Line #65 VideoGame/DreamfallChapters


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1a285cdff72c5866c3387c16d93b915e.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[TheAtoner Kian]] and [[MessianicArchetype Zoë]]]]
3
4	The third game of the ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourneySaga'', ''Dreamfall Chapters'' is the episodic sequel to the 2006 ActionAdventure game ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney''. Although announced back in 2007, it only [[http://www.funcom.com/news/pre_production_begins_on_new_game_in_the_longest_journey_saga entered pre-production in 2012]], since most of its key personnel (including the original creator, Ragnar Tørnquist) had their hands full with ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld''. The game has been [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redthread/dreamfall-chapters-the-longest-journey funded via Kickstarter]], raising over $1.5 million from almost 22,000 pledges, which was about 180% of the original goal. With the extra money it was possible to add Linux and Mac versions, new language localizations and more content to the game (resulting in a Director's Cut and developer commentaries), all of which had to be cut earlier in order to make room to a smaller goal. The first episode, ''Book One: Reborn'', was released on 21 October 2014.
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6	Had it reached $2M, the devs would have greenlit the pre-production of ''The Longest Journey Home'' (essentially, ''The Longest Journey 2'' [[WhatCouldHaveBeen with April in the lead role, which is a conclusion of her story]]). While Tørnquist has stated that he one day hopes to release ''Home'' in some form, he also said that the project isn't happening for "[[https://twitter.com/ragso/status/741008032528801794 a long, long time, if at all]]."
7
8	The story takes place in 2220, picking up soon after the events of ''Dreamfall''. The Dreamer Console that allows people to experience lucid dreams has been released to the public, and is a great success as many find themselves addicted to the new technology, which also seems to have some rather sinister side-effects that might not be entirely unintentional. Meanwhile, following the events of the previous game, Zoë Castillo lies in a coma, with her consciousness trapped in the realm of "Storytime". But the realm's mysterious caretaker, "the Vagabond", informs her that she must wake up to face a threat outside of Storytime that threatens all of existence. Upon waking, however, Zoë discovers that she suffers from partial amnesia. In effort to pick up the pieces and begin again, she moves to the {{dystopia}}n {{megacity}} Europolis. Though she manages to carve out quite comfortable niche for herself, she finds herself increasingly caught up in shady events surrounding Europolis' upcoming parliament elections, and she has a nagging feeling that is ''something'' she really ought to remember...
9
10	In Arcadia, Kian Alvane is saved from a summary execution as the Marcurian resistance, seeking to recruit him, springs him from prison. With his new acquaintances' backing, Kian now has an opportunity to get to the bottom of the conspiracy that seems to fester within the Azadi leadership in Marcuria. But can a person with his past gain the trust of the same people he fought against? And who can he trust to help him?
11
12	The game consists of the five episodes:
13
14	* ''Book One: Reborn'' (October 21, 2014)
15	* ''Book Two: Rebels'' (March 12, 2015)
16	* ''Book Three: Realms'' (June 25, 2015)
17	* ''Book Four: Revelations'' (December 3, 2015)
18	* ''Book Five: Redux'' (June 17, 2016)
19
20	A UpdatedRerelease, with the subtitle ''The Final Cut'', was released in July 2017. It adds a graphical overhaul, new features such as maps in open world areas, and streamlines some quests.
21
22	Please put tropes concerning characters introduced in this game to its '''[[Characters/DreamfallChapters character list]]''', and tropes common to the series to '''[[VideoGame/TheLongestJourneySaga the series page]]'''.
23	----
24	!!Tropes found in the game:
25
26	* FiveFiveFive: The MythologyGag below has a phone number that begins with this.
27	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: There is one under Propast. This is where Hanna lives. She knows some secret routes through them.
28	* AllJustADream: ZigZagged in Book 5. [[spoiler:When Zoë returns from Arcadia, she wakes up in a hospital room--the same we saw her at the beginning of the game. So everything that happened to her so far, Propast and Marcuria, were just a dream? Then she realizes that [[AGlitchInTheMatrix some things are off]] and she is in a dream right now. She finally wakes up for real--in a lab. This means that everything, including the previous hospital scene, was a dream. After confronting Helena, she explains that while Zoë was dreaming the whole time, the everything was real: she physically manifested in both Propast and Marcuria.]]
29	* AmbiguousSituation:
30	** [[spoiler:Kian apparently overthrows Mother Utana and her masked council when he becomes the Bloodless King, but Utana's final fate is not revealed.]]
31	** [[spoiler:According to Gabriel, after Zoë took the Undreaming from Westhouse, there was a bright flash of light and Westhouse and Helena Chang vanished. Their final fates are never revealed, although Gabriel notes that if Helena survived, she's probably in hiding on account of being the most wanted woman in the world.]]
32	* AnyoneCanDie: Depending on your choices, some characters will die.
33	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The beginning of Book two has a puzzle that requires you to order some drawings in chronological order. Those drawings tell events from ''The Longest Journey'', which might be difficult if you haven't played it or don't remember it well. However, drawings placed in the correct spot stay there and cannot be removed, so it facilitates a lot if you end up having to go by trial and error.
34	** A lot of puzzles cause the character to give hints if the player takes too long or does the wrong input too often (such as Saga when clearing the wards).
35	* ArcWords:
36	** "Wake up." Both Kian and Zoë (but especially Zoë) are told to "wake up" in one way or another repeatedly through books one and two.
37	** "Your Choice will have consequences" and "The Balance has shifted" on a meta scale. Get used to seeing these words a ''lot''.
38	* ArrowCatch: You can do this as Kian in Book Two. If you don't, your companion will.
