Development

Development refers to the process of the making of Journey. During this process there are ideas/concepts and various other things that had to be cut or changed before release, because they did not seem fit, didn't work out, or because of time constraints. Below is a list of changes during development, until the release of Journey.

Characters

 * The protagonist went through a number of major revisions starting as a very detailed "ninja warrior" and gradually transformed into a simple, almost abstract figure found in the final version.


 * Ancestors in beta version had a glowing symbol on their chest. These symbols can still be found in game files but are not used in the final version. Details can be found in the Symbols article.

Gameplay
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Environment
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Story
// Not sure where to put this, but here is an interesting comparison of how the story, the mood and the landscape all intertwine in Journey:

Unused Glyphs
There are two unused texture files that each show an alternate set of glyphs; these files give some clues on how the story developed. They include images that give better details on how the war machines work, how the land got covered in sand, and even the six Ancestors with their name symbols showing.

There is also an unused Tower glyph. This glyph has a mix of dark and light colors (suggesting that it might be unfinished), and shows different terrain that what is used in the final version.

There's also another unused glyph which you can actually find in the tower OOB area.

Some early glyphs were included in the files on the PS3 public beta at one point or another, but apparently never made it into the files of any final release. They include early ideas like bird war machines and a rocket ship.

Ancestor symbols (beta version)
Journey game files also include three unusual symbols called "Graveyard", "Barrens", and "Desert" (shown below).

These symbols do not appear to be used in the final game. In Journey beta version they appear on the chests of the Ancestors in cutscenes.

Level symbols exist as 3D models rather than flat textures.

Levels
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Videos, Documentaries about Journey Development
Some of the sources above have been edited together in this video by Tonton Hazuki:

The story of Journey - Artworks, prototypes, beta,
commented by thatgamecompany developers.

2019-05-31

Why Journey's last song was the hardest to compose
2019- 11-18

How Journey Was Made and Why The Developer Went Bankrupt
2020-03-15