Journey to the Center of the Earth
- July 22, 2016
- Frogwares
- 23h median play time
Get on Steam"Journey to the Center of the Earth" is a first-person adventure game featuring beautiful 3D graphics and a superb storyline. Players, as photojournalist Ariane, explore a hidden world beneath Iceland filled with exotic landscapes, unique civilizations, and strange creatures. As you solve puzzles and uncover clues, the game reveals a shocking secret in this epic adventure.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features beautiful graphics and nice visual scenes that evoke nostalgia for classic adventure games.
- The story has an interesting premise and can be engaging for fans of the genre, providing a unique experience despite its flaws.
- The game is a decent classic point-and-click adventure that can be enjoyable for those who appreciate retro gaming.
- Navigation is frustrating due to poor hotspot detection and pixel hunting, making it difficult to interact with objects and move between scenes.
- Many puzzles and content from the original version are missing or altered in the current release, leading to a lack of clarity and progression.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs, inconsistent mechanics, and subpar voice acting, detracting from the overall experience.
- story20 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The story has received mixed reviews, with many describing it as mediocre and filled with clichéd characters and fetch quests. While some players found it charming and entertaining in a quirky way, others criticized the lack of clarity and frustrating gameplay mechanics that detracted from the overall experience. Despite its flaws, a few reviewers appreciated the engaging plot and the potential for a captivating narrative.
“Certainly has a longest journey vibe and the story was interesting enough to stick it through, with some tricky minigame puzzles.”
“With a point-and-click system and gorgeous locations, this game has a nice plot and some good use of the items.”
“Thanks Frogwares, you guys are master storytellers and creators!”
“The story, honestly, was rather mediocre.”
“All of the characters are mediocre, just as the story itself.”
“The story and progression are not clear in the slightest and I have encountered many bugs while playing this game.”
- gameplay6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for its frustrating mechanics, particularly the character movement and excessive backtracking, which many users find outdated and unenjoyable.
“The movement mechanics of the character you play, Ariane, are terrible.”
“Very frustrating gameplay with a lot of backtracking and outdated mechanics.”
“Very frustrating gameplay with a lot of backtracking and outdated mechanics.”
- graphics3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game, while considered exceptional for its 2003 release, are marred by choppy character movements and various graphical glitches. Overall, players find the visuals charming yet tolerable, though some aspects, such as the user interface and pixel-hunting, detract from the experience.
“The graphics are exceptional, although the characters' body movements are rather choppy. However, when this game was originally released in 2003, the stick-man-like movements were acceptable, as the visual graphics were so amazing at that time that one might have been in a state of rapture.”
“The graphics are tolerable (considering it's from 2003), but they feel outdated and lack the polish expected in modern games.”
“There are so many issues I've lost count: pathetic graphical glitches, horrible pixel-hunting, and a counter-intuitive and inconsistent UI.”
“The overall visual presentation is disappointing, with numerous graphical glitches that detract from the experience.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely unintentional, with players finding amusement in the absurdity of the dialogue and the repetitive fetch quests. While it can provide some laughs, it often feels more like "laughing at" the game's shortcomings rather than a deliberate comedic effort.
“At times (when it wasn't too frustrating), I enjoyed the game because I was laughing at the absurdity of the dialogue and the nature of all the fetch quests and 'fix-it' quests.”
“Definitely 'laughing at' and not 'laughing with', as the game does not try to be funny.”
- music1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's music is praised for its chill vibe, enhancing the retro experience and contributing to the overall aesthetic appeal. Reviewers appreciate how the soundtrack complements the visuals, creating a captivating atmosphere.
“The game offers a fantastic retro feeling experience, and I wish I'd found it years ago. The chill music is so pretty and complements the resolution beautifully.”
“The soundtrack perfectly captures the essence of the game, enhancing the overall atmosphere and making every moment more immersive.”
“I love how the music evolves throughout the game, creating a dynamic experience that keeps me engaged and adds depth to the gameplay.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often describing it as user-hostile and cryptic, which detracts from the overall experience.
“One of the most tedious, user-hostile, cryptic games I've ever played.”
“The grinding feels endless and lacks any meaningful reward.”
“It's frustrating to spend hours grinding only to make minimal progress.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with players reporting numerous issues such as frustratingly slow terrain traversal, nonsensical puzzles, frequent graphical glitches, inconsistent user interface, ineffective pixel-hunting mechanics, broken game triggers, and lackluster voice acting, all contributing to a frustrating experience.
“There are so many issues I've lost count: unskippable snail-speed terrain traversal that wastes your time, nonsensical puzzles, pathetic graphical glitches, counterintuitive and inconsistent UI, horrible pixel-hunting, broken game triggers, deadpan voice acting, and so on.”
“The game is plagued by constant crashes and freezes, making it nearly unplayable at times.”
“I encountered numerous bugs that completely broke my progress, forcing me to restart multiple times.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is hindered by the protagonist's awkward movement, which detracts from the player's immersion and connection to the character's journey. The sensation of "sliding" rather than walking may create a dissonance that affects the overall emotional engagement.
