 Journey received high acclaim from critics who praised the visual and auditory art direction as well as the emotional response playing with a stranger created . It received the IGN Best Overall Game Award for 2012 and Ryan Clements of IGN described the game as " the most beautiful game of its time " , saying , " each moment is like a painting , expertly framed and lit " . Jane Douglas of GameSpot concurred , calling it " relentlessly beautiful " and lauding the visual diversity of the world and the depiction of the <unk> sand ; Matt Miller of Game Informer added praise for the animation of the sand and creatures , saying the game was visually stunning . The music was also complimented , with Miller describing it as a " <unk> musical score " and Douglas calling it " moving , dynamic music " . 
