Dear thatgamecompany team,

After many reflections and doubts, I couldn't come up with a better way to thank you properly than this - sharing my thoughts with my companions and fellow players, all over the world, hoping that this eventually gets to you somehow.
If it happens, I want you to know this. No matter who of you gets to read this letter in the end; everyone at thatgamecompany has, and will always have, my eternal gratitude for making it possible - for me and thousands of other players - to enjoy one of the most extraordinary, unforgettable, amazing experiences we will ever come across in our lives.

I think that, in a way, videogames are an unlucky medium. Not because of their popularity, which is immense, or their range of opportunities - for the truth is, in fact, the exact opposite. If, in this world and these times, there is a form of art which can claim to be creative, widespread, open to anyone and easily accessible, videogames are definitely that form of art, thanks to their interactive nature and their structure - an harmonic mixture of writing, music, visual art.
Not even the platform restrictions, in my opinion, are a great problem; the Internet allows us to share and buy walkthroughs, soundtracks and scripts, and provides us with every possible solution.
The problem with videogames - although, I reckon, it is slowly being solved - is that their marvelous potential is not fully recognised for what it is.
So it happens that many people on Earth do not know, or do not even want to believe, what the world of gaming can create. I feel really, really lucky instead; for life allowed me to discover this world, explore it, and grow to be a better person myself.
Videogames, as any other medium, consist in a range of works that go from average pasttimes to true masterpieces - masterpiece who can enter our souls, change our minds, give us hope and strength to make the world we live in better.
Journey is, without a doubt, in the number of these masterpieces.

As we tread the paths of this world, in our individual journeys, all of us human beings end up finding a chance of seeing beyond. It can pass unnoticed and forever missed; it can be sought after to be finally reached, or lost sight of; it can run to meet us, in harmony. What really matters is that, if we truly want to, we will always have another chance - a chance to see that, beyond our daily lives, there is something more to our existence.
There is a universal and wordless level, binding all the entities populating our universe, that shows through in our strongest emotions. Some call it God, some don't believe in it, some accept it as another part of reality we can't directly see. I am one of these people; and I believe that this state of mind, so different and outside us, is connected to our most irrational instincts - those that are, in the very first place, the essence of our life.

Journey captured the purest glimpse of this essence. For those who will want to listen to it, to feel it, to live it with their whole self, I think a new light will show through every time.
Journey reminds us how fragile and yet complex we are, so hopelessly, terribly beautiful, bringers of death and heralds of life - it teaches us once again, with utter simplicity and wordless beauty, how in need love and company we are, even though we are often enraged and eager to consume the vital energy of what lives around us.

I will never know what blessed chance made Journey possible, nor what strength brought your sensitive and great minds together to make it come to life. All I know is that, once again, your masterpiece reminded me that I believe.
I believe in the beauty of my world and the greatness of mankind, I believe in our capacity to love and communicate, and I put the whole of my trust in our ability to keep this belief alive.
I know it is bad out there, I really do, and cry very often for it. But trust me - those who die and suffer for the cruelty of others will always leave a trace behind, no matter who they are. When they die, they will still have existed, and will have shaped a tiny bit of this world even before they first started breathing.

I have made new friends, met new companions, found new people to rely on, and I have written new stories to share my love and affection for this game and the people who made it.
I add Journey to my collection of unforgettable emotions, and march on to my purpose in life - preserving art and beauty with all of my passion.

To the people who read this, to my Journey companions, to my friends, my fellow players, to you writers, developers, musicians and tester of thatgamecompany - keep being the way you are, in the army of those who fight to make the world better.
If you ever happen to feel alone and powerless, remember that at least one person, this lonely girl, is by your side, and never forget.

I believe in you.

With the utmost gratitude and affection, your fellow writer and Journeyer

Elisa, aka altairattorney/MasterPassionCreed.

September the 11th, 2012.