Despite weak gameplay, Dreamfall conveys a compelling story through fantastic voice acting and memorable characters.

User Rating: 7.9 | Dreamfall: The Longest Journey XBOX
Zoë Castillo is an ordinary girl from Casablanca. She’s a college drop-out, lives at home with her dad, and has no real aspirations for her future. More than anything, she’s bored to death. Getting out of bed before noon, for a change, she’s set to go to the gym, and have coffee with her ex-boyfriend Reza. He supposedly has a simple favor to ask of her. Like any good “simple favor” it leads to a worldwide conspiracy, imminent death on several occasions, and transportation to a magical world.

The player can immediately identify with Zoë. She’s lost. Doesn’t quite know what she wants to do with her life, and frankly, is starting not to care any more. When she’s suddenly thrust into the adventure of a lifetime, she’s still struggling with her own demons. One morning, she awakes with nothing to do, the next she’s running for her life, being told that she has magical powers, hacking into the most secure buildings on the globe, finding herself in the alternate world, Acadia, and seeing visions of a creepy little girl.

You take control of not only Zoë, but two other characters as well. The star of the Longest Journey, April Ryan, returns, along with a new character named Kian, an assassin from the Azadi Empire. As you explore the beautifully inspired and varied locals in both worlds, it’s especially fascinating seeing the world and people from each characters perspective. These three characters are bound to a shared destiny, and the twists and turns throughout Dreamfall will leave you fervently anticipating the ending. Unfortunately, you’re left hanging, and the game doesn’t tie up the countless intriguing plotlines. In other words, the sequel can’t come soon enough.

It's fortunate that the “not so appealing ending” barely tarnishes what is, overall, an exceptional piece of science fiction. Therein lays a problem, however, since Dreamfall isn’t particularly remarkable as a game. The art direction, voice acting, musical score, wonderfully written script, interesting characters, and inspired story make Dreamfall: The Longest Journey worth your time. Just don’t expect any first-class gameplay. The fighting system is agonizingly insipid. The puzzles don’t require much thinking at all. And to top it off, the movement and fighting animations are stiff and unnatural looking. And yet, in this specific case, “simple and brainless” gameplay gets you back to what makes Dreamfall so good, the storyline.

Many of the puzzles in Dreamfall plainly consist of finding one item and using it at the suitable time or place. You may, for example, combine a dry rag with a stick to create a torch, which you then light on fire and use to find a door in a dark corridor. Some other puzzles require you to play a mini-game to unlock a keypad, car, or door. These mini-games are easy to grasp and shouldn’t keep you from quickly advancing to the next story segment. There are, fortunately, several puzzles which require you to explore the environment around you and use several different items in conjunction. It's unfortunate that there aren't more of these puzzles though.

The fighting system, on the other hand, is completely unremarkable. In the context of the story, most of the fight sequences make sense. But it would have been preferable to merely witness them as cut scenes. You have a weak attack, strong attack, and block. In any given situation, side-step your enemy’s attack and hit him with your own. Rinse and repeat. In any closed environment, however, the camera will create problematic conditions. When you enter a battle, the camera automatically locks-on to your enemy, and stays a specific distance from your character. In this way, the camera often bumps into walls and other barriers. You have limited control over the camera throughout the entire game, but during it will cause frustration during battle especially.

As you seek out the next story arc, the locations you visit will never cease to astonish, from the ghostly forests of the Dark People to the bright and welcoming scenery of Casablanca. Dreamfall successfully creates two worlds, and although appearances would lead you to believe the worlds aren’t connected, you’ll find out otherwise. As you switch between the characters you’ll witness the damp and depressing streets of Newport, Venice on the modern West Coast; the snow drenched northland city of Marcuria in the world of Arcadia; and the Persia-like architecture of the Azadi homeland.

The art design is what sets Dreamfall apart from many other games. The environments are extraordinarily detailed, and although there are quite a few blurry textures, the amazing lighting effects all but make up for the shortcomings. The character models will leave you with mixed reactions. On one hand, there’s a huge amount of unique characters. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any clones. Yet, they lack the same detail that the world exudes. Even the main characters lack any “point” to their facial features. It all looks a little blurry and washed out. There’s a wonderful use of color in the game, but the character models simply needed a little more effort. More human-like movements would have gone a long way in creating a more cohesive look to the game, considering the characters are the main pull for the story.

The paramount of Dreamfall is in its excellent voice acting. Above all, above every flaw and gripe, you’ll find yourself completely immersed into the narrative because of the expressive and superbly delivered dialogue. It’s eerie how well each and every voice fits its character. It’s almost as if the characters were crafted around the voice talent. Turn the subtitles off, and find yourself gawking at the characters as they deliver each and every wonderful line. Their speech is more humanlike than you’ve probably ever heard in a game. And that goes for the talking bird as well… It’s fortunate that, even if the characters faces lack some detail, the lip syncing is well done. The music as well is a staple of Dreamfall, as it closely resembles that of a high budget movie score. Ramping up just at the right moments to add to the drama, and yet, largely playing in the background and escalating the ambiance.

Dreamfall focuses on its diverse characters, and what they have to say. As a science fiction story Dreamfall thrives, with its great and memorable ensemble of characters, voiced to near perfection. Its breathtaking locales and spectacular lighting will engross you. And its captivating plot keeps you enveloped the whole way through. You identify with Zoë, April, Kian, and many of the other characters as well. The emotions conveyed between many of the characters seem very genuine. The gameplay may be weak—but that doesn’t stop Dreamfall: The Longest Journey from being one of the most enjoyable experiences you can find, thanks to its remarkable story.