The Journey to Wild Divine Biofeedback Software & Hardware for PC & Mac: The Passage
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Product Reviews of The Journey to Wild Divine Biofeedback Software & Hardware for PC & Mac: The Passage
Product Review: Magical Hero's Journey
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Journey helps people to see how a few concentrated minutes of deep breathing can have long-lasting effects." ~Deepak Chopra, M.D.
So you want to learn to relax and monitor how relaxed you have become? Do you love yoga and have a world inside your mind that is magical and an escape? This game is one that will be enjoyed by those who want a relaxation challenge or want to focus on mind-body mastery. The more relaxed you are, the faster you get through the game challenges. By using your mouse, you navigate through the game with a magic wand (you follow "swooshes" of stars). By using your breath to deepen your relaxation, you move forward into new worlds and exciting adventures.
So far during the game I've been able to get through all the areas that presented a challenge, but there were some times when it took a good five minutes of relaxing to light a fire, create a rainstorm or awaken the sleeping maiden. The rainstorm, complete with croaking frogs around a pond was comforting and absolutely gorgeous. The first time I tried to relax, I kept my eyes open. During some of the challenges, it is almost better to close your eyes and to imagine relaxing situations. The problem with seeing your "power to control the game with breath" is that it causes you to be less relaxed, therefore causing you to have to repeat the experience.
Some of the most interesting moments are when you breathe on a flower and it spins, when you laugh and you juggle balls, and when you awaken the maiden with your heart breath. Specific lessons are given for the breathing, but this means you have to make sure you go to all the rooms in one area before proceeding to the next section of the game. A few times I tried to venture further and a voice explained why that might not be the best idea. When I couldn't figure out what to do next, I navigated back to the "Lady of the Woods" cottage and looked in the mirror. This mirror shows you pictures and explains what you might want to do next. Once you have your magic bag and your guide you should then look for the Durga eyes that show you two colors (Blue and Magenta) - one for heightening your energy and one for decreasing energy.
In each area of the game there are guides who teach you how to meditate or explain how you can build stairways with your breath. Now and then you get to just relax and watch dancers or enjoy a view. As you move through each screen, look for hidden items! These are things you collect in your magic bag and use later in the game.
The Companion Guide is like a diary of the game experience. I would only advise reading the book first if you want to know all the secrets. It is much more exciting to play the game and discover each moment on your own. Throughout the game, there is music and guides appear to help you in your journey. A Bonus "Soul Flight" CD is fun to listen to when you are not playing the game, although the songs appear in the game. This game also contains a Bonus CD with an exclusive interview with Deepak Chopra, Animated Excerpts from his Book of Secrets, a preview of Wisdom Quest (the next game you add on to this one) and a Journey to Wild Divine Demo.
Unlike other games that seems to promote violence, this game has an especially loving message and awakens your inner imagery. You are not just an observer, but fully involved in the game, mind, body and soul. As you move through the game, you feel a sense of accomplishment and happiness. It is also wildly fun to levitate objects, light fires with your breath and enter rooms that amaze. By synchronizing your brain and heart, you boost your immune system. The biofeedback "light stone" measures your Skin Conductance Level and Heart Rate Variability through three sensors. The game cannot be played without attaching the finger sensors, but they are very comfortable and the cord is even long enough so you can sit on the floor or as I had to do one time, lie flat on your back and try to relax fully. While my eyes were still closed, different music started to play and I knew I'd relaxed enough to get through a door. If you get impatient with any section, you can come back later and try again.
There are ten hours of game play and you can bookmark a room or challenge and return later. Playing Journey to Wild Divine will also enhance your memory, open up your inner world and give you a place to escape to for soul healing. To say I adored this game is an understatement. I have never seen anything so beautiful. How can I just live in this land? The Journey to Wild Divine "The Passage" is the most exciting way to relax since the discovery of Yoga!
There is a sense of ecstasy when you realize you can heal yourself through your own breath and a feeling of contentment and empowerment soon follows. After a week of playing this game, I was much less stressed and seemed to be making healthier decisions based on the idea of reducing stress in my life.
~The Rebecca Review
Product Review: More Helpful Than You Realize
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading others reviews, I thought I would give my 2 cents worth. I received this product as a Christmas present - something I really wanted. I have been extremely pleased with the product, and would definitely recommend it to the right people. But I have realized that there could probably be more details about the game on their website for people who are blindly purchasing this product.
It was mentioned that the software is not user-friendly, but I have not had any problems with it. I found it rather easy, as a matter of fact.