39	* ArtifactTitle: Subverted. ''Chapters'' originally referred to the game's episodic format, which has been dropped when production began and the subtitle [[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-09-dreamfall-chapters-will-be-a-single-player-adventure-game-for-pc-and-mac began to refer to the "chapters of life"]]. With the return to episodic format, however, the title is back where it started.
40	* AsceticAesthetic: The Jiva lab.
41	* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:Zoë is pregnant in the epilogue]].
42	* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler: April, in a way]].
43	* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: Zoë awakens from one of her dreams to gunshots. She finds that Falk Friedman is pointing a gun on her. [[spoiler:Actually, he is shooting at the police officers who are climbing in the window, and he actually came to rescue her.]]
44	* BalconySpeech: Sister Sahya gives one in Book 5, during the activation of the Engine. Her actual speech is not shown though.
45	* BarrierMaiden: The "first dreamer", introduced in Book Two, is an ambiguously gendered sleeping child whose dream literally is the universe. All that is stems from its dream, and if it were to die, reality itself would die with it. [[spoiler:In Book Four, the child fuses with Zoë, who becomes the new Dreamer. Time will tell how that works.]]
46	* BecauseDestinySaysSo: The reason [[spoiler:Saga]] does the things in the way she does. In her own words, the story has already been written and it has to happen this way.
47	* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: May be implied in Book Four, see Shout-Out below.
48	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Saga does this to save Kian in Book 5 after he gets stabbed]].
49	* BigFirstChoice: Zoë's first choice is when she wakes up, does she start working in her chosen profession as a bioengineer, or does she try something different. While the story will play out the same, some of the important characters will be different.
50	* BilingualBonus:
51	** A few Polish words and expressions in dialogues, i.e. "ziomek" (homie), "suka" (bitch), "dobra" (all right), "dupa" (ass), "babka" (lady or grandma). Other languages, especially German, and a bit of French and Italian, also seem to have been partly incorporated into the future pan-European Engish, too.
52	** The screens in the souk area feature green Arabic writing (it's written left-to-right, though, and therefore, the letters are not connected).. On first sight they just seem like a typical Cyberpunk decoration. However players soon discovered that the writing repeats sentences like 'You've been dreaming Zoë, Wake up before it's too late' or 'Wake up now'.
53	** Zoë's part of the game is set in Propast which is a part of the Prague District of Europolis. As a result of that, Czech is heavily featured in the game, including location names and slang.
54	* BodyHorror: After the explosion in Book Two, Zoë gets a decent facial scar which is mostly covered by a hexagonal dermal patch. At the right angle, though, you can see the scar tissue.
55	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: A heroic version. [[spoiler:Anna's reason for being borderline obsessed with Kian stems from the fact that he once saved her from suffering abuse at the hands of Vamon and his mooks. Kian, however, doesn't remember her until she reminds him of the event in explicit detail.]]
56	* ButThouMust:
57	** In Book Two, the choice of whether or not to join the Rebels isn't really a choice at all. The latter leads to a NonStandardGameOver and you have to go back and join to continue the story.
58	** You have to do Baruti's data-gathering mission in Book Two. Refusing just stalls the story there until you speak to him again, at which point your only choice is to accept.
59	** At the end of Book Two, there is a playable cutscene where you chase down [[spoiler:Nela as she runs to suicide bomb an EYE checkpoint]]. Even if you do absolutely nothing or even run in the opposite direction, the game will just assume you did as you were told and play [[StoryOverwrite the actual cutscene]] that follows [[CutsceneDrop right on cue]]. A later update addressed this, providing an alternate cutscene that accounts for players who take the second option. The end result doesn't change, however.
60	* CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker: In Propast the loudspeakers continually tell people to stay home and connected to the Dreamachine.
61	* CerebusRetcon: Back in ''The Longest Journey'' Roper Klacks was pretty much a comic relief, and his demise by ending up trapped in a calculator was PlayedForLaughs. Then comes Book 5 and we learn that thanks to this imprisonment, he got the inspiration to [[spoiler:build the Azadi engine, which performed calculations and is capable of eliminating magic, as well bringing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]].
62	* ChekhovsBoomerang: Kian has to use Evensong to knock out an engineer and "borrow" his tools. Then he has to use it again to catch a rat.
63	* ChekhovsGun:
64	** Remember that gun Commander Vamon was carrying throughout ''Dreamfall'' but never got to use? Well, he shoots Kian with it the second time we see him in this game.
65	** In Book one, Zoë gives Queenie a bottle of Biju as an offering to see her. In Book five, an identical bottle of Biju appears [[spoiler: ...in Saga's house.]] Many people actually missed this!
66	** The Silver Spear of Gorimon was first mentioned in a legend in ''The Longest Journey''. The Spear finally makes an appearance as [[spoiler:the Prophet's staff. Kian uses it to kill Klacks and free the Undreaming.]]
67	* ChekhovsSkill: Back in ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'', it is briefly mentioned that Zoë is pursuing a bioengineering degree. In this game, bioengineering is one of the two career paths Zoë can choose before she wakes from her coma. It also makes it easier for her to talk to [[spoiler: Ferdows]] since she understands him without explanations.
68	* ChoiceAndConsequenceSystem: The WordOfGod admits that this game's approach to StoryBranching has been inspired by Creator/TelltaleGames'. Some choices are pretty meaningless (e.g. regardless what you do with the dying prisoner in Friar's Keep, his wife will hate Kian for it), while others have massive consequences (Zoë's last off-handed remark before leaving Storytime basically defines her future career in Europolis).
69	* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: In Book Two, Anna lampshades that Azadi are particularly prone to temptation simply because there are so many things they forbid. This is in reference to an Azadi officer engaged in an affair with an underage magical, which is three capital crimes rolled into one.
