Customer Reviews

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Note: I own the PC version of the game, but I would own the Xbox version would it be Xbox 360 compatible. Using the controller works best for this game. The resolution isn't as good on the Xbox version and there's more aliasing problems. However, don't pass this game up. It is absolutely terrific. I can't recommend it high enough. Also, for $10, I'd recommend checking out The Longest Journey on PC as a starter if you have a PC.

Six years. Quite a long time to be waiting for a sequel to an adventure game. It is also quite a long time for graphics, hardware and gameplay to change. When the Longest Journey came out, it was heralded by critics as being one of the best adventure games a person could buy. It incorporated a terrific story, wonderful voice work and, at the time, good graphics that helped bring depth to the genre. Now, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is out, a direct sequel to the events of the first game. Is it everything we could hope for? Well, that depends on what you're looking for.

A lot of reviews out there, including here on amazon.com, have talked about various aspects of the game. The negative points discussed were the easiness of the gameplay, the bulkiness of the controls and the horrible combat. The positives have been over-whelming the terrific, complex and utterly addictive story and plot. So, depending on what you are looking for, you will either really love this game or really dislike it.

AS far as the gameplay is concerned, I tried playing it with a mouse and keyboard but the controls felt wonky to me. I am a console player mostly and because of my lack of affinity with the mouse and keyboard for third person controlled games I spend a good deal of time walking into things and the walls. However, plugging in a controller, all of my complaints went away. I'd recommend trying a controller if you have any problems, as the game seems better suited to it (probably due to the fact it is also an Xbox game).

The difficulty has been lessened from The Longest Journey. One one hand, this is definitely a valid complaint. However, my complaint with the first game was that there were times where the puzzles seemed utterly illogical and were very order-specific. I would spend a long time trying to get something accomplished simply because I didn't do it exactly how the game wanted me to. In that aspect, Dreamfall lessens any frustrations to allow you to enjoy the story more fully. That said, the puzzles do lack the depth of The Longest Journey and adventure games in general. I wish they were a bit more difficult or took a little more brain power to figure out what to do.

The combat is a bit clunky. It is comprised of block, light hit and strong hit. A rock, paper, scissors type gameplay ensues where a strong hit will break through a block, a block defends against a light punch and a light punch can break someone from doing a strong attack. However, the controls are a bit wonky as well, making battles easy but unintuitive. You can also slide to the side, forward and back while blocking. While it's not up to par with fighting games like Dead or Alive, what do you want from an adventure game?

Actually, calling it a game might be stretching it a little. And I don't mean this in a bad way. Playing this game reminds me of another fantastic adventure game called Indigo Prophecy, but without the simon says style gameplay. Here, you will move from place to place, work on puzzles, do some stealth and some clunky fighting. But the gameplay is there to pull you in and create an interactive story. A cinematic story that has you at the center. I like this approach.

Graphically, I think the game is stellar. There've been complaints in this department as well, but I think the game is pretty stunning. While there's no way it could live up to the powerhouse of, say, Oblivion, what is here is terrific. The colors are vibrant and lush, the settings are absolutely beautiful. Casablanca, the starting city, feels like a mix of futuristic landscapes with a traditional Spanish-style living. Add to this the vibrant color scheme and terrific art direction, and I think the game is stunning.

One department no one seems to be complaining about is the sound. From the beautiful music to the very competent voice staff, everything runs well. Some characters are a little lacking, not necessarily in their voices but in the direction. Sometimes it seems as if the voice actors don't know the context of what they are saying and stress words wrongly or don't have the excitement or fear that one would have in their situations. As an example, in the beginning someone is afraid of something (I'm being purposefully vague) and cries "No! No!" but it's almost as if the threat is a mere bother as opposed to a possibly life-altering event. Other times, though, the voice actors are terrific in conveying the emotion.

The game scales really well. While I'm playing it above the recommended specs, there's nary a fault or bug that I've come across. There's no slowdown from what I've seen. It also scales terrifically well to fit your monitor. I've played it on a regular 19" all the way up to a widescreen monitor and it is terrific. The game was made to be played in 16:9 widescreen. Like I said earlier the controllers work terrifically with the game. I am using an Xbox 360 controller and I haven't had a single problem, save that the trigger buttons don't register.

