Why Journey's last song was the hardest for Austin Wintory to compose 

I am so beyond honored by this, you have no idea. Clayton: no one has ever produced a look at my work on this level before and I am just speechless over how great the final result is. I could never thank you enough for all the care and detail you put in; it's insane to me that someone would go to those lengths over work I did (almost a decade ago!) and so I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude today

Turn on the captions. The last one says: "sustained cello note that would make an angel weep" I'm crying. How true.

My boyfriend has complained about how hard this song is on cello, hearing it was just as difficult to compose is some sort of justice

Hot take: How Journey is a game that makes you comfortable with dying alone

I didn't realize this was Polygon when I clicked on it and was expecting something about the band Journey thankfully this is at least 1,006 times better

Fine I’ll listen to Apotheosis again, I haven’t cried in a while anyway.

I love the juxtaposition of Polygon. You have a video like BDG's most cuddleable Mortal Kombat characters one day and then a meaningful thought provoking video like this the next and then just some friends playing a murder board game. I love this channel and I love your content and I love the people who are here. Thank you.

"FEEL THIS MOTHERFUCKER." is gonna be one of my new favorite things to say now.

its so good to see journey is still just as emotionally compelling and absolutely beautiful as it was when it released. ive played it over and over and over, and never once have i gotten tired of it. its such a beautiful game, and the relationship between the music and the gameplay... that dynamic is so important. it adds that movielike quality, except you are the actor, and you're playing the main character. i dont think ive had an experience in a game like i have with journey, since ive played it. it is so uniquely amazing, and it wouldnt be anything close to what it is without the attention wintory paid to the soundtrack

Well I'm crying again, thanks polygon

I love Claytons sense of humor, some of my favorite examples from the video are: *wink* Mutually Assured D'Art W R O N G His editing is so well done as well, i loved when he decolored the orchastra in order to highlight Tina Guo, it was really helpful!

Just the small snippets of the soundtrack used in the video *still* send chills down my spine. Just so good.

I only played Journey one time because that experience was so perfect. I met a companion in the early going, and we stayed together until a terrifying moment right in front of the gate when I thought I'd lost them, only to have them come chirping a few seconds behind me. We walked through shoulder to shoulder. I never wanted to launch the game again. It would have been wrong to go without them.

Journey is one of the only games that has ever made ME as the player feel so many emotions. The silent story, wrapped in such a beautiful and dynamic soundtrack, has forever locked this experience in as an all time favorite. Thank you to all those who worked so hard on it!

"By the time I got to there I had it," Yeah that got a chuckle out of me

bdg’s kingdom hearts unraveled is quaking at this hero’s journey

When we re-awakened at the bottom of the mountain only to begin soaring towards the top, I always thought of it as our soul emerging from our body upon death, this bittersweet transcendency, and we pass through the gates of heaven as we reach the summit of the mountain. All at once, the music fades into a new beginning, an ending, everything and nothing.

“the harp and viola represents your online friends” *bold of you assume i would ever be friends with a viola*

Journey is a very special game to me. I've played it many times, and the fact the fandom is dying makes me very sad. The majority of players I encounter now only play it to get me to participate in their glitch escapades, which is not what the game is. Playing that game was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Through like 3 different playings of the game I've cried. One of the players i shared my journey with was Japanese, this is a game that transcends language, and countries. It helped me through the hard times. Thank you so much, Journey team, thank you.

I cry every time I play this game. My brother and Dad think I'm a sap, but I get so attached to the little wanderer and the music pulls me in so tightly, and by the end it's just softly saying, "You mad it. You did it. You can rest now, you can let go." The sheer effort it took to bring that musical feeling into existence only supports the feeling I get in turn. It's *meant* to make me feel that way. I love this game so much, I love how it's so connected with every little piece of it. Every texture you walk or glide on, every ray of light and reflection, every gradual gradient of color shifting to the next, and every note of music, is so specifically composted to carry you. It's such a precise science, and it's exactly what I mean when I tell people that art, and storywriting, and music, and video game creation, are all actual sciences.