70	* CollectionSidequest: The [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redthread/dreamfall-chapters-the-longest-journey/posts/408592 Loremaster stretch goal]] will allow you to collect books throughout the game to rebuild the Great Library of Marcuria.
71	* ColonCancer: The full titles of the individual episodes will be ''Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey: Book X: Episode Title''.
72	* ContinuityLockout:
73	** Zig-zagged. A new player will seem somewhat confused at the world but it attempts to explain it for them. Even when Kian is confronted with an event that happened in ''Dreamfall'', there is a "Press F to learn more about this character" to remind people.
74	** The second interlude in Book Three has Saga assembling a series of pictures which recount the plot of the first game. If you haven't played it, some of the events depicted can be hard to place in a linear time frame.
75	* CoversAlwaysLie: Downplayed by the ''The Final Cut'' cover, which features an adult Saga literally front-and-center, despite her only appearing in one interlude and one chapter towards the end of the game (as an adult, that is). Players who buy the console versions without prior knowledge of the plot are left to wonder who the hell that woman on the cover is for most of the game.
76	* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: Zoë doesn't seem to care at all about the -- probably innocent -- man who is being tortured by Mr. London's Mooks. You have no option to even try to save him, even though it's pretty clear he will be killed soon. Granted, she's in no position to save him from a bunch of mobsters, but you'd think she'd at least comment on it.
77	** Book 5 requires you to light a man ''on fire'' to save Crow. Granted, given his actions throughout the game the player might feel a little ''less'' bad about this than the case above.
78	* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: It always rains in Europolis, to the point where Zoë jokingly explains to the locals what the Sun is.
79	* DarkestHour: [[spoiler: Zoë is trapped inside a pod with her dad handcuffed and her mom's EvilPlan in motion. Kian has been stabbed by Utana and Crow is dead]]. It seems all is lost. [[spoiler: Until Saga appears]].
80	* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler:Saga]], the secret third playable character. Not only for Dreamfall Chapters, but also for the whole series. [[spoiler:Saga]] saves the other two playable characters, and is revealed to be [[spoiler:Lady Alvane, the misterious old lady who narrated the events of ''The Longest Journey'']]. Additionally, [[spoiler:Saga]] is hinted during Book 1 to also be [[spoiler:a reborn April Ryan]].
81	* DialogueTree: In a interesting twist on the trope, hovering over a dialogue choice triggers a bit of InnerMonologue, wherein the PlayerCharacter will explain their reasoning for that option to prevent the common situation where a seemingly peaceful word triggers a hostile line of dialogue.
82	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Sister Sahya]].
83	* DistantFinale: The last segment of the game is said to take place in a long time from now. It consists of [[spoiler:old Saga, now also known as Lady Alvane, reminiscing her past adventures and mentioning the fate of key characters]].
84	* DissonantSerenity: For someone who apparently has the fate of two worlds resting on their shoulders, [[spoiler: Saga]] seems to be ''quite'' the snarker when [[spoiler: she is literally holding a shift open]].
85	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
86	** Listening to people describe the political scene in Europolis (especially how most people supporting the conservative candidates view immigrants), one can easily wonder if they may be sneaking in a TakeThat to European political parties in the 2014 elections.
87	* DreamsVsNightmares: Played with. Lux represents the dreams and Baba Yaga the nightmares. However, [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Baba Yaga is actually necessary for the dreams, thus life, to exist]]. The real antagonist is [[EldritchAbomination The Undreaming]], which wants to destroy all dreams.
88	* EpisodicGame: Double-subverted. Originally announced as such, then confirmed to be a traditional full-length game, but faced with mounting production costs the developers [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redthread/dreamfall-chapters-the-longest-journey/posts/890605 have switched back to episodic format]], with the original projected release date now being the release of the first episode/book.
89	* EternalEngine: The Azadi's Engine, a massive steampunk contraption that spans the entirety of Marcuria and the entire height of the Azadi tower.
90	* EvolvingTitleScreen: As the story progresses, items from Saga's life are added to the title screen.
91	* FantasticRacism: Apart from everything else already apparent in the previous game, there are some more specific examples here.
92	** If Kian asks the Mole why she won't join the Resistance, she reveals that other magicals treated her people, the Banda, with disdain.
93	** If you walk slow enough when Bip is leading you to the National Front meeting, you can also learn that the Dolmari [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything prefer lighter blue skin to darker blue skin]] and likewise assign value to hair colors based on their associations with certain gods.
94	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption:
95	** Testing the Shitbot for aptitude to various tasks. Worst of all is repairing, which looks like a rather simple puzzle (there is a schematic for the repairs, replacement fuses, etc.) but since Zoë cannot touch high voltage cables herself, you must use the Shitbot--which promptly breaks the already broken system even more, regardless of what you have it do.
96	** No matter what you do at the end of Book Two, [[spoiler:Nela is going to blow herself up taking out an EYE checkpoint]].
97	* FailedASpotCheck:
98	** One puzzle involves you speaking to an Adbot to conceal you as you try to sneak into a vent (ItMakesSenseInContext) but a glitch can result in the Adbot not being there when you leave, meaning the EYE operative who was watching you couldn't see a thing.
99	** In Book Five, one puzzle involves you having to take a bunch of alcohol so you can [[ItMakesSenseInContext light a racist dude on fire]]. You ask for a sample and swap a thimble with a much much larger flask. Somehow the guy doesn't notice this. He ''may'' be drunk -- it's a holiday where you get shitfaced and burn things, after all -- but his dialogue certainly doesn't reflect it.
100	* FantasyWorldMap: Limited editions of ''Chapters'' [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redthread/dreamfall-chapters-the-longest-journey/posts/403370 will be packaged]] with the first ever official map of Arcadia.
101	* FillingTheSilence: Crow decides to fill almost every silent moment with whatever is on his mind at the moment later on.
