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An amazing game and a worthy sequel to The Longest Journey (2006-04-30)
After finishing The Longest Journey and hearing that a sequel was being worked on, I was excited but also a little worried since sequels are often not comparable to the original. Almost without me knowing, Dreamfall was released - adventure games just don't get the spotlight like FPS/RTS/sport games. I must say that it has met and surpassed my expectations.
Plot
The best part of this game is the plot. It is engaging, imaginative and awe-inspiring. While playing the previous game is not required, it would nonetheless greatly multiply the enjoyment you get out of this one. The game lets you play three main characters, whose adventures are all intertwined through the story. Dreamfall focuses a little more than the previous game on Stark (our world), where you travel to different locations around the globe. The plot and various little details here and there paint a relatively believable sci-fi setting of the near future. Of course, equal attention is to given to Arcadia (world of magic). Many of the locations and characters from the previous game (from both worlds) are revisited. It is interesting to see how much they have changed. I cannot say too much about the plot without spoiling anything. Suffice to say, I lost a lot of sleep just so I could play a little longer to see what happened next.
The ending however is a let-down for me. It leaves almost all of the plot hanging. I probably shouldn't say more than that. Clearly a sequel is intended, and blog from the director confirms that if the game sells enough. I feel that cliffhangers of such magnitude is inappropriate for a game which takes relatively long to develop, especially when it's unknown whether the development would take place at all.
Game play
The game is in third-person 3D instead of 2D in the previous game. This is nice because you can actually explore the world. There's really not that much that you have to do expect running around and examining things. Most of the puzzles are very simplistic and far in-between. The fighting sequences are either trivial or ridiculously difficult (perhaps I just haven't got the hang of it) - fortunately the difficult sequences can be avoided. The sneaking is interesting, but again very easy, except in some cases (enclosed areas) where the camera gets in the way. Unlike the first game, you can actually die in this one. I did several times; the game can be unforgiving about some mistakes.
Some might say that the game has weak game play. I think that the game play feels natural and integrates well with the plot. It does not distract from but only enhances the overall experience. Also, many people seem to complain about the controls using a mouse and keyboard. With a couple of simple adjustments (camera mode and mouse sensitivity) I found the control to be just fine, except in the few enclosed areas where the camera behaves awkwardly.
Graphics
In my opinion the graphics are great. Certainly it cannot be compared to games like Oblivion or FEAR, but it is nevertheless beautiful. The environments are very detailed and varied. Some are simply stunning to look at. I was running at maximum settings at 1248x1024 4xFSAA on a 7600GT. I noticed no slowdowns at all. I do not know how well it runs on slower setups but I suspect it is not too demanding.
Sound
Another area where the game really shines. Everything is voice acted, and the voice acting is done very well. The music and environmental sound fit the situations very nicely.
In Summary
+ engaging and imaginative plot+ unique multi-perspective narrative (for a game at least)+ beautiful scenery+ excellent voice acting and soundtrack+ many references to previous game (for those who've played it)- essentially a non-ending- simplistic game play
Bottom line is, if you place great importance on plot and/or like the previous game, you'll probably like this one. If you value game play more than plot, you probably won't like it. I'm the former. Aside from the ending, I couldn't be happier with the game. I'd rather give it 4.5, but I'll round it up to a 5. This is a rather unique game among the ocean of shooters/RTS/... and deserves it in my opinion.
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