Hey Clayton I really appreciated the 'mutually assured d'art' joke

I almost swiped away the notification for this because I thought, "Why would I care about the band Journey?"

He did an amazing job in composing this game’s music and as a result of the soundtrack it has become one of my favorite games. The final song always moves me.

Every time I watch a video about journey I cry. I haven't even played the damn game but it's just so powerful and the way everyone talks about it reminds me how beautiful art can be

Apotheosis is my favorite song from the OST! I love the story behind it- gives it a lot more meaning, especially remembering the song's climax and end.

I love a good leitmotif

God I loved this game and soundtrack. It still brings tears to my eyes! 😭

I haven't played journey yet so i just bought it. I'm gonna play it and THEN i'll watch this bad boy

yay! clayton content!! his videos are so good

Still my favorite game of all time. I've made a personal tradition of replaying it again every New Year's Eve to bring in a new chapter.

I truly didn't expect Journey feels in the year of our Lord 2019

Honestly, I need more episodes like this, about stuff like this please.

I’ve literally never played this game and watching this vid made me feel like crying what the heck

Thank you for posting content about the score of Journey 7 years later because 7 years later I'm still obsessed with it and it's my favorite video game soundtrack.

Hearing the music just in this VIDEO is making me cry, it’s so good

Polygon: "Journey is an orchestra following a Hero that gains so much yet in the end it all fades into deafening silence without saying a word" Also Polygon: "AM I WALUIGI OR AM I LUIGI?!"

That made me cry all over again. Man, I love this game so much. What an amazing video, what a journey. *wink*

Beautiful. Beautiful. One of the landmark gaming titles in 2010s. An emotional tale, and a moving soundtrack.

I remember when I played this game while I was still living at home. I played it alone in my room and knew it was something special. I moved my PS3 to the family room the next day and started another playthrough. By the end of that playthrough everyone in the house had slowly assembled, without a word exchanged telling them to sit and listen, and they watched me play until its completion. I love this game and I've replayed it recently. I own a digital version of the OST and listen to it often.

Fantastic video Clayton!!

Playing Journey for the first time is one of the few times a video game has made me cry. It was perfect in every possible way

Journey is in my like top 3 fav games, and the music is a huge reason for that. Nice job Wintory!

Thank you for this video. It definitely didn't make me tear up at all.

Journey was one of the first games I ever got for the PS3, and “Apotheosis” was the song that I came away with feeling as if I’d gone through an emotional battle. I listened to it over and over afterwards, and my heart would always feel like it was soaring. To know how difficult it was for Wintory to create what ended up being the game’s most soulful, impactful song for me is both eye-opening and inspiring as an aspiring creator. Thank you, Austin Wintory, for this utterly sublime soundtrack, and thank you Polygon for this interview!! 🧡💛🧡💛🧡💛

God the score for Journey still gives me literal chills

I realized journey was my favorite game when the soundtrack alone makes me cry

I'm so glad people are still talking about this game. This game has so much meaning to me and the soundtrack is definitely one of my favorites

Quite literally, listening to 10:27 made me tear up, and I've never even played this game. That's some absolutely astonishing talent, to make someone emote to something they have zero connection to.

all that work definitely paid off; Apotheosis is one of my favorite instrumental pieces ever

Austin I love love looooooove your music! Journey is fantastic and I listen to Banner Saga's soundtrack every winter constantly. I work at a winter festival and I listen to Banner Saga to get me in the mood for a day of cold frigid work outside! Seeing this video made me go dig up my Bandcamp account again so I could redownload those tracks. Can't wait to hear your next piece

Aaah one of my favourite game soundtracks of all time!

I like how charismatic this guy is.

