Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

"How could they have possibly screwed this up?"

Just when I say that no adventure game could match Kings Quest 6, along comes The Longest Journey. Longest Journey is simply a kick-ass adventure game. Fans demanded a sequel, and they have finally gotten it, Dreamfall. Dreamfall completely redefines what it means to be disappointed. I'm not just refereeing to sequels in general type disappointment; I'm talking complete and utter disappointment. I think everyone knew this game would not live up to the original, how could it, but this does not even come close. There are some bright spots, but not many.

Graphics
The scenery is very nice. All of the environmental effects are well done, especially the snow. The characters however, are nothing to shake a stick at. On the bright side, the system requirements are not that bad, except for about 7 gigs a drive space is required. It actually is very nice to see an adventure style game that does not have just a pre-rendered picture for the background. Overall, the graphics have a simple, yet nice feel to them.

Sound
Most of the voices are ok; again they're nothing special. Zoe's voice is actually well done, but there are not any other exceptions. However, the music is actually very nice.

Controls
The controls are really iffy. They brought back the very bad memories of Return of the King. You use the mouse to move the camera, which is bound to the player. You then use the directional WSAD keys to actually move. The hard part is that you don't really move with the camera. Luckily, the first part of the game is just you walking at your own pace, and you can get use to it. It's not a very good control scheme, however, you do get use to it after a while.

Game-play
Here is where everything goes downhill. This isn't really and adventure game, per say. It is more like an interactive movie. There are about 5 adventure style puzzles in this whole game, and 3 of them are the kind of puzzles you would expect in a low level Myst rip-off. That leaves 2 true puzzles that require you to actually think and explore the world around you. I'm not exaggerating either.

There is also some fighting in this game. Not really something you find in an adventure game, but that does not mean it will be bad by default. I actually enjoyed Kings Quest: Mask of Eternity, which had a nice fighting system. Not to mention all of the Quest for Glory games were centered on fighting, so much that they are more like RPG's than adventure games. In any event, the fighting isn't as bad as you would think, AT FIRST. Once you get use to the controls in general, hitting another button or two in order to kick and punch isn't that big a deal. However, about 20 of the 25 fights you do are either optional, or can be easily avoided. Of those 5 fights that you must fight, only in 1 or 2 of them do you stand any real chance of dieing. Not to mention that there are cases where you need to sneak around, and if you get caught you need to fight. With exception to one case, if you get into a fight, you can't win because the person/creature you are fighting is invincible, for whatever reason. So, there really isn't any reason to include the fighting system at all. Its completely pointless except to make you think you can just muscle your way past a few sections of the game, and maybe add some tension to the air while your sneaking around.

Story
This probably the main reason, if not the only reason, you will want this game. If you were a huge fan of The Longest Journey, then you will want to know what happens to April and the gang. Or, actually, you might not once you find out. April's character is completely changed, for the worse I'm afraid. However, she isn't really the main character, Zoe is. Her character is actually similar to Aprils from the original game. She ends up trying to find April, going back and forth from Arcadia to Stark while being given clues by this freaky little girl who looks like she failed the audition of The Ring.

The story does have its high points, however, it's hard to discuss them without giving spoilers. The ending is actually pretty good, although it leaves plenty of questions. There are rumors that this will end up being a trilogy, which will be great, provided the 3rd game is more like the first rather than the second.

I must say that I did everything I could to try and like this game…there is just no way to put it, this game isn't all that great. Perhaps in 10 years this could be considered revolutionary, as it's the first game I encountered that is purely an integrated movie, but as it stands, it's just not the game it should have been. I suppose this game falls under the adventure genre, but it's hardly an adventure game. A two-year-old could complete this game without much difficulty.

If you are a die-hard Longest Journey fan, then you will probably want to pick this game up just to say you played it. Do NOT expect that type of game though or you might kill yourself in frustration. Otherwise, wait till it becomes part of a deluxe package or something.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/18/06