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Please may them stop talking!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 22 / 25
Date: May 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you have ever had the experience of forcing yourself through a book that you weren't particularly enjoying, but felt compelled to finish, you know how I feel at this moment having just completed the Longest Game - err Journey. Well it was not really the longest game - about 40 hours total - it just seemed that way.

If you have played any of the classic adventure games, Kings Quest, Monkey Island etc. . ., you know the drill. Slowly move your cursor over every scene looking for the stuff you can click on. Talk to everyone you meet as long as there is new dialogue to hear. Run back and forth through the same screens over and over again so you can use object 'a' on person 'b' to get object 'c'. Try combining every item in your inventory with every other item no matter how silly it seems in the hope of producing a new object that you can use on person 'd' to get object 'e'. This is the same dull, I mean fun stuff to be expected from any adventure game and this one rarely breaks with tradition.

One nice difference it adds is that you can never die and even better yet, you can never get into a situation in which there is no way to progress from your current save game and are forced to restore to earlier saves looking for the point where you took the wrong path. You may get stumped by a couple of the very illogical puzzles, but you can rest assured that all of the pieces to the solution are available. This very linear game will never let you into another area of the game unless you have everything you need or still have access to the areas you need to gather them. Big plus.

However the game manages to create a brand new flaw that will no doubt serve as a warning to future game designers. It has endless dialogue. Eyes glaze over endless dialogue. Shout at the characters to just shut up already endless dialogue. And you will need to listen to all of it (or hit escape repeatedly to fast forward through it) to solve the game, because repeatedly you will be required to elicit a certain line from a character, before you can access another part of the game or get needed information from another character. This single flaw, destroyed most of my enjoyment of the game and drives it down to the level of just ok.

Bottom line. If you love adventure games you will probably be willing to overlook the endless talk and appreciate the game's many virtues, nice graphics, wonderful voice acting, strong storyline, varied locals and well defined characters. If you don't like adventure games, don't be fooled by all of the rave reviews. Its charms are unlikely to appeal to those who don't like the genre.

Definitely long and fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 24
Date: November 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game *is* worth the 95/100 ratings it keep getting. It's easiest the most beautiful adventure game ever made, if not one of the best ones overall. This is definitely more serious (and with mature material) than any LucasArts title, it won't make you laught your pants off but it has a more down-to-earth, more real-life kind of humour that keeps the game very enjoyable.

There are so many places you can explore in the two worlds it's breathtaking... and they are filled with characters who feel alive, not just there to answer one question or two. April herself is very lovable, you grow to care about her and her world, and feel sad when the game is over and when she only lives on in your head. And yes, these world do feel like they are still out there somewhere even AFTER the game is finished.

This game reminds me of the age when adventure games were big, when character development and intricate plot and DETAILS are what makes a game world amazing. If you call youself an adventure gamer, this is a *MUST*. If you are just looking for a great, interactive story and looking to try things out, this one is a great one to start too (with its easy interface). Though it may spoil you for life, for there isn't that many game much like it out there I'm afraid.

The Best Game Ever!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 42
Date: October 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is truely amazing! I can't remember the last time I played a computer game that was so engrossing. You can almost feel yourself growing along with the character, April Ryan, and by the time you've finished the game you will be totally understanding of her. I know that sounds kind of stupid, but this game real brings you in.The Longest Journey will be enjoyable to anyone from ages 13 to 80! From teenagers to adults. The puzzles range from dreadfully easy to taking you days to figure out (for those of you who won't run to the nearest walkthrough or hint page). I hope anyone that likes adventure games (& those that don't) will by this game. I really, really hope you do, 'cause the creators of The Longest Journey have the story for both a sequal and a prequal already written, but they won't make them into a game unless The Longest Journey sells well in the states. I imported the game from Britain & now I'm kicking myself for not waiting. Well, anyway the game's awesome! Buy it!! :) (PS, sorry for any spelling errors!)

Sophisticated and Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 22
Date: November 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have played many adventure games and I personally like the ones with character interaction such as the Monkey Island series, Tex Murphy series and Gabriel Knight series. This game is the most outstanding of all. I laughed, I got teary eyed and I appreciated the adult spin that Funcom put into this game. There is adult language but it makes the story very real. The puzzles are of medium difficulty and make sense, there are no sliding tile puzzles or mazes. In this climate of fast paced, twitchy games... take time out, have a glass of wine and get lost in the world of Arcadia.

Great game; a necessary booster shot for the adventure genre

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 22
Date: January 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I haven't bought any games for a while because they've been getting worse and worse. This game was good in every sense: very involving storyline, wonderful characters and voice actors, beautiful scenery, engaging puzzles and a lovely soundtrack.

