Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
First posted on 26 April 2006. Last updated on 07 September 2009.
Given the current polarized interest in the adventure genre, few titles have garnered the level of pre-release publicity and anticipation from the gaming community as Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (also known as Dreamfall) has in recent years. It is the much awaited sequel to Ragnar Tornquist's critically acclaimed masterpiece The Longest Journey. While the story of this sequel is said to stay…
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By Tracy • On 18 August 2006
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A brilliant, precise and informative review of a top-notch exciting adventure game. Just prior to Christmas I was not even aware of the game until I accidentally stumbled across your review. Your review reached out to my crave for adventure games so I purchased the game immediately. 10 days later I just completed the game, completely satisfied and craving for more of the same. I have now just purchased The Longest Journey. Good accurate reviews as this are so vital to all adventure gamers, knowing the game will not leave the player feel cheated. I reiterate that this is a must-play game for all adventure gamers.
I played and enjoyed TLJ. However, some dialoguing drove me crazy (eg, between April and Minstrum Yerrin in the Library). In Dreamfall, there is a vast improvement, and one is even given some choice as to how to respond. I liked this feature, as one could explore the character's own personality (eg Zoe), and one's own inclinations. The puzzles were, sadly, not too many, but those that existed were good (I like the type as for, say, the lockpick where both processing power [rotating gears) and perceptual speed (matching symbols] were used. The graphics/animation were great, as was the story line (there were some poignant and even moving moments). My only real gripe is that so many loose ends were left hanging at the end: eg, did April really die, what happened to Damien, etc...?) No doubt, set up for yet another sequel?
It is the most fantastic game in the world.
Played TLJ about eight years ago, and when I heard they were making a sequal I was thrilled. It was one of the the best, if not THE best adventure game ever made. Never got around to playing Dreamfall untill recently, and I'm split down the middle. My brain says this is not good enough. Sadly, this time around, I think they took the game out of the adventure and created a interactive movie. Yet, what a fantastic adventure. The storyline is great and leaves you gasping for more. Hopefully, they will manage to create a better gameplay and keep the beuty and great storyline in the next game.
Whilst I must admit this was an extrordinary experience, a beautiful diamond in the rough that sits head and shoulders above ordinary games, if you do not anticipate a well brewed story and prefer more action on top of difficult puzzles, this game won't do you justice. However, I am with the majority: I was thoroughly absorbed and impressed with this game from start to finish. I was shocked in the beginning, because the game had an awkward starting point, one not so well chosen if given choice by a programmer. But it was perfect through and through.
I am a writer, so coming from me I really enjoyed the story. It was, like some commenter mentioned, like reading a book and watching a movie, although reading the subtitles was a bit strenuous and I did repeatidly have to press the space bar to speed things along. Not everything was relevant in speech, take the bird for example. The expressions of the characters weren't picture perfect, but they came across to me as great seeing as I don't see too many games like this. The plot was thick and multidimensional, as if you are curious, you'll discover.
Just finishing the game however, I do not have the urge to replay it the programmer wanted me to. Not that it wouldn't be worth it, but there is no real game play. That's where this 'game' falters. It's a game, and part of a game should involve action that compliments its story; sadly the story overshadows the action completely and there's no room for much 'physical' contact with anything, and the puzzles the game forks over after streams of dialogue is tedious. I admit, I did become lazy after the first major scenes of the game, I just wanted to sit back and listen. Obviously, there is an imbalance here.
Despite this, I hope I don't put you in a position to withdraw from this game. It really grabs my attention, the story is compelling, the characters, and the futuristic envirnoment itself is limitless and believable.
It's a beautiful plot, if you want it and you could care less about 'much' particular action and don't mind sitting back, this game will be sure to enter your top games list for recommendation. The plot even shocks you at the end, something where you drop your jaw and go 'wow, that never occured to me!'
So go for it, I currently await the sequal :)
- Julian
Beyond words, it is interactive storytelling at its best. I can't wait for the sequel.
Teddy.
best adventure game i've ever played. a very memorable, emotional and captivating story. it didnt really got a good score on the gameplay but this game isn't about that, its about the story.
whenever i start the game by clicking the icon i get a error message saying that "failed to intialize direct3D ABORTING" PLEASE HELP ME AND TELL ME WHAT TO DO
I Have to be the odd one out here. This game is joining the trend of everything but the gameplay being considered in gaming. It has less than about 3 hours of gameplay, less than 12 if you include the conversations and other 'fillers'.
I doubt very much that this game, in 5 years time, will have sold the 4.5 million PC copies that The Longest Journey has sold since 2000. It will be forgotten about within a year. I cannot see petitions being written for it's follow-up like happened for this game. I think it has also killed any chance of commercial success for any third title, and it follows Fahrenheit as showing new gamers that adventure games cost the same but are played in a weekend, This is not good for the genre. Average gamers will not pay $60 for 12 hours of so-so gameplay, so I hope this game is not successful or it will drive the market further down the road of higher gameplay costs. In a declining PC games market, we do not need that at all!
This title started going wrong when it dumped April as the main character. TLJ gamers knew the game was suspicious right from that point. Imagine Gordon being dropped in HL2, or how about Lara Croft after the success of the first Tomb Raider? also to turn April from the hero of TLJ to the person she is in Dreamfall was an insult to all 4.5 million TLJ players.
By writing a game for the mainstream with little gameplay, FunCom have shot themselves in the foot and damaged even further the struggling adventure genre.
If I want to watch a good story, i'll read a book or watch a movie. With less and less gameplay in PC games especially, but with prices, if anything, rising, we are seeing more and more gamers walking away from the hobby. This game only speeds that up.
I feel like the little kid who shouted 'The King has got no clothes'. While this game is not naked, it has barely a stitch of gameplay on it. And to compare it will Gabriel night 3....Well......I know Gabriel Knight 3, Gabriel Knight 3 is a friend of mine - he's way better than Dreamfall, by a long chalk.
Reading a good book or playing a good game are my two favorite escapes. To play Dreamfall is to do both, with the added benefit of a well acted and beautifully shot movie.
Having just finished Dreamfall, I am, however, left feeling like a Harry Potter fan might, if he or she didn't know for sure that Rowling would continue with the next in the book series....how AWFUL to not know that loose ends would be tied up in a future installment!
Here's hoping Ragnar Tørnquist follows through and gives all of us who care about the characters in TLJ and Dreamfall some, no, ALL the answers with a third game.
Yes, he is a master storyteller, and I am also anxiously awaiting the denouement!
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