Music and sound effects [FIXED]

[Ryusennin]

The bugs I reported in this discussion have been fixed.

If you still encounter bugs with the latest patch, please provide video recordings of PC and console versions like I did, instead of posting silly comments like "the patch is worse" or "it sounds awful", which don't help the developers.

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Back in June 2020, the initial Steam release of Journey was disheartening. Compared to the PS3/PS4 versions, the interactive music was broken beyond recognition. This was (unfortunately) not news. Those bugs had been around since the initial 2019 release on the Epic store.

In short, the music in Journey is made of streams that normally play simultaneously and complement each other, depending on what happens in the chapter. But in the PC port, some streams didn't trigger or they stayed locked in a loop until the end of the chapter. In some chapters, like the pink desert, the background music stopped playing after a while.

Some sound effects were also broken. For example, in the mountain chapter where you have to hide behind some headstones to protect yourself from the wind, the sound of the wind gusts was cut short before the wind actually stopped. In some chapters, the reverb was producing a constant, annoying loud rumble.

It appeared that, possibly for licensing reasons, the whole audio engine had to be rewritten on PC, and that task proved to be the hardest part of the port. Of course it doesn't excuse the fact that the situation was left unresolved for a whole year, but it's sad to say that most Epic customers never complained or even noticed.

Being very familiar with the console versions, I decided that this frustrating PC port deserved more than a passing effort and I published a critical review as well as a bug report on this forum, which gathered quite some support.

Original review: https://steamcommunity.com/id/ryusennin/recommended/638230/

I was then quickly contacted by publisher Annapurna, which (to their credit) didn't try to minimize the issues and asked me for feedback about the most glaring audio problems. Over the following weeks, I provided them with a thorough list of video comparisons to highlight what was broken and what was expected.

After testing a couple of private patches, I'm happy to report that the latest public patch released in July either fixes or largely improves most of the issues (big and small) I had reported on this forum. It is not 100% perfect, but it makes this version much more enjoyable and certainly recommended. Thanks to Annapurna and Nathan Gary for taking up the task of producing a better port despite a rocky start.

The remaining unresolved issues are:

1. The desert flower that is not correctly playing the four notes of Journey's main theme.
2. The dark piece of ground that is still visible when walking into the white fog at the end.
3. The wind sound that (sometimes, hard to reproduce) can be heard during the credits.

For the record, here's a list of several music and sound problems that were fixed or improved by the July patch.

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CHAPTER 2: PINK DESERT

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o Many music streams were missing, reverb was broken, music would stop.

PS4 version
https://youtu.be/So5_WUCCeb8

PC version [June release, bugged]
https://youtu.be/BEKHgAUr72U

PC version [July patch, fixed]
https://youtu.be/VDuhrs0PYEE

o Comets were not producing any sound.

PS4 version
https://youtu.be/So5_WUCCeb8?t=165

PC version [private patch, bugged]
https://youtu.be/VhTsPlnOBEo

PC version [July patch, fixed]
https://youtu.be/-FfgsQI_NMc?t=90

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CHAPTER 3: SUNKEN CITY

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o The guitar intro riff at the start of each of the three sections was missing.

PS4 version
https://youtu.be/aEMEMZdDpUo?t=10

PC version [June release, bugged]
https://youtu.be/4u3E48HHp2I?t=11

PC version [July patch, fixed]
https://youtu.be/TPhDKhw6Fpo

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CHAPTER 5: MOUNTAIN

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o When hiding behind the headstones, the wind sound was broken.

PS4 version
https://youtu.be/TM24ycxhB-o

PC version [June release, bugged]
https://youtu.be/dsCD0qulwWg

PC version [July patch, fixed]
https://youtu.be/-F6zvdPiq80

o The music theme at the start of the "graveyard" sequence was wrong.

PS4 version
https://youtu.be/uSe17b6v2jY

PC version [June release, bugged]
https://youtu.be/W41N-woRrCQ

PC version [July patch, fixed]
https://youtu.be/N24CyVwCYaY

o On the sidewalk, the wind sound was broken and the music theme was wrong.

