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Controls are very bad and ruin the experience

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: May 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I resend my original review. After completing the game, I can tell you it is a masterpiece of art. The puzzles are extremely easy but the artwork in the game is of the highest quality.

The controls are bad if you do not have a game controller. If you have a game controller then the controls are easy as with most games.

It's great and I now give it 5 stars.

Eternal

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: May 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Dreamfall is something i'll never forget about. First i have to tell about the main feature of this game- The best story i've seen in a game so far. Zoe Castillo, new character, April Ryan, the main hero of The Longest Journey, gained-not-so-much-attention Kian - all of these characters grow and change in a game. And it's not something artificially done. The change certainly comes from characters and the story itself. Wonderful dialogue, great ending, the funny Crow (his quotes ... his quotes... well, never mind).

If you never played The Longest Journey - it's not a problem. Dreamfall is not being bad to new players. It is a story of its own, that still surpasses any other done in game. The only problem with not playing 'The Longest Journey' will be i think, less sympathy to April Ryan, but that's ok. Zoe Castillo is the main character here, and she's ... very nice.

Now, i'm sorry, drawbacks (but! there are a lot of good things about Dreamfall after this paragraph). It's lack of puzzles (doesn't bother me too much with such engaging story), meaningless combat mode (it's not a fight, it's dull, but thanks to Funcom almost each fight can be evaded), and ... shamelessly disgusting controls. Until you get used to this controls, you'll be cursing everything in the world. However, after a few hours ingame, i got used to it and controls didn't bother me anymore.

And.. More good stuff, as i promised. Voice actors are great. all this 'Warcraft-3' , 'Halflife's stuff or whatever game you think has good voice acting, will surely lose to Dreamfall. There's even an easter egg - the actor who speaks for a Zoe toy Watilla, spoke the part of a Teddy Bear in Steven Spielbergs A.I. Zoe voice is great, Aprils voice completely transformed, yet she's acted by the same woman. The rest of the voices - great as well!
Sound is great too. Music is wonderful, Soundtrack .. well, i've already unpacked the game archives by a tool written by TLJ-forum enthusiasts, and now listening it in my player. I'm buying the soundtrack though.

Graphics - it's strange. If you remember Warcraft III - it reached great cinematic effect despite low polygon characters and rest of the stuff. Here, characters are greatly modelled. The only thing that consists of not enough polygons - is the world around. But Funcom graphic-designers are the masters of their job. They can create a beauty even on an empty space. More than that - lots of "special effects" (technologically speaking, not movie-like) remove all the thoughts about low-polygon landscape and houses.

But still, the best in Dreamfall is the story. I can't describe it, besides if you want you can find it someplace else. But let me assure you - it's the most wonderful piece i've seen in games. I truly believed in a story, completely, i fell in love with all of the characters (Crow is my number one, Zoe i think is second). The story questions many really important things. It's really thought-provoking game. First of all it's because of great philosophical subtext of Dreamfall, and second - well it just keeps you digging asking strange questions like

** SPOILER **

'What is The Winter', 'What is the Storytime', 'Who killed the White Dragon', 'What happened to Brian Epstein in the very beginning', 'What is the Undreaming', 'What does the last phrase of Zoe said to her father means?' and many many others.
The ending, well .. in about the middle of a game i had some little problem, and i visited forums and found out that the ending's going to be bad (and that's my favorite thing in movies and games - games with bad endings are rare though), and i waited for some real strong stuff. But what happened left me completely speechless. It's OVER the TOP bad. I mean, i didn't even expect it to be THAT bad. The only problem though, if you played The Longest Journey you got some strange feeling that April doesn't die, and thus getting real hope even about Zoe.

** END OF SPOILER **

Once more about music - Music is GREAT. In The Winter in the end especially. You gotta play it. This game lacks not screenplay, not graphics, not sound, but simply advertisment and marketing.

Well, connect me to the dreamer. I'll stay there till the next part comes out!

