Delightful story, rich set of characters, amazing gameworld... frustrating finale.
Zoe is a depressed college dropout who in the middle of her depression, decides to help out on her best friends (her ex-boyfriend) with a journalistic assignment of sorts. Unfortunately for Zoe, her assignment leads to a series of events where Zoe is constantly in the wrong place at the wrong time, and eventually she is introduced to the concept of the parallel worlds and sent off to Arcadia. From there on the story proceeds to unfold at a leisurely pace and a wonderful cast of characters is introduced to you (even characters who only appear for short sequences are very memorable).
In fact, you'll re encounter the heroine from the previous game, April, and you'll get to play as her too. Her role in this game is deeply connected to Zoe's role, although neither knows why (nor do we). A third playable character is also introduced, Kian, an Azadi apostle (the Azadi are the people in control of parts of the world in Arcadia) who is sent on a divine mission, one that certainly involves April Ryan.
If the story sounds intriguing so far, is because it is. It's one of the best (if not the best) pieces of science fiction ever told in a game, and it's because of this that the ending is so frustrating, since it leaves virtually every major question unanswered, and all we can do is anxiously wait for the follow up to this amazing journey. I should mention though, that playing the original game, The Longest Journey, helps clear out a lot of the confusion from Dreamfall. In fact, I strongly recommend playing that game first.
Dreamfall is best described as an interactive movie, rather than a game. There is some gameplay, but this consists mostly of very basic fights and some basic puzzle solving. Some of the puzzles actually consist of mini games, while others require you to either pay close attention to your surroundings, or explore the dialog to the fullest. None of this is bad mind you, but it certainly isn't the focus of the game.
More than half of the game revolves around story telling; in fact, I'd estimate that you'll spend more time watching cut scenes than actually playing, but that's far from a bad thing. The story is so rich, that you'll simply want to know more and more about it. And you'll also get some control over it, as you'll be required to make lots of important decisions throughout the game, decisions that may alter in some cases the way events unfold (though for the most part, they all lead to the same path). Suffice to say is that you will get emotionally attached to the game.
The presentation in Dreamfall is overall excellent. The artistic design behind the gameworld is spectacular, as both Stark and Arcadia are very memorable locations that you'll want to explore to the fullest. The characters models all look quite sharp too, but their animations can be a bit stiff, and this can sometimes reflect poorly on the cut scenes.
One aspect that isn't poor in any way is the audio. Whether it's the voice acting or the background music, the sounds of Dreamfall are simply as good as they get. Every character is masterfully voiced and this elevates the story telling to a whole new level. You will be able to feel all of their emotions pouring out during the cut scenes. This isn't just movie quality stuff, it's above it. And then there's the music that accompanies the game world which is beautiful at all times. It effectively conveys the mood of every setting that you find yourself in, and it's another key elements in the overall experience.
In the end, it's a crying shame that Dreamfall finishes the way it does, but then again, that's the curse of being the middle chapter in a longer story. A more satisfying conclusion to this chapter would have relieved the pain of not knowing what happened to all of this great characters, but once the sequel comes out, all will be good (hopefully). If you haven't played the original game (TLJ), playing through it will help you understand Dreamfall a whole lot better. With it's flaws and all, Dreamfall is an amazing experience that can be recommended to anyone who appreciates the art of great storytelling. Now about the sequel, Developer Funcom... we're waiting.