This was a great peak behind the scenes and I really enjoyed Austin Wintory's visceral description of musical concepts! Did not even realize that the score changed when playing solo vs with someone else either, pretty neat little tidbit. He definitely knocked this one out of the park, I hope we'll be hearing more scores from him for some time to come.

Holy.... chills. Throughout this entire video. Chills. And tears. Can’t forget the tears. ....

And it became the best track in a soundtrack full of wonderful tracks. Well done Austin 😊

This was a very good video Clayton

excellent video! I've been a big fan of Wintory ever since I played journey and it's great he's getting a spotlight here

I’m so glad Journey is still getting the appreciation and recognition it deserves because it’s such a gorgeous and incredible game.

This game is still one of my all time favorites, THANKS to the music. It is a literal masterwork; thank you Austin!!

To me, this game is incredible. It's pretty much everything I could want in a game. It's an interactive painting, an experience! I would love to perhaps be a part of making a game as immersive as this on day. Gorgeous!

Honestly, thank you Clayton. That was a fantastic video. And thank you to both Austin and thatgamecompany for making a beautiful gaming experience. I wish I could go back in time to the first time I played Journey and experience it again. It is such a good game.

Whenever I rewatch this video I always want to replay journey to just adore the music and gameplay.

No joke, i literally cried a lot in this video, the scenes and the music were.. Something. All started with that bit of the cello(2:25) .

The whole soundtrack is fantastic, but Apotheosis has always been my favorite. I'm glad to get a chance to hear the background of how it came to be

I've played this game multiple times but I'm always blown away by the ending

I love the analyses of minute parts of video games that Polygon does. Please, never stop.

when he said 'only you' that got me

This is one of my favorite game scores ever composed. Thank you so much for making a video giving us a deeper look into the composition process! Amazing

I cannot state how happy a game like journey makes me. The relationship it shares with it's score is amazing and is something to whole heartily love. ❤️

I think Journey is one of the greatest games I've ever played because of it's emotional impact. Such a beautiful game and the music truly makes it amazing and touching.

I had the utter delight of seeing Austin conduct a live performance during Animex 2018. It was an incredible musical journey, from his earlier work, through samples and covers of various soundtracks, down to a beautiful, heart-rending crescendo of Apotheosis as the final piece. I had never played Journey, but it moved me in ways I can't put into words. I made sure to pick up a copy of the game's soundtrack on vinyl before I left-and he even signed it for me :)

This is going to make me cry again because of how gorgeous this game is 🥺 the music is so breathtaking, thank you for exploring it in detail!

I’ve never played or watched journey before but this video was so good it did make me cry

that was so good omg i want to play journey now

Knowing now how deeply the developmental relationship between the game and the music, both of which I still feel vividly to this day, just makes me appreciate the hard work that went into making Journey what it is: an embarkment and a return home. Thank you, Austin Wintory, and thank you Polygon for this video. I think I have to play Journey again now because my soul is gonna eat itself if I don't feed it some catharsis

And again, Journey made me cry. Wonderful video Polygon!

I can't really explain why but watching this video made me cry. Apotheosis is my favorite video game soundtrack song and I've played a lot of games with amazing songs over the years, and being able to hear about the story leading to its creation was amazing. Thank you to Polygon for making this, and thank you to Austin Wintory for....everything, really. I knew there was a reason Journey is my favorite game. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to bawl my eyes out for a few minutes.

This game was a true experience for me. I played it far later than many, but the entire experience from start to finish, the first time and eighth time, will always stick with me. Nacense always warms my heart, Road of Trials always gets my blood pumping, and Apotheosis always manages to beat the snot out of my feelings. The first time I ever played this, I was lucky enough to have a companion, who drew a heart in the snow at the very end as Apotheosis was finishing. Since then I've always felt that the snow was there to leave one last message to your companion. Hearing how much effort was out into that last track brings back all those memories.

I always saw Austin as this reserved, calm, musical god. This is not the case. I love how down-to-earth this guy is.