Totally Aggravated! Don't Bother without a NEW graphics card.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: June 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I eagerly purchased this game, despite the negative reviews, and high price, because I have been a big fan of the series. I waited through the lengthy installation with anticipation of playing a great game. Now mind you, my computer is only 3 years old and meets all of my needs and requirements so far. Now I click on the icon to launch the game and get a fatal error: "Failed to initialize Direct3D. Aborting". So I search the internet for help, only to find that other people have had this exact same problem, to my surprise, and have been unable to rectify it without purchasing a NEW graphics card! So I'm here to alert all of you Amazon.com users to avoid this game unless you're willing to upgrade your graphics card, because the game won't even play a little bit without one. I guess I'll have to save this game for a later date when I buy my next new computer. This game really better be worth it.

A Huge Disappointment..

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: April 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

( - )

- most linear gameplay that I have ever seen in a game
- uninteractive world
- tons of unnecessary dialoque accompanied with dull looking characters
- terrible face animations
- 5/minute loading screens
- idiotic puzzles
- nasty control system and outrageous camera angles
- most of the time average graphics for todays standarts (and below average indoors)
- Cheesy mtv style pop songs
- ex boyfriend addicted Zoe, bad looking April
- waiting for this game for years

( + )

- Zoe's introduction scene and it's music
- Casablanca, Streets of Arcadia
- Menu theme and soundtrack (not the pop songs)
- voice acting
- other sounds

Not the greatest adventure game ever, but certainly one of the greatest stories ever in an adventure game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: April 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, isn't perfect, and it is lacking in actual gameplay in a lot of ways, but none of that matters, because most of the time, you just want to get to the next plot point or scene that gives you a few more crumbs of story.

It's hard to say much without ruining what is such a convoluted and fascinating story, but the basics don't spoil much. You control three characters: Zo? Castillo, a girl living in Casablanca in the "real" world of Stark, who is pretty aimless and apathetic at the beginning of the game, April Ryan, the protagonist in the original Longest Journey, who has grown into a cynical woman fighting against the occupying force of the Azadi the fantasy realm of Arcadia, and Kian, an apostle of the Azadi who is tasked with eliminating the leader of the rebellion against the Azadi.

You mostly control Zo?, but between the three characters, you travel to a wide variety of locations in three different worlds, all of which have distinctive styles and looks to them. You'll also end up retreading certain areas with all three, which can be interesting, especially when you get their wildly diverse takes on similar scenes and situations.

The game itself is pretty straightforward. In the tradition of adventure games, you must explore environments, pick up anything that isn't nailed down, and solve puzzles. However, there aren't too many puzzles to solve, and most of them aren't too difficult. I've played through the whole game, and only got stuck a few times. Only once did I look online for help. Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as being able to figure everything out and solve all the problems gives a nice feeling of accomplishment. On the other hand, a little more challenge would've been nice. That being said, I don't know if I've ever played an adventure game that has had both a great story and great, challenging, but not overwhelming puzzles. *sigh* Someday.

There are also a few fight sequences, but combat is pretty simple and you shouldn't have any trouble beating any opponent you face, except in a few cases when you actually just can't win. There are also a few parts where you can sneak around, and for someone like myself that enjoys that type of stuff, those parts can be somewhat entertaining and even nerve-wracking. I was definitely on edge a few times, hoping not to get caught.

The controls are little difficult to get the hang of at first, if you're using a keyboard/mouse combo, but I've heard that using a gamepad makes it a breeze to navigate and play. Either way, I had things under control about ten minutes after I started, although I did switch some mouse axis orientations to make things feel more intuitive. It's nice that they give you that option.

Dreamfall is a really beautiful game, with a large number of well-done game areas to explore. Many times, when you first enter a new area, you'll get a great panoramic view of the area before you continue on you quest. These views are nice, and show off the environments well. The character designs, while not perfect, are still pretty great in their own right. Only rarely did I notice overlapping objects or people. Also, some of the object interactions were somewhat simplified, but again, that didn't both me much.

