Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

"It's almost an interactive movie"

Introduction - This game offers a fairly unique experience with a rich story line, excellent voice-acting and impressive graphics. It feels very much like a movie most of the time because of how much dialog there is and how many cut scenes there are. It still offers a certain degree of control so that it can still be considered a game.

Gameplay - It is very easy to play though. There are really only a few places where the constant auto-saving is even necessary but it is still nice to have. The controls work quite well although there are some weaknesses. For example, the camera control is limited and accessing menus isn't as easy as it should be because you can't press escape to go back to the game after accessing the menu.

Story - This game has an excellent story. It has all kinds of twists and crazy things. It covers topics as diverse as religion, war, freedom, life purpose, science, and morality. The worst part of the story is that there isn't enough of it. There is almost a countless number of things that weren't explained by the end of the game (although Wikipedia actually has 24 listed). I never played the original game, The Longest Journey, but after reading about it, I'm sure that this game's story is much more understandable and enjoyable if you have played it.

Graphics/Sound - The music is excellent. It is one of the strongest things that makes it feel like a movie. The voice acting is also of high quality, although I felt that it could have been far better. Sometimes it felt like an Emmy award winning movie and other times it felt like a plain old video game.

As for the graphics, they are very good, for the most part. Very good textures, especially reflections make the environment quite believable. But again, this is an area that reminds you that you are playing a video game rather than watching a movie. The characters aren't really detailed enough, especially in their facial expressions and the animation if far from convincing.

Play Time/Replayability - It is a very short game compared to most. I think it only took me 7-10 hours. I don't feel inspired to play it again any time soon but if the sequel (to be released in episodic format) is any good and answers any of the multitude of unanswered questions from this game, I will want to refresh my memory of the story.

Final Recommendation - Overall it is worth playing through at least once if you are a fan of adventure games. I would recommend renting or borrowing it if you can. In summary, its biggest disappointment is how close to a cinematic experience it is while not quite making it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/07

Game Release: Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (US, 04/17/06)