It was also mentioned that this games takes over your computer screen. That is only true to some extent. Please note that you do not have to "quit" the game in order to go to other applications. If you hit "Ctrl/Alt/Delete" and bring up your task manager, you can then switch to another application, which will in turn minimize the game. However, when you return to the game, I suppose depending on your monitor, it will come back up a small size. I have a widescreen monitor, and the game comes back up in a small window. Actually, I suppose that makes it easier to navigate your desktop if you want to, but I prefer the game to cover my entire screen so as not to be distracted in any way.
As far as directions, the book definitely makes you think. But I did learn early on to read each location I was traveling to before starting gameplay in that area. If it didn't sound like it made sense, I would read it a few times before beginning gameplay.
As far as the difficulty/simplicity of the game, I would say that it is definitely an easy game for those who have mastered their breathing techniques and such. I feel that I am good at meditation and being quiet, but I have to say that this is still a good tool for me. I have anxieties, and I find that as I'm doing some of the breathing exercises, depending on which ones, my anxieties tend to kick in a little bit. This is helpful for me to learn to control these anxiety attacks and heart rate increases. Very frustrating when it happens during gameplay, but nonetheless a helpful experience for me. When trying to lower my heart rate, I sink when my heart jumps and the "glow" goes ALL the way to the right. Lol!
Again - this is not for everyone. I'm also not sure why people are buying it simply for biofeedback. I understood upon reading/learning about this game that the biofeedback equipment is simply a tool for the game to use - not for my own personal use, if that make sense.
I also find that it's just a beautiful game that gives you something really nice to focus on in your quiet times. And some of the music is incredible. I have found new music to add to my own personal library as a result.
Product Review: Never Been So Calm
Summary: 5 Stars
Just to warn you, if you have never meditated before with a biofeedback machine you are in for a surprise. My first few times meditating(before I purchased this game) were great...but then, it became harder and harder to achieve the original calm after that, not only that, it took longer and longer to achieve even the slightest amount of relaxation.
Then out of desperation, because my anxiety and self-consciousness were once again running and ruining my life, I bought this game. Now I am always relaxed and I can reach calm in minutes and stay focused for hours throughtout the day. It is amazing how the biofeedback, music and interest in trying to play the game can be so effective...again you will be amazed.
However, I did struggle the first few times trying to get into a groove, but once you hit that groove it stays around and is easy to obtain. I would say that it probably took me about 2 hours to hit my first state of calmness. That sounds like a long time and it is, but the game and the biofeedback make the time pass.
The second time playing I was already calm and moved through the game rather quickly. The third time and beyond I am able to succeed at the challenges pretty quickly compared to the first time. I am always calm now..which is a wierd experience for me..and always feel focused. Even little babies and animals come up to me now...just kidding.
For type A personalities I would just read the comments and lower your expectations for how fast you should succeed at this game. You will definitely need patience, but once you are calm..the pace of the game is just perfect. The frustration and patience will be worth it. Meditation is so such a simple process that it leaves with the impression that it can be obtained instantly...o' contrare, meditation requires mucho patience...and if you read this far in my comment you probably have the patience to succeed,and again, it is worth it.
Product Review: New age game with biofeedback
Summary: 4 Stars
I am only motivated to write a review if I think there is some observation I have that is not already captured in the product description or other's reviews. So I am going to try to focus on what I didn't get from other reviews and then what I found.
I found this game because I was looking for some sort of biofeedback tool. This has biofeedback instrument that connects to 3 fingers and interfaces to the computer with a USB. The sensors measure heart rate variability and skin conductance levels. When I refer to this as a game it isn't because it's keeping score per se, it is because if you are wanting to come at this from a clinical or scientific approach, you will be disappointed. That's not to say that there are not real science and psychology behind the technology, it is because the game presents it in a new age coating - for instance, calling the instruments "magic rings" and the USB device a "light stone". My initial thoughts were to roll with the premise and hopefully I would learn in the process. After spending time with the game, I think this is possible. If you are reading this wondering if you want to shell out nearly $150 and want to know more about what you're getting into, I have a few more observations.
I didn't find the hardware and software particularly polite or friendly. To get things to work, I ended up removing other USB devices. I am not sure what was going on, but I find that inconvenient and I have been rebooting the machine before or after the game to clear issues that I find with other software and devices. In the same vein, I don't like the way the software takes over the graphics display, resets the screen resolution, and virtually traps my use to the game until I exit. Of course, when the resolution of the screen has been changed like that, one's desktop and other applications are rearranged and re-sized. Not cool. While this means one can see the game's graphics to their best advantage, this practice of the programmers is simply rude. Also, even though one should allow proper time to get into the game, relax and meditate, once in a while one needs to quickly return to some other computer application, and one cannot simply minimize a game window - it has taken over, so one must quit and wait for around 3 screens of graphics or credits before one gets their computer back. Also rude. If you thought of using this at work for a quick way to take a meditation break, this will probably be a hindrance. Pity.