The sound in this game is probably the best part. The voice acting is really good. They brought back all the actors from the original, which creates awesome continuity between the two games, and the people they brought in for the new characters also did a great job. I actually thought the girl who does the voice of April Ryan did a better job in this game than in the original, and the girl who did Zo? definitely shined. At first I didn't like her character, since she seemed like a lazy good-for-nothing, but you can definitely see, feel, and hear her change as the story progresses, and I give major props to the actress for conveying those changes. Everyone else was very solid, and a couple characters provided perfect comic relief, due to the great timing and execution of the voice actors.

In many ways, though, the music is what makes so many scenes have maximum impact. The music in the fantasy world of Arcadia is great, and a few of the undeground sequences in particular have delightfully foreboding music palying in the background, but it is the music of Stark that really stole the show for me. It does a fantastic job of putting you into the future with its electronic and pop sensibilities. It just feels right, like what we really will be listening to in 200 years.

The graphics and sound combined with the well-written story to create an amazingly immersive experience, even though you spend a large amount of time just watching characters talk. Unfortunately, the total amount of gameplay time you can squeeze out of this game is maybe around twenty hours, and that's less than I'd want. Of course, I've played enough adventure games to know how difficult it is to keep providing more and more and more game. Completely different from most games that just provide a system that you can keep playing in.

Knowing this, I found myself desperately curious to find out what would happen next, and almost impatient to get through the gameplay sequences so I could get to more of the story. I have mixed feelings, in a way. I loved this game, and I really did get emotionally involved with a lot of the characters, and concerned about their fate. The story has some surprising, what I would consider, non-traditional adventure game plot twists, and even though a lot is unresolved, it was ultimately satisfying, just because, for once, I actually CARED. How often can you say that about a game?

Yes, the story is tremendous, but leaves so much unanswered. You could find yourself frustrated by all this, but I was just thrilled to be able to participate in something that really did feel epic in the best way. I just want MORE of it as soon as possible. And that is the triumph of this game. It leaves you wanting more. You can't dislike a game that does that.

A perfect story with imperfect controls

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: April 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Looking at the reviews below, it is obvious that some reviewers never even got very far into Dreamfall before giving up due to the controls. Because of this, I suggest those reading those reviews take their comments with a grain of salt, these are VERY frustrated people obviously.

Having actually played through this game on the PC, with keyboard and mouse (okay, really a trackball) I'll give it to you straight. Yes, the game has an awkward and rather uncomfortable interface. It is beyond obvious that the designers were pretty much forced to constrain themselves to the artificial limits of the XBOX, and did not give enough flexibility and customization to PC players as we perhaps deserve (if anyone from Funcom reads this, really ALL you have to do is allow the mouse to point and select objects to analyze/interact with, and give a way to TURN the character/camera with buttons).

But what makes up for ALL of that is the STORY. Dreamfall has character depth and a story line to make professional novelists weep. Tornquist, the director, is a master of his craft and if you play enough of the game to get to the meat (I'd say about 10-15 minutes) it become difficult to deny how perfectly he has crafted this experience. The game weaves high fantasy, sci-fi, horror, comedy, suspense, mystery, political drama and even a bit (nothing nasty, just a bit) of romance perfectly into a story filled with interesting, intricate characters (that are voiced pitch perfect, by the way).

It is this unbelievable story that is the reason I game Dreamfall a 5 on the fun factor, honestly even the Final Fantasy games don't come close (oh, and in comparison to Indigo/Farenheit Tornquist doesn't just go for an easy out to the story, he really obviously has somewhere to go). Anybody who really likes a good story, should DEFINITELY buy this game (and no, a good story isn't half-life 2 btw, this is like HL2 as the ocean is to a small puddle). Don't be afraid of the rather control scheme, you'll get used to it after the 6th or 8th straight hour of being enraptured in the tale of Zoe, April, and Kian.

As for the other aspects of the game, the graphics are beautiful. Not state of the art (I doubt they could have afforded it), but what is there is used to great effect (and prettier in the PC version than the XBOX one). Each and every environment is unique and intricately detailed. Faces and bodies are, unlike oblivion (another good game that pales in comparison to this one) well crafted and very pretty (the White of the Kin is teh hotness).