102	* FreudianCouch: Zoë's therapist, Roman, has one in his office, but she has never used it, as she feels it would make her look like a dork.
103	* FusionDance: In Book Four, [[spoiler:the First Dreamer merges with Zoë, making her the BarrierMaiden]].
104	* GivingRadioToTheRomans: Ferdows reveals to Kian that it was [[spoiler:the Prophet who gave the Azadi the plans for constructing the Engine, essentially a [[SufficientlyAdvancedBambooTechnology giant computer running on steam technology]]. It's further revealed in Book Five that Roper Klacks in fact devised the Engine on the Prophet's orders, having gained an understanding of the technology while stuck in that calculator two games back.]]
105	* AGlitchInTheMatrix: [[spoiler:The opening sequence of Chapter 12, has Zoë walking around her hospital room and discover that there are several things off about the objects in the room; such as a get-well-soon card from the long-deceased Olivia and a picture of her university graduation which she only can remember herself being at (or even never happened in the first place).]]
106	* GotMeDoingIt: Zoë comes to this realization during her conversation with the Vagabond.
107	-->'''Zoë:''' I'm a thread without a spool… Oh, for God's Sake, I'm starting to talk like you!
108	* GovernmentConspiracy: A continuation (and hopefully conclusion) to the Project Alchera arc.
109	* GroinAttack: Kian will threaten to castrate a child-molesting guard and then feed him the result if he speaks without being told to. Said guard is also warned that said child being a magical means that he is guilty of three separate offenses that would warrant death, and would undoubtedly be castrated as part of his very drawn out punishment.
110	* TheHashshashin: Or rather, their [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Arcadian Counterpart Organization]], the [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redthread/dreamfall-chapters-the-longest-journey/posts/408065 Oular Assassili]].
111	* HereWeGoAgain: When Queenie asks Zoë to find and save Hanna, Zoë's diary makes a dry note on how the last time she was tasked with finding and rescuing a girl she didn't even know, [[SarcasmMode it ended very well for everyone involved and their friends/relatives]].
112	* HeroicSacrifice:
113	** Shitbot/Kidbot performs this. ItMakesSenseInContext.
114	** [[spoiler: Kian]] does this at the end, but [[NotQuiteDead got better]].
115	* HighTechHexagons: Seems to be a fashion thing in Europolis. Baruti has them in place of hair, and Zoë's dermal patch in Book Three consists of them.
116	* HilarityEnsues: In one chapter, Zoë is asked [[ItMakesSenseInContext to take Shitbot out for a walk and test all of the features]]. Chances are you ''will'' be laughing at how comically the robot fails every single task Zoë asks of it.
117	* HollywoodHacking: Played with -- Zoë must search for random access points to a cloud database to download data from, swapping accounts and locations to make her harder to track. Justified in that Mira designed the software to do most of the work for her.
118	* HubLevel: Europolis and Marcuria are going to be this for Stark and Arcadia, respectively.
119	* IAlwaysWantedToSayThat: Zoë tells a member of the Resistance to "TakeMeToYourLeader!", and notices she always had wanted to use that line.
120	* IdleAnimation: If the townspeople in Marcuria are dancing, have Zoë stand still for a few moments, and she'll eventually start dancing along.
121	* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler: When Zoë finally wakes up from dreaming in Book Five, she appears to be back in her hospital room in Casablanca. Soon she finds that it's littered with photos of false happy memories implanted to keep her in that room, which turns out to be a lab imprisoning her. In a twist on that trope, everything she has been dreaming has been real, since when she dreams herself to Stark or Arcadia she projects a physical copy of her body there.]]
122	* KarmaHoudini:
123	** [[spoiler:Mother Utana]] gets away scot free in the end -- though the epilogue shows that she'll eventually be defeated, her specific fate is not revealed.
124	* KarmicDeath:
125	** [[spoiler: Sister Sahya]] gets pushed off a balcony and falls to her death.
126	** [[spoiler: Commander Vamon]], who pushed said character off the balcony in order to escape punishment mets their death by [[spoiler: A magical lynch mob and at the hands of Anna, whom he had done bad things to in the past]].
127	* KickTheDog:
128	** It's implied that the Warden will be executed if Kian spares him. Alternatively, Kian can convince the Warden to allow him and the captain through, and reward him by killing him anyways. The warden gets lucky, though: if you spare him, Vamon can't just execute him because there are laws and going around them would be rather suspicious with his superior officer in town.
129	** The prisoner from chapter one, Arn Stont, asks Kian to tell his family he loved them and asks Kian to MercyKill him. [[spoiler:Regardless of what you do in the latter choice, if you seek out his family in chapter 2, his widow is ''not'' happy with your actions at all.]]
130	* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade:
131	** [[spoiler: Damien and Olivia. See SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome below.]]
132	** Depending on your actions in Book Two, [[spoiler: Baruti will also meet this fate.]]
133	* LamePunReaction:
134	** Kian has one to his own pun, after observing the broom in the prison several times.
135	---> '''Kian''': I've been staring at this broom for so long, maybe the two of us should get a... broom. ''({{beat}})'' Goddess, I've gone insane.
136	** Zoë also does this earlier to the wardrobe in Dreamtime if you observe it enough.
137	* LampshadeHanging:
138	** When Zoë looks at the window of her apartment, she comments about how it is always raining outside the window but when she gets out it stops raining.
139	** In Arcadia, Zoë constantly hangs lampshades on being in a fantasy/fairytale world.