There are, of course, the downfalls: like most "adventure games" from the past (take the older King's Quest games and Myst as the perfect examples), you have a beautiful world that you cannot explore. It's in no way like some of the more RPG-like games (Ultima, for instance) where, though there's a nice storyline and set plot, you can pretty much do what you like. TLJ has an annoyingly limited area of travel and action. That being said, what you get to see is all the better. Next, there's a lot that borders on the Absurd; some of the puzzles are downright silly, and it seems illogical and very unrealistic to spend hours poring over the screen to find a mouse hot spot, or testing random objects in random places. Absolutely no variation. But some of the sillier aspects are a lot of fun; the talking sticks and Crow, etc, which give this game a bit of the classic gaming Wit that games like Quest for Glory were so good at. It didn't take very long to play, and the ending was, well, stupid.

But you can't have everything. This game scores major points for its originality, its departure from the stagnancy of the adventure game genre. Further, from a pure computing standpoint, it runs very efficiently and quickly without the zillions of bugs that seem to happen to every other game nowadays (hello EA and EIDOS). And that was on my Dell laptop, certainly not top-of-the-line.

I hope these mysterious European game-makers keep at it.

Best Game Since Zork

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: October 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

We bought the British version of this game after a glowing report in the New York Times. April Ryan, an art student, finds herself in the middle of an unexpected quest to save the world (s)? It is a game of puzzles that are so well done that when we eventually solved them, we felt satisfied instead of irritated. The graphics are attractive and there are a huge number of scenes to visit. It takes days to complete the game even though you want to keep going. There is quite a bit of dialogue, but you can always check April's diary if you don't want to listen to every word. As an added attraction, there is only a little violence, although there is definitely adult language and innuendo. I don't know what changes, if any, the American version will have--if they will tone down the language or not. I would guess this version is PG13 level due to the language and a bit of violence. I am hoping madly for a sequel.

Still the best game I have ever played to date

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: February 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The setting: a 23rd century Chicago type city. You are April Ryan, a young, struggling artist in a little bohemian township known as "Venice". The game starts with you having a nightmare, a sort of prophetic dream. Then you get out of bed and begin your day not realizing that eventually you will begin a series of events and discover things and people who lead you to believe that you are a "savior" for two worlds that have been split in half...your own world and another world of magic. for over 2000 years these worlds have been kept apart and now it's up to you to keep them that way. You, April Ryan travel as a "shifter" between the two worlds meeting and greeting different people and creatures and have many separate adventures. Some adventures include puzzles...hard but always intriguing....they rival that of Myst. The graphics are like no other game and the characters are intense and unforgettable. It's been two months since I've played the game but I still pine for it every day. I find myself missing April Ryan and her friends. Sounds silly, but to get through the game you have to ask lot's of questions to each new face ( I say "face" because well, not eveybody is human) and over time you feel as if you know them intimately. I only gave this game 4 stars because once you've completed the journey you feel a great loss! It has to end sometime. The replay factor is questionable. You could replay it just for fun over and over (I surely did) but the path will always be the same and you will have to ask all those questions over and over. I sold my version after I played it non-stop for weeks. I am seriously thinking of buying it again. Really, I'm not kidding

The Longest Journey

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: November 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I ordered The Longest Journey from Britain several months ago. The only bad thing about the game is that it spoiled me. No other game I've played since comes close to this one. I hope the company comes out with others in this line.

Where's the sequel, Funcom?!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: December 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

What a find this game was. I stumbled across The Longest Journey while I was chasing reviews on other games. In adventure gaming, for those of us who have been doing it for a while, certain games tend to clump together for their genre and quality. When a few reviewers of games I like mentioned it, I thought I would check it out. The Longest Journey falls inexorably, I believe, into a unique category of adventure game, where there is a stable female at the center of the story from beginning to end. Not many adventure games occupy this place.

The Longest Journey has been out for about three years, but it has not been very high profile. Usually with games that are a bit older, the graphics and interface are something to be desired. This is not so with The Longest Journey. Games that are coming out now in 2003 (like Black Mirror, for instance) are of a similar quality. While The Longest Journey is not like Syberia in graphic quality, it is nonetheless equally as engaging.

April Ryan, an 18-year old art student, is on the longest journey, but she doesn't know it at all at the beginning of the game. I know 5 dozen young women like April. She is familiar, yet not mundane; she reminds me a bit of Claire Danes, or a character out of My So-Called Life. She is a little bit lost, but has figured out enough to know she wants to be in art school. She is alienated from her family--an all too real situation--and she is on her own and not too terribly sure about it, but knows she has to be. April is, in other words, remarkably credible. And she is immensely likable.

In fact, many of the characters are astonishingly familiar: April rents a room from a lesbian couple, and, shocking as that may seem, there are in fact lesbians in the world. This detail makes the game both real and representational--that is, it takes realism a step further (or maybe someplace else) by placing a heterogenous cast of characters in the mix. April is living in an art community--as such, a diverse group of people tends to be attracted to the art milieu. There are several ethnic groups represented, as well. And there is a man who has no legs who is doing quite well for himself--he, incidentally, is the character with the worst language of all.