Sound, as well, is well used. Footsteps change with terrain, and subtle sonic cues are used to warn of movement or proximity and direction. Everybody and everything is voiced, and the musical background could not be more perfect for every occasion. Honestly, nect to the story, the soundscape of Dreamfall is the second best thing about the game.

So go, get Dreamfall. Work through the slightly awkward interface and experience the story. Trust me, it makes it all worth while. You won't regret it if you do (and hopefully, the Funcom gang will release a patch to fix up the problems with the interface and it will be even easier to get into the story). Indeed, the only problem now is I can't wait till they come out with TLJ3. If only they had been released at the same time!

Dreamfall Offers Nothing For Everyone

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: January 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I adore the original Longest Journey game. It's easily the best adventure game ever made, and it might well be the greatest story ever told via a video game.

Dreamfall, conversely, is a mess in every possible way. I see that it won a number of "Best Adventure Game" awards for 2006. Don't let that mislead you into thinking Dreamfall is a good game: Dreamfall has won accolades in a narrow category lacking any real competition. It's like giving Danny DeVito an Oscar for "Best Short Male Lead in a Christmas Film" for his role in Deck The Halls.

The gameplay in Dreamfall is just terrible. The player spends two-thirds of the game doing nothing. There are no challenging puzzles to solve save a few (repeated) timed "match the tiles" puzzles. You're led through this game from start to finish... no thinking required.

The other third of the game is comprised of DREADFUL stealth/fighting/fleeing sequences, and it's this third that leads me to give this game a "1" on the "FUN" scale. Personally, I don't think action elements need to be in a story-driven adventure game at all. But in "Dreamfall" the elements aren't even well realized. The combat is laughable... even less challenging than the sparse puzzles. The stealth/fleeing sequences are atrocious, thanks to the bloody awful PC controls. Even after I inverted my camera angles, I still spent the entire game crashing into walls, getting caught in corners, and suffering from bedspins. I found it absolutely infuriating to have to run away from characters who KILL YOU when basic movement remained such a chore.

The story is what drives the player to complete the game, and the story ultimately falls flat. The original Longest Journey had a straightforward sci-fi/fantasy plot enabled by very compelling characters with memorable personalities (oh yeah... and it had a resolution). The characters in this game are pretty cardboard, but worse, Dreamfall's basic plot is a cut-and-paste pastiche of sci-fi cliches that add up to nothing in the end. Seriously, try explaining the plot to someone unfamiliar with the game, and you'll quickly become aware of how dopey and convoluted it is. "Well, your character is an unemployed loser who starts seeing TV images straight of out of the American RINGU remake. Her ex-boyfriend -- whom she dumped -- gets into trouble and she chases after him. There's a dream doohickey that sends your character to the magical world of Arcadia, which isn't particularly magical anymore. The dream gizmo steals thoughts for a corporation that wants to rule the world. Sort of..." You get the idea.

Dreamfall's story has also won several awards. Again, keep Danny DeVito in mind before you believe the accolades. True, video game plots are usually pretty bare, and compared to typical console games, Dreamfall might be above average. On the other hand, Dreamfall scarcely matches the story quality of your average Dreamcatcher/Adventure Company game, and it doesn't come close to meeting the standard set by its predecessor.

Graphically, Dreamfall is a mixed bag. I, for one, loved the 3D environments. Dreamfall is probably the best attempt at a 3D adventure game since Gabriel Knight 3, and it deserves credit for trying. The problem is: as pretty as they are, the 3D settings add little to the game experience. You get to run around several lushly rendered areas, but the only spots you can interact with are those that you're led to in order to complete the story. The rest is wasted. For example, toward the end of the game, you dash through a city in which every single door is locked! And your character receives the same boring message every time she clicks on a door. So what's the point of dashing around a fully rendered environment if you have absolutely nothing to interact with or do there?