140	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
141	** During the first chapter, Zoë makes a meta-commentary about games:
142	--->'''Zoë''': He's asking me to make a choice, but it doesn't feel like that choice matters. At the end of the day, I'm just playing by someone's else rules. No matter what I say, the outcome is the same.[[note]]Ironically, it's subverted in this case, as Zoë's first choice determines whether she continues with the bioengineering degree or ends up in the repair shop.[[/note]]
143	** There is quite a bit of this, actually. If you take very long to reach Reza's office, because you go exploring the city and get distracted by details, he calls you and seems confused about what could possibly keep you so long. Zoë asks: 'Who do you think I am? Miss Distraction?' and he answers along the lines of 'Yes, actually'.
144	** [[invoked]] When Zoë reunites with Crow, he comments that she looks a bit different from last time and that [[TheOtherDarrin her voice doesn't sound quite like it used to]]. He even comments that he looks a bit different himself.
145	** Crow also says that Abnaxus was really annoying to talk to and took forever to get to the point, which is how many players felt like about his appearance in ''The Longest Journey''.
146	* LeastCommonSkinTone: Averted -- While it's rather dark to see specifics, Europolis has a fair amount of residents who are of Asian or North African descent.
147	* TheMagicVersusTechnologyWar: Pops up once again. The Mole mentions that she senses that there is something ''seriously'' wrong and foreboding about the massive machine the Azadi is constructing in Marcuria, like it simply doesn't belong in the world. She specifically mentions that whatever it is, it doesn't give off any magic wipes, strongly indicating that it runs on some form of science, and the thought alone scares her enough to [[spoiler:[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere close up her operation and get the hell out of dodge]]]].
148	** In the distant epilogue, [[spoiler: Saga]] mentions that there were two of these wars after the game, the last one [[spoiler: lead to Stark and Marcuria finally being united]].
149	* MadScientist: The Sister in charge of the Azadi concentration camp for magicals. [[spoiler:She's experimenting on them to create a disease that will kill all magicals. Mother Utana is revealed to be in charge of the whole thing in Book 5.]]
150	* MaleGaze: The camera ''really'' likes displaying Zoë's ass prominently. Not hard to see why, considering she the fact the she wears such tight fitting lower body wear.
151	* MegaCity: The City State of Europolis. It physically covers the entirety of the former Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands, a good chunk of France and even reaches a bit into the Baltic states.
152	* MoveAlongNothingToSeeHere: Policemen in Propast say this as you approach them.
153	* MythologyGag: If you look very carefully, you will see a "Found" sign in Europolis that will show the [[http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=330071202 inflatable rubber ducky]] from ''The Longest Journey'', and it even mentions the piece of string April put on it.
154	* ANaziByAnyOtherName:
155	-->'''Zoë:''' Konstantin Wolf envisions himself as a back-to-basics father figure for a united Europe, embracing traditional values and ethnic purity. I wonder were I've heard that particular pitch before...
156	* NiceJobFixingItVillain:
157	** In Book 5, [[spoiler:Brian Westhouse and Helena Chang have all but won and activate the Engine and Eingana to remake the universe. But in doing so, they break down the barriers between reality and Storytime, allowing Zoë to use her Dreamer powers in Stark and save the universe. Also, Helena's contingency plan in case Zoë wakes up is to sedate her, read: to make a ''Dreamer'' see ''dreams'', the very source of her almost godlike powers]].
158	** Had [[spoiler: Mother Utana]] not send for Kian, he wouldn't have made it back in time and the entire universe would be screwed.
159	* NighthawksShot: There is a painting in The House of All Worlds, which is this with Saga's parents, Magnus and Etta as the characters. The diner is named [[CreatorCameo Red Thread]].
160	* NightmareSequence: A [[SideEffectsInclude side effect]] of the Dreamer Console is that some of its users gets stuck in their nightmares... [[AndIMustScream and then find themselves unable to awake from them]].
161	* NonStandardGameOver: Choose not to join the Rebels in Book Two. [[spoiler:Game over, the world ends.]]
162	* NoodleIncident:
163	** How Crow and Zoë get their hands on an Elgwan to take them to Riverwood. According to the NoodleImplements, it was a ZanyScheme, involving Zoë disguising herself as a man, complete with a fake beard, while having Crow voicing her to prevent LarynxDissonance.
164	** While travelling to the Purple Mountains, Zoë and Crow apparently had an incident with a "stone cat".
165	** A whole bunch of these are dropped by [[spoiler: Lady Alvane, in the final scene of Book Five, the biggest one being that Stark and Arcadia were eventually reunited into one world, though we don't know when that happened - only that it was not within Kian's lifetime.]]
166	* NostalgiaLevel:
167	** The level where Kian escapes from Friar's Keep is a remix of the same location from ''Dreamfall'', where April had to break Zoë out.
168	** Marcuria returns as well, and you can even revisit City Park from the Longest Journey.
169	** The Grubber cave under Marcuria. Kian rows the boat through the underground river, and we can see the scenes from the previous game as backdrop.
170	* OnceMoreWithClarity: Near the beginning, there is a scene where the White Kin is surprised by someone, followed by an "Oh, it's you" by her. In Book 5, the scene is shown again, but now we see that [[spoiler:it's Brian Westhouse, who came to kill her]].
171	* OneWomanWail: In the beginning, during the funeral of [[spoiler:April Ryan]]. More like a One Child Wail, but the effect is the same.
172	* ParentalSubstitute:
173	** Kian is rapidly shaping up to be this for Bip.
174	** [[spoiler: Mother Utana and General Hami were this for Kian]]
175	** At the end, [[spoiler: Kian became one for Saga]].
176	* PedoHunt: Kian tracks down an Azadi soldier who is... having his way with an underage Dolmari girl. His main purpose is to gather information about the upcoming attack on the Magic Ghetto. Depending on player choice, Kian feels it justified to kill him after getting the information because of what he'd done.
