History Heartwarming / Journey2012

* Arguments can be made for just about the entire game, but the final chapter: after freezing to death on the way to the peak, the White Robes who have been imparting the sad story of their lost civilization restore the player to perfect health and send him/her to the top of the mountain, a Shangri-La-like playground of red-cloth creatures and limitless, scarf-replenishing energy and beautiful, pure snow to slide in, ending in a plateau of sand suitable for writing simple messages or drawing pictures to communicate with your partner.]]

* The Final Confluence. After rising to the top of a great shaft-temple, the Wanderer(s) commune once more with the White Robes as the ceiling lights up in a brilliant display...and illuminate a grand mural portraying the Wanderer(s)'s journey from the empty tombstone-strewn dunes to the mountain. The combination of beautiful imagery and equally-beautiful music positively ''radiates'' a very parental pride in the Wanderer's accomplishments.

* Players that make an effort to keep their partner's scarfs all charged up, especially when one traveler messes up an obstacle and the other jumps down to help them. It becomes more critical up on the icy mountain, where these two strangers can keep each other from freezing in the snow out of nothing more than compassion. When these two get to the top part of the peak and find that this doesn't work anymore, it usually doesn't stop people from trying.

* Arguments can be made for just about the entire game, but the final chapter: [[spoiler: after freezing to death on the way to the peak, the White Robes who have been imparting the sad story of their lost civilization restore the player to perfect health and send him/her to the top of the mountain, a Shangri-La-like playground of red-cloth creatures and limitless, scarf-replenishing energy and beautiful, pure snow to slide in, ending in a plateau of sand suitable for writing simple messages or drawing pictures to communicate with your partner.]]
** Extra heartwarming since the cutscene leading to this area [[spoiler: depicts you flying alone through the clouds and the new area is big and initially confusing, so a new player might be tempted to think that they permanently lost their partner]]. And then you hear the chirps and your screen corner lights up.
* The Final Confluence. [[spoiler: After rising to the top of a great shaft-temple, the Wanderer(s) commune once more with the White Robes as the ceiling lights up in a brilliant display...and illuminate a grand mural portraying the Wanderer(s)'s journey from the empty tombstone-strewn dunes to the mountain. The combination of beautiful imagery and equally-beautiful music positively ''radiates'' a very parental pride in the Wanderer's accomplishments.]]
** [[spoiler: Hints, however, at TearJerker; the mural ends with the Wanderer(s)' beaten down and collapsing in the wind and snow. When the Wanderer looks questioningly at the White Robe, the White Robe's manner is silently apologetic.]]

** Not to mention that an uninitiated player, after [[spoiler:dying in the blizzard, the player is resurrected ''alone'', and there's no indication that their partner is being resurrected too, and the last, most triumphant part of the journey feels like it must be made alone.]] Among the most heartwarming moments in the game is finding your partner again.

* Players that make an effort to keep their partner's scarfs all charged up, especially when one traveler messes up an obstacle and the other jumps down to help them. It becomes more critical up on the icy mountain, where these two strangers can keep each other from freezing in the snow out of nothing more than compassion. [[spoiler: When these two get to the top part of the peak and find that this doesn't work anymore, it usually doesn't stop people from trying.]]
** Relatedly, players that chirp a lot even where there's no need to because the scarves are all charged up, just to chat with their partner. And keep doing so until the end [[spoiler: even when you don't have a scarf or even a voice anymore, and you can't hear the sound of your partner's voice or even see the symbol... but you can see their body make the jerky motion as you both trudge up the snowy mountain. Having a partner still tirelessly trying to reach out to you and encourage you even when it has no practical use and you can't hear it... makes the coldest part of the journey the most heartwarming as well.]]

!!Band:

* ''Only The Young'': During the initial recording sessions for their ''Raised on Radio" album, the Make A Wish Foundation let Journey know of the plight of Kenny Sykaluk, a young boy in Cleveland dying of cystic fibrosis. Journey flew that day to the boy's bedside, gave him a Walkman with a copy of the then-unreleased "Only The Young" and other memorabilia items. Being at the boy's deathbed greatly affected the band members, to the point that even years later, they still break down in tears recalling it. Full story [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_the_Young here]], with the Behind The Music retelling [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4iYY4IOer8 here]] at 5:13.

!!Game:

* For an uninitiated player the list of companion names at the end can be one. If you didn't know before that those were ''real'' people accompanying you on your journey, the realisation that you were never going it alone it truly touching.

* For an uninitiated player, the list of companion names at the end can be one. This troper's friend played through an entire run while unaware that the game has a form of multiplayer. Upon seeing the list of companions, and realizing that they were all ''real people,'' he was nearly reduced to tears, and rendered completely speechless for a good minute and a half.

