[Terramax]

I think the fighting was simply to sell to the mainstream. I mean just think, a 12 year-old boy playing an Xbox game without fighting elements..... Naw, that would never happen.

[Gabe]

A number of issues put it there, but none so conspicuous as the very fact that it struggles to even be a game. Throughout its entirety, the bulk of the gameplay involves ferrying whichever character you happen to be playing to the next event, and then watching it play out. And while to some degree that's always been the nature of adventures, the cinematics are typically the carrot rewarded for getting past some obstacle. But in Dreamfall, much of the time all that's asked of you is to control moving your character from one place to another; that's it -- not too challenging that. Neither is it very reward worthy.

And when you do arrive there, be prepared to stay a while. Long-winded conversations ensue, the likes of which leave children scarred for life from family holiday gatherings. Dreamfall comes to the line between adding dimension to characters and giving too much information and smashes through it without so much as a thought of applying the brakes. Oftentimes exchanges stretch into several minutes, and that's before getting around to whatever it was that advances the story. These progressively blur together over the course of the game as "playing" gets dispensed with entirely for extended stretches that move from one in-game cut-scene to the next without you doing more than looking on.

That's something you get accustomed to doing a lot of. The move to a fully 3D world has gone well technically, but it is an empty shell. The hunting for the magic pixel and MacGyver-like combining of unlikely items to solve puzzles are gone, but there's not much to take their place. You do occasionally pick up a thing here to use over there, but the placement of problem and solution are so elementary that it hardly seems fair to call them puzzles.

The other aspect of the new 3D engine that could have picked up some of the slack was the addition of stealth and beat-em-up action. It goes disastrously. The fighting, hand-to-hand or armed depending on the character, is a numb, mushy, button-mashing mess. Sluggish response turns it into more a matter of guessing the right timing to land a couple of attacks while circling your foe. And just making it so that pulling the left trigger puts your character in that over-used crouch to sneak around levels does not constitute developed -- much less good -- gameplay.

All that leaves is the drawn-out telling of a somewhat intriguing sci-fi/mystical story. Granted, for fans of the original it will be fairly compelling, and yes, it's the sort of stuff adventure fans dig on -- complete with its sloppy ending. And the new technology does come through in the presentation department. The worlds and environments are every bit as captivating and imaginative in the new 3D engine as they were when done in pre-rendered backgrounds, the soundtrack adds just the right atmospheric touch and the voice acting is solid enough, if not quite Academy Award material. Edited down to a tight package this could probably make a pretty good machinima feature (or Sci-Fi original motion picture for that matter). But as a game, it fails.

by Garnett Lee 1up.com

First thought pretty harsh review but after chapter 5 i dont remember what i've played really what a shame

[SoccerDude28]

[Zanthia]

I didn't play it yet, but from what I heard its' not kind of game I can enjoy. More and more people, including some independent experts say that its more a interective movie then a game.

[Snatcher42]

So if they had slapped "Dreamfall - The Longest Journey: An Interactive Movie" on the box, would people not be upset?

Everyone's saying "interactive movie" as if it were a bad thing. It can be something you don't like, but that's preference. There's nothing intrinsically "wrong" with it.

[Brandon]

So if they had slapped "Dreamfall - The Longest Journey: An Interactive Movie" on the box, would people not be upset?

Everyone's saying "interactive movie" as if it were a bad thing. It can be something you don't like, but that's preference. There's nothing intrinsically "wrong" with it.

Well... what about all the Myst ripoffs still being produced today by companies like "The Adventure Company" and called "adventures"? They're not adventures, they're Myst-like puzzle games. Hmm, I'm not sure that's going to make the point I want to make. I just wanted to complain about those games.

Perhaps there is a market for "Interactive Movies" and "games" which are really IM's SHOULD say that on the box. I mean, it would sound kind of lame to call Dreamfall "Dreamfall - The Longest Journey: The Game." 'Course, then you could have "The Interactive Movie" and "The Game", two different products for different audiences. Oh, and you could have "The Action Game" too, which only has the fighting elements but more of them. Interestingly enough, this is what LucasArts did. With Indiana Jones Last Crusade and Fate of Atlantis, there were both "The Adventure Game" and "The Arcade (Action?) Game" for each one. Though the adventures I don't think were labelled as such, I believe the action games were.

