The Longest Journey and Dreamfall.
- Thread starter Zhukov
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Psh, they're not terrible! Well, okay, they were a bit obtuse (okay, very, at times), but TLJ made me learn to love adventure games, and it's always made me sad that there aren't that many being released nowadays. I think there was Grey Matter, or something, but that's all I remember that's recent. It's still pretty expensive instore, and I can't find it on Steam, amazingly enough. Oh well. I have the entire Sam & Max series to get through, thanks to the autumn sale. LucasArts made some pretty sweet adventure games - I'm still on the look out for an affordable copy of Grim Fandango.
I remember many years ago a friend of mine played TLJ. For a while he was obsessed with that game, and kept talking about it.
One thing i remember him saying is how the gameplay is awful but the story is great....so i guess i agree with OP, even thou i never played these games personally
One thing i remember him saying is how the gameplay is awful but the story is great....so i guess i agree with OP, even thou i never played these games personally
Well, sure, thast games aren't just for anyone, especially in our weird times - some people are ready to burn every copy of given title just because there's some minor flaw that most gamers aren't aware of.Zhukov said:
On the other hand... I never liked TLJ - there are too many "use pencil on pumpkin" moments. But "Dreamfall" ? Give me a six pack of my favorite beer, sit by me and listen. Just listen. Don't you dare to open your mouth. Let me sing the song of pure love.
I played them last year. I have...very mixed feelings.
I'm one of those people who prefers puzzle-adventure (Riven and Machinarium) and action-adventure (Ico and Prince of Persia) to full-on adventure games. I tend to just get so annoyed with the "waggle your cursor all over the screen until you find something to click on, then try combining it with everything in your inventory until it works" mechanics of pure adventure games.
The story of The Longest Journey was...honestly nothing special for me. It kind of dragged and never really pulled me in, and the story of "there's a parallel world where magic really exists" is kind of overused at this point (though they usually don't set the mundane world in the future in those stories, so TLJ gets points for that). However, I absolutely loved the characters and dialogue. April was fantastic, and minor characters like Captain Nebevay and Roper Klacks were hilarious. The characters, dialogue, and certain parts of the story bump it up into the low B category for me.
Dreamfall was like pulling teeth. The stealth and fighting were dreadful, Zoe's character model creeped me out every time I looked at her, her character itself was pretty dull compared to April (who, speaking of which, just made me sad in Dreamfall), the Ring-like parts with Faith flickering on the TV screen were embarrassing, and the segment set in Japan was just bizarre. The puzzles were less frustrating, but...I actually can't remember them at all a year later. However, I did like the story better than TLJ's story. It was much more interesting and had more truly emotional moments, but it still didn't entirely do it for me. And of course there's the fact that it didn't go anywhere because the rest of the story is waiting in the sequel which doesn't even have a release date, so for all we know the story could come crashing down completely.
As far as pure adventure games go, though, I've just picked up Syberia and Syberia II. I believe I'm about halfway done with Syberia and I'm really loving it. It might even end up in my top 10, depending on where it goes. I like that it's more tightly focused and that it's more about character development than an epic quest to save the world. And the puzzles make a little bit more sense too. Just a pet peeve, but I hate how arbitrary the puzzles are in most adventure games. At least in Syberia the game is about crazy people and their wacky mechanical inventions, so the puzzles make some sense.
I'm one of those people who prefers puzzle-adventure (Riven and Machinarium) and action-adventure (Ico and Prince of Persia) to full-on adventure games. I tend to just get so annoyed with the "waggle your cursor all over the screen until you find something to click on, then try combining it with everything in your inventory until it works" mechanics of pure adventure games.
The story of The Longest Journey was...honestly nothing special for me. It kind of dragged and never really pulled me in, and the story of "there's a parallel world where magic really exists" is kind of overused at this point (though they usually don't set the mundane world in the future in those stories, so TLJ gets points for that). However, I absolutely loved the characters and dialogue. April was fantastic, and minor characters like Captain Nebevay and Roper Klacks were hilarious. The characters, dialogue, and certain parts of the story bump it up into the low B category for me.