Essentially the game is a collection of biofeedback exercises placed in an imaginary world created by graphics - there are example screen shots available elsewhere so you can see what the world looks like. I must say in my complaining about the rudeness of how they are implemented on one's machine, they create a rather stunning effect - almost taking advantage of the fuzziness of the graphics to create a more mystical looking world. One needs to negotiate the world by choosing directions and various nodes to discover locations of the exercises. Although there is a map, when one is in the game it is difficult to know where one is or one is going and this is not what is useful in a game meant for relaxation. Some exercises are well-explained in context and even on the first tries one can start to get the wordless kind of thinking one needs to affect changes in the autonomic system by working with conscious thought. However, there are some exercises that I have no idea what I am supposed to do and nothing within the game seems to tell me. I then found the accompanying book that gives hints. While I am capable of reading, it is kind of a drag to try to use the computer with one hand, have the sensors on another hand, then try to juggle a book that is mostly trying to build a sense of fantasy as much as helping one learn how to best use the game as a tool.
There is another product by the same group called "healing rhythms" which seems to be much of the same exercises but without the metaphor of the fantasy game to wade through. It also includes tools to actually graph the inputs from the sensors, seemingly to allow one to approach the biofeedback from more of a clinical, scientific way. If this is true, I probably would have been happier with this approach versus the approach of this game. However, if you wish to be able to enter a world of gardens, landscapes, and buildings to explore while at the same time discovering exercises along the way, the Journey to the Wild Divine could be for you.
Product Review: Not a Good Investment for Most People
Summary: 2 Stars
What bothers me about having to write this review is that I was really looking forward to recommending this system. I have to admit that the idea of an interactive video game based on your own biofeedback had me sold. I believe I remember reading somewhere that this game is supposedly a lot like Myst. What could be more cool than puzzle-solving, exploration and meditation all in one convenient game?
While the potential seemed to be there, the execution here is just downright flawed. This game is no Myst! I would compare it more to one of those kid's educational titles where you do a bunch of silly activities with rabbits and turtles to learn to read: in fact this game may be far more suited to three or four year olds than adults (although I question whether children would have the patience to play this game). As it is, I suspect most people do not have the enormous reserve of patience it must take to get through this game; and once you finish it (total gameplay time is only eight to ten hours at best), I can't see why one would want to replay it.
You start out the game as a "Seeker" and meet a kindly woman named Sophia who hands you a magic wand and makes you take a deep breath to enter the magical kingdom of Wild Divine. After that, there is absolutely no plot whatsoever. You meet a bunch of strange characters who speak to you as though you're a little child. They all repeatedly explain the concept of the deepth breath (counting in to 7, holding, counting out to 7). This allegedly relaxes you; however, this particular form of meditative breathing does not work for everybody, myself included, and you may need to experiment to find another meditation technique to successfully release tension (I personally find using a mantra far more effective).
Exploration in this game is extremely limited. The map is pretty small, and there are clearly linear paths to go from place to place. The only reason you even know what you're supposed to be doing in this game is by trudging back to a "Magic Mirror" that tells you what your next quest should be. I found it strange that the game designers wouldn't just have in-game characters tell you what you should be doing and why, but I suppose this would have involved writing a story for the game. As it is, when the Magic Mirror tells you to fetch flowers as an offering to the Drejja, you'd better not expect any answers about who or what the Drejja is and why you should be making offering to him/her/it.
Gameplay is similarly unsatisfying. There are very few items to find as you go about your journey. Along the way you can choose to click on various activities like juggling, making birds fly in circles, and "archery." I suppose this is the real heart of the game, but these activities aren't that different from each other. Almost all of them involve deep breathing until you slow your pulse down enough to complete the activity. Umm, so basically to make birds fly in circles you take deep breaths and relax. And to shoot an arrow you take deep breaths and relax. And to juggle you take shallow breaths to "build energy." And to build a fire you take deep breaths and relax. Those four sentences just gave away about 75% of the game...
All in all, highly disappointing. In fact, until biofeedback gets to the level where you can monitor brain waves in your home while playing a video game, I suspect that using biofeedback to monitor the results of meditation will just produce silly results like we have here in this game.