177	* PerceptionFilter: In Book Two, Kian is given a potion which causes him to be mostly ignored by everyone around him. As long as Kian doesn't interact with people in any meaningful way, they will only barely register his presence; guards at checkpoints, for example, will acknowledge that someone is nearby but find themselves unable to see anyone, even when Kian is two feet away. The effect fails if Kian engages in conversation, and people who know him intimately (former friends, rebel associates, etc.) can see through the veil. This becomes important when Anna can see right through the veil even though Kian has no recollection of meeting the woman.
178	* PetTheDog: The Warden will try and come to a kind of understanding with Kian. Kian himself can decide to spare him.
179	** For the Azadi:
180	*** Kian mentions that they are more tolerant of homosexuality.
181	*** A few guards you hear a bit later in the game actually ''do'' question the FantasticRacism, one even saying that a Dolmari gave him some good farming advice. Additionally, some are more than willing to [[spoiler: turn on their own commanders]] and start [[spoiler: aiding the resistance]] because they think [[EvenEvilHasStandards they're going way too far]]. After all - the events at Ge'en are too bad even for ''them''. Additionally, a guard will mention that while they don't like the racist "Front", they won't disrupt their meetings because they're not doing anything illegal.
182	* PlayableEpilogue: You control Lady Alvane, [[spoiler: a.k.a. the elderly Saga,]] setting up the scene from ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'' where April Ryan enters The House Between Worlds.
183	* PlayerDataSharing: Downplayed. Enabling the online-only "social" function lets the players learn what choices other players have made at important StoryBranching points.
184	* PreviouslyOn: The game will include an interactive comic recap of ''TLJ'' and ''Dreamfall''.
185	* RedHerring: The Kung Fu personality module for robots during Zoë's warehouse heist in Book Three. Not only is it no help, but installing it on the bot and trying to use it to take out guards with only results in Zoë getting caught.
186	* ReincarnationIdentifyingTrait: The first confirmation that Saga is a reincarnation of [[spoiler:April Ryan]] is when she starts drawing pictures showing the latter's journeys, just as the latter herself did as a child.
187	* ReplayValue / RewatchBonus: During 2017, when it was given a "Remaster", many who played the game episode-by-episode through 2014 - 2016 were suggested to play it again. Part of the reason was for the changes and the AntiFrustrationFeatures, but also because some of the foreshadowing was written off as nothing by the player with the individual books' releases being months apart.
188	* ResidualSelfImage: When Zoë makes it to Arcadia in Book Three, she appears in appropriate clothing (if a little overdressed for the neighborhood, as she points out), her hairstyle is back to what it was in the first two books (although pinned back), and she no longer has her scar or dermal patch.
189	* TheReveal:
190	** Several in Book 4: Revelations
191	*** Ge'en is indeed a concentration camp for magicals, and the purpose of it is [[spoiler:to research [[PhlebotinumBomb a way to eradicate all magicals]] ]].
192	*** [[spoiler:Roper Klacks was the Necromancer King of Ge'en]] -- which makes him [[Really700YearsOld at least a thousand years old]].
193	*** The hill of the Gribbler's home is the Yaga, who is the nightmare to Lux's dream.
194	*** Remaining in the present moment is killing Abnaxus.
195	*** [[spoiler:Zoë's body has been asleep and under observation for the whole game]].
196	** Book 5: Redux, has many to reveal as well.
197	*** [[spoiler: Klacks still has magical power, and was granted it by the Undreaming.]]
198	*** [[spoiler: The prophet is Brian Westhouse.]]
199	*** [[spoiler: Mother Utana is working with the prophet to exterminate all magicals.]]
200	*** [[spoiler: Zoë is an ArtificalHuman created to become a Dreamer. Hanna and Faith were other experiments.]]
201	*** [[spoiler: Saga is Lady Alvane.]]
202	* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:Jakai Salmin in Book 4, after he sells out the rebels.]] He is swiftly rewarded with a knife to the gut by [[spoiler:Vamon]].
203	* RewritingReality: This is revealed to be the intent behind [[spoiler:the Engine. With its calculations and ability to harness dream energy, it would allows the Azadi to control reality itself. This is the plan of the Prophet. On Stark's side, this is also true with Helena's machine, Eingana.]]
204	* RousingSpeech: Kian delivers one in The Rooster and the Kitten in Chapter 12. Lampshaded by Enu if you speak to her after.
205	* SadisticChoice: You will receive ''several''...
206	** [[spoiler: Decide to castigate the rebel who inadvertently led to April's death or keep your tongue knowing that there is someone who is willing to sell out the resistance out of desperation.]]
207	** [[spoiler: Give Baruti data that suggests Uminska and Wolf aren't so different and risk Baruti giving it to people who'll delete all records? Or give it to the Hand that Feeds and risk destroying Baruti's life?]] The sadism of this particular choice is hammered home by the fact that [[spoiler: if you choose to give the data to the Hand, you are forced to then tell Baruti what you've done behind his back. Though if you speak to him ahead of time and explain your reasoning, he will at least appreciate your honesty and your relationship will be on better terms.]]
208	* SceneryPorn: Storytime consists of nothing but crazy yet beautiful vistas.
209	** The whole game is filled with amazing visuals!!
210	* SequelHook: [[spoiler: Saga departing with Kian at the end, the fact that Hanna did not appear in the ending...]] Confirmed by Tørnquist that there will be a sequel done eventually.
211	* ShoutOut:
212	** In Book 1 Zoë can spot Mira's [[Series/DoctorWho "acoustic turnscrew"]], which she notes is like a magic wand of science.
213	** In the third Interlude in Book Four, examining a chair will cause Saga to remark that it's "[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus the comfy chair]]", and isn't quite sure where that came from. This continues when one of the final "goals" in the game is to [[ItMakesSenseInContext sit in... the comfy chair]]"
214	** The memory attached to Saga's toy rocket has her singing "[[Music/DavidBowie Ground control to Major Tom]]", and the rocket itself resembles the one from ComicBook/TheAdventuresOfTintin.