Am I making any sense?

Adventure fans should get what they want. Action fans should get what they want. People who like movies should get what they want.

[mrktool]

I'm one of the few people that thinks they got the action sequences right. I think it was not included as a gimmick, i think the story does kinda require it, it helps get accross the fact that april is now a warrior and very capable in a fight and keeps the game much more interactive than using even more cut scenes, even if it is just hacking a button.

as for people that say that if they were gonna include it, it shoulda been made more of a challenge and more intelligent, i think doing that would have been a big mistake. I've already seen people saying they rufuse to play the game because of the combat (which is stupidity because it's used so little and is so easy that i don't see how it could possibly ruin the game), imagine if it was harder? people would go mad if they found themselves not stuck on a puzzle, but a fight sequence when playing an adventure game.

[mccrank]

Man, I just finished this game today. Simply horrible... Felt like all they did was stuff a bunch of running back and forth in to make up for lack of puzzles/content. This game was a atrocity compared to the first...Not even close in anyway.

[davez82]

Just beat the game right now, im not gonna spoil anything but im a little dissapointed. In truth i wasnt expecting much anyways, april was not the main character, taht alone already calls for dissapointment. The game overall was way too dark, yes yes post apocolptic but please... if i wanted dark i'd play doom. The controls didnt bother me, i mean im playing for story since i loved the first one not really expecting fluid gameplay here. The game was super easy, the environments were "ok" nothing compared to the first game. 3 playable characters? not really unless u count 2 minutes of gameplay of a 3d character "playable". IMO this game was trying too much to be indigo prophecy, which was a nicely executed game but still dissapointing in the end, and had a weak story. Dreamfall had no closure and the story wasnt strong at all. I really didnt get a sense of adventure, just a bunch of loading screens in between scenes. In TLJ remember the boat ride and how there was a sense of mystery as to wehre the boat was heading, and u actually interacted on the boat and had long conversations with ppl before u actually arrived at the destination , giving a sense of " a long adventure", this game seems to lack any of those experiences. In terms of adventure TLJ pretty had all the elements, sci fi, fantasy, and dreamfall seemed to fail on those experiences compared to the first game. I really didnt have teh sense i was in the same world as the first game, the city's didnt seem "epic" in size at all, maybe some cutscenes really would have helped the game. Just cause a game is in 3d doesnt mean you should exclude the game from having cutscenes, if this indeed an interactive movie, where the heck is the movie. And if your gonna do 3d cutscenes make sure there done with "real" mocap like indigo prophecy was done, the mocap in this game was horrendous.

The story did intrigue me a little and i did play about 3 5-6 hr sessions, which means i beat the game in 3 days, about the same as indigo prophecy. But in the end there was no closure, this sure was the longest journey cause it didnt even end! I dont want to spoil the ending but all im gonna say is theres no closure, does it open up for a sequal? i dont even know i cant even tell. The first game had a beginning , backgrounds of each character, and the end was a hard on ending where the whole story ended with closure and no hint of a sequel. Maybe thats why dreamfall had such trouble, theres no way you could possibly continue such a closed story like that. IMO i enjoyed teh 2d aspect of the first game more, there seemed to be more room for imaginative artwork rather than thinking of how to inclose the player in a closed off mapped 3d environment, the environments just seemed like a map in counter strike, very closed off and limited. Im not gonna say games like Benoit Sokal's games are the best but i think he's made a good choice sticking to 2d, the game seems less "fake" in that sense and you can really experience the imagination of the creator when the world is paitned or prerendered more realistically. Right now technology isnt good enough for real time adventure games imo.

so.. its a lot better than broken sword 3 but maybe on par with indigo prophecy if not worst. It didnt even feel like i was in the same world as the first game. I dont regret "buying" the game, i loved the first game and in reality had no choice to refuse this game cause i loved the first one so much.

game also gets little chuggy on ultra graphics at 4x fsaa but some lighting / texture effects in the game are beautiful.

[Panthera]

are you kidding me? TLJ didn't have so much closure, it felt like the journey just had started, and of course the ending hinted towards a sequel! the last thing that happens is that lady alvane begins a new story, a story we haven't heard yet..

[Aj_]

Originally Posted by Panthera

are you kidding me? TLJ didn't have so much closure, it felt like the journey just had started, and of course the ending hinted towards a sequel! the last thing that happens is that lady alvane begins a new story, a story we haven't heard yet..

