[TM3]

Introduction:
I’ve played a few adventure games but they were of the independent, first person kind. They were “Sofia’s Debt” and “Dead City.” I enjoyed these and have played a little bit of “Syberia” (but had to be returned because it was rental) and a demo for “The Longest Journey.” Now that was a game I truly wanted to get. And so I got it one day at the mall. It was the only copy that was on the shelf with the other games and when I brought it to the counter, the clerk commented on it being a good choice and that he played it and it was one the best, etc, etc! So I left the store with high hopes.

Story:
Ever since playing Final Fantasy 9, I’ve had fondness of games that are driven by an actual story. The story of April Ryan is one of those stories that will always stick with me. The writing and translation was excellent and I could feel the effort and passion behind it all! On top of that there are some interesting characters that I’ve enjoyed interacting with (Flipper, Charlie) and finding out new things in the world(s) I was in.
My gripe is that the conversations can really go on for too long. This is a worse when there are certain characters that speak very slowly. Nonetheless it’s engrossing and an unforgettable adventure story with a lot of heart put into it. Same goes for the histories and other fine touches (“Alltoungue” is just one of the many). 4/5

Gameplay:
Interface and mouse were simple and easy to use! Saving/loading the game, opening up the inventory, getting to your journal, and so on. I had no problems with control. Gameplay was also straightforward. You inspect your surroundings, learn about the places your in, talk to people, and solve puzzles.
That’s where I had problems with. Some puzzles in the game were easy, others did require a little bit of hard thinking but I was able to solve them, but there were others that I had so much trouble with that I did something the adventure community would frown on…used a walkthrough. And also asked for help (maybe no frowns on that).
Plus there was some sequences where it had “action” in it but you don’t really die. It would not have bothered me if you could die. It just would’ve added an edge to those moments. Despite the puzzles, I guess I cared a little more about the interactions and the storyline. 3/5


Graphics:
I admired the main menu. It looked mysterious and hinted at an “epic feel.” Cut scenes are alright in the game but I’ve seen much better. In-game backgrounds are imaginative and detailed and had some nice details like cars coming by in the futuristic city of Newport. The main character April Ryan’s model looked good and her design was realistically proportioned in my opinion and quite original unlike other games that have goofy bimbo-like females. The rest of the character models are fairly average but not much to blow the mind away. 3/5

Audio:
The music is fitting and helped give a mysterious-epic atmosphere to the game. I especially enjoyed the music from the opening sequence in the beginning. Most of the voice, including April, are one of the best I’ve heard and there was only a few characters I thought that were not as great in voice (Abanaxus). Sounds were consistent such as the April’s footsteps, waves hitting shore, distant music playing, and much more. There was however, an audio glitch that occurred a few times throughout the game but I didn’t let that get in the way of my enjoyment of this game.
5/5

Conclusion:
Plain and simple, I loved this game and plan on playing more of these kinds of adventure games. Can’t wait for “Dreamfall” as well!

Total Score:
15/20

[CSY]

well i played it last week and i was thinking about writing something about the game tooo. but its just to long im still thinking about it so im unable to write a review.

the story is epic, i love it. some are talking to slow yeah but that doesnt bother me. what i really dont understand is how puzzles like the rubberduck where you get the key in the subwaystation made it into the game. guess where i started using a walkthrough.

[RLacey]

It just goes to show how different people perceive game difficulty. I felt that TLJ was one of the easier games that I've played...

[Zack]

The Longest Journey is one of my all-time favorite games, mainly because the story was so epic, and long, and it had a lot of interesting twists to it. I thought April Ryan was a great lead character, and her character development was well done, too. But, that's all I'm going to say about that.

The movie sequences were very pretty, in my opinion, but I was a little surprised that most of them were pretty short, and that they hardly had any spoken dialogue in them (except for a few). But, then again, I've been used to seeing dialogue-heavy cutscenes in adventure games, so this was definitely a nice surprise.

Definitely a fun game, and it could last you almost one whole week, or two, because of how long it was.

[Skinkie]

Originally Posted by RLacey

It just goes to show how different people perceive game difficulty. I felt that TLJ was one of the easier games that I've played...

The way the inventory item would glow when you waved it over the right thing took any thinking out of it for me. I too did very much enjoy it, but agree that it was easy.

[simpson_yellow]

Nice review TM3.

I bought TLJ about 2 years ago, started it, got bored, shelved it, and then reinstalled and completed it late last year. I definitely didn't like it as much as you did, but I pretty much agree with your pluses and minuses.

The dialogue was a big downer for me. I agree it was just too long, and often completely unnecessary to advancement of the story. I got about half an hour into the game before I switched on subtitles and just clicked my way through the audio.

I thought the puzzles were a bit on the easy side, and I think it's because of this that I had difficulty engaging with the game (although I didn't much like April so that probably didn't help).

I'm looking forward to Dreamfall too. I just hope there'll be more efficient dialogue and some characters that I like.