Is Longest Journey I the Best Graphic Adventure Ever Made (Yet?)
 

I have been studying and playing adventure games
in years of play and have just completed (almost) Longest Journey, FunCom's masterpiece, and must say at this moment I am wondering if this is
perhaps one of, if not the best graphic CG
ever made, so far? It far surpasses so many,
in both the graphics and beauty of the scenes,
the appropirateness and aliveness of the
characters and characterizations, the voice
acting is some of the very best ever, natural,
real, deep and rich, the story line and back story
are deep and through provoking and the overall
game play and message of the game are superb,
very much in line with some of the most
improtant questions about life and modern times....and the designers and makers, Ragnar
and all, did not flinch from being honest and presenting modern dilemas, using a female
heroine who is both believable and interesting, elements of Norwegian and Norse legend, general fantasy and puzzles that stimulate and challenge
but which are not impossible. The game istelf is
true to itself, does not reach too far at any
point nor lose us in meangless pixel or story
hunting, in short I do not know but think maybe
this may be among the very best of any game yet. It also does not push the technical computereess
of 3D and other eye candy to the point where
the game is unplayable as some others, such as URU.......some games try so hard to be cutting
edge that they end up being unplayable, I always
felt as I sat down to play LJ that it WAS a
game, yet a game that engages the mind and
the soul and the spirit all together.

Thoughts anyone?

And I do know that Dreamfall is on the way,
Longest Journey II, and that it will be a
sequel of a possible three game series,
and that it uses a more high tech engine
that evokes 3 D space, ( I was sorry to
hear about that for the pre rendered scenes
allow great artistry, and are more than adequate
for sensitive viewers...I am not in favor of
eye candy for just sensations sake....)......a
game should also have meaning and a story that
is new and intriguing and engages us.....
.but LJ seems a great masterpeice and classic
and will hold its own I feel for any who really
love the classic adventure format and genre.
.......at least that is my humble feeling.......
what a wonderful gift this was and is.

Longest Journey beats ANY adventure game I ever played. Incluiding all MI2, Grim Fandango, Sam and Max, Quest for Glory etc.

Its just got more soul. (pun intended. :P)

thanks Dasilva, I feel comforted, I was afraid I was going out
too far on a limb, but just had to share my wonderment
and admiration of the creation and way LJ plays and feels.
thanks.:)

Couldn't really see what all the fuss was about myself.

It's up there, by I'm kind of a sucker for the vintage stuff. The usual Sierra and Lucasarts classics have it beat for me.

Not even close. It's a great game, though I've always found it to be a bit overrated (Dreamfall, on the other, hand, I've been completely obsessed with since its announcement). I agree with nearly all of the plaudits bestowed upon it, and it's a beautiful game, but it has no place in a top 10 list to me.

I also wasn't crazy about The Longest Journey. It's an epic story, one with much promise. But as a story critic I thought the game was mediocre at best.

Playing The Longest Journey, I was bedazzled by the sights and sounds. The artwork and soundtrack, in particular, blew me away. But the way the game tells the story annoyed me more than it engaged me. And this is because the writers neglected the fundamentals of storytelling. If you listen to my podcast, in the recent episode "Three Things to Make Your Audience Adore You," they violated my #1 rule. This amateurish mistake oozed out into the setting and characterization, too.

The first rule is, as writers say, "Show; don't tell." And The Longest Journey completely missed the boat on this fundamental principle of storytelling. In the first chapter, for example, April stops to ask her landlady to describe her best friends. A good storyteller would have Emma and Charlie show us what kind of people they are, rather than asking Fiona to describe them.

Not only did descriptions substitute for storytelling, but also were some natural storytelling opportunities wasted. For instance, the setting: Stark and Arcadia. Stark is supposed to be rich in science and logic, but in the game it benefits less from science than our modern Earth.

Meanwhile, Arcadia is to magic as Stark is to science. But Arcadia is more of a traditional fantasyland than anything else. If Arcadia were really a land of magic, then why, for example, did April have to walk everywhere? In Stark, she takes the subway. In Arcadia, why can't she take a magic carpet or use a teleportation spell? There's every indication that such things exist in Arcadia, but they're not available to the common man? The most advanced form of travel in Arcadia in fact is by ship. And ships are creations of science, not of magic. At least an Arcadian ship uses a spirit compass for navigation. But, if they insist on traveling by sail, why at least don't they buy magic wind off the Arcadian market? This should be standard fare to enhance productivity on sea-faring vessels. A wind-moderating spell would be useful, too, during storms.

In short, instead of constantly telling us that Stark is a world of science and Arcadia is a world of magic, the game should have demonstrated it to us. Alas, no. The game doesn't tell us the story. The game shouts it at us, over and over again, until it's finally drilled into our heads, but not into our hearts.

For the first few chapters of The Longest Journey there was very little to compel me to go on. Take the intro. The intro is supposed to establish setting (April's bed), character (a girl who has weird dreams), goal (to paint). I got no motivation from any of that. The best part of the intro was seeing April in her underwear. If I hadn't read the reviews I wouldn't even have known what the game was about.

But perhaps the most disappointing aspect of The Longest Journey was the ending. I sat through a massive, at times arduous, story, only to be left wondering how it ended. What happened to April? What happened to Charlie and Emma and Fiona? How did April resolve her problems with the law? Or did she simply give up her former life? A hundred loose ends, and not even a hint of an answer. The time for loose ends is at the beginning of the story, not the end! How frustrating!

The best story games, even long ones, I play multiple times in order to experience the story in its fullness. (I do this with books and movies, too.) Grim Fandango and Full Throttle I've played more times than I can remember. The Pandora Directive I've played several times. The Longest Journey I tried to play a second time, because some of the scenes are truly breathtaking, but I just couldn't stomach it; the experience was just too distressing.

