I’ve left quite some time between finishing the game and writing a review, as I agreed with myself that I would do it after I’d read and written sufficient speculation on the official forum. I should probably also disclose at this point the baggage I bring to this game: I have been the moderator of a fan forum for this game since well before it came out, and am the regular contribtor to several other boards dedicated to the game, including a wiki. So, with my nerdentials out of the way…
When The Longest Journey was released in 1999 it was to much acclaim. A traditional 2D point-and-click Adventure, TLJ was something of a swansong for the much-talked-about death of what was one of the most popular genres in the early-to-mid 90′s. The story of one girl in the 23rd century and her discovery of a world of fantasy – Arcadia – parallel to our own world of technology – Stark, and subsequent quest to stop the implosion of these two worlds was popular with both critics and gamers. The announcement back in February 2003 that writer/directory Ragnar Tornquist would be revisiting Stark and Arcadia was greeted with universal hope – a hope that was shortly followed by apprehension. Would he sell-out and commercialise it? Would he fall into the much-hated “Action Adventure” trap that so many other games had?
Fans were able to keep track of development by Tornquist’s blog, where he tried to allay their fears of the announced action elements by coining the various genres “Modern Adventure” and “Thriller“, insisting that action was necessary to lend an air of urgency to the game. This is a valid point, and the same thing was recently experimented with in Fahrenheit and its timer on actions. The action in Dreamfall is pretty much just combat and stealth, and while the latter is integrated fairly seamlessly into the game the combat is via extremely intrusive cut-scenes and painfully clumsy. To some degree the attempted urgency brought on by these is successful, although many people were in fact overly frustrated by some of the more difficult sections of the game. This lead to a general anxiety that stuck with the player for the entire game, and also one of the main criticisms made: that the little observations made by protagonist April Ryan in TLJ were absent from Dreamfall. They were, in fact, there: it was just that one felt compelled to rush through the game by the urgency and subsequently missed them. A replay of the game, aware of the where the action sections are and when to be relaxed, can be much more leisurely and the observations are indeed there. This is one aspect of game development that could be either viewed as a failure or a success, depending on your point of view.
Tornquist was also at pains to avoid the word “sequel”, going instead with the apparently more neutral term “spiritual successor“. (He has since retracted any distinction.) The aim was to produce a game that newcomers to the series could pick up and not have to worry about missing anything. While this is generally true, one or two parts would be difficult (at best meaningless) without knowledge of TLJ: I think in particular of April’s disputed status as a “Wave”. We have since been told that Dreamfall is the second chapter in a much longer saga and, indeed, it is a story without an end in immediate sight. This is a point that has been argued on Tornquist’s blog and on the official forum, and neither camp looks set to concede defeat. For myself, the claim that the game was concluded “thematically” is at best partial. Analogies to films that end on a cliffhanger (i.e. the second of a trilogy) seem to me forced: at the time of release we were under no other impression than that what we were getting was a stand-alone game. To push the anaolgy further, comparisons with a television series are equally artificial. One knows an individual episode will be followed by another, so cliffhanger endings are warranted. They are also appropriate at the end of a series if the show is syndicated for another year following; but the best shows wrap up all their story threads at the end of the year. I feel I should at the very least give a warning: caveat ludor (‘player beware’ – sorry, sometimes I can’t help myself): this game ends on a “cliffhanger”.
Another fear was that the PC version of the game would be rushed out, and all care would be given to the Xbox version. While this may not have been true for graphics, it was certainly true of the controls for PC: the x-axis was inverted as default. This may sound trivial, and you can indeed remedy this problem with a simple change in Options; but for a good minute or so there at the beginning you are left feeling confused and frustrated at this lack of consideration. Suffice to say, it does not make for the best first impression.
The graphics are, indeed, lovely. The PC version can stretch up to quite a nice level of detail – much better than the Xbox’s settings, obviously. But while the locations are beautifully rendered, some of the character models are pretty dodgy. Main character Zoe Castillo has arms that make her look anorexic on account of an over-muscled shiny skin that wants to give her slender upper arm defined triceps; thankfully she covers up for most of the game because of chillier temperatures than her home in Casablanca. Also, most of the male character models seem to have had far less time spent on them than the females: Zoe’s ex Reza has bizarrely featureless features. That’s to say nothing of the white dragon’s teeth…
But these are the criticisms of an anticipatory fan: what about those who were new to the series, and had no expectations that required living up to? It may be one-sided (in that those who did not enjoy it are unlikely to post), but some of the most glowing reviews on the official forum come from those who have not played TLJ. This does not necessarily indicate that TLJ is better: just that TLJ fans (who might be considered synonymous with Adventure fans) had expectations they did not feel were lived up to. The best indicator would be in sales, but I can only speak for what I’ve seen Australia. The marketing of the game here was non-existant, and none of the staff at EB, Games Wizards or Harvey Norman had any idea when the game was due until it was actually on the shelves. You were lucky if there was one copy on display, and within a week or two the price had been dropped to $49.95 (RRP was variously $69.95 and $79.95). I guess we’ll know how well it did if they announce another game in the series.
But all this is not representative of how I feel about Dreamfall. The game is really quite terrific in all its flawed beauty. Is it better than TLJ? I don’t think I can answer that. TLJ may be better as a complete package, but Dreamfall has an immersive charm that keeps it in the stakes as a contender. I think the only balanced review of this game could be done by someone who hasn’t already visited Arcadia in TLJ. So I’ll just shut up now.
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