215	** When Zoë first enters Garden Green, her description of Abnaxus' house will make her compare it to [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings a hobbit house]] and reminding her of [[Creator/HayaoMiyazaki a Miyazaki movie]].
216	** The notes in Abnaxus' house are written in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript Voynich alphabet]]. [[Main/BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Wait, what...?]]
217	** Zoë refers to Ben-Bandu as an [[Franchise/StarWars Ewok]].
218	** If you examine [[spoiler:Lady Alvane's]] map of the multiverse in the final scene, one of the worlds that she remembers visiting is described as a place of "odd angles" and [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos "transdimensional cephalopods"]].
219	** One of the paintings hanging in the House of All Worlds is a copy of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nighthawks_(painting) Nighthawks]], with Etta and Magnus in place of the couple at the bar.
220	** There are some graffitis in Propast with the text "Vote Lea, save the galaxy", and a picture of Lea Uminska as [[Franchise/StarWars Leia]].
221	* SignedUpForTheDental:
222	-->'''Nela:''' What does it feel like, working for a fucking fascist regime, trampling all over the working people?\
223	'''EYE soldier:''' I'm okay with it. Good healthcare, no overtime, and the pay is decent.
224	* SorryImGay: Kian just gives a flat "I'm ''GAY''." to Crow.
225	* StartsWithTheirFuneral: [[spoiler:The game opens with the Resistance giving a VikingFuneral to April Ryan. There are [[DoubleMeaningTitle some]] [[BirthDeathJuxtaposition implications]] that she is reincarnated as Saga in the House of All Worlds immediately thereafter--further supported by the fact that what seems to be the spirit of the White Kin calls Saga "sister-daughter". In Book Three we learn that Saga drew quite a lot pictures about April's adventures in the first game; of course, that also speaks in favor of the theory.]]
226	* StoryBranching: Played with. At multiple points in the game, the player has to make minor and major plot decisions. All of them have impact on the fates of the characters they concern--but none on the player characters themselves, so there will be no MultipleEndings. Examples include:
227	** In Book One:
228	*** Before she wakes up from her coma, Zoë's first choice determines which career she'll take: bioengineering or a job at Mira's repair shop.
229	*** Kian can choose whether or not to kill the Warden. This comes into play in Book Two, where the warden's testimony causes problems for Vamon.
230	** In Book Two:
231	*** Kian can choose whether or not to join the Rebels. [[spoiler:Choosing the latter ends with a NonStandardGameOver where the entire world ends.]]
232	*** Kian can choose whether or not to rat out the traitor from the previous game, [[spoiler: Na'ane]], and as a subset of that whether or not to kill her if he does. [[spoiler: Revealing Na'ane will put her in prison, thus costing the resistance a valuable medic. Saying you will kill her will make Likho like Kian more. In Book Four, Enu's survival is dependent on Na'ane having been spared.]]
233	*** Kian can choose whether or not to torture and then kill the guard he interrogates. Sparing him results in a potential mole, and your companions will react differently depending on your interrogation conduct and how they feel about letting a child molester live. If you don't torture him, the resistance will suffer heavier casualties because they don't consider the information credible.
234	*** Zoë can either give the incriminating data to The Hand That Feeds to spread it around or to Baruti, who asked you to get it for him, even though it might never see the light of day. [[spoiler:Baruti [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade ends up dead]] if you do the latter and aren't completely honest about it.]]
235	** In Book Three:
236	*** Zoë can either dodge Falk's silenced pistol or try to distract him with her dreamer. He shoots EYE officers entering through the window in either case, but [[spoiler: will be shot multiple times in the chest]] if Zoë chose to distract him.
237	*** Likho begs Kian to pull him up onto a cloudship for the mission to [[spoiler:rescue Bip]]. Taking him with you makes him comment on how he has "no reason to hate you," but deprives the resistance of two crucial members instead of one. Leaving Likho behind angers him, but may strengthen the resistance. [[spoiler:If he's with you, Shepherd dies when the Azadi raid the resistance headquarters.]]
238	** In Book Four:
239	*** When exploring Abnaxus's house, you hear someone coming up behind you. You can either try to hide the book or swing it at the intruder. It turns out to be [[spoiler:Brian Westhouse]].
240	*** After you're done exploring the house, you can choose between [[spoiler:allowing Brian to stay or having him leave and sealing the house once more]].
241	* StraightGay: Kian and [[spoiler:Likho]].
242	* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Damien and Olivia have died during the gap between the installments, and it is heavily implied that they were liquidated by [=WATICorp=] to keep them from exposing TheConspiracy, and they went through some trouble to make the former TheScapegoat and [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident make both deaths look like a suicide and an accident respectively]]. It is also implied that only reason Zoë wasn't put on a deathlist is because her mind was too addled after her coma to remember any of the incriminating details]].
243	* SufficientlyAdvancedBambooTechnology: [[spoiler:The Engine in the Tower of Marcuria is essentially a giant computer running on steam technology. It is linked together with data sources from all across town by the pipe network, [[GivingRadioToTheRomans given to the Azadi]] by the Prophet.]]
244	** [[spoiler:It is revealed in Book Five that the Engine is the same as Eingana in Stark, with the same function: channel the primal energy of dreams to merge the two worlds together. They almost accomplish their purpose, but it's delayed to an indefinite point in the future.]]