All of this is simply the mechanics, though. What lies at the heart of this game, much like The Longest Journey, is a story. A story that is exciting, mysterious and emotional all at the same time. The Longest Journey was, at the time, probably one of the best stories I had seen in a video game. Dreamfall has, in my opinion, blown that story out of the water. People will probably argue this with me, but I think Dreamfall's story is definitely a bit better. It seems more urgent this time around. Partly, this is because of the fact its more of an "action adventure" game as opposed to a point and click game. Whereas in The Longest Journey there were instances where you were chased, you couldn't die. Here, things seem a bit more dire and urgent. The pacing of Dreamfall is also excellent and helps keep you moving from point to point. Ragnar Tornquist has a much better control of the story and spins a yarn fitting of a novel. I don't want to talk about the story at all in order to allow everyone a chance to view it with virgin eyes. To get the story across, there is a ton of dialogue. Much like the first game, Dreamfall allows its characters to talk and talk about their lives, what's going on in the world and the plot. While playing The Longest Journey isn't necessary per se, characters from it will show up in surprising ways, starting off from the very beginning. A small caveat about the story. Yes, the story doesn't end so much as set up events for a third game. However, if you look back at The Longest Journey, you would also find a game that doesn't end. It, too, basically explains what would happen in the second game and leaves so many threads open. Here's hoping the game sells well enough to merit a third game.

So here lies the crux. The reviews here and your enjoyment of the game will come to this: do you want a game that puts gameplay above story or a game that places story above gameplay. If you choose the former, you probably won't like this game as much. However, if you are like me and enjoy the latter, I can't recommend any other game higher than this one right now. I can normally overlook most flaws or gameplay issues in a game, if it keeps me enthralled with a terrific story. I enjoy story-centered games a ton. So I feel confident rating this game as a five star simply because I never had a dull moment. I compare both The Longest Journey and Dreamfall to novels. Very dense and filled with backstory, characters and plot, Dreamfall isn't a typical video game. You have to really want to get to know everything and everyone in it to get the most out of the game. If you want to really sink your teeth into a story and know everything there is to know about a fantastical world, there's no better place than Dreamfall.

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is the sequel to a game entitled "The Longest Journey" for the PC. I'm ashamed to say I've yet to play this remarkable game, but when the sequel came around, I couldn't say no to it. In fact, because of its sequel I want the first one even more. This game has deep, interesting and convincing characters, along with a fantastic storyline. The game is, overall, a fantastic experience.

Zoe is a beautiful attractive woman who can't decide what she wants to do with her life anymore. She's dropped out of high school, she's broken up with her longtime boyfriend, and now she seems completely and utterly lost. Her ex boyfriend, however, is interested in doing a story, and he needs Zoe's help. This begins what is undeniably a fantastic game, full of fantastic story elements. It seems simple, but the story grows into something remarkably complex. It becomes somewhat of a fantastic journey the player never wants to end. There are moments, however, where the story throws a lot at you, and the game isn't long enough to bring every subplot to a satisfactory conclusion. This shouldn't suggest the storyline is bad. You'll just expect the game to be longer.

The story is played out through cinematic cutscenes. Most of the story is told in this fashion. However, unlike most games, the voice acting is top notch. It never losses hold. The dialogue is also fantastic, and flows smoothly. Put simple, these characters actually seem human as opposed to one-dimensional cardboard cut-outs. Not only does this help the characters seem human, but also helps them become instantly likeable. You'll also be given choices to make in some dialogue sequences. Your choice makes the outcome of some dialogue a little different, but you'll still end up in the same place regardless of your choice.

Dreamfall plays like an Action/Adventure game. Battling foes is pretty simple. It's not hard at all. The game is not much of a challenge, and even some puzzles are pretty simplistic. Despite how little of a challenge the game is, that shouldn't suggest the gameplay doesn't have its merits. There are some puzzles that really will boggle your mind. It's even better because there is no one basic solution to a puzzle. Several of the games puzzles are, in fact, open ended. Put simple, there's more than one way to solve various puzzles in the game. This works for replay value as well. If a puzzle is easy the first time, try to solve it in a more challenging and intellectual way the next time. It makes doing many of the games puzzles rather fun and interesting as opposed to being stale and repetative like some games out there. The only real problem with the gameplay is that there's not a whole lot of it. Most of the game consists of dialogue and exploring. So you won't fight that many enemies, or solve nearly as many puzzles as you might think. Rather, you'll be watching more of the game than actually playing it, and this is something that has plagued video games for a while now.

