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Longest Indeed

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 12 / 17
Date: August 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The short take: save your money--the journey may be The Longest but it's certainly not a very compelling one. I'm an occasional gamer, not a hard-core devotee, but I will from time to time play an adventure game if I have reason to expect--via recommendations, reviews, word-of-mouth--that the storyteller's art will draw me into a strong narrative current. My points of comparison are those games I've loved, primarily the Gabriel Knight series, Myst, and Riven. If you enjoyed these, I cannot imagine that you'll be very satisfied with TLJ. (My circumstances of purchase: new computer, lots of bells and whistles, looking for something entertaining to exploit new power, taken in by the hype, here on Amazon and elsewhere--"masterpiece!" "one of the best!" "reawakening the genre!" etc. Feh!) I give TLJ two stars for its technical merits, its depth, and its generally interesting voice-acting. That said, I disqualify TLJ--okay, the bar is high here--for failing to weave a sufficiently hypnotic spell. My standard setters, the Sierra and MYST games, waste little time in hooking the player. For me, though, TLJ never connected. Yeah, I finished it, but simply to "see what comes next" and to "use up" what I had purchased, admittedly hoping all the while that, at some point, I'd finally be "captured" by the story and the predicaments of its characters. Never happened. (And of course, because I--as April Ryan--couldn't die [no game-buster here: it's disclosed in the documentation], I could not but succeed in saving The Universe, could I?) Like other reviewers, I also fault TLJ for its long stretches of tedious, meaningless, stupefying dialogue, numbing lectures, and reeling disquisitions that induce ennui, inflict meaningless detail, and transform player into masochist, plodding, plodding, plodding on, despite and still. (Why not a few flashback or other narrative conventions that move the story while retaining visual interest?) One unhappy result of the infoglut is a lot of lost threads at the end of the day. But I for one certainly didn't mind: I was simply happy to have completed the ordeal. Moreover, TLJ's puzzles alternated between the utterly jejune and the absolutely stupid--the most absurd impossibilities imaginable, some "solutions" being so illogical as to defy natural law. And even the highly vaunted graphics sometimes seemed so ineptly edited into the narrative structure that, rather than weaving a spell, they jarred me out of the game, disrupting the "waking dream" so essential to narrative fiction. Greater use of dissolves, wipes, or other transitions would in my view have been preferable to the illogical jump-cuts that characterized transitions from cinema sequences to the game itself. Yes, it was pretty. Yes, it was rich. But all in the service of an excruciating Bataan-like march to an inevitable conclusion. Skip it.

You'll play it over and over!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The Longest Journey is an absolutely wonderful game, and golly, do you get your money's worth! While the Myst series is satisfied with five ages and perhaps one character to interact with, Longest Journey serves up over 100 locations (!!) and more than 50 characters!

And the locations are wonderfully realized and amazingly diverse, taking you from the realm of science to the realm of magic, from an apartment building to an art school, from a modern bar to a medieval pub, from an undersea kingdom to a mountaintop city of flying storytellers, from a mall clothing store to a merchant ship, from an office lobby to a wizard's laboratory, even from a subway to a space station!

And the characters...fully believable people, people you like and admire, people you come to know as friends, and people you miss when the game is over. As the lead character, April Ryan, becomes swept up in important events, you see her grow and change as a person, from a college student on her own, full of self-doubt, to a courageous defender of what she believes in.

A few persons have criticized the adult level of some of its language. Even though that's a minor, even trivial part of the game, the game doesn't compromise by talking down to you. April is a bright, normal college student and she talks like a college student. Nothing she says is surprising or unusual considering her character or the circumstances.

The Longest Journey has been been criticized for being "talky," and there are a lot of times when you have to listen carefully as characters converse. This isn't an FPS; it can require a little patience while you learn about the people and places you visit. But your patience is well rewarded with richly drawn locales and fascinating characters.

The only thing that prevents me from giving it five stars is that the talkiness takes over at the end. The game has one of the few truly complete adventure game endings, where all of the storylines are wrapped up in interesting and entertaining ways (Riven just stopped, for example, and with URU, you don't know when it's over; you just wander around and finally figure out that there's nothing left to do), but too much of the ending involves listening to other characters talking instead of interacting yourself with the game's story.

Considering the vastness of the game, however, criticizing the talkiness of the ending is a mere quibble. You'll love this game, you'll become friends with the characters, you'll be sorry to see it end, and you'll play it again and again.

This game should carry a warning label: addictive.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have played many, many, computer and video games. I finish so relatively few of them. However, this game, I did finish. Soon after playing it, it grabbed me and still hasn't let go, even though I finished it! To think, a few days ago, I was wondering whether to buy this game or not... how ironic!

