The Journal is the in-game interface for some early game tips for playing the game, reading Story related notes, and managing Quest Items in Raft. By default it is opened using the [T] key.
Summary[ | ]
The Journal holds notes, transcripts, diary entries and more, which together flesh out the background for the lore of the Raft world. While often not essential for advancing in the game (apart from storing frequency codes for story islands), it can be useful for keeping track of an island's quest items, such as determining which pieces remain to be found to craft the bomb on Vasagatan or launch the capsule on Caravan Island. It also tracks the number of Tangaroa Keycards, as well as vending machine tokens. Reading all the content of the Journal unveils events that have taken place at the various Story locations throughout Raft. Many notes can be confusing out of context, so collecting all of them is necessary for deciphering certain elements of the story.
Picking up a note will add it to the relevant section in the Journal. All entries are added to a predefined spot, which are categorized according to location. As a result, players are able to deduce whether notes from a specific location are missing based on the empty spaces in the Journal. Additionally, the "Historian" Achievements are awarded once all notes of a specific location has been found.
All Quest Items are displayed in the left side of the Journal. Once they are used, they are removed again. Some Story islands provide more Quest Items than are necessary to progress, which results in some Quest Items staying in the Journal indefinitely.
Upon the game's Full Release, most notes are read aloud by voice actors, allowing the player to continue without stopping to read the journal. It's particularly helpful for understanding the notes on Balboa Island and the author's state of mind.
Also after the introduction of the new characters every character got an unique picture on the second page of the journal.
An interpretation of the game's notes and lore can be found on the Story page linked in this article's opening.