* The Final Confluence. [[spoiler: After rising to the top of a great shaft-temple, the Wanderer(s) commune once more with the White Robes as the ceiling lights up in a brilliant display...and illuminate a grand mural portraying the Wanderer(s)'s journey from the empty tombstone-strewn dunes to the . The combination of beautiful imagery and equally-beautiful music positively ''radiates'' a very parental pride in the Wanderer's accomplishments.]]
** [[spoiler: Hints, however, at Tear Jerker; the mural ends with the Wanderer(s)' beaten down and collapsing in the snow. When the Wanderer looks questioningly at the White Robe, the White Robe's manner is silently apologetic.]]

* This troper decided to send a thank-you message to her companion. The companion sent back an e-mail in thanks and apologized for any bad grammar since they were translating their Japanese message into English. This troper felt touched that the companion took the time to do that.

* Arguments can be made for just about the entire game, but the final chapter: [[spoiler: after freezing to death on the way to the peak, the White Robes who have been imparting the sad story of their lost civilization restore the player to perfect health and send him/her to the top of the mountain, a Shangri-La-like playground of red-cloth creatures and limitless, scarf-replenishing energy and beautiful, pure snow to slide in, ending in a plateau of sand suitable for writing simple messages or drawing pictures to communicate with your partner.]]

!!Video Game:


* I played a game with a [[spoiler:white-robed]] companion, who did me the kind favor of leading me to all the glowing symbols and some of the special fixtures (the desert flower and the mysterious Ancestor creature in the temple). Lacking a way to thank her, I settled for running in circles around it and her whenever she showed me something, singing in little bursts to express my excitement to go with my 'dance'. I don't think I was very good at it at first, but I think she got my message. We traveled together for the whole jouney; when I slipped up and was attacked by a war machine, she came to help me even though she could have stayed in safety. We sang to each other all the way up the mountain, even after we stopped being able to make noise. When we made it to the last part of the climb, she froze first, and I was so sad to watch her fall, but it was even worse to think I'd have to go even one step further without her. I wasn't sure I'd see her again because I wasn't sure if the last journey to the summit had to be made alone, but there she was! And when we landed, she danced around me in a circle, singing. And we danced in circles, and flew up to the peak together. When we made it to the top, there is a ledge of sand with no wind: I hadn't noticed, but it's possible to leave footprints. I thought she was just dancing around me again, but when she finished, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming she had drawn a heart around me in the sand.]] [[TearJerker I have never cried so much, for something so simple.]]

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* From the VideoGame:

** I played a game with a [[spoiler:white-robed]] companion, who did me the kind favor of leading me to all the glowing symbols and some of the special fixtures (the desert flower and the mysterious Ancestor creature in the temple). Lacking a way to thank her, I settled for running in circles around it and her whenever she showed me something, singing in little bursts to express my excitement to go with my 'dance'. I don't think I was very good at it at first, but I think she got my message. We traveled together for the whole jouney; when I slipped up and was attacked by a war machine, she came to help me even though she could have stayed in safety. We sang to each other all the way up the mountain, even after we stopped being able to make noise. When we made it to the last part of the climb, she froze first, and I was so sad to watch her fall, but it was even worse to think I'd have to go even one step further without her. I wasn't sure I'd see her again because I wasn't sure if the last journey to the summit had to be made alone, but there she was! And when we landed, she danced around me in a circle, singing. And we danced in circles, and flew up to the peak together. When we made it to the top, there is a ledge of sand with no wind: I hadn't noticed, but it's possible to leave footprints. I thought she was just dancing around me again, but when she finished, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming she had drawn a heart around me in the sand.]] [[TearJerker I have never cried so much, for something so simple.]]

* ''Only The Young'': During the initial recording sessions for their ''Raised on Radio" album, the Make A Wish Foundation let Journey know of the plight of Kenny Sykaluk, a young boy in Cleveland dying of cystic fibrosis. Journey flew that day to the boy's bedside, gave him a Walkman with a copy of the then-unreleased "Only The Young" and other memorabilia items. Being at the boy's deathbed greatly affected the bandmembers, to the point that even years later, they'd still break down in tears recalling it. Full story [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_the_Young here]], with the Behind The Music retelling [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4iYY4IOer8 here]] at 5:13.

* During the initial recording sessions for their ''Raised on Radio" album, the Make A Wish Foundation let Journey know of the plight of Kenny Sykaluk, a young boy in Cleveland dying of cystic fibrosis. Journey flew that day to the boy's bedside, gave him a Walkman with a copy of the then-unreleased "Only The Young" and other memorabilia items. Being at the boy's deathbed greatly affected the bandmembers, to the point that even years later, they'd still break down in tears recalling it. Full story [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_the_Young here]], with the Behind The Music retelling [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4iYY4IOer8 here]] at 5:13.

* During the initial recording sessions for their ''Raised on Radio" album, the Make A Wish Foundation let Journey know of the plight of Kenny Sykaluk, a young boy in Cleveland dying of cystic fibrosis. Journey flew that day to the boy's bedside, gave him a Walkman with a copy of the then-unreleased "Only The Young" and other memorabilia items. Being at the boy's deathbed greatly affected the bandmembers, to the point that even years later, they'd still break down in tears recalling it. Full story [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_the_Young here]], with the Behind The Music retelling [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4iYY4IOer8 here]] at 5:13.