Awesome production values in art and sound pulls you in, into the Longest Journey. Dreamfall is utterly e
Zoe Castillo, feeling run down, currently unemployed and recently split from her boyfriend, wakes up for another morning. Her schedule involves going to the gym and - that's it. After a good tutorial-esque fight at the gym...it seems your ex-boyfriend reporter had dug up some dirt on a large corporation and is in deep trouble. It's not long before you yourself is caught up in it all. With her amiable appearances and voice, you'll develop a connection with your character very quickly and the game has already drawn you in.
The second thing to wow you is the sheer presentation- audio and graphics go hand in hand. Airships are futuristically styled, the town is given life with people and conversations are convincing. The audio plays a large part in this but the art direction contributes just as well. Camera angles are panned well in unfolding cut scenes and the audio is fitting, giving you the gamer something to marvel at. And that's a good thing, because the gameplay, to begin with, is very simplistic, tasks involve reaching one place to another and having conversations along the way and the game leads you by the hand all the while. To be honest, small objectives or tasks are made painfully obvious which makes you wonder if you are actually playing the game of watching a movie. Thankfully, it's not the latter. You will pick up items, combine them, use them on objects or people, and is very satisfying - although somewhat 'easy' or obvious when compared to other games in the same genre. Because of this, it may even seem that you have hardly 'played the game' because of what gameplay there is, you've blasted through it already. Even though this can come off as negative, it actually helps the experience somewhat as the pacing through the plots and twists draws the gamer in further.
The combat is very simplistic with a strong/weak attack (plus directional) and a block, but rightfully so - the game is not combat orientated but necessary in parts of the story and is sufficient. Enemys' attack patterns are single-natured and homogeneous which makes it easy to exploit. But let's not detract from the game itself, it's an adventure game and you'll be talking to many characters with very convincing voices (and it should be! just look at the list of voice actors in the credits!). You're whisked to several varied, well-crafted locations including run-down cities, sewers, dream worlds, laboratories, ye olde townes, a 'magical' world and even a museum in Japan. You also take control of other characters during the game and it throws some good variability into the game but also shows you different perspectives from different sides.
Other than the typical adventure gameplay, there is also a lot of sneaking around to be done. Actually, a few times the game gives you the choice to sneak around or to just go out fighting. There are times when you must sneak and it pulls it off very well. Objects on the floor can create noise even when in sneaking mode or there is a time when you can match your movement to the noise of the environments. The sneaking definitely gives the game an edge in the action department. Then there are the lock-picking/hacking puzzles (executed with your lock pick of mobile phone)which were..ok. There is also a very small issue with the camera angle in tight spaces but other than that, it is very easy to control with the right analogue stick. I should also mention, i played this with the 360 controller and is perfectly set up from the get-go, no messing about here.
The dialogue is excellently convincing and it lets you choose what to say, although the conversations are often very linear it gives you the choice of what to hear and whether you want to learn more. At one point, you actually control both persons in a conversation- controlling the way the conversation is headed. This game IS an adventure game afterall and it does have the negatives of typical adventure games- It's very linear and consequently progress can be easily halted by one small simple and obvious thing and at times, you may not feel like going through all the dialogue. The game however does well in trying to combat these problems by making things a little bit easier to solve, giving you the option of skipping dialogue and giving you a 'diary' to track what must be done. Overall, the game was of decent length but felt as if you had been through a lot because of how fast you moved between locations and how many people you talked to. The game does really well in building up a plot with breathtaking presentation, but the ending feels unexpected or underwhelming towards the end of the game; It didn't really give a satisfying end to the whole game. Although the songs used in the long scenes at the end really gave it some emotional impact, the conclusion and the way some things are left unanswered is very disappointing. However, the journey itself, ah, The Longest Journey has been a worthwhile experience that every gamer should try. The basic puzzles and gentle leading-by-the-hand nature of the game makes this a suitable adventure game for those who don't like the genre or have often found themselves stuck or confused in games of this genre.