The Longest Journey Reviews
The start of an epic tale that would span the distance between our world, and our wildest dreams.
- Posted Sep 1, 2007 12:21 pm PT
- Recommended by 1 of 1 user.
- Difficulty:
- Just Right
- Time Spent:
- 20 to 40 Hours
- The Bottom Line:
- "Masterpiece"
Historically, some of the most successful adventure game series have revolved around satirical situations played out by cartoon-like characters, such as in the Monkey Island or Sam & Max series. The Longest Journey breaks this trend, but that is far from a bad thing.
Let's begin with the main character. Female protagonists are, unfortunately, all too rare in the gaming world unless they kick a lot of ass, have a chest that would make Pam Anderson blush, or both. April Ryan, thankfully, is neither and if she had been this game would be far less of a storytelling triumph.
April is a tall, lanky, dark haired young woman in her early twenties. The game world is set in the distant future and starts in a fictional American costal city called Newport. Throughout the opening hours of the game, April begins to form a relationship with the player using her life and friends as a medium. She is a student at a fine arts college, trying to make enough money to get by with a less-than-desirable job. She is stressed out over a project she can't seem to get the inspiration to start - much less finish, her past is troubled, her friends are the kind of unique characters you might expect to run across in an art community, and amidst all this is the undertone that she's becoming detached from the world around her and can't seem to find her place.
While I get the impression that female players might relate to April Ryan better than I could, there were still enough elements there for me to form a connection, or at the very least, sympathize with her situation.
Anyway, she has been troubled by strange dreams that have become increasingly real. In fact, the game opens in one of these dreams, but I won't go into much detail as this is a review, not a synopsis. After a series of strange events and repeated encounters with a mysterious shaman-like man named Cortez, April is transported to the fantastical world of Arcadia. In the game's lore, there was once one world where both science and magic existed and worked together to create an unparalleled civilization. However, through the hubris of human ambition, this world was sundered into two parts, each occupying the same space but on different planes of existence. The world of science - our world - was called Stark, and the other world of magic was called Arcadia. Neither would know of the other's existence, save through dreams, and a careful balance was set to prevent another cataclysm that would annihilate both worlds once and for all.
Ragnar Tørnquist, the game's designer, is easily one of the best interactive storytellers of our age as the delivery of the plot is done masterfully throughout the entire game. The voice acting is spot-on perfect for the individual characters and really adds life and depth to their personalities. The musical score ranges from epic, to whimsical, to humorous, to dark and is implemented appropriately. Visually, the game uses mostly pre-drawn backgrounds. Though that is nothing to complain about as each background has been done in fantastic detail and serves to make each area all the more real/believable.
The actual gameplay itself is relatively simple. It follows the old formula of a point and click adventure with an inventory system and such. There may be the odd time where you can't figure out what to do next or where to go without running back and forth and trying things at random. Whether this is because the hints were too subtle or require knowledge not given to you by the game (such as scientific principals) is hard to say. Though I find that an adventure game is better off with a few really hard puzzles rather than make it so easy that you become bored with just going through the motions.
All in all, The Longest Journey sets itself apart from others in its genre through a deeply compelling story, great characters, and visual splendour that surpasses the age of its technology.
Let's begin with the main character. Female protagonists are, unfortunately, all too rare in the gaming world unless they kick a lot of ass, have a chest that would make Pam Anderson blush, or both. April Ryan, thankfully, is neither and if she had been this game would be far less of a storytelling triumph.
April is a tall, lanky, dark haired young woman in her early twenties. The game world is set in the distant future and starts in a fictional American costal city called Newport. Throughout the opening hours of the game, April begins to form a relationship with the player using her life and friends as a medium. She is a student at a fine arts college, trying to make enough money to get by with a less-than-desirable job. She is stressed out over a project she can't seem to get the inspiration to start - much less finish, her past is troubled, her friends are the kind of unique characters you might expect to run across in an art community, and amidst all this is the undertone that she's becoming detached from the world around her and can't seem to find her place.
While I get the impression that female players might relate to April Ryan better than I could, there were still enough elements there for me to form a connection, or at the very least, sympathize with her situation.
Anyway, she has been troubled by strange dreams that have become increasingly real. In fact, the game opens in one of these dreams, but I won't go into much detail as this is a review, not a synopsis. After a series of strange events and repeated encounters with a mysterious shaman-like man named Cortez, April is transported to the fantastical world of Arcadia. In the game's lore, there was once one world where both science and magic existed and worked together to create an unparalleled civilization. However, through the hubris of human ambition, this world was sundered into two parts, each occupying the same space but on different planes of existence. The world of science - our world - was called Stark, and the other world of magic was called Arcadia. Neither would know of the other's existence, save through dreams, and a careful balance was set to prevent another cataclysm that would annihilate both worlds once and for all.
Ragnar Tørnquist, the game's designer, is easily one of the best interactive storytellers of our age as the delivery of the plot is done masterfully throughout the entire game. The voice acting is spot-on perfect for the individual characters and really adds life and depth to their personalities. The musical score ranges from epic, to whimsical, to humorous, to dark and is implemented appropriately. Visually, the game uses mostly pre-drawn backgrounds. Though that is nothing to complain about as each background has been done in fantastic detail and serves to make each area all the more real/believable.
The actual gameplay itself is relatively simple. It follows the old formula of a point and click adventure with an inventory system and such. There may be the odd time where you can't figure out what to do next or where to go without running back and forth and trying things at random. Whether this is because the hints were too subtle or require knowledge not given to you by the game (such as scientific principals) is hard to say. Though I find that an adventure game is better off with a few really hard puzzles rather than make it so easy that you become bored with just going through the motions.
All in all, The Longest Journey sets itself apart from others in its genre through a deeply compelling story, great characters, and visual splendour that surpasses the age of its technology.
More Player Reviews
-
- TheSergeant's Score
- 9.5
- superb
I could not put it down until i completed it.This is a must play game, games this good are not easy to find even in 2007 continue »
- Posted Dec 27, 2007 1:48 pm PT
-
- TheSergeant's Score
- 10
- perfect
I don't often give perfect ratings to games, but this is one of the very few games that deserves no less than a 10. continue »
- Posted Dec 14, 2007 2:52 am PT
-
- TheSergeant's Score
- 9.0
- superb
The Longest Journey is one of the finest adventure games ever created and should not be missed by anyone at all. continue »
- Posted Nov 18, 2007 4:41 am PT
-
- TheSergeant's Score
- 7.5
- good
-
- TheSergeant's Score
- 9.0
- superb
The Longest Journey is one of the best adventure games of all time. continue »
- Posted Jul 5, 2007 7:49 am PT
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The Longest Journey Quick Links
Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Downloads | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices
- GameSpot Score9.3Editors' Choice
Critic Scores
- IGN 9.3 / 10
- Gaming Age B
- Game Chronicles 7.2 / 10
- GameZone 9.4 / 10
- Game Rankings 94 / 100
- Adventure Classic Gaming 5 / 5
- Game Vortex 99 / 100
- Mygamer 8.8 / 10
*The links above will take you to other Web sites and are provided for your reference. GameSpot does not produce or endorse the content on these sites.
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Dreamfall: Beauty
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is a beautiful game. This is my attempt at capturing some of its beauty. Let me know what you think.
- Posted Aug 4, 2008
by sCaReCr0W | 2'32" | 1,194 Views
- Posted Aug 4, 2008
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