About the puzzles: Don't be expecting many MYST-like puzzles. Most all of the puzzles are "use this object on this." These puzzles fit with the game. Few seem out of place. The puzzles are generally enjoyable.

I love how the game has so much humor. From April's remarks, to the events in the story, this game will make you laugh.

This is a great game, and I highly recommend it. The only thing to beware of is the ending. You will still have questions at the end (it begs for a sequel), but you'll have enough information to leave it up to your imagination (as we've been told so many times. Then again, there's always fanfiction :) I'd have to say this is one of my favorite games of all time. Be sure to play this great game (and finish it, too! :)

Perhaps the best adventure game ever.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I am not joking. No, this game is not particularly innovative like King's Quest (which basically put the genre on the map), but I would consider it to be the culmination of all that is good in adventure gaming. The main character, April Ryan, is very sympathetic and well-rounded; the supporting cast, even the characters who aren't on-screen for very long, are all vivid and well characterized; the environments are simply incredible; the plot is incredibly engaging; and, most importantly, when you finish this game, you will be left with a lot to honestly THINK about.

The gameplay itself is actually pretty average; it's a point-and-click interface (pretty standard for the genre), though some of the artwork used in the interface is highly amusing. The game itself has a very quirky sense of humor which is usually experienced by touching and looking at everything you can.

Overall, I would recommend this to any fan of the adventure game genre, and also to fans of RPGs with long, involved, and thought-provoking plots. Even though there is little branching, the replay value is rather high simply because the characters are that compelling (and because you'll notice details on further play-throughs which make the plot really come together).

The Best Journey

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

the longest journey is a great game. it has everything in it: it's funny, intriguing, sad and scary. the plot develops smoothly, and sometimes you feel you watch a movie rather than play a game. the graphics are top-notch, although an improvement in the characters would not do any harm, and the SFX and music are second to none. the actors role their characters very well. the longest journey is one of those special games that truly take you into the atmosphere. you can play it 5 hours and feel that only 5 minutes passed. it's quite easy to solve, you only have to think logically in some places rather than do the obvious. the only thing that disappointed me was the ending; you can't tell what happens to almost nobody. i'm waiting impatiently for the sequel, and so should you. i would give it a 6 star rating, only the problem is there is only 5. go get it!

Long and engrossing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I really liked this game and couldn't wait to get back to it every night. It really did offer the extended gameplay advertised; it took me over a week to get through it, whereas most games only last a couple days despite purporting a zillion hours of play. The voice acting was PHENOMENAL -- probably the best I've ever come across -- the scenery was lovely, the story well thought-out. I particularly liked the use of philosophy (especially the Bandu's). This game served up a number of life-truths along with its puzzles and settings.

The puzzles themselves range from very simple to quite complex. A few were annoying in that their solutions involved pixel-hunting, which sometimes led to a hint page just to be sure there was really something to hunt for. A few others could not be solved unless you had had a particular piece of a particular conversation, even if you otherwise knew the answer. I found this frustrating, as I several times had to go visit every character to determine what piece I was missing. Too, there were a few places where I expected a puzzle of some kind, but found instead that clicking on the object in question simply solved it for you.

The interface suffered from some inconsistencies. It would have been helpful if the "eye" icon always switched to a "dagger" icon when you could interact with something, and if the "dagger" icon always meant something could happen, not just that April would make a comment.

Ocassionally the extended dialog got to be a bit much, especially when the characters/programmers found it necessary to repeat certain information ad nauseam (as in the Maerum section), or spell out answers that you sould easily get on your own.

If you are easily annoyed by running back and forth hunting inventory items and/or bits of information, you will probably not like this game much. On the other hand, if you are willing to be involved in the characters and their story, "The Longest Journey" will give you a lot of enjoyment.

Be sure to check out the "Book of Sercets!"

If only there were more just like it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

My husband and I love to play adventure games together. This one had us hooked. We spent the beginning a little confused but as the plot unfolds itself it becomes the most intriging games I have ever played! The plot is very original and the way it is presented is unique as well. The controls are simple to understand and use. The puzzles are challenging without being obscure or unnecessarily difficult. The characters are likable and you want to know what happens next. Funcom did a wonderful job of proving just how wonderful adventure games can be without any combat. I hope there is another one very soon.

I loved this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Ambience and atmosphere are important to adventure games, and 'The Longest Journey' has lots of both. It is an extremely immersive experience, thanks to its top-notch writing, pacing, graphics, voice-acting and well-designed puzzles. A very well-polished title. I can't wait to get my hands on a sequel (and they do have plans for one).