-TimK

It's a lovely game with few flaws; but my vote goes to Grim Fandango, simply because TLJ goes with a fairly off-the-shelf magic world-and-science world storyline (although it did well to focus on the emotional side of the story), and Grim Fandango just blows anything away; it's one of the most unrestrainedly creative works of fiction ever made, let alone the best adventure game.

It's my 3rd favourite Adventure, but it has flaws:

• The pace is awful, the story never lifts off as it should.
• The graphics tech is awful for the time it was made.
• The editing(probably a lot of dialogue should have been cut out).
• Crow, was he a Jewish comedian from the the first half of the 20th century? Haven't got anything against that but you don't see many comedians trying it today. I'm thinking Ragnar wrote him, and I'm thinking Ragnar is not a comedian.
• Most of the puzzles were strange, illogical, and probably could have used more play testing.
• 160 locations? Are they taking the piss? Were they counting her bedroom as two locations, and her wardrobe as a third?
• 30 hours of gameplay? I'll give you 15, where 2 hours is spent running across a place you've already been, and 5 hours is not gameplay(watching cutscenes, listening to monologue).
• You don't get conversations most of the time, the characters speak at length at you, with very limited options.
• Abnaxus, nickname Obnoxious "I am the before, the after, the present, the past. Oops did I already do that one? I'm sorry that I am the most anoying character in the world, it's because I'm an arsehole, oh and that illogical excuse of living in time differently."
• Some of the dialogue was strangely written, and didn't sound normal.

Being my 3rd favourite adventure, I could write a list with more positives than there are negatives, probably including characters well written, artwork, concept, writing, and soundtrack but that would have taken more time.

I am about half way through TLJ......I really, really like it, but as an above poster stated, my all-time favorite remains Grim Fandango. TLJ would be a close second if they fixed the dialogue problems. Ugh....so.....much.....talking.....about....relati vely.......unnecessary......things. It really slows the pace of the game and drags things down. Wheras Grim Fandango was maybe a bit more tightly written. Not to knock TLJ, though - its probably second or third of all-time in my book.

I've not yet tried to play it on the new system. It would not play on the old. Whether it's the best ever will depend on whether it plays, and whether I like it. As I wasn't able to get past the first several scenes, it's a two thumbs down.

It may go two thumbs up if I ever get around to replaying, but that wasn't the question. For games I could play, both Syberias and Post Mortem have to rank ahead of TLJ.

I don't think so, personally. There are a bunch of others I love, and for different reasons. I don't know what your criteria is for bes graphic adventure, but I have mine. I loved Grim Fandango for its unique, original art direction. I loved realMyst for its atmospheric tranquility, and Uru for its vast scenic vistas. I loved The Longest Journey because it showcased itself as an 'epic sized' classic story with incredible visuals.

Welcome to the AG community, btw, Christian IV. :)

thanks for all the great responses, this is a very interesting
discussion and much good sharing. And thanks for the
welcome, btw, i lurked for a while off and on, as I was
in and out of my gaming research and playing over the
past months, thanks.....i see there are many true
games masters here...

I am still thinking through my own response to LJ, it is
quite unusual in many ways, and so are my tastes in
adventure gaming, as I like the visuals very much and
give weight to that element almost over story line,
and other things, as I am a visual artist myself, I also
really liked the order chaos theme in LJ, as that has
been a dear topic of my own thinking over the past
many years, at times very close to identical in
some of the imagery and experiences in LJ, so there was
a lot of empathy for me.....

I personally liked the dialog but do confess to have hurried
through some of it, anxious to advance the plot, and i did
not like Carlos much at all, thought he was very similar
in character and "feeling" to the abusers that had hurt
April in the past, so I did not and do not trust him at all....

she was quite an intriguing creation, not like any other
heroine I have seen, quirky, quite real seeming at times
and the voice acting was I thought simply supurb with
her and many of the other figures.

I suppose i feel that this is a rather vast tapestry of art,
music and literature that approaches opera in the way
that it appeals to and approaches us through so many
different senses.....maybe some of the newer games
use more technical aplomb and facilities, i.e. 3D, high speed,
more controls and complexity, and LJ relies on some of the
classic themes, subject matter, and visuals and sound quality
to achieve its level of overall quality and feeling.....

I wonder too if the Noregian original would feel quite different
overall.....and if that might have something to do with the
overall difference in speed and tone that this game has...i
rather enjoyed the differences.as i find many more
American and mainstream games too quick, superficial and
often violent for my tastes,......and hopes for future
direction.

thanks to all for such wonderful and throughful answers,
and I hoipe to continue to participate here....i am working
slowly through all the game literature and have only recently
gotten up to the more modern ones, i see i must
play Grim Fandango next.......it was on my list but I was
not sure when......thanks agian all:D

Slightly off topic...

:) Not sure if you want to read this, Christian IV, as it's about a game that in the end was not meant to be.

- quoted from this thread.

I enjoyed "The Longest Journey" immensely but more for the atmosphere. The puzzles weren't what I would call classic. But it just swept me away with the visual direction. Great looking game. And for those of you who know me, I'm all about the visuals and atmosphere!

I am SO looking forward to the second title.

Atma does looks terrific, odd that it wasn't scooped up by someone else??

Same for me.

Also, as far as graphics are concerned, I was more impressed by Syberia, or Myst 4, Uru, or even The Black Mirror.

EDIT: And Still Life, of course. :)

Don't you think that, even though the art direction was great, the low budget sometimes showed through?

Same.