The Journey to Wild Divine Biofeedback Software & Hardware for PC & Mac: The Passage
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Customer Reviews of The Journey to Wild Divine Biofeedback Software & Hardware for PC & Mac: The Passage
Customer 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.
Customer Review: Fell short of hype
Summary: 3 Stars
The package is beautiful, the bio feedback (Light Stone) could be useful if you get the expansion pack but the program itself is not ready for prime time.
One gets the feeling that their intentions were in the right place but they didn't have the technical skills to pull it off. While the pictures in the program are generally pleasant they are at least 1 if not 2 generations behind graphics found in any other game today. The game only plays in 600 x 800 resolution which on 17" or larger high res monitors looks low class and fuzzy. The pixals are so large that all movement on the screen is just slightly out of focus scenery. The same for all the backgrounds of mountains and waterfalls. The settings could have been beautiful but end up almost cartoon like.
The bio feedback which controls much of the game is not very sensitive to your real mood. You can mostly control it by either breathing slowly or rapidly and think whatever you want. There aren't any puzzles involved in the play and the movement is strangely slow for a game in low res graphics that is totally loaded on your hard drive. I guess they are trying to teach you to be calm inspite of the maddenly slowness of the game. You move by pointing a wand then the game pauses and starts to move (mostly slightly out of focus objects) then stops and you wait for the wand to reappear to start all over again. This game almost feels like it was a port from a pre pentium world.
I will agree on one area, that is kids under 12 will probably like it. So like the parents as it contains no violence or even moderate action. The music is standard new age and all the characters you meet seem to think that you are about 8 years old or at least that is how they talk so don't expect that the secrets involve anything intellectual only a lot of breath in to the count of seven and breath out to the count of seven. I guess that is all there is to do in Wild Divine.
Customer Review: Great idea, but needs more structure
Summary: 3 Stars
This software is beautiful... you can choose where to go, what you want to do at anytime. When you choose a direction, it changes to video as if you were walking. The graphics aren't the same as today's standards, more like mist circa 1995, but they are great enough.
The unique & beautiful surroundings are awesome. The use of real actors on video adds a real human feel to it.
Seeing your temperature & heart change just on the settings area of the menu before you start the game was cool by itself. You can see it jump immediatly when your mood changes, it's amazing.
The only thing that bothered me as a person who actually has a type A personality was too many choices.. it made it seem more a chore. I didn't know where to go next. It gives a guide like reading a journey novel, but it only confused me a little. Also when doing some of the exercises, I couldn't do it & it fustrated me 100x more. Some others I were easy to me, but even then I wanted more bang for my success. I noticed I really needed the "Dudra Eyes" because it shows on a picture of an eye a scale how close I am getting or if I start to lose my focus/moment. You have to get the eyes in one of the locations.
Funny enough, the only way I could complete a task was to think of past massages I'd given when there was a great connection & trance happening. I am a licensed massage therapist who does Reiki as well & found this ironic & also more proves I should keep to my calling. Maybe we should all head to what our hearts say, if not as a career, but at least as a hobby or side job to share with others to keep ourselves calm & happier & healthier.
I was glad I could bring it back just because of the price since I am not rich, but looking around, this was the most inexpensive software that includes cool exercises to do, not just show your heartrate.
Customer Review: Disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
As a commercial software designer (i.e. geek) studying vipassana meditation for a couple of years, I thought Journey to the Wild Divine would be perfect for me. I was intrigued by having biofeeedback accompanied by interactive teaching of Eastern breathing exercises but the product just didn't deliver.
First, the lightstone monitor isn't the most comfortable thing to wear so it begins to distract from the mental exercises.
Second, the game itself is frustrating in many ways. Unlike pure role playing/adventure games, the continuity in the screens and the stories is lacking. This makes it frustrating to figure out where to go next. And if you've just had a lousy day and just want to de-stress, it's tough to have to jump through goofy hoops and listen to the accented new agey wisdom when you want to relax. Unfortunately, a less enlightened shoot-em-up game often seems to do the trick better.
Finally, the game's poor performance made it tough to stick with. Screens can take a while to load and the dramatic music can be repetitively exhausting.
Overall, I'm thrilled that someone is venturing into the biofeedback game space with a title that explores different mental training techniques. But, the execution on this title just wasn't enough to keep me playing. The new agey teachings/voices/music seemed to be poorly thought out and not steeped in any accepted traditions. The experience itself seemed like they were trying hard but I just couldn't reach any kind of peace with it.
Anyway, a good meditation/dharma book (or 10 of them for the current price) would have been a better use of my money.
Customer Review: Want MORE stress in your life? Look no further!!
Summary: 2 Stars
All the good points this product has to offer can rarely be experienced because of the problems with the sensors. (That is the blue bio-feedback device that attaches to your fingers.) I had this product and used it on and off for months and finally quit due to how stressed I would get every time the sensors stopped sensing my heart beat or just wouldn't take in the signals. It wasn't a once in a while thing either, it happened ALL the time. When the sensors don't work, you have to do alot of adjusting not only on your hand, but on the screen as well and sometimes THAT doesn't even work so they suggest that you put lotion on your fingers (but not too much or problems will get worse), or to rub your hands together to warm them up, or to breath heavily... in other words they have an entire page online devoted to problems with the sensors and have all these 'tricks' to make the thing finally work which means they don't EXPECT you to be getting a working product here. The main issue with this game according to the forum on the boards regarding this product is the sensor issue. It got to the point where even the thought of playing the game became stressful for me because I started to automatically link this game to spending forever fixing a problem. And when it was working fine I was stressed because I knew that at any second the problem could start again and I'd have to stop the game.
If they ever get a chance to fix that it'll be a great addition to your meditation practice as it gives you the chance to see the results of your sessions immediately. Until then this is just a waste of money.