245	* SuicideAttack: [[spoiler:Nela]] goes out this way in Book Two. Zoë will make an effort to stop her and get caught in the blast, and the final scene is her being dragged off by Falk. Zig-zagged in Book Three, where it's revealed that [[spoiler:it was supposed to be an EMP which was sabotaged, and though Nela knew she was being played, she also knew that she would just be quietly killed if she refused. Going out in a flashy explosion at least offered the chance that her killers would pay for their crimes]].
246	* SyntheticPlague: In Book Four, it's revealed that [[spoiler:the Azadi are working on a plague that will target any creature touched by magic. The plague that killed half the Dolmari was the prototype. The one they have running now will reliably kill children of any magical species]].
247	* {{Technobabble}}: While some of the people playing the game might understand most of what Ferdows tells Kian about [[spoiler:the Engine (it's basically [[SufficientlyAdvancedBambooTechnology a huge steampunk computer]] in the Tower linked together with data sources from all over Marcuria via the pipe networks), it all flies over his head and he has to repeatedly tell the scientist [[LaymansTerms to explain it to him as if he was just a guy with a sword]].]]
248	* TakeMeToYourLeader: In Book 3, when Zoë gets captured by the Resistance in Marcuria, she says this, followed by "IAlwaysWantedToSayThat".
249	* TimeSkip: Two months pass between Book 2 and Book 3. Zoë's hair is [[BoyishShortHair much shorter]], while Kian has grown out his hair and a full beard.
250	* TimeTravel: In Book 5, Saga is able to use the songlines to move between spacial locations and points in time. [[spoiler:These songlines allow her to be Queenie during the Europolis sections of the game, Lady Alvane back in ''The Longest Journey'', and explains how she goes from a toddler to an adult even though April hasn't been dead for more than a year.]]
251	* ToThePain: When interrogating the soldier who was sleeping with a magical girl, Kian can either torture him for information, or he can use this to intimidate him.
252	* TortureAlwaysWorks: Played with. Kian interrogates a mook for information on a coming raid on Old Town. You can use intimidation or actual torture, either of which will procure the information. However, if you don't torture him, the information isn't considered trustworthy and the rebels won't act on it to the best of their ability, resulting in more casualties than if you had used torture to seal the deal.
253	* TwoKeyedLock: The gates in the tunnels below Propast require two people to push buttons simultaneously to open them.
254	* UncannyValley:
255	** In-Universe, [[spoiler: in Book Five, Zoë notices that Wonkers is not himself, speaking much lower and more robotically than he normally does, giving an aural representation of this concept. When the scene ends, he reverts to his normal attitude and tone.]]
256	** Also In-Universe, [[spoiler: when Zoë looks at the photographs of memories she doesn't have, they glitch and revert to her real memories, providing a visual representation of this Uncanny Valley to match Wonkers with his aural one.]]
257	* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: Mr. London tells Zoë a story about a merchant who offered to sell a great soldier a spear that can pierce any armor and a shield that cannot be pierced. In London's telling, when the soldier pointed out the contradiction, the merchant killed him with the spear and shield.
258	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Going all the way back to ''The longest Journey'', the near-end of the worlds can be blamed on April making an innocent mistake. [[spoiler:By sealing Roper Klacks in a calculator, he gained enough understanding of its technology to create the Engine.]]
259	* UpdatedRerelease: ''The Final Cut'', a free DLC that gives the game a graphical overhaul, adds new features such as maps for the open world areas and character profiles, and streamlines some quests.
260	* VideoGameCaringPotential:
261	** Try to be a good friend to people...
262	** Kidbot and Bip are basically made of this. [[spoiler: There's even an achievement for giving Bip your sand-witch!]]
263	* VideoGameCrueltyPotential:
264	** Get the rebel mole wrong.
265	** Tell Kian to drink water from a bird fountain.
266	** Don't forget to return the tool to the man you stole it from...
267	* VestigialEmpire: Europolis was once the greatest economic powerhouse on Earth, but at the time of the story it is way past its prime and in the middle of a serious downturn.
268	* VikingFuneral: [[spoiler:The game beings with one for April Ryan.]]
269	* WarpWhistle: There will be [[http://www.gamer.no/artikler/134721/sniktitt-drommefall-kapitler/ some way to quickly travel]] between locations, though it's a moot point in the first three episodes as each area is self-contained.
270	* WhamEpisode: Zoë's segment at the end of Book Two. [[spoiler: Depending on your choices, two of Zoë's friends have wound up dead -- one of them even sets a bomb off right in front of you.]]
271	* WhamLine:
272	** When Mira decrypts the data... Especially when it's revealed that [[spoiler: WATI has bought out the two biggest parties in the election: Lea Uminska and Konstantin Wolf. If you took the data to Baruti, he also reveals that Dieter Gross was bought out too, even though he had no chance of winning]].
273	** In Book Three, Queenie's line to Hanna: "She is like you. [[spoiler:Someone who shapes dreams." Until then, only one Dreamer has been known to be active in the modern world (the First Dreamer notwithstanding), and after that line, there are suddenly two.]]
274	* WhamShot:
275	** [[spoiler: Finding Baruti dead.]]
276	** [[spoiler: Saga's first shift.]]
277	[[spoiler: Zoë with her head shaved and neural access ports all over it, and in a futuristic jumpsuit, just seconds after seeing her as we normally see her. This is emphasized by the description of the CosmeticAward: "WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FK".]]
278	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: Hanna is never seen again after book four, although she is still mentioned. Falk's survival will only be mentioned in an offhand comment.]]
279	** If your choices lead to [[spoiler:Ulvic being arrested]], you never find out for certain if he survived or not.
280	** While Shepherd talks about it, we never find out if Benrime is saved in the end.
281	** What happened to [[spoiler: Hope, the third clone? Was she abandoned as a orphaned street rat like Hanna or did she die as an experiment like Faith?]]

Context VideoGame / DreamfallChapters