There are a few technical issues:
1)some game copies (specifically the #2 disk) were defective when shipped. It should be easy to get a replacement from the retailer, etc.
2)some people are impatient over the length of dialogue, and from waiting for April (the heroine) to run from point A to B across the screen. It's no problem: just turn on subtitles and you can hit 'esc' to skip through chunks of the spoken dialogue once you've finished reading it. 'Esc' also allows you to skip frames of action, such as April running around.

The adventure game genre is not dead, after all.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Fans of classic adventure games as well as newcomers to the genre can enjoy The Longest Journey. It takes the time needed to build up the main character and the storyline, providing small clues along the way to what is really going on, allowing the player to become immersed without becoming bored or too frustrated by lack of rewards.

If you already played this game and enjoyed it, I also recommend Still Life and Syberia I and II. I haven't had a chance to play the sequel, Dreamfall, yet, but I definitely intend to.

Named "Game of the Year" for a Reason

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Graphics: Though I've seen worse graphics, it isn't the prettiest as it can be, but I suppose this is due to the fact that it was made in 2000. The characters and their actions are by far the worse--April is, plainly put, ugly and her "pretty" friend Emma isn't so pretty. Furthermore, the game interface isn't very attractive and could use some improvement. However, the scenery is still quite appealing.

Characters: Voice actors and well-worded dialogue really distinguish each and every character--all 50 of them--with their own developed personalities. You will hate some characters and you will fall in love with others. As stated above in graphics, the characters are often poorly designed, however.

Dialogue: If you've been reading the other reviews on The Longest Journey, you're probably really afraid that the long dialogue will kill you before you get past the first chapter. I know I was and it was really starting to get to me until I found the beauty of the ESC button (which can be used when Time Skip is enabled in Game Settings). It allows you to skip through conversations line by line so that you can still understand it without wasting time. This sped up the game significantly without detracting from the quality and comprehension of the conversations. Some may say the seemingly never ending conversations take away from the gameplay, but it actually makes the story more realistic and gives each character personality. A lot of it is actually really funny and witty, so I'd say it does quite the opposite.

Gameplay: The game is very entertaining and challenging overall--you will probably need to use a hint at least once every few chapters. There are dozens of puzzles in the game, but most of them aren't exactly what I'd call "puzzles." Usually, you have to figure out how to get a person to do what you want, like leave or give you something, which is equally, if not more, as fun. However, there are still the traditional types of puzzles where you use trial-and-error on some sort of machine or device. Overall, the gameplay is very enjoyable and lengthy. There are 13 chapters in the game. With Time Skip enabled and the use of a hint occasionally, it will still take you at least a few days to finish so it's definitely worth every dollar!

Storyline: The storyline is surprisingly complex and interesting so I can definitely understand why people compare this game to a novel because it truly is like a fantasy book made into an interactive game. However, you do have some control over the storyline, which makes it even more interesting, especially in choosing your choice of words. Though I've read much more amazing and shocking storylines, this one is probably by far the best ever made in an adventure game (aside from its sequel, which I have yet to play).

Technical Problems: Though installation was a breeze, I've encountered a few technical problems with the game, which have been more like annoyances rather than anything major. The first problem was a bug with one of the "puzzles." Though I was doing everything right, April still couldn't finish the task. I finally managed to fix this problem when I reassembled the item in a different order, which shouldn't have mattered. The rest of the technical issues were just the occasional, usually brief lag times in the game where it would just freeze for a few seconds (the longest has probably been like 30 seconds) and then go back to normal. My computer isn't particularly slow or old, so I don't know what caused this, but it can get rather annoying. There are a few other bugs in the game, but nothing that will prevent you from completing the game.

Overall: I think you should definitely buy this game if you love great plots, adventures, and puzzles. It's definitely one of the best adventure games you'll ever spend your money on. Don't be discouraged if you're not much of a gamer--this game requires no hand-eye coordination whatsoever, just plain thinking and logic.

TIPS FOR GAMEPLAY--
* Enable time skip to skip through long conversations at will and fast-forward through April's running from one spot to another, which can take a very long time.

* To switch through the items in your inventory quickly without having to open your inventory first, press A and S.

* To find all exits in a scene, press X.

* Hints: Check out the Universal Hints and Longest Journey websites.

OTHER GAME SUGGESTIONS --
If you're into playing adventure games that focus more on puzzle solving, have fewer/short "movie" scenes, have no cuss words, and takes less time to complete, I'd invest on buying a few of the Nancy Drew adventure games. My favorites include Stay Tuned for Danger, The Message in the Haunted Mansion, Treasure in the Royal Tower, The Final Scene, Secret of the Scarlet Hand, The Curse of Blackmoor Manor, and Danger by Design.

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