PS4 version
https://youtu.be/gd2RzVMSmMo

PC version [June release, bugged]
https://youtu.be/XXoXiIJzHF0

PC version [July patch, improved]
https://youtu.be/LkBFOe48j80

o In the snow storm, the reverb was broken (SPOILER).

PS4 version
https://youtu.be/Q8Nmegq8r14

PC version [June release, bugged]
https://youtu.be/uV_UUy2s0jk

PC version [July patch, fixed]
https://youtu.be/A8n4m7U3Rxg

o After the snow storm, the scarf animation was desynchronized with the music (SPOILER).

PS4 version
https://youtu.be/rq4UKYhsmSI

PC version [June release, bugged]
https://youtu.be/-XFH3kyXK90

PC version [July patch, fixed]
https://youtu.be/f68XbenKr_w

o When crossing the mountain top, the reverb was broken and the footsteps were loud until the end (when they should have been silent). Those bugs have been fixed in the July patch. As mentioned above, the only remaining issue is the ground that should not be visible.

[No videos because spoilers.]

[Ryusennin]

Fellow Steamers, retweet this post if you want to help raising the issue.

[Mkilbride]

I bought it on Steam, I had it on PS3 , got it free on PS4 because of that...bought it on PC to support it, as I thought it was a unique experience.

But yeah...this is, eh...it's only 11$, but I'm not exactly so *flush* I can waste 11$ on a product I won't play.

Like 70% of this game is all about sound...and with that broken I mean...not worth playing.

I don't want to refund, but given how long it's been out on Epic...

[Stereokel]

They had over a year time to fix this. They don't and won't, trust me. Quick moneygrab and no more care about the product. That's the gaming industry nowadays.

[Szymciak]

I also noticed, that in the sand surfing area the music starts with a 3 second delay, because it's silent in the beginning... Such little things add up to a huge mess.

[Useless]

Tweet out to Jenova Chen too maybe he has clout to fix this

[Ryusennin]

Indeed, the sunken city ("road of trials") is missing many instruments.

Last demonstration from me and I'm done with this game for the time being. I've contacted everyone involved in this port (including Kotaku for good measure) and we can only hope for some feedback from the guys in charge.

In the pink desert (again), when you approach the desert tower at the end of the chapter, the ambiance on PC is particularly weak, with missing instruments and sound effects. Compare with the bombastic PS4 version.

PC version [weak ambiance]
https://youtu.be/nZjtiP0H1Wk

PS4 version [full-on ambiance]
https://youtu.be/FCsFRRse3t4

[Bru no zoid]

The music in Journey is not only excellent but essential so I am waiting until this issue is fixed to purchase my copy. Thank you for pointing it out!

[kaMMakaZZi9]

Thanks for this thread I will not be buying now, but I also wonder if I should now just to get Flower for free with it... this could never be fixed too.

[Novicecreed]

Wow that's just incredibly sad... Here I thought maybe it was my laptop bugging out or just you know "first day release bugs that will get patched later" type of thing, but now I see that it's just the way it is for this version... I still love the game to death and I will continue to enjoy it whether is in the ps3 or pc, but man the fact that they butchered the music is just upsetting.. Especially Apotheosis which is my all time favorite. Also yeah every time I reach the part with the "jumpscare", there are some really out of place loud mechanical noise just popping without anything even happening. Happened in my first two runs here so I guess thats a common bug too?

Edit: Does anyone else get issues with the menu after booting up the game not showing up for a minute or two even when you click all the buttons? Same for the "blastoff" part, no matter how much i spam the button to fly it just stays there preparing until it decides to finally go off.

[Ouoertheo]

i added this to my wishlist, but after reading this, i wont be purchasing.

[Ham Attack]

I'm not buying this either until it's fixed. As soon as they fix it, I will throw my money at them.

[Saxman]

i really wanna play this game, but i dont have a ps4 or xbox, what should i do?

[Bruno]

Thank you for taking the time to report this big issue! It's a real shame

[sellera]

Thank you for sharing your negative experience. I bought and, after reading your post, asked for a refund. Will keep the game on wishlist, hoping someday it will be fixed.

[Bergmeister_1981]

The Dev has the nerve to work on new games for the PS5 yet let this game port over broken as ****? wow....