It's fun to explore many of the games areas. Especially considering it looks visually stunning. You won't just play as Zoe either, and each character has different reactions to certain things. So you might also want to go and explore the same area as another character. The game also isn't so huge that you'll get lost while exploring, which helps the game in more ways than one. And because the game is so beautiful, you can easily get lost in it. It really does look like a fantastic world. Especially because the characters also seem so real. They've got facial expressions and everything, making them seem a lot less like stone statues.

Even better is the audio. Video Games rarely sound as good as Dreamfall. The music is, in and of itself, dreamlike because it's so good. If the graphics don't absorb you into the world, the soundtrack sure as hell will. It's expertly composed, almost movielike in when the music starts as well. And, as I've noted, the voice acting is astonishing. Also close to being movie like. Perhaps some of the best voice talent in the entire video game industry, and I'm not overexaggerating.

The game is a little short, though, despite its long cutscenes. The game can easily be completed in less than ten hours if you try. However, with such an absorbing storyline (that does, I'm sorry to say, end too soon), it'll fly by. You'll have the game completed befre you know it. I really wish the game could've been longer.

You'll love Dreamfall. So many elements and themes woven into one game can't be bad. It's a fantastic gaming experience, one that so rarely comes about in the gaming world. Nearly everything about this game shines.

On the Positive Side
+Fantastic Graphics
+Some of the best music in gaming history
+A very involving and interesting storyline
+Lots of exploration to be done
+Great voice acting and dialogue
+Loveable characters

But on the bad side...
-There are a lot of subplots, not all of which, conclude in a satisfactory way
-The game is short
-Many moments of watching rather than playing
-The game isn't that challenging

Despite some of the cons, the game is fantastic and engaging experience.

This game is short, unsatisfying, and feels rushed. I rented the game from Blockbusters - it's a 1 week rental that I rented yesterday and just beat - the ending credits are scrolling as I write this review.

First, let's start with my biggest complaint - the story. A story has thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. This game lacks synthesis. It has thesis up the wazoo. I just spent about the last half hour watching the game beat itself, repetitively stating "This had better not be the ending". The main plot does not conclude. The side plots do not conclude. Ultimately, the main characters fail at everything they attempt to accomplish. The game is obviously rushed. The last three chapters are a bad joke. Chapters 12 and 13 literally consist of "Move from point A to point B and watch the level's ending cutscene." Chapter 13, to be more precise, is "Move forward until cutscene". Chapter 14 isn't a chapter - It's just cutscenes. The way the game was ended was enough to send me straight here to write this review. I wasn't satisfied; I was angered. It's that bad.

Now, on to the gameplay. First of all, the traditional adventure game puzzles - problem solving through item collection, item use, and dialogue - are not challenging in the least and usually does not advance the plot in any way. In most cases, dialogue is irrelevant - no matter what you choose to say or do, the avatar makes your choices for you and you are left as an observer to their poor decision making abilities.

I think they tried to make up for the lack of challenge with the addition of stealth, combat, and timed matching games - all are poorly implemented. Thankfully, there is hardly any combat in the game. Kian, the "apostle", sees the most combat, which is no challenge since his weak attack damages enemies even when they are blocking. He's glitched. The enemy, for the most part, stands there and fails to block his attacks, with one or two swings in retaliation. Most stealth situations involve one or two patrolling enemies with small fields of vision, slow movement speed, and predictable patrols. A few situations result in instant death if you are seen. I've been shot through solid walls and somehow electricuted by the floor. I hid in plain sight while heading down a stairway because the pathing blockers on the edges of the downward staircase also, unrealistically, block line of sight. The matching puzzles were frustrating, though they were the most fun part of the end of the game. That's a bad thing.

