Journey, once called Dragon, was almost rated Teen for being too bloody

pcgamer.com:

This past weekend Journey celebrated its tenth anniversary—probably the definitive title from thatgamecompany, the game casts players as a mysterious and be-scarfed figure who runs, surfs, and eventually soars through vast, mystical landscapes. It was originally released on March 13 2012 for PlayStation 3 (March 14 in the UK) before finally coming to PC in June 2019, and has received more-or-less universal praise: it is simply a singular experience.

Matt Nava is now the creative director at Giant Squid, developers of ABZÛ and The Pathless, but before this was thatgamecompany's art director during development of both Flower and Journey. To mark the game's 10th anniversary Nava shared some behind-the-scenes looks at how particular elements came together, and in the process showed how developers oft weave magical brocades out of cardboard and sticky tape.

Journey «set the course of my career and my art,» writes Nava. «I'm forever thankful to the community of players and their incredible love for the game.» He starts the tour by showcasing the various protagonist designs leading to the final character.

Every character here was playable at one point in an early version of the game. I went from humanoid to very detailed, and back to as minimal as possible. Each iteration was an important step in finding the final design. #Journey pic.twitter.com/i8D8m2jL7UMarch 13, 2022

One of Journey's standout moments is what I guess you'd call the surfing level. This is a game with a rhythm to it, and this section comes after the player has been solving puzzles and moving back-and-forth across a previous landscape: here the training wheels come off, so to speak, and you're given the joy of sliding down giant dunes, scarf trailing. 

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