Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is a beautiful experience that instantly became one of my favourite times. It's incredible what a difference the graphics upgrade from The Longest Journey did. The whole world becomes something you want to look at and explore, arriving at each destination is it's own reward. And this of course strengthens the world building immensely, making Stark and particularly Arcadia something I'm interested in and want to know about and see more of. But it goes beyond a graphics upgrade, this game was made in 2006 and it still looks in 2013. Each setting has so much character and is so different from each place. The Cyberpunk of TLJ was interesting, but the Eastern-African-Futuristic blend of Casablanca is so much better when every wall and building is breathing a sense of place.
And the characters are all compelling too, it puts the rest of the industry to shame that someone so effortlessly creates not one by two, completely believable, completely interesting, protagonists who also happen to be female. These aren't generic 'good' heroes and they have problems that are relatable but also admirable and not boring.
I was happy to find the inane puzzles from original are also completely removed, instead almost*
Friggin' mulled wine
every quest chain is a very believable and simple set of actions, that adds flavour to the story. The combat and the stealth is pretty broken, but it's not hard and there's nothing that quicksaving won't get you through in three minutes, so I couldn't find myself annoyed by it. It still adds a believable texture to the world, it's important that Zöe can and does fight like she does, even more so for April and the Apostle. If you're looking for a hardcore game, I don't know why you thought to look here. Shamus Young described Dreamfall as more akin to reading a book, you can explore and look at the world at your own place and experience what it's like to go through the events.
The actually plot is good too. The ending moment with the little girl is one of the hardest things I could ever imagine someone having to do.
There are missteps, but it would take many more to destroy the magic that is Dreamfall
Sometimes Graphics Make All The Difference
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is a beautiful experience that instantly became one of my favourite times. It's incredible what a difference the graphics upgrade from The Longest Journey did. The whole world becomes something you want to look at and explore, arriving at each destination is it's own reward. And this of course strengthens the world building immensely, making Stark and particularly Arcadia something I'm interested in and want to know about and see more of. But it goes beyond a graphics upgrade, this game was made in 2006 and it still looks in 2013. Each setting has so much character and is so different from each place. The Cyberpunk of TLJ was interesting, but the Eastern-African-Futuristic blend of Casablanca is so much better when every wall and building is breathing a sense of place.
And the characters are all compelling too, it puts the rest of the industry to shame that someone so effortlessly creates not one by two, completely believable, completely interesting, protagonists who also happen to be female. These aren't generic 'good' heroes and they have problems that are relatable but also admirable and not boring.
I was happy to find the inane puzzles from original are also completely removed, instead almost* every quest chain is a very believable and simple set of actions, that adds flavour to the story. The combat and the stealth is pretty broken, but it's not hard and there's nothing that quicksaving won't get you through in three minutes, so I couldn't find myself annoyed by it. It still adds a believable texture to the world, it's important that Zöe can and does fight like she does, even more so for April and the Apostle. If you're looking for a hardcore game, I don't know why you thought to look here. Shamus Young described Dreamfall as more akin to reading a book, you can explore and look at the world at your own place and experience what it's like to go through the events.
The actually plot is good too. The ending moment with the little girl is one of the hardest things I could ever imagine someone having to do.
There are missteps, but it would take many more to destroy the magic that is Dreamfall
Keep in mind