The Longest Journey: Adventure Game of the Year Edition

by Funcom

Product Features

• Have you ever had a dream that was so real, you weren't sure if you were actually awake or not?
• That's what April has been experiencing. Soon, she'll have to figure out what is dream and what is reality, by going on The Longest Journey
• In this epic adventure, you will travel through 150 locations, between the scientific city of Stark & the chaotic, magical Arcadia
• Interact with a cast of over 50 characters
• Work through a huge variety of puzzles and solve them to strengthen the bonds between Stark and Arcadia

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006JL1P
• Item Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 3, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,899 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Before embarking on The Longest Journey, check your preconceived notions of reality at the door. While this may play like a traditional adventure game, the story is anything but conventional. As art student April Ryan you'll soon discover you have the ability to bridge two worlds--the 23rd-century, science-oriented Earth that you live in, and its counterpart, Arcadia, where magic is reality and technology is the stuff of legends. Telling you more than that would spoil the story, but suffice it to say that your ability to cross between the two worlds must be used to save both.

The game spans four CDs and needs all that space to hold both the gorgeous graphics and hours of high-quality speech. Everyone you meet has plenty to say, and you'll want to listen to everything because the game contains some of the most brilliant voice acting ever recorded. Each character has such a distinct and engaging voice that you could play this game with your eyes closed and it would maintain much of its beauty, although you likely won't want to blink after your first glimpse of the game's detailed environments. The graphics run at a feeble maximum resolution of 640 x 480 but are packed with enough atmosphere and animation that they look great even on a large monitor.

The Longest Journey obviously excels from a technical standpoint, but it's the writing that really makes it memorable. April maintains a diary that can be read to give players further insight into the game's strange events, and into April's mind as well. Lengthy conversations that seem tedious at first later serve to really make you care about the game's characters. They become more than simply people who exist to dispense items or tell you where to go next, and it's fascinating to watch April develop as she slowly absorbs the gravity of the situation into which she's been thrust. This game may seem like the longest--and most boring--journey at the beginning, but after a few hours adventure fans and anyone else who likes a good story will probably wish it would never end. (Note to readers: this game has an ESRB rating of Mature, and contains a lot of adult language.) --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Outstanding production values
• Terrific writing
• Should run well on practically any computer

Cons:

• Many of the puzzles are too contrived
• Game gets off to a slow start

Product Description

Travel through 2 distinctly different worlds. Can you find out which is the dream & which is reality? / For Windows / Rated M

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Through a Very Cool Looking Glass, February 14, 2003

By 

Kyle C. Duncan (Eden Prairie, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Longest Journey: Adventure Game of the Year Edition (CD-ROM)

The Longest Journey is more of a trip than a journey, more of a quest than an adventure. Like Alice falling down the rabbit hole into a very tripped out world of caterpillars smoking hash, and concoctions that turn a person very small or very large, The Longest Journey is a five-senses experience. And April Ryan, TLJ's central character, is the perfect hostess. If this were a movie, think natalie Portman or Wynona Ryder (pre- sticky finger days).

TLJ is a more-edgy version of the Myst series, but in a platform more similar to a DreamCatcher game (inventory items, various characters with whom you must interact, etc.)

You bounce between two parallel worlds: Stark (a mythical, futuristic west coast city) and Arcadia (Grimm's Fairy Tales meets Jules Verne), with the fate of the world in your hands (and eyes, nose, ears, etc.). TLJ is to be savored - rich graphics, excellent voice acting, compelling, not-too-difficult story line, puzzles, etc.

This is not your typical, McComputer fare. Rather than hamburger, think filet mignon. As such, it will flood your senses and fill you up right.

Caution: I wouldn't recommend this game for young ones - the language is profane at times.

253 of 280 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Longest Journey in more ways than one..., September 20, 2002

By 

S. Michael Wilson "A Strange Hero to a Select... (Phillipsburg, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Longest Journey: Adventure Game of the Year Edition (CD-ROM)

When I purchased this game, it was because of the rave reviews it has recieved by gaming magazines and organizations, as well as my own personal love of adventure games. It had been a long time since a worthy adventure game had hit the market (Grim Fandango springs easily to mind), and I was looking forward to the stunning visuals and in-depth gameplay I had read about.

Well, the visuals did indeed impress me, and the voice acting was extremely high-quality, a virtual rarity for such games. And the game's story and characters are very in-depth. Indeed. VERY in-depth.

Believe it or not, this is where my major complaint with the game is. I do believe that story and dialogue are important for a good interactive adventure game, and Longest Journey has it. In abundance. Perhaps a bit too much. The puzzles are inventive, the characters multi-faceted, the story captivating, and the background well developed. But after the game gets past the initial introductions, there are certain spots in the game where I found myself clawing my eyes out waiting for the in-depth dialogue to end. Do I want story and interaction? Yes. Do I want to spend forty-five minutes listening to two people drone on about the historical background of the game while I sit hunched over clicking the mouse every fifteen seconds to keep the conversation going? No. To be prefectly honest, I got about two thirds of the way through the game before I gave up and stopped playing. I was weary of the lengthy conversations going nowhere, and my carpal tunnel was really acting up.

Interesting dialogue is important, but I'm not willing to suffer for it, which is sadly what I ended up doing. The key word is "Game", and I'd prefer to play the game instead of watching it like a hand-crank powered television. This game has much to offer it, but the extensive padding eventually turned it into the Longest Journey on several different levels.

In short: If you love adventure games, then you definitely want to check this out, but be prepared for some exceedingly long stretches of boring dialogue that hold you captive to your mouse.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent adventure game..., November 28, 2002

By 

L. Campbell (Kentucky, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Longest Journey: Adventure Game of the Year Edition (CD-ROM)

.....I have to admit up front that I'm not usually a big fan of adventure games. I've always been more of a turn-based strategy / role-player type. Most adventure games I've played are just strings of contrived, non-intuitive puzzles and pixel hunts. But, I had read some great reviews for TLJ, and so bought my first adventure title since the King's Quest series ended.
.....First, the graphics are excellent. The backdrops are gorgeous works of art that really bring the in-game world to life. Secondly, the puzzles are, for the most part, intuitive and fun to solve. The game almost won't let you screw yourself by 'using up' or dropping a critical item. The game only allows you to use items where necessary, and removes them from your inventory when no longer needed. But the best part of the game is the characters. They are well-developed and realistic and the voice acting is top-notch. There were a couple of dialogue exchanges where I actually laughed out loud ("PECK it off?!!"), and I don't laugh out loud much.
.....Also worth a mention is that it ran flawlessly without a single crash or lock-up, which is sadly uncommon with most unpatched computer games currently on the market.
.....I did have a few small problems with the game, however. A couple of the puzzles were non-intuitive. Most of the secondary characters, though well-developed, played almost no part in the great scheme of the game. Finally, for a game that was all about story and had great cut-scenes, I would have thought they would be more numerous and longer, especially the game finale.
.....All in all, though, playing TLJ was a fun and memorable experience that was well worth the bargain-bin price its going for now.