Spoiler:

April had done her mission, she had restored the balance, found the guardian, placed the new guardian in the tower. I don't know what more closure you want, unless you want LOTR closure, where you get the journey home, and the lives of the main characters for over a hundred years.

We don't know what happened to Westhouse, Cortez, and McAllen, but we do know that April, Charlie, Emma, Crow, and the world are OK in the end.

[Panthera]

Spoiler:

Um, she has restored the balance, yes, but she has ruined her life, and having to adjust to the fact that she wasn't the guardian. It feels like her journey just has started, that she has many adventures infront of her, and that she never got closure. Yes the world was saved, and I agree that gamewise the story was closed, but April's story was left as an open wound..

[Igor]

I think people are doing an injustice to the game by saying there's no gameplay.. it's not like you can just sit back and watch the game unfold- there are puzzles, there is exploration and the world is much, much more interactive than in, say, Syberia.
Yes, i wish the game would take more advantage of its real time 3d by making locations bigger and as a result more explorative, but in the other hand the story flows much better the way it is.
In my opinion TLJ was just as much of interactive movie/book as is Dreamfall.. I love them both

[Aj_]

Originally Posted by Panthera

Spoiler:

Um, she has restored the balance, yes, but she has ruined her life, and having to adjust to the fact that she wasn't the guardian. It feels like her journey just has started, that she has many adventures infront of her, and that she never got closure. Yes the world was saved, and I agree that gamewise the story was closed, but April's story was left as an open wound..

Spoiler:

I think that's all you can ask for in a story. I think the only big question that I feel needed to be answered was whether Cortez died or not.

I don't really feel that her life was ruined, I think it's her fault, and her problem that she became depressed, bitter, and anything but content. It was her choice. I thought by the end of the game she was able to accept responsibility, to contribute, even be a heroine.

Originally Posted by Igor

In my opinion TLJ was just as much of interactive movie/book as is Dreamfall.. I love them both

There's a load of games, some very popular, from Japan that have hours and hours of cutscenes, but still have a game there too. TLJ is like this, Dreamfall, not so much.

[RumRogerz]

Originally Posted by Panthera

umm.. spoilers? maybe spoiler-mark your thread.. lots of us who hasn't played the game you know..

I don't know how too *sorry*!

[Melanie68]

If you quote someone to reply or use the 'Go Advanced' you can highlight the text you want to hide and hit the ?

You can also type [ spoiler ] text here [ /spoiler ] but leave out the spaces.

Spoiler:

Like this

[CrimsonBlue]

I haven't completed the game yet, but I'm loving it! I agree, there's not much actual gameplay, but these aren't the most exciting part of it anyway. I'm not too fond of the sneaking and fighting, but these are kept to a minimal anyway, so I'm not overly bothered by it. The last thing that really annoyed me was

Spoiler:

when I followed that mysterious man with April, and I reached the underground section to find a way to get to the other side of the river. I really hate being able to die when all I really needed to do was find a way to open the door. And it's not an avoidable death either, if you're discovered you will die. You're not strong enough for the fight. It's almost inevitable to die once or twice until you figure out what to do, because you have to explore a bit before you start thinking about the puzzle.

Getting disturbed like that when exploring and figuring out a puzzle is just annoying and no fun at all. It's used as a pointless obstacle to make the puzzle harder and the game seem longer.

[AFGNCAAP]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

If you quote someone to reply or use the 'Go Advanced' you can highlight the text you want to hide and hit the ?

You can also type [ spoiler ] text here [ /spoiler ] but leave out the spaces.

Spoiler:

Like this

Yeah, and some other people forgot about it when discussing the ending of the first game.

Incidentally, I agree with Aj_ about TLJ ending. Not providing all answers is one thing, screaming for a sequel - completely another. The Longest Journey *has* a complete story.

[KanyeWest]

Yeah im also disappointed in Dreamfall, because of the simplicity of it all. There was no challenge what so ever

[RichardI]

What a klunky, cruddy, disappointing piece of #@$& this game is.
1950's graphics, not an adventure game at all IMO, TERRIBLE interface and controls, brutal dialogue, scene switching every 5 minutes, juvenile plot and "puzzles".
A handy coaster set.