The Last of Us and Journey are aesthetically two very different award-winning games, yet they are surprisingly similar on a very fundamental level — both are set in desolate worlds of civilisational ruin that naturally invite deeply humanist themes to the fore, through bringing to the fore the sacred act of bonding with a fellow stranger in the lenses of their protagonists.
The Last of Us is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a brain fungus pandemic has taken root and destroyed most of humanity. Journey is set in a desert where an ancient civilisation lays in ruin, and the only major landmark is the glowing peak of a mountain looming in the distance. Perhaps it is unexpected that such wildly different worlds would converge on the same theme — but at the end of the day, when you are surrounded by death and destruction, all you have is your fellow human.
In The Last of Us, Joel is a single father who lost his only daughter, Sarah, in the chaos that broke out when the pandemic first hit. You play as Joel, escorting 14 year old Ellie who is immune to the fungus across the mainland United States in the hopes that a vaccine can be developed.
In Journey, you play as a red-robed traveller making your way to the mountain.
The Last of Us is very dialogue-heavy while Journey doesn't feature a single line of dialogue — the entire narrative is communicated non-verbally through visuals.
Their scores are decidedly conventional — in terms of composition, they mostly stay within simple major or minor chords, and dance across accidentals only here and there for deliberate unsettling effect (rather than for the pleasant dissonance that is iconic of jazz, for example). The instrument choices are similarly so — the score of The Last of Us features strumming upon a guitar, while the music of Journey features a classical string orchestra.
The conventionality and simplicity in both scores lend very well to a simple key arc in both games, that naturally convey the evolution of relationships in The Last of Us as well as the progression of your pilgrimage in Journey.
The Last of Us starts in E minor. It features a key change to B minor, with a step anchoring itself in G major.
Journey starts in B minor and cycles through other keys as your journey unfolds through other landscapes.
A musical key consists of the default notes used within a song, similar to how an art piece has a color palette of particular hues. Similar to how we have names for color hues—such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink—notes in music are also assigned names going from A, B, C, D, E, F to G.
For a primer, you can watch our video or read our article on Understanding Musical Keys.
Following the Key Arcs
Musical Arc in Journey: The Cycle of Rebirth
The leitmotif in Journey is introduced when the player climbs their first peak and sees the mountain in the distance.
It comprises 4 notes, starting with B, stepping down to A before stepping up to B and C♯.
Journey's key first changes to F♯ while you are in the pink desert. It not only reflects the change in scenery – now encountering pink dunes and green skies — but also reflects a new step in your journey, now exploring an open world.
The key changes as your journey progresses into each new step.
The next key change happens during the sandsurfing chapter to A minor
Another key change happens in the underground chapter where it drops to C minor.
In the Tower, it steps up to D minor which is also preserved during the snow level.
Musical Arc in The Last of Us
The Last of Us first teases the gentle strums that make up its theme when Joel is carrying his daughter, Sarah, to her bedroom after she's fallen asleep.
From then on in, the theme is only teased when relationships between characters are developing.
It remains in E minor while Joel and Ellie are travelling with Henry and Sam.
By the end of the game, it has shifted to B minor.
There is a hint of dissonance when Joel is retelling a lie to Ellie.