Dreamfall was like pulling teeth. The stealth and fighting were dreadful, Zoe's character model creeped me out every time I looked at her, her character itself was pretty dull compared to April (who, speaking of which, just made me sad in Dreamfall), the Ring-like parts with Faith flickering on the TV screen were embarrassing, and the segment set in Japan was just bizarre. The puzzles were less frustrating, but...I actually can't remember them at all a year later. However, I did like the story better than TLJ's story. It was much more interesting and had more truly emotional moments, but it still didn't entirely do it for me. And of course there's the fact that it didn't go anywhere because the rest of the story is waiting in the sequel which doesn't even have a release date, so for all we know the story could come crashing down completely.
As far as pure adventure games go, though, I've just picked up Syberia and Syberia II. I believe I'm about halfway done with Syberia and I'm really loving it. It might even end up in my top 10, depending on where it goes. I like that it's more tightly focused and that it's more about character development than an epic quest to save the world. And the puzzles make a little bit more sense too. Just a pet peeve, but I hate how arbitrary the puzzles are in most adventure games. At least in Syberia the game is about crazy people and their wacky mechanical inventions, so the puzzles make some sense.
I LOVED The Longest Journey, it's the best point and click adventure game I have ever played. I thought the story was great and has characters I actually cared about, especially April Ryan.
I haven't yet played enough Dreamfall to make a real judgement on that but so far I am not really enjoying it.
I haven't yet played enough Dreamfall to make a real judgement on that but so far I am not really enjoying it.
Is Dreamfall worth it? I loved The Longest Journey when I played through it a few months ago, but I wasn't sure that a sequel was required. Plus it didn't seem to be anywhere near as well received.
I played them when they were new and had the same impression as Zhukov. The adventure gameplay is mostly rubbish, the rubberducky puzzle actually got infamous as an example of bad puzzle design.
The story is ok, but very disjointed. I loved the characters though. Overall I thought the two titles were a great experience, and the only examples of non-gamey interactive fiction I enjoyed. I think thats how they should be judged, stories on a computer medium but not games.
If you loved the longest journey it may be worth looking into.
The story is ok, but very disjointed. I loved the characters though. Overall I thought the two titles were a great experience, and the only examples of non-gamey interactive fiction I enjoyed. I think thats how they should be judged, stories on a computer medium but not games.
Back then I thought it was better because the characters felt more fleshed out. I don't remember the story at all though, so I guess it was forgettable. I think it's also a lot shorter, but thats not necessarily a bad thing.
If you loved the longest journey it may be worth looking into.
Yeah, pretty much agree with you. But I managed to look past the crappy gameplay. I mean, I played through Planescape: Torment multiple times after all.
Actually, there's a game I hugely enjoyed despite it being a crappy game.
That game's gameplay is very, very shitty. Yet I gladly pushed through it. Because its story is easily the best I've ever seen in games. Easily.
Also, GoG links:
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/the_longest_journey
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/planescape_torment
Actually, there's a game I hugely enjoyed despite it being a crappy game.
That game's gameplay is very, very shitty. Yet I gladly pushed through it. Because its story is easily the best I've ever seen in games. Easily.
Also, GoG links:
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/the_longest_journey
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/planescape_torment
As much as I loved it, I can't honestly recommend Dreamfall, even to someone who liked TLJ. There's just so many things wrong with it.LookingGlass said:
All I can say is that some of the ending sequences were utterly fucking superb. In my case, that was enough to redeem the rest of the game despite its flaws. On the other hand, the ending is a huge cliff-hanger that was clearly meant to lead into a sequel that isn't being made anytime soon.
Oh God, the rubber duck. That puzzle was in a league all of it's own.Bostur said: