dark Lord (here called "Dread Lord" ) is wreaking havoc on the countryside and its populace, so a questing party is formed and sent to seek the wizard Astrix for his advice. After many perils, they reach Astrix who sends them on a quest to break the Dread Lord's power. Since Journey is only part 1 of the Golden Age Trilogy, and parts 2 and 3 were never written, we don't get to see the Dread Lord's final defeat.
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SynTax
The recounting of the tale in diary form, i.e. in the past tense and from Tag's point of view, is the first thing that makes this an adventure with a difference. (Tag can be renamed at the start so you can play as a character of your own choosing.) The second is the unique interface with which you guide your party of characters on their quest and which is simplicity itself to use.
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Page Update History

  v.4: 21-Apr-2019 05:18 - Tristano (Current Version) - Edit Page - Normal View
Changed download links
v.3: 06-Mar-2013 09:53 - Edward Lacey
Changed genre, external review links
v.2: 11-Dec-2010 15:35 - Michael Roberts
v.1: 19-Feb-2008 21:29 - Emily Short
Created page