[seth87]

Which one to buy!

I have played broken sword 1 + 2 and thought they were great. I played The Longest Journey demo and thought the puzzles were fun and inventive and the characters interesting also! I also did the demo for Broken Sword 3, its got good graphics going for it but the final platforming section of the demo was pathetic. How does the rest of the game compare?

Please advise!

[Lacrima]

This should be easy: For me, definitely the Longest Journey, but if you don't like a focus on story and characters, and rather like to... um... push crates - erh, I mean, ... no, wait. Broken Sword 3 has nothing on the Longest Journey. The puzzles in the Longest Journey are a bit of a nuisance, if you ask me; in Broken Sword, crate pushing is more than just that. Plus, Broken Sword has stealth. And standard "paper-pencil-key"-puzzles. Broken Sword has a supernatural twist, the Longest Journey has a world full of magic and it suits the game, while it feels like nothing but a sad excuse for a story in Broken Sword. The Longest Journey plays easy, it's classic point-and-click, Broken Sword tries to go modern and fails sometimes in terms of control.
Broken Sword, though, is simple. You can play it and maybe have fun (if you can handle how the game plays and like the style of puzzles). The Longest Journey is loads and loads of text and very long, you have to take your time if you are going to play it.
It's not as if Broken Sword 3 is a terrible game and the Longest Journey great (it is, I think), but latter is just better in most of what it does. Broken Sword 3 has charme, but too many other flaws and certainly can't stand up to the first in the series, while the Longest Journey isn't a fantastic 'gaming' experience, but can be a beautiful story to 'play'.

btw.: The demo of the Longest Journey was a bit of a bad choice, in my opinion, because while the style in Mercuria is quite similar to what you see in it, Arcadia and Stark are whole other experiences - not worse, just different.

[seth87]

Danke!

I'm inclined to go with your choice too. Broken sword 3 didnt feel as inspired as the previous two games.

The Longest Journey however seems to be a very old game and I have a new PC! I tried to play tomb raider 1 on it, but the resoltuion was all screwed up and it was not pleasent to behold! Will it work on my PC?

If I can add one more dilemma. Both Dreamfall and Paradise are coming soon. Which would you choose

[TheGreyMatter]

in a way TLJ is more broke sword-ish than boken sword 3 ( yes . i know it's quite sad)....
but when you thnk about it, the first two broken sword has more in common with TLJ, than with broken sword 3.

[Jolaes]

Hey Seth,

try to grab a copy of TLJ - DVD version. That has a more recent XP patch and is easier to install as well. I only have the original CD-ROM version and that works, too - only a bit more annoying to play from.\

As for the feeling, BSW3 is a hybrid game so one can't really compare it to BSW1, BSW2; only to other hybrid (adventure-platform) games. I hated the interface but other than that it can be enjoyable.

Don't decide on Dreamfall or Paradise before playing their demos and reading the AG reviews in the first place

[chal]

TLJ is better, longer and (probably) cheaper.

[jimsta]

ummm...i'll break from the pack here:

I enjoyed BS3 more than TLJ -- though it should be said that i've only completed about 50% of TLJ. TLJ never hooked me with a *wow* factor. BS3 did, and I was obsessed with it for a few days. I also played BS3on an xbox, which probably alleviated any control concerns. Additonally, I hadn't played any BS games prior to Sleeping Dragon, so I had no expectations whatsoever. On the other hand, TLJ is a quality game -- I *did* enjoy what i played through, just not as much as BS3. If both games are the same price I'd suggest BS3. But I'll recommend that you go with whatever's cheaper or easily obtainable. You really can't go wrong either way.

[Kurufinwe]

I liked TLJ better. It has a vastly superior story, better writing (though the writing in BS3 is quite good too), and mostly better gameplay (though it can get a bit tedious after a while; but it's nowhere as annoying as the endless box puzzles and repetitive running sequences in BS3). So if you really must play only one, TLJ would be my pick. But I think you'd be wasting neither your time nor your money with either of them.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

But I think you'd be wasting neither your time nor your money with either of them.

Agreed.

[Dasilva]

Put this way if you have a crate fetish get BRoken Sword 3.

[Mayboy]

You simply must buy both of these games! The pair of them u can pick up for very cheap anyway, especially Longest Journey.

[NcroManiac]

Get both of them and the first two Broken Sword's if you can.
Then have a BS marathon. By the time you are done, Dreamfall should be out, and you can enjoy the prequel just before you treat your self to the new game. Then you'd just have to wait for BS4.

[Aj_]

BS3 has many problems, the plot, the camera angles, the lousy platforming, stealth, and crates. Some of the characters are OK to talk to, and some of the puzzles aren't completely worthless.

TLJ has too much dialogue and fetching, the graphics could be a lot better, they don't do justice to the artwork. Some of the puzzles are great, a lot of them aren't logical at all, and some of them use dream logic.

There are plenty of interesting characters, and while some are anoying beyond belief (Abnaxus, Crow, Minstrum Yerin) they don't take away from the overall quality.

The voice acting is shakey, sometimes overacting, sometimes the actor has not given the correct context to the dialogue, but overall it's not bad at all.

So in TLJ the implementation is a little off, but the content is generally spot on. In BS3 however, the implementation is way off, and the content isn't worth it, but it's not that much different to BS2, so you may like the crazier storytelling, that is different to the style of the original Broken Sword(Shadow of the Templars/Circle of Blood).

[dazsin]

Broken Sword 3 - without a shadow of a doubt. Okay it does have a few minor issues, but its way better than TLJ.

[Litrick]

Both are great, get them both. But considering Dreamfall is being released soon, perhaps you should get the Longest journey. That way if you like it you can rush out and get Dreamfall when you have finished

[avatar_58]

Originally Posted by Aj_

Some of the puzzles are great, a lot of them aren't logical at all, and some of them use dream logic.

Really? I found them to be pretty logical, which ones used 'dream logic' as you put it?

[Melkor]

Most of it is OK, but some of the puzzles in the "sewers" are pinned as classic illogical puzzles.

[Aj_]

Originally Posted by avatar_58

Really? I found them to be pretty logical, which ones used 'dream logic' as you put it?

The clamp, fishing line, and rubber duck. It could only work in dreams.

[seth87]

Thank you so much for all your replies. I intend to buy The Longest Journey, so please let me know which one of these is the DVD version that will work on windows XP.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005S6Z2/ref=lm_lb_1/026-4726687-0570003

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004VXFV/qid=1145454111/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/026-4726687-0570003

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006JL1P/qid=1145453738/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl/026-4726687-0570003

3 versions = very confusing

[Dale Baldwin]

I think the most recent release is the last link you listed. The top one's a 3 CD release, and that's the one I own.