DAMNIT I CAN'T EAT MY SOUP WHILE I'M TRYING NOT TO CRY

i had actually forgotten the music for journey but this video made me cry, remembering it and experiencing it all over again

I just love this game so much. Hearing the music brings me back to a time I played this with a friend, and all was easy and fun and we had pizza and her pet lizard was sitting on her lap while playing. I’m not crying! You are crying!

Just when I thought I wouldn't cry again for Journey. Thank you all

When I played Journey for the first time I was completely blown away by how beautiful it was, how everything just fit together perfectly to create this masterpiece. It felt like magic to me, like I was playing videogames for the first time in my life. It's been my favorite game ever since.

Austin Wintory's works don't just set a mood, but establish an entire universe that you're stepping into. Easily some of the greatest orchestral pieces I've ever heard, and I find myself listening to his work (particularly from Journey) when I want to reflect or meditate.

A great video about the compositional process. It's amazing how even in the context of an interview, Austin Wintory's music still moves me.

I love that game so much, it's so beautiful I sometimes started it just to watch the sand react to the character movement. And I love the music so much I had at least one score on my standard playlist for three years. And I love Polygon, because, you know. And now I love all these things even more

Didn't think I was gonna tear up watching an explanation Polygon video but here we are.

I never knew about the game’s final theme being so challenging to create. This is a very insightful look into this theme’s ‘journey’, and the composer’s own words during the interview being both entertaining and also emphasized how much went into the theme’s completion. 9:36 was rlly unexpectedly hilarious! :D You put a lot of your emotional understanding into the composition behind Apotheosis and how it went from being so bombastic and loud into the final sound you heard since the beginning. The sound of the cello playing it’s final notes. This was such a fantastic video analysis! Marvelous job! (^^)b

Journey is the only game I've ever played that still regularly moves me to tears. Even after this long I still go back through and play every now and then, and every single time I still get those same emotional highs that came with the first time I ever watched someone else play it. I go back through every so often, don the white cloak, and hope to meet a little red robed player with those first one or two layers of their embroidery, and I walk through it with them right to the end. I will never forget the run done with someone I'm assuming was young and from Japan (just based on their user handle displayed at the end) and when we reached the summit of the mountain, they were so excited and drawing patterns in the snow, flowers and hearts and running in circles around me until we were ready to walk into the light together. Nothing hits me the same way and I still listen to the soundtrack all on its own when I'm out and about. It's a very warm and fulfilling game and every aspect is stunning.

Even videos about journey make me cry goddamn I love it so much

Currently cryin in the club rn. Thank you so much for this

i first played this game while i was relatively young and it really changed a lot of the way i viewed video games and art in general, because i didn't know you could make a something like this. its just suuuuch a beautiful experience.

Journey is a video game about many things, but mostly, it is a masterclass in how to say so much with no words. Even the in-game "chat system" has no words. Just a ping. As a fledgling composer, a hopeful game designer, a possibly-in-the-future-but-not-now-because-I-either-don't-have-time-for-it-or-no-one-has-approached-me-about-it video game composer, and a cellist, this video spoke to me, so much. I love the way in which Wintory just talks about his music and the way he composes. I also love that this video game was built and polished *by* the music itself. Fair play to you Austin Wintory.

I was so excited to hear the composer's thought process on this soundtrack, and I was not disappointed

Journey is one of those games where visuals, gameplay and soundtrack come together to create just an immensely enjoyable and emotional experience. I have huge respect for the work Austin Wintory put into making the score fit so perfectly with the gameplay and the intense emotions it evokes.

Brings tears to my eyes. Beautiful!

I’ve never heard of this game but the composing process and the sound track of it is so emotional to me. I definitely need more game composition videos

The music of Journey is one reason I always wanted to play it. I finally got to play it about a year ago, and a few time since. Every time, the score is incredible. I love being able to hear from the composer about the journey to make, well, Journey! Thanks for this video guys :)

Polygon is really making some amazing content lately. Fascinating!