While some reviewers have cautioned parents of very young children about the homosexuality in this game, I suspect the 4-letter words are probably more a matter for concern. The lesbians, astoundingly enough, don't have wanton sex on the sofa in the living room--in fact, the game rather realistically portrays them sitting on the sofa chatting, quite dressed and quite unperverse. As far as slightly older children are concerned--I think they know more than we think they know; if I place a prohibition here, then I will likely generate more interest in the game than anything else. Post Mortem, for instance, actually represents the lead character waking up after a night of casual (hetero)sex--and is a game much more worthy of a caution label for its violence, morbidity, and sexual theme. No such representations occur in The Longest Journey. In fact, April Ryan is a young woman who is deeply and personally concerned about doing the right thing by other people and for the world.

April has a long quest ahead of her, and it begins in Stark--a place that strikes me as reminiscent of a futuristic decaying Connecticut. She will eventually cross over into an alternate world and continue her quest there. The house where April lives exists on some kind of fault line in between Stark and Arcadia; April's residence at the house is not accidental, but a feature of her destiny.

There is a lot of inventory work in this game, and a lot of character interaction. I personally liked the character interaction--it gives the landscape depth. There is more to discover than just things and places. Granted, if you are stuck at a particular point in the game, you will hear the same thing over and over and over again from the characters until you solve the riddle. But at least you know where you stand. This is the duplicity of the linear game: you can piddle around forever (if you don't go to a walkthrough) trying to figure out what to do next, but at the same time you may be assured that you will not have to return to a saved game because you forged on blindly without some thing that you needed. The inventory work is on the whole quite logical, if somewhat frustrating at times. I did find a favorite walkthrough and consulted it on occasion.

But, oh the places in this game!!! There are just a vast number of places to visit, and again, much of it is something we will recognize as our own future. Stark is just as its name would suggest; while technology has advanced considerably, other things have decayed. Drugs and urban stagnation are slightly more visible than our present day world--but it is certainly plausible enough to think that we could end up like the world in Stark. That April goes into art is kind of interesting--it almost seems kind of archaic, like some part of Stark is lapsing into its own prehistory. Everything looks like it could stop working at any moment--the subway, while controlled by card access and retinal id, is still covered with filth and graffiti. And it is deserted, except for the usual cast of weirdos. I like the game's suggestion that technological advance does not necessarily mean progress.

There is a bug in the game--it involves a subway track, a rubber ducky and a rope. It causes trouble for some folks but not others. If you do find yourself trying a myriad of inventory gymnastics with a rubber ducky and a rope on a subway track, visit the Funcom website--I got a quick and friendly response from them that resolved the problem.

The game is also huge; you need about 3 gigabytes to do a full installation. You do have a choice to do a minimum installation of about 300 mb, but you need the disks to play, of which there are four, and the game runs more slowly. I recommend a full installation for the best experience.

The Longest Journey is one of my favorite games of all time. I give it five stars for its portrayal of real and familiar characters; for its representation of a young woman struggling with her life and making it on her own; for its representation of a diverse set of people, which is a more accurate representation of the world we live in than many other games that strive for realism; for its vast landscape; for its logical inventory and puzzle work; and for its premium on the joy of discovery.

I here publicly announce my request to Funcom to produce the sequel.

A linear adventure game...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 16 / 21
Date: December 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

After playing this game to completion, I have a few comments on the good, bad and ugly that this game contains:

The Good: The storyline is very engaging, with a deep plot that unravels as you continue on your journey. Each NPC is unique in appearance, mannerisms, and voice, creating a more realistic set of worlds that you will explore. The graphic detail and musical score are both first-rate, adding to the realistic and deep worlds that the designers are attempting to convey to the audience.

The Bad: The dialog "sessions" with NPCs are tiring. You can actually eat lunch during some of the exchanges, periodically having to click on a response. I found that the dialog choices I made were inconsequential to extrapolating all the needed information from each NPC, although I would sometimes have to bug the NPC a second or third time if I chose a nasty comment. This is not an RPG, so your character's decisions do not have an affect on the game, except to waste more of your time as noted above. The "M" rating on the game was appropriate because of the language, but why was the spasely lewd language even included in the game? This would be a better game (without the profanity) for the younger teenager who is willing to endure dialog and hasn't dealt with many puzzle games.

The Ugly: The puzzles were simple to figure out, and did not seem to have that "logic of the environment" feel that Myst provided to its puzzles. The shame is that, if you did not want to solve a particular puzzle, you would not have any other paths (or other puzzles) to explore. So, you are faced with either getting past the particular puzzle, or exiting the game to read a book. As good as the environment looks in each world, most of it is backdrop, leaving only a few select spots for you to enter. Since the storyline controls your character, you do not control travelling between worlds. This leaves the gameplay flat and restricts player creativity so treasured in non-linear RPGs.

I guess I've been spoiled by non-linear RPGs that earn an "M" rating. Only buy this game if you've never played Quake, Fallout/Fallout2, and Myst before. And, make sure your spacebar is in good operation to skip all that dialog.

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