I wasn't overwhelmed by the character renderings, though I guess they were workmanlike. Several female characters looked like they had herpes outbreaks around their mouths as a result of weird shading decisions. Everyone seemed a bit blocky... and a bit outdated.

On the positive side, the voice acting is exceptional, although the dialogue - as written -- is pretty undemanding. I don't care for the pop tunes, but the instrumental music sounds quite nice.

Dreamfall's real downfall is that it never figures out what kind of game it wants to be, and so it ends up offering nothing for everyone. It fails as an adventure game because the puzzles are too sparse and simple. It fails as an action/fight game because the controls (on PC) are too cumbersome. It fails as an interactive movie because the plot is all over the place.

A poor, disappointing follow-up to a true classic. Hardly worth the wait, and nothing that would inspire rabid anticipation for a third game. If there IS a third game, I plead with the game designers (cough -- Ragnar): recognize and learn from your mistakes.

Very fun game, but

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: June 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I loved this game. The game play does seem a little easier than most, but only because there is a logical progression through the game. There are none of those annoying moments when you wander aimlessly through a level trying to figure out through random chance just what your supposed to do next.

I also love the story. The storyline is a very big, very good part of the game. There are times when you feel it is more of an interactive story, but again only because it is clear what your characters next goal is.

I took one star away because of what the game documentation doesn't make clear. This is the second installment of a trilogy, with no plans as of yet for the third installment. Had I found this out before playing the game, the ending might not have been quite so dissapointing.

I highly recommend this game to any one who wants a fun interactive game. Those who like the adventure games which take hours and hours just to figure out one stinking part of the game will not like this game. But please keep in mind that there is ment to be a third installment of the longest journey and you will enjoy I promise!

Wonderful! Fantastic!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: September 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Wow. Just, wow. Ok, so its linear, and very much so, but thats OK. There is still a great deal of merit to be found in an offline, one-player, absolutely stunning interactive story. Thats what the game is, so don't go into it expecting any more. Instead, imagine one of the best movies you've ever seen, and being three of the stars.

You change the storyline a bit, and there is replay value in that, because you gain a new perspective on it when it ends. Trust me. The guy earlier who complains that the questions aren't answered - they *are*. You just might have to play it a couple times before you get what you're looking for.

The graphics are better than Oblivion. Better. Granted not by far, but better. The story is smooth, the characters are believable (for a PC game at any rate), and the immersion factor is the best I've seen in a game since 'Exile'. If you were at all a fan of the first, play this, you'll love the hook. If you've never played the first one, play Dreamfall and then check it out, it really won't matter which order you play them in, its that approachable of a game.

The language is course, so this is not for your nine year old. However, that element stronly complements the aforementioned immersion factor, you can be twenty-six like me and not be afraid of feeling fourteen for playing a computer game. ;-p

I cannot stress enough that this is not really a game but an interactive story. The puzzles are fun and appropriate, but its not a puzzle game. This is meant to be a 40 hour movie, and we're fortunate enough to take the wheel for its duration.

Mostly Awful

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 15
Date: May 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am pretty far into this game (hopefully at least halfway), and I think I've played it plenty long enough to give a fair review.

So far, the story is vague and disjointed enough that it's often hard to tell what's going on. Maybe it all comes together in some fabulous way at the end, but I'm getting to the point where I'm tired of waiting for answers, and pretty much don't care what's happening any more.

The gameplay is mostly terrible. The item-collection puzzles are very easy, as there are only ever a couple items in inventory at a time. The shape-matching type puzzles are okay but nothing special. And then there are the stealth and fighting areas, which are some of the worst gaming I've ever seen. They are simplistic and boring at best, horribly frustrating and off-putting at worst.

Yes, the graphics and voice acting are pretty excellent, but I really have to compare Dreamfall to other recent adventure games such as the Syberia series, which are pretty but have almost no gameplay value whatsoever. There are definitely a few moments where the plot is novel and interesting, but they're just barely worth playing for. I can't wait to finish it and be done with this game!

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