The joy of seeing a new adventure game on the market
I will be the first to admit that I have not played The Longest Journey and after playing this title I wish that I had. The plus side is that a gamer does not have to play the previous title to enjoy this one. This story picks up ten years after the events of the first title. The current game does not really go into detail of the events from the past game, but the main character April Ryan reappears in this title along with the several support characters from the first title appear as well. I mention this for the fans of the first title, but their appearance is added to help advance this game story.
The story itself is far deeper and well thought out than most other games on the market. The game takes place in two worlds, one of post modern Earth two hundred years in the future and another that strongly resembles any world pulled from your favorite fantasy novel. Being new to the series I was a bit surprised the first time I ended up in the fantasy world. The story itself is the best aspect of this game so almost none of the story will be revealed in this review. I can tell you that the main character, Zoë, is extremely likeable and has a very enjoyable speaking voice.
The characters themselves act very realistic. A lot of other titles have the characters act mechanical and rigid, but the different people throughout the game act how a person would act in the situation presented. This alone makes the story that much more entertaining because you as the player feel the stresses and complications of the plot. Another plus is the music and sound effects also help progress the story.
All the characters have enjoyable and realistic speaking voices. It happens far too often that gaming companies cheat on costs by hiring a third-rate voice actor and weakening the overall game. I do not recognize any of the actors hired, but all performed the roles well. That added with decent music and sound effects help heighten the game play.
The game it self is very pretty, but most adventure titles tend to look good. The game looks and controls very similar to a third-person action-adventure title with combat added as well. The combat plays and feel like a bit of an after thought instead of an element of the game. The fighting character does not navigate well in combat and combat tends to frustrate instead of add enjoyment to the game. The plus to this aspect is that combat does not occur often throughout the title. The main aspect of the game is speaking with people and unlocking puzzles both of which are staples of adventure titles.
The whole title is pretty short, but this is a flaw with a lot of adventure titles. I think my total play time was about twelve hours. I could have finished the game within one rent period, but I did not have enough free time to finish the title on the first five-day rent. This alone is why I stated in the summary to rent it first because I feel that most gamers can finish it in a rent period. The other aspect that may upset some people is that the game ends in a cliffhanger. So many people really hate this plot device, but I do not mind them because it strongly indicates another title and that would make me perfectly happy. As a side note, make sure you watch after the closing credits for a bit more story.
Overall this was a great title with strong story and very enjoyable visuals and music. The game is a bit short and heavily hints to another sequel. This is a must play to an adventure game fan and makes me put forth the effort to find the original title.