Now, on to glitches and evidence that the game was either rushed, or done half-hearted. First, between several of the level maps, you can see into part of the next map as you approach the link. However, this lacks consistency. Several of the links show this as a flat plane with a low resolution texture that looks a bit like the next area, while others show this in 3D. Walking into a snowbank, I discovered a glitch where the player's avatar bounces from the ground to the top of the snowbank and back. Also, I managed to walk inside a pathing blocker and was unable to move from the position. I had to reload my last saved game to continue. Finally, although all three main characters have a journal that is used to guide the player to their current objective. The problem is that only one of the three main characters uses the journal.

To summarize - I've played a lot of adventure games, but this is the worst adventure game I've ever played. Adventure games rely heavily on story and puzzles to entertain. Dreamfall fails to entertain.

This is the first game I played that made me feel I was merely turning the pages of a pre-programmed novel. There is nothing you can do out of order, nothing to build up (skills or inventory), nothing you can skip (maybe a little bit), no side quests, no rewarding fights.

What is worse, the story is too abstract, too complex. When the game ended, none of the loose ends were resolved.

In short, playing this game is like watching half a movie.

This game is a great adventure game. Nice graphics, and it plays well on my xbox 360 system. I added it to my collection of games. It is hard to find, and worth the price.

If you're looking for a game that has great character control, game play, and game choice, this isn't the game for you. However, even though it seems as if it were a game made in the 90's as far as game play goes, the storyline, graphics and music MORE than make up for it. I was so drawn into the story that I was willing to play through the simple game play. It had great scenery, great voice acting, and seriously, this has excellent music. Overall, even with its faults, I'd give this a ten for its strengths.

let me start by saying that this game is not heavy on gameplay. there are several things i would say that could be done to make this more like all the other games and "improve" it based on the fun-factor you get in other great games of today.
however, i think that the deemphasizing of the gameplay perspective was an at least somewhat conscious choice on the part of tornquist, the games creator. when a game focuses so much on the mechanics of the way the game plays it has a tendancy to divert the focus from the plotlines. and with this story, in particular, anything that takes away from the plot is simply unforgivable. the story that unfolds is something that true gameplayers, and lovers of fiction dream of. a wonderful and surprising exercise in nuance with largely human moments.
it seems that in todays world of gaming, for the most part, any plot that you get is an excuse (usually not a good one) to play the game, when anyone with the slightest bit of sense knows that you can only make so good a game with that mindset. the truth is, the best games, the games that you remember the most fondly are ones that you connected with on a level deeper than shooting aliens or demons or felons, etc. the only reason we participate in any type of media is bc some part of it resonates with us. this story is one that, for me, resonated so much more than just about any other game ive enjoyed in the past. sure there are great games out there that lack the intricate plot but this game is set apart.
beautiful music, beautiful environments. beautiful game

Dreamfall has an interesting and complex storyline and visually it's gorgeous. Before I bought this game I read a review that said it was almost more like watching a movie than playing a video game--and in some places, this is true.

This game is dialogue-intensive, with a few puzzles here and there that are mostly pretty easy. I enjoyed the various cities and worlds the main characters found themselves in, and the graphics and voice talent are amazingly good.

People who like high-action video games with lots of combat probably won't like this game, but those who like exploration, sophisticated storylines, and real-seeming characters will like Dreamfall a lot. In fact, combat is clunky and obviously not meant to be a major part of the game.

My only complaints: The overall story would have been even better if I'd played the first game (Dreamfall is a sequel); and the replay value is low, since I don't think you can play any different characters.

I think it is pretty good but not great. like someone else said theres not a ton of gameplay and so much talking. I luckily found out you can skip if you press B a lot, good story but can get tiring.

I was really excited about this game coming out, and 20 hours of game play later I have to say I'm disappointed. The game has beautiful scenery and an interesting storyline, and is really easy to control. However, the game is at least 60% cut scenes, where there's no actual game play going on. Sometimes, the only involvement you have is making the character run up some stairs from one cut scene to the next. When you are playing the game, there's never any question of what you should do, because you can only interact with objects and people that are key to your mission/current objective. The fighting is clunky and slow, you can't explore the worlds on your own, and you have no freedom to make your own decisions.

All that said, I had fun playing the game, but was really disappointed in the ending. Plus, there's virtually no reason to replay this game, since nothing in it would be different.

I would recommend renting this game and playing it over the course of a week. It's easy and kind of a fun way to pass the